Week of 27 April
Supernatural: Season 4, Part 1 **** (Stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Jim Beaver, Misha Collins, Genevieve Cortese; £29.99; UK cert 12) Season 3 ended with Dean Winchester being mauled by hell-hounds, having failed to find a way out of the deal in which he traded his soul to bring his brother Sam back to life. So you wouldn’t expect to see him back on earth at the start of season 4. But that’s exactly what happens, proving that the Winchester brothers really can get out of anything. How? We’re not going to spoil it for you, or tell you the other major twist this season, though we can tell you that the boys get to fight a giant teddy bear while they’re going about their usual business of hunting supernatural nasties – but with an added backdrop of signs the apocalypse is on its way. It’s another strong set of episodes from a series that could have got tired long ago but, happily, hasn’t lost its shine. Extras: ** A handful of extended and deleted scenes, plus one episode comes with an audio commentary. Those wanting more whistles and bells may wish to wait for the full-season box set. — Anne Wollenberg
Wolverine and the X-Men ** (Stars the voices of Kieren van den Blink, Steven Blum, Susan Dalian, Jennifer Hale, Danielle Judovits, Tom Kane, Yuri Lowenthal, Kari Wahlgren, Jim Ward; £12.99; UK cert PG) After a mysterious explosion at the X-Mansion, Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey go missing. Without their inspirational leader, the X-Men disband. A year later, society is spiralling into chaos and loner Wolverine is forced to reunite the X-Men to save the world. This is a cartoon series of the Marvel comic heroes and comprises seven episodes. The first three make up a single story called ‘Hindsight’, and these are followed by ‘Overthrow’, ‘Thieves Gambit’ and X-Calibre’. There is also a bonus episode called ‘Wolverine vs Hulk’, although this also fits into the narrative of the series. Featuring all the familiar X-Men, this will no doubt please hardcore fans. There’s a lot of Wolverine growling and slashing, baddies getting their comeuppance and high fives all round afterwards. But while the animation is fine and the action plentiful, there isn’t a lot to raise this above the average cartoon. The mood is fairly dour and after a couple of episodes I found myself desperate for some comic relief. On the rare occasions when dialogue is required, it’s largely clichéd and predictable. It could be that I’m missing the point or that I’m simply not the target audience but overall it felt a bit flat, even compared to the big screen adaptations. No extras — Justin Bateman
Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia (Stars Ken Anderson [aka WWE’s star wrestler Mr Kennedy], Joe Manganiello, Channon Roe, Yancey Arias, Chris J Johnson, Antony Matos, Keith David, Jennice Fuentes; £15.99; UK cert 15)Possibly the worst film I have ever had the misfortune to sit through, to the point that I can’t even say that it’s so bad, it’s good. This is the lowest form of budget basement action film that could ever be conceived, it almost feels like I was put in a time machine and taken back to the glory days of B grade action films in the 80s. The performances are so over-the-top they make Steven Segal look like Marlon Brando, and the feel of the film is almost porn-like in its pathetic appearance, yet without the sex. The special effects are more “special” than “effects”. The film attempts to make a poignant story about the dignity of the sacrifice that serving US forces make and the danger they face in campaigns often undertaken without the knowledge of the general public. The resulting effect however is more an insult to the military, a comic farce of a tribute lacking any complexity where the evil Colombian baddies will inevitably be overcome by the might of the righteous US. Any other pertinent political statement gets lost in the gunfire and multiple explosions. I can honestly say that there are no redeeming qualities that I can draw on to make even one positive comment about this film and my sincere opinion is please do not waste your time watching it. Extras: A number of featurettes showing behind-the-scenes footage on set in Puerto Rico, stunt secrets and blooper outtakes. — Louise Wheeler
SECOND OPINION | Janina Conboye * “Framed, abandoned, but never defeated” ... oh please. And the leading man is a wrestler. Is there no end to the utter dross being made these days? Unsurprisingly, action and testosterone abound, a team of Navy SEALs is sent on a mission into Colombian territory. The soldiers are drawn into an ambush, in which two of their men are killed and one is taken hostage. After false reports of an unauthorised raid by US military forces the SEALs have to clear their names and rescue the hostage. Unless you really have to, I wouldn’t bother with this one. Get outside in the park with your mates and waterpistols and go on a SEALs mission all of your own.
