The Best Guide for the LS8 Area

January DVD Releases

The Invention of Lying

Ricky Gervais achieves his ambition of directing his first ever motion picture, which is an accomplishment and a suitable challenge for such a worthy and enthusiastic person. His previous attempts as a director have been the TV programmes The Office and the flawless Extras. Some may find this motion picture a hidden gem and others may abandon it, as Ricky Gervais's particular brand of humour is noticeably implanted into the film, and can be described as a love it or hate it taste for most.

To explain the narrative simply Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) inhabits a world where everyone tells the truth and he lives a pretty depressing life - middle age, slight obesity and lack of confidence are just the main obstacles in his day to day battle to sustain happiness. Mark is eager to find something that will liberate him, how does he do this?

Well, put simply, he lies. The first thing he attempts to do is gain the affection of Anna who is played by the delightful Jennifer Garner (Elektra). The plot then gets sidetracked when Mark is lying to his mum on her death bed stating that the afterlife involves big mansions. He is overheard by the nurses who then distribute the word to local newspapers that they believe Mark can communicate with God. This misapprehension has a dire effect on his life.

The most admirable fact about this project is Ricky Gervais also acts as the lead character which for me displays a sign of commitment and keeps me confident when attending the cinema. As I am not actually a genuine supporter of some of Ricky Gervais's work I was pleasantly taken back and astounded by this and some what eager to view what Gervais can pull out of his sleeve next. The cast is also crunched with a small cluster of additional top notch actors such as Jonah Hill (Superbad) who seems to be discovering his way back into being a main role character and not just a cameo (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Ghost Town), and also Rob Lowe (Thank You for Smoking) who we see make a firm effort in elaborating on this already superb comedy.

A masterpiece? Perhaps not, more like a perfect birth point for what could hopefully be the beginning of a directing pursuit for Gervais. So check this out with a pinch of salt and don't think you will know how the story will cease ten minutes in, as Gervais has evidentially poured his heart and character into this suspenseful, surprising comedy, and it would be a crying shame to miss.

This Is It

Is this it? No, I would say not just yet, this film has a lot of hype confining it which just about pulled of its release in the cinema, also the idea of only coming out in the cinema for a short time to make it seem more crucial than it actually is didn‘t do it much justice. I shall agree Michael Jackson is a legend and I am pretty assertive that everyone reading this can hum or even sing one of his songs, so in that sense this film is an admiring experience as it is largely a montage of the songs that were going to be performed at his set of live shows in July last year.

For the die hard Jackson fans they will find themselves slightly unsatisfied as they will know there is much more to him, not just his music and as much as the documentary tries to explain that they never really dive into the depths of his personality. Hopefully there will be a better round up or documentary of Michael Jackson's life and not just a recorded diary for a live show which would of probably just featured as a b-side on the live DVD after the shows, if they happened.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

A small town scientist named Flint Lockwood has an endless determination to invent something that will change ways forever. As his town is running out of food he succeeds his dreams and creates a world where food can plummet from the sky like rain. This is astonishing for a while until towns and cities are swamped with piles of food. Although it was 3D in the cinema this film really does pull its weight on DVD as the CGI effects and the charming comedy will hopefully leave you well satisfied.

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