Reviews

I want to start off this comment with a confession. I saw this movie last night and thought a wrestler, a Rapper and a ghetto football team would do little to entertain me. I wasn't expecting a lot, and maybe that helped, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

When the movie ended I wasn't surprised that the movie was based on a real story, to be frank I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd used the real people in the roles because the acting throughout was superb, with none of the characters being given forced lines or plots, and seemingly genuinely involved in this films little world. Chammilionaire and his friend Dwayne were not thrown out of their depth either, with one giving a believable performance as a coach who really cares, and the other as an indifferent friend whose really just their to help.

Now don't get me wrong, this film will not be the epiphany for all the moviegoers who can't stand watching wrestlers and musicians attempts at acting, their is nothing in this movie that really stands out and will make you go 'wow'. What this movie is is a return to solid gold story telling. Everything that happens is lifelike, with unpredictable little quirks and outbursts of fate and emotions which shows the depth of the story. All the characters seem to be really struggling through their difficulties, and although there is violence and swearing throughout this movie its message is deeply ingrained. And although I'm not one to be preached to about violence, the film makes you care.

I think this film can be summed up by the reactions you get to the situations. When the characters were down you do feel helpless, when someone gets aggressive you feel the adrenalin rush, and when someone is laughing, you will find yourself oddly smiling.

I wasn't expecting much from this film, and i'd of hated going to the cinema to watch it. For those who haven't seen this film, it revolves around the deep south of America in a town called Hazzard where 3 cousins and an uncle are out to stop Dick Dastardly, whoops, i mean boss Hogg in his greedy quest for riches and being mean. Right.

Its storyline was seemingly made by a primary school kid, and i'm not joking when i say that, it seriously has the dimensions of a piece of paper and the psychological toll of butter.

Throughout the movie which you will be predicting the outcome (correctly) there is several rather dated chase scenes, with more 'look i'm burning rubber' than flair, punctuated inevitably by the car screaming through the air, accompanied by two hillbillies and their annoying horn.

Even at some points it seems to deteriorate itself into a badly scripted Porn movie, with such lines as 'i think somethings bumped into my undercarriage' followed rather embarrassingly by the 'will you bend down and take a look', cue Barry white.

These scenes are somewhat saved from total humiliation by the fact that Jessica Simpson is playing an amazingly slutty girl whose wearing very little, which know i think about it is actually even more humiliating for her. But better for teenage boys, that its aimed at.

And me being the target audience and not liking this movie, goes to show even how bad it is, and i'm normally the first guy in the gang to suggest blowing petrol cans up with flaming arrows (yes this actually happens) and the latter. But for me this was a tired effort by the film makers, who seemed to have tried to glue Sean William Scott, johnny Knoxville and the general lee (their confederate flagged car) together with a basic concept and shouted 'yeehaww'.

This is more a film you laugh at, than with, it tries to be funny about things and fails. It tries to be funny about itself, it fails. I spent most of this film actually sympathising with the slack jawed hillbillies that live in the deep south of America and have Jessica Simpson as their cousin. Its wrong, but you can't deny that would be a dilemma. Ontop of that, at the end both of the male cousins are enjoying the early stages of group sex in a cramped car, which added to the embarrassment that this film has to put up with.

I recommend not seeing this movie, especially with kids, as for the next few days they will somehow transform either into johnny Knoxville, or the Dixie horn.

This was my first 360 game and it did not disappoint. Although it hasn't used the 360's full arsenal of high tech abilities it has everything you need for an extremely enjoyable FPS (first person shooter) This hasn't incorporated any special button trickery and is pretty straight forwards from unwrapping to fragging, so its good to have a friend over for a game as well! The details in the graphics are amazing too, and i found my self in awe at some of the battles unfolding before my eyes, and no cheesy cut scenes, your in there, watching everything as it happens, trying to get to cover and trying to get out of harms way.

Thats another thing this game has, it feels real, i know you can get shot a few times and not die, but i don't mean realistic, i mean it feels like your in the battle.

When a tank rolls in you want to get out the way, you fear that turret of death, you slowly come to associate with the band of brothers around you and come to hate the Nazi's. When you see a MG32 nest slaughtering your mates, you feel for them and get out of whatever pit your hiding in and start shooting. This is the only game I've found myself feeling slightly scared at how worked up it makes me feel.

The multi player game is great fun, although no amount of skill can save you from the sheer luck that seems to befall you, which comes into play in single player as well. there's just a few frantic moments in this game which really annoy me, silly little things like your gun moving slower than the guy running away from your sights, like about to be diving into cover when discovering you have been stuck on some random object which gets you killed. Also the amount of times that the enemy knows your there gets a bit disheartening, especially when your on hard mode and have five angry Huns armed with large calibre rifles knowing your every move.

Other than these small nuisances, this is a fantastic game, with the most realistic smoke effects I've ever seen. And you can have an amazing array of tactics and freedom through it as well, either smoking and running in, or flanking your enemies, your allies seem to respond instinctively to what your trying to achieve and help you with it, whilst your enemies too, slowly adapt to your strategies.

Its also great in the fact that your not a super human soldier, you can die in as many shots as your enemies can, and are as likely to get hit by a wry grenade as any other grunt, but have the ability to regenerate. This is great as it means you don't feel like some sort of super soldier, but one of the lads getting done over by your enemies, yet you seem to have a real impact on battles, despite being so mortal.

There are also some great scenes, such as a level where you are falling back, fighting your enemy until compromised then falling back to the next position until your at your last stand. Then another scene where you are to hold out on top of a hill you will end up loathing, and loving. All of these are amazingly well done, with a running commentary from several of your friends voices that become familiar and comforting throughout the game.

This game might not have the best graphics, or the most original storyline or situations, you might even be quite limited in your range of movements on the battlefield, but this game has something others don't. Its literally like being in a film, but having an active role, although it is let down by some unsavoury moments involving bunkers and inescapable grenades that make you want to scream, its a riot of fun too, whether your looking for a solid FPS to frag on or something to mess about on with your mates, this will have it.

It even has some replay value, just for certain battles though.