Captain Mack: Super Galactic Amazer Gazer **** (Stars Bennet Thorpe, Rikki Chamberlain; £9.99; UK cert U) OK, let’s get two things out of the way from the sad fortysomething reviewer. The kids at whom this programme is aimed won’t notice but Captain Mack – the endearing, non-violent superhero – looks, from certain angles, exactly like Quentin Tarantino. Second, from the cheap sets (great for the kids) and Teletubby/Tweenies style lighting and costume design, at least in terms of colour, you’re constantly reminded of Colin Baker’s tenure as Doctor Who. Fortunately the audience who’ll actually care about Captain Mack won’t mind about this in the slightest. They’ll be much more interested in the naughtiness – never wickedness – of Tracy Trickster, Captain Mack’s light incompetence and deliberate over-earnestness and the others. The plots are standard kids’ runarounds and no worse for that – Tracy Trickster persuades everyone there’s a great big spider around, then she persuades everyone there’s a mouse infestation and on another occasion she uses a potato to make space monster footprints. Not that there’s nothing for the mums and dads (OK, mostly dads) to enjoy. When the alarms go off in Mack’s HQ the sound effects are from Star Trek, when his rocket takes off the music reminds you slightly of Thunderbirds and the hammy narrator is straight out of the 1960s Batman. The overall result is a pleasant, harmless way to while away the time with your kids – it’s never going to be one of those programmes with a cult following among the grown-ups or anything like that, but it’s lively and well-intentioned enough to keep the little ones thoroughly entertained for a decent amount of time. No extras — Guy Clapperton
North Face **** (Stars Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Georg Friedrich, Simon Schwarz, Ulrich Tukur, Erwin Steinhauer; £15.99; UK cert 12) Phillip Stolzl’s dramatic and suspenseful vision of a relentlessly terrifying true story. Set against a pre-war Nazi backdrop in 1936, two climbers are faced with the challenge of being the first in the world to conquer the merciless 1800 metre-plus North Face of Eiger Mountain, nicknamed “The Murder Wall”. With all of Nazi Germany supporting them, the climbers begin their incredible journey up the snow-capped mountain and almost immediately enter a perilous fray of Mother Nature’s stormy fury, leading to accidents and injuries. What begins as a challenge to scale the mountain and reach its peak quickly escalates into a no holds barred lives-on-the-line fight for survival, filled with tragedy and riveting suspense. Northface is an honest and believably realistic retelling of Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser’s 1936 climb. Extras: Making of documentary, deleted scenes, visual effects documentary, cast and crew biographies, theatrical and exclusive trailers, timeline of attempts to scale the Eiger Mountain, documentary on the myth of the mountain, and an interview with the director and cinematographer. — Adam Stephen Kelly
Boogeyman 3 **** (Stars Erin Cahill, Chuck Hittinger, Mimi Michaels and Nikki Sanderson; £15.99; UK Cert 15) College student Audrey Allen (Corrie's Sanderson) is haunted by the Boogeyman following her fathers death (in Boogeyman 2), and tries to convince her best friend Sarah (Cahill), a psychology student, that the Boogeyman is real. Sarah doesn't believe her until she witnesses Audrey's death one night at the hands of the monster. Whilst everyone is convinced that Audrey committed suicide, only Sarah knows the truth - the Boogeyman is real and he's haunting the dorms of Hammond Hall. Following my disappointment in the first Boogeyman film and having skipped Boogeyman 2, I wasn't holding out much hope for the third in the series. I could not have been more suprised. Boogeyman 3 delivers on the horror front, with some brilliantly inventive deaths and an an air of suspense throughout. The film is only let down by some risible acting from the "unknowns" in the cast. Gary Jones, director of the amazing b-movie Spiders, really knows how to deliver: there's gore and shocks a-plenty. Extras: *** Featurettes: Creating the Boogeyman, Deconstructing the Deaths, Boogeyman in Bulgaria, plus deleted scenes and trailers. — Phil Wheat
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Week of 20 April 2009
