Romantic comedy
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Saturday September 06 2008
At first, this doesn't look like a barrel of laughs as our loser hero Peter (Jason Segel) is broken-hearted and downright miserable having being dumped by a famous beauty after five years together.
Ex, Sarah (Kristen Bell) is famous for her role as a screen detective (cue a funny CSI-ish spoof) and he learns that she's now with British pop singer Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).
To get over her, he heads to Hawaii -- but Sarah's there with her new flame, while the desk clerk (Mila Kunis) takes a shine to Peter.
Up there with the 40-year-old Virgin when the laughs do eventually come, it's a must-rental, if only for the fact that, incredibly, Russell Brand actually shows some talent and for once doesn't make you want to punch him.
DVD extras: Deleted/extended/alternate scenes; gag reel; music video; makers' commentaries.
Doomsday
Take a bit of 28 Days Later, add a bit of Escape from New York and Mad Max, and, hey presto, you've got a dud.
It's 2008, and the world faces annihilation from a pandemic virus. It's certainly grim up north -- Scotland to be precise -- which is the epicentre of the Reaper virus. Scotland is turned into a no-go area by the British government and the unfortunate Scots are left to perish.
Twenty-five years on, the virus is back and this time in London. Department of Domestic Security (DDS) Chief Bill Nelson is summoned to Downing Street, where he's told that there are survivors up across the border holding out the possibility of a vaccine. Soon your standard crack team is deployed to trace the original Reaper boffin Kane (Malcolm McDowell) to find out if he has come up with an antidote.
Of course, there are plenty of punkish-looking demented survivors along the way, Mad-Max-bad-guy types roaming the countryside, and of course they've turned to eating flesh. As is the standard contract in horror movies nowadays.
Some lousy dialogue adds to the misery -- but if you like British horror, and want a few unintentional chuckles along the way, you could do worse.
DVD extras: Includes the original and unrated versions of the film, a commentary track, and several making-of featurettes.
- MARK EVANS
