Disqus - Latest Comments for Ian Woolstencroft

Re: Hostel

Ian Woolstencroft — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:11:27 -0000

Excellent review. Rarely have I seen a film that so insults the intelligence of the viewer.
You forgot to mention that after mowing down the three people in the road he then turns the car around to finish one of them off with the bad guys still on his tail! Or that he just happens to have a bag full of bubblegum in the car to bribe the street gang who he conveniently learned earlier could be bought with a bag of sweets!
I will say this though â€“ the film did leave me with the urge to torture one American director and Iâ€™d gladly pay the money Iâ€™ll save from never seeing another of his films for the privilege. After all itâ€™s the least I can do to return the favour after being tortured in the cinema by Mr Roth and his latest cinematic â€˜masterpieceâ€™.

Re: Doctor Who: 2 - 2: Tooth and Claw

Ian Woolstencroft — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:29:37 -0000

Think you got it spot on with your review, in fact Iâ€™d probably go slightly further and say that this is one of the best episodes of New Who not just Tennantâ€™s.
The â€˜Jamie McCrimmonâ€™ in joke was a nice nod to Patrick Troughtonâ€™s Doctor and weâ€™ll no doubt get more references to the past next week with Sarah Jane and K9.

Re: Silent Hill

Ian Woolstencroft — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:49:54 -0000

Avaryâ€™s script is definitely the weak (or weakest) link here and itâ€™s to Gansâ€™ credit that he manages to make such an enjoyable film from it. Apart from the terrible exposition at the end, presumably so the Americans will understand it as most of it had already been explained, there was some very clunky dialogue.
The fact that the film seemed nowhere near its 2 hour running time says a lot for how entertaining it was.

And I didnâ€™t think Mr Bean was that badâ€¦..

Re: An American Haunting

Ian Woolstencroft — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:58:51 -0000

You've hit the nail on the head again! This should have been a great old style ghost story instead its a criminal waste of some good actors.

And the ending leaves one with an unpleasant feeling not because it's scary but because it tarnishes the name of a man who really existed for no better reason than someone thought it would make a good twist.

Re: Doctor Who: 2 - 1: New Earth

Ian Woolstencroft — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:03:07 -0000

While this wasn't up to the standards set by the end of last season it was far better than last years first episode. It also shows once again that while Russell T. Davies is a great producer he's a poor writer.

Re: Day of the Dead: Arrow UK release

Ian Woolstencroft — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 08:47:31 -0000

I've just received the Japanese version of Day of the Dead and it has the same audio problems as the Anchor Bay and new Arrow releases, in fact this is probably where Anchor Bay sourced the film as the audio is from a Japanese TV version.

My hopes of finding a decent release are fading fast; my only hope now is the Austrian 2 disc.

Re: Sisters Of Mercy - Nottingham

Ian Woolstencroft — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:22:56 -0000

Spot on review of a dire gig. Iâ€™d have had more fun listening to â€˜Floodlandâ€™ at home with the lights out while waving a torch around and burning some toast in the kitchen, at least Iâ€™d have been able to hear the lyrics.

One thing you failed to mention was Eldritchâ€™s bizarre attire, a black hockey shirt; I think he was going for some kind of goth rapper look. Thatâ€™s if it was Eldritch, as I couldnâ€™t hear or see him, in silhouette with the bald head and protruding ears it looked more like the â€˜Yellow Bastardâ€™ from Sin City wearing sunglasses.

Iâ€™m glad I didnâ€™t waste money on a T-shirt as I donâ€™t want anything to remind me of this event, I just hope the next time I listen to â€˜Floodlandâ€™ or â€˜Vision Thingâ€™ I donâ€™t have flashbacks.

Re: Sisters Of Mercy - Nottingham

Ian Woolstencroft — Mon, 08 May 2006 13:21:50 -0000

Thank you Captain Pedantic for keeping the world safe from little mistakes. What I should have said was that 90% of the time he was in silhouette and the rest he was bathed in green, purple, red, etc coloured lights that gave the IMPRESSION the shirt was black. Hope Iâ€™ve cleared that up for you.

Re: Sisters Of Mercy - Nottingham

Ian Woolstencroft — Mon, 08 May 2006 15:06:09 -0000

Well the stripes may have been yellow....

This debate is far more interesting than the gig, which says it all really.

