80s Movies: Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters was a real 80s franchise, originating in the mind of Dan Aykroyd around 1982 it spawned two live action films, an animated series, a number one single, numerous video games and all manner of other merchandise which bestrode the decade. I'm sure I had a Slimer lunchbox, which doesn't sound very sanitary or appetizing when you think about it. The franchise declined somewhat in the 90s but looks to be coming back soon with a third movie currently in pre-production.

We're looking at the 1984 original today though, the one that kicked it all off. Allied to the great concept (basically a supernatural 4th emergency service), the movie benefits from a brilliantly funny script from Akroyd and co-star Harold Ramis, and a stand-out performance by the always hilarious Bill Murray.

31 North 62 East

31 North 62 East was released in selected cinemas in 2009 and made it to DVD in September 2010 - I got it for Christmas purely because it features former Quizmania presenter Debbie King as a newsreader in one scene, and I'm a fan.

Now, it's worth being honest about the reasons why 31 North 62 East is what it is. It's an independent movie, so it didn't have the weight of the major studios behind it. Its budget was little more than $3 million, if Wikipedia is accurate. But operating on a shoestring, you get a decent amount in terms of plot and production. Filming was spread across the UK and Jordan, while there are plenty of familiar faces - even if some of them are not quite perfect for the parts they play. The plot itself has quite a few phases to it, which keep the pace up in the absence of any proper Hollywood money shots - the big action is always tantalisingly