American Dad! Volume 4 **** (Stars the voices of Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schaal, Rachael MacFarlane, Scott Grimes, Dee Bradley Baker, Patrick Stewart, JK Simmons, Seth Green, Swoosie Kurtz, Sandra Bernhard, Elizabeth Banks; £27.99; UK cert 15) One of these days, someone is going to synch the UK DVD releases of American Dad! (and McFarlane's other brilliant animated show, Family Guy) with the actual US series. This may be volume 4, but it's actually the second part of season 3 and the start of season 4 (you can tell because of the change to the opening titles). No matter, it's still one of the finest animated shows on TV today, and it never fails to raise a smile and even quite a few laughs. The collection opens with one of the best episodes of American Dad ever - Tearjerker, a brilliant parody of the James Bond films. The rest of the season has storylines that include Stan (and Roger) marooned on a desert island, Hayley falling in love with Stan's CIA double, Steve getting his first pubic hair and one of Roger's many personas takes on a life of its own. American Dad! Is much more of a conventional family-based sitcom than its more popular sibling, but every episode is packed full of great gags that pretty much always hit their target. The one gripe: sometimes there's a bit too much of a focus on Roger. Extras: As always, the American Dad! DVD box set is packed full of bonus material - there are audio commentaries on every single episode; half an hour's worth of deleted scenes; two featurettes, one on the making of Tearjerker and the other about Roger being a Master of Disguise; a cast table read from the 2008 Comic Con. — Stuart O'Connor
Britain’s Best Drives with Richard Wilson DVD **½ (Stars Richard Wilson and an assortment of vintage 1950s motor cars; £19.99; UK cert PG) The engine has barely cooled on these seven 30-minute shows, originally broadcast on BBC4 in February and March. The premise is simple, take one standard-issue curmudgeon, TV’s Victor Meldrew, and put him in a range of vintage motors. Then send him out on classic drives from the ’50s era – when you could casually travel around the UK without fear of total gridlock. Every now and then Wilson stops off for a pot of tea and a chat to an interesting character. It’s all very ‘gorgeous landscapes mixed plus grainy in-car footage’ but great fun if you still possess driving gloves and doff your cap to other motorists. Extras: Unseen footage and a photo gallery. — Robert Hull
Stone: 2-disc Special Edition ***½ (Stars Ken Shorter, Sandy Harbutt, Deryck Barnes, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward, Vincent Gil, Dewey Hungerford, Bindi Williams, Lex Mitchell; £17.99; UK cert 18) Cult Aussie film from 1974. Somebody is knocking off members of the outlaw Sydney bikie gang the Gravediggers, so undercover cop Stone (Shorter) joins the group to try to track down the killer. At first the members resist his attempts to become one of them, but eventually he manages to gain their trust and respect. There are some great on-road scenes in this film - as Quentin Tarantino said in Ozploitation doco Not Quite Hollywood, nobody can shoot car and bike scenes as well as we Australians can. It's also pretty daring and fairly hardcore for its time - there's a lot of swearing, drug use, violence and a smidge of nudity, both male and female. Worth a look, as a snapshot of a small segment of Australian society from the 1970s, and for the fact that Stone has been called one of the best biker films ever made. And it's fun to see some of the "royalty" of Australian cinema and TV popping up here and there - Rebecca Gilling, Helen Morse, Bill Hunter and Garry "Norman Gunston" McDonald. What lets it down slightly is a fairly weak performance in the lead from Shorter. Extras: A making-of featurette; a documentary called Stone Forever, which celebrates the film's 25th anniversary; makeup tests; a slide show; and the trailer. — Stuart O'Connor
Soap: Season 1 **** (Stars Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, Cathryn Damon, Ted Wass, Billy Crystal, Robert Mandan, Jennifer Salt, Jimmy Baio, Diana Canova, Arthur Peterson, Jay Johnson, Robert Guillaume, Inga Swenson; £29.99; UK cert 12) Brilliant, groundbreaking US sitcom from 1977. It's a parody of daytime soap operas that tells the story of two sisters - Jessica Tate (Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Damon) - and their families. The Tates are wealthy, but have their secrets: Jessica's husband Chester (Mandan) is having an affair with his secretary; Jessica herself is having an affair with Peter, the tennis pro (who ends up dead, and Jessica is charged with his murder); daughter Eunice (Salt), who is having an affair with a US senator; other daughter Corinne, who is in love with a priest; and Jessica's father, the Major (Peterson), who believes he's still fighting WWII. Then there are the Campbells, who also have their fair share of secrets and craziness: Mary's second husband, Burt (Mulligan) murdered her first husband, and is also Peter's father, who goes slightly nuts (he thinks he can turn invisible) when Peter is killed; Mary's son Jodie (Crystal), who is gay and wants a sex change; her other son, Danny (Wass) who is on the run from the Mob; and Burt's son Bob (Johnson), who has a ventriloquist's dummy named Bob who he thinks is a real person. Confused? You won't be after watching this absolutely cracking comedy. The standout character is the Tate's sarcastic butler, Benson (Guillaume), who is constantly rude to Chester and says, "You want me to get that?" whenever the front doorbell rings. Benson is also the only character who got their own spin-off series. Soap, which broke a lot of taboos at the time, was also where Billy Crystal got his start. It's 25 episodes of pure comic joy. Extras: None at all, which is surprising. Surely a collection of deleted scenes and outtakes would exist somewhere? And why not some episode commentaries from some of the cast? And another question - this season was released on DVD un the US in 2003. Why did it take six years to reach the UK? These questions, and many more, will probably never be answered. — Stuart O'Connor
The Apprentice: The Best of Series 1–4 (Stars Sir Alan Sugar; £19.99; UK cert 15) I’ve only ever watched The Apprentice once. It was for about 10 minutes and involved candidate Paul Callaghan attempting to sell cheese bought form a British cash and carry to the French. This decisive move told me everything I needed to know. I’d already wasted ten minutes of my life on such utter rubbish and wasn’t going to waste anymore. But if you are a fan of idiots doing what they do best – being idiots – and you like to watch the utterly charmless Sugar, then feel free. Quite frankly I've got better things to do. — Janina Conboye
The Baader Meinhof Complex ***½ (Stars Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz, Simon Licht; £17.99; UK cert 18) Gruelling, relevant, thought-provoking thriller set in Germany in the 1970s. Bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the still fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation led by Andreas Baader (Bleibtreu), Ulrike Meinhof (Gedeck) and Gudrun Ensslin (Wokalek) are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity.From the 1967 shooting of student Benno Ohnesorg to the 1977 Mogadishu hijack and assassination of industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer, the actions of the Red Army Faction (RAF) loomed large over an revolutionary, blood-drenched decade, with a fight against a supposed police state creating a very real one and 'extra-parliamentary resistance' transformed into militant and militarised terrorism. The Baader Meinhof Complex is a film that raises more questions than it answers. For the younger viewer, there's the suffocating revelation that the spirited student protests of the RAF's beginnings were the very seeds of violent terrorism; for the older, it's an eye-opening look at a fight for justice with initial good intentions destroyed by bloodshed and murder. The set-pieces are undeniably hair-raising and an unsettling dread seems lurking around every corner, while the central trio of Gedeck, Bleibtreu and Wokalek give charismatic and intense performances as three characters who altered the course of history. Though its focus is too broad, it is still a masterful recreation of 10 years of terror under one of the most influential groups in world history - whose sometime public support still remains breathtaking. Extras: History in the Making, a making-of featurette; On Uli Edel, a featurette about the director; The Score, a featurette about the film's music; cast filmographies; a trailer. — Lewis Bazley (inthenews.co.uk)
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Week of 13 April 2009
Inkheart *** (Stars Brendan Fraser, Sienna Guillory, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis; £19.99; UK cert PG) The sometimes goofy but always likeable Fraser must be feeling a bit typecast - he seems stuck in kids' films, or in the role of gung-ho adventurer. Just look at his CV: George of the Jungle, The Mummy trilogy, Monkeybone, Looney Tunes, Dudley Do-right and Journey to the Center of the Earth, just to name a few. Inkheart is a kids' film that casts Fraser as a "silvertongue" - a man who can bring storybook characters to life just by reading the book aloud. But for every character that comes out of the book, a real-life person is sucked in. He has a 12-year-old daughter (Bennett), but several years earlier his wife (Guillory) was trapped inside a rare book, Inkheart. So the pair seek the book to rescue her, but a rather nasty villain (Serkis) and his minions also want the book and the silvertongue - for rather more nefarious reasons. It's an interesting premise, but it falters about half-way through and just becomes another silly good-guys-versus-bad-guys special effects romp. Still, it's a decent enough film to while away a wet Sunday afternoon; Fraser is as watchable as always, Serkis hams it up enormously and young Bennett seems to be a talent to keep an eye on. Extras: Just Bennett reading a passage from the original novel that didn't make it into the film, plus the trailer. — Stuart O'Connor
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Week of 6 April 2009
Electric Dreams *** (Stars Lenny von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen, Maxwell Caulfield, Don Fellows, Alan Polonsky, Wendy Miller, Harry Rabinowitz, Miriam Margolyes, Holly De Jong; £15.99; UK cert PG) It's funny looking back at this 1984 film and seeing what was then a "state-of-the-art microcomputer" – which wouid not even be as powerful as today's average mobile phone. Dorky architect Miles (von Dohlen, who looks and sounds a lot like David Schwimmer) buys said microcomputer to help him design an earthquake-proof brick he has an idea for. But after he spills a bottle of champagne on the keyboard, the computer develops a personality, and a love for music. And when Miles starts dating the beautiful cello player who lives upstairs, Madeline (Madsen), the computer becomes jealous and tries to take over his life. Part romantic comedy and part techno-fear horror movie, Electric Dreams is a lot of fun – particularly seeing just how far technology has (and hasn't) advanced in the intervening 25 years. I mean, it's 2009 and those damned engineers still haven't developed artificial intelligence. It's also got a great soundtrack from the period (well, Culture Club, Genesis, Heaven 17 and ELO!) as well as the terrific techno-pop title song by composer Giorgio Moroder and Human League singer Phil Oakey. Extras: Just a music video for the song Together in Electric Dreams, which will stay stuck in your head for at least a week. — Stuart O'Connor
Stomp Live **** (Stars Nathaniel Conroy, Melanie Joseph, Keith Middleton, Andy Patrick, John Sawicki; £15.99; UK cert E) Foot stomping dance comedy at its best. Stomp live showcases the fast-paced energy of the live show where performers use everyday inanimate objects to create rhythmic, infectious beats. Objects as small as zippo lighters, to drain plungers, all the way through to the proverbial kitchen sink, are all used in highly inventive ways to create sounds and beats with performers agilely using their bodies as instruments themselves. The performers’ timing is impeccable making the ultimately simple premise of beat creation a mesmerizing affair. The sustained but subtle comedy is a credit to the skill level of the performers as it is portrayed through gestures and movement only, with even the occasional reference to pop culture. As with all films of live performances if you have the finances and geographic ability to see the live show then do so, otherwise this DVD is decent substitute. Extras: Interviews, out-takes, trailers, clips, previews and a behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD shoot. — Louise Wheeler
Outlanders *** (Stars Jakub Tolak, Przemyslaw Sadowski, Alexis Raben, Shaun Dingwall, Joe Tucker, Olegar Fedoro, Damon Younger, Michael Klesic, Shaban Arifi, Gergo Danka, Grahame Fox; £15.99; UK cert 15) A so-so drama about two Polish brothers in London, Adam (Tolak) leaves Gdansk to find his older brother, Jan (Sadowski) who he thinks is a professional soccer player. Jan is actually an East End thug supplying cheap, illegal foreign workers to the building trade. Adam meets a cute Russian girl and falls in love; Jan gets in trouble with police when he kills a man. It's a story of family bonds and brotherly love, and for the most part is a decent drama, but it flags at the end when it loses touch with reality somewhat. No extras — Stuart O'Connor
Breakdance: The Movie ** (Stars Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers, Ben Lokey, Christopher McDonald, Phineas Newborn III, Ice-T; £15.99; UK cert PG) It’s been a while since I heard the insult "sucka" in a movie, and boy, have I missed it. I now resolve to use it twice a day, along with "crazy fool" in memory of the forgotten era. Breakin’ broke onto our movie screens more than two decades ago, but the formula has long-survived (think Save The Last Dance). Classically-trained white girl turns against traditional dance education to seek more rewarding, vitalised challenge in ‘street’ dance – with its roots firmly planted in African-American culture. Cheese on toast with a layer of cheese on top, Kelly (Dickey) is everything an 80s heroine ever aspired to be – down to her plastic acting, enviable lycra outfits, and hair-do with a mind of it’s own. Her unlikely friendship with equally excitably dressed Ozone (Quinones) and Turbo (Chambers) causes a few ruffles as white girl joins black guys to win the ultimate dance-off. I think I might change my name to Ozone. Now, this DVD is most certainly not worth spending the best part of twenty quid on, and the choreography compared to knuckle biting movies like Step Up and Step Up II has a bit to be desired. It is, however, for children of the 80s, a nostalgic look back on a time when fluoros ruled the earth, and dance-offs were the most important part of a young person’s life. Mix this with a bit of race-related culture struggle and rebellion, and the sound track is to die for, and the 80s sits comfortably on the 24inch screen of your telly. Just make sure you’re over 25 otherwise all of Breakdance’s best bits will be lost on you. No extras — Jo Wood
Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo *½ (Stars Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers, Susie Coelho, Harry Caesar, Jo De Winter, John Christy Ewing, Steve Notario, Ice-T; £15.99; UK cert PG) Slip your mind back 24 years. It’s been a whole seven months since Breakdance first erupted into your life – a multi-coloured montage of bendy limbs and catch-your-breath tight-fitting outfits. Missing it? Never fear. Here’s number two. Now let’s tackle the title right away. More arm pinching will surely occur on noting some of the "full" names of our actors. Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers. Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones. These are just things you have to live through and accept as part of life’s rich tapestry. Names like these can surely, only enhance the look of their CV. Onwards, as we tackle the direction and plot. This time Sam Firstenberg takes the bullet and produces what can only be described as a Scrubs-esque slapstick-like quality to much of the movie, making it decidedly more amusing, and a little bit trippy to watch. Mass street-dances, accompanied by break-dancing coppers; hospital wards reminiscent of scenes of Grease as Doctors and Nurses choreograph themselves in on the action. Featuring our same three heroes as May of ’84 (it is now December), The Race Issue is tackled a little more confidently, as Kelly battles with her father who wants her to "stay away from that street riff-raff" as she tries to progress her classical dance. Ozone and Turbo are busy teaching at the local community centre which comes under threat from developers who want to demolish it and build a mall unless they can come up with the funds to save it. If anyone can spot a clichéd plot ending coming up, please let me know. Electric Boogaloo’s probably best tackled while not entirely sober. No extras — Jo Wood
Super High Me **½ (Featuring Doug Benson, Alex Campbell, Graham Elwood, Dana Gould, Dave Navarro, Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman; £12.99 UK cert 18) No, it's not Morgan Spurlock getting jiggy with it at 30,000 feet, but American stand-up comedian Doug Benson in a comedy documentary about smoking dope. Yes, Spurlock's brilliant Super Size Me is being mimicked here, as Benson compares 30 days of smoke-free performances with 30 days when he was completely stoned. Much of it is based around Benson's stage act, but he also looks at the social and medical aspects of the drug. For instance, in the state of California, medical marijuana is legal - but somebody forgot to tell the DEA. It follows pretty much the same structure and format as Spurlock's film. Some of Benson's stand-up material is funny, and there's plenty of interesting medical and historical information here. But Spurlock did it first, and much, much better. It's probably best enjoyed stoned off your tits. Extras: A selection of featurettes – A Day at the Bay on the Evelyn Mae; b-side Thank Youi; David Cross experiment; First Drunk Show; Green Cross; Watermelon – and two trailers. — Stuart O'Connor
Dive Olly Dive *** (£5.99; UK cert U) Perhaps not as well recognised on this side of the world as it is Down Under, Yoram Gross was the production house behind some of Australia’s most loved children’s programming. Shows such as long-running animated series Blinky Bill and the feature-length Dot franchise (particularly the first outing in 1977, Dot and the Kangaroo) have been the backdrop of Aussie childhoods for more than 40 years, as well as picking up a worldwide following. Now rebranded as Flying Bark Productions, the company is continuing to make children’s entertainment with a conservation theme. Dive Olly Dive! uses light comedy and endearing characters to communicate a strong environmental message for a new generation. Yoram/Flying Bark has a track record of experimenting with different and distinct styles of animation – such as Dot’s mix of cartoon and live action – and Dive Olly Dive! uses modern CGI animation to great effect. Dive Olly Dive: Ocean Explorers Volume 1 brings submarine-in-training Olly and fellow student Beth to UK DVD for the first time. The seven episodes see Olly and Beth face a range of challenges as they expand their, erm, “submarining” skills at the Special Underwater Research Facility (S.U.R.F.), along with teacher Diver Doug and a collection of bright and fun-filled undersea characters. The show has already picked up a loyal pre-school following in this country on digital channel GMTV2, and this collection should quickly become a favourite with existing fans and new audiences alike. No extras — Steven Kiernan