Re: Doctor Who: 2 - 3: School Reunion

Ian Woolstencroft — Tue, 09 May 2006 09:15:37 -0000

To be honest I felt the opposite â€“ this episode played much more to the long term fans with the reappearance on Sarah Jane and K9 to the point where it almost overshadowed the main story. Luckily Anthony Head was on hand to save it from wallowing to excess in nostalgia and I couldnâ€™t help thinking how good heâ€™d be as The Master.

As an old Who fan (my favourite companion was Sarah Jane as she was the bridge between my two favourite Doctors â€“ Pertwee and Baker) I enjoyed the episode a lot but Iâ€™m not sure new fans will feel the same.

Re: Doctor Who: 2 - 4: The Girl in the Fireplace

Ian Woolstencroft — Tue, 09 May 2006 09:39:15 -0000

I agree totally agree about Tennant, he is quite superb in this episode. Itâ€™s as if his meeting last week with Elisabeth Sladenâ€™s Sarah Jane made him realise â€˜I am the Doctor!â€™ and he now feels the freedom to make the role his own.

Much as I enjoyed Eccleston I canâ€™t imagine him pulling off an episode like this, thereâ€™s too much subtlety involved and thatâ€™s one thing his Doctor lacked. The Vulcan mind meld is not something Iâ€™ve seen The Doctor do before either but a small negative point in an otherwise exceptional episode. And the punchline was indeed perfect.

I donâ€™t think Iâ€™ve looked forward to Saturdays so much sinceâ€¦.well since Tom Baker was The Doctor! Canâ€™t wait for next week and the Cybermen!

Re: Sisters Of Mercy - Nottingham

Ian Woolstencroft — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:20:17 -0000

So Eldritch's opinion is that he should be both invisible and inaudible? Hardly worth him turning up really. I wish I hadn't.

Re: JK Rowling: The Greatest Living British Writer?

Ian Woolstencroft — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 19:01:38 -0000

Great writer Stephen King but sadly excluded from being the 'Greatest living British writer' as he's an American.

This should have been called 'The Most Popular British Writer' and itâ€™s sad that people confuse popularity with being great. Popularity means being able to appeal to the widest group of people and that rarely goes hand in hand with being great. In fact it often means the opposite.

Re: Trailer Roundup

Ian Woolstencroft — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:06:44 -0000

Fearless is a lot better than those old Van Damme movies and gives Jet Li another chance to show he can act. Hopefully the DVD will contain Ronny Yu's original full length version with Michelle Yeoh's character reinstated.

You should check out the District 13 trailer, it looks awesome.

Re: Still running your 360 in SD?

Ian Woolstencroft — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 11:29:22 -0000

But then you'd need a 360 in the bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom and that could be quite expencive.

Good deal though, I'm tempted to replace my 4:3 PC monitor.

Re: Still running your 360 in SD?

Ian Woolstencroft — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 15:09:13 -0000

A 360 in the bathroom would be cool though.

Re: Found: New (Unmentioned) Feature In iPod Firmware

Ian Woolstencroft — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 19:01:49 -0000

Did you plan it so Fiona Apple was on there?

Re: Day Of The Dead Remake: Uh Oh

Ian Woolstencroft — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 09:30:39 -0000

IMDb has someone called Stark Sands playing Bud Crain so it looks more and more like itâ€™s the filmmakers who are morons.

Never had high hopes for this anyway with Steve Miner directing.

Re: How Will Ford’s Westerns Change My Perspective?

Ian Woolstencroft — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:43:11 -0000

After Ford youâ€™ve also got the James Stewart/Anthony Mann westerns to experience.

Not to mention Howard Hawks.

Oh and John Sturges...the list goes on.

Nothing beats the joy of discovery.

Canâ€™t wait to read the reviews :)

Re: Ghost Rider

Ian Woolstencroft — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:40:53 -0000

Sorry I'm late!

You liked Ghost Rider! Are you insane? I'd rather have my...

Just kidding. We all have these temporary mental aberrations (I quite enjoyed Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and I even know someone who liked Hostel) the important thing is that you're now on the road to recovery.

To speed it along I'd recommend some John Ford, if that doesn't help nothing will.

Re: Day of the Dead: Arrow UK release

Ian Woolstencroft — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:03:33 -0000

Just a quick update.

The Austrian 2 Disc has the same audio problems mentioned above.

I've also found that there is a 2 disc Spanish release that has anamorphic picture but no 5.1 remix. If this contains the original audio it could be worth a look as I'm not too fussed about having the original mono remixed into 5.1.

If I find out anymore about the Spanish release Iâ€™ll post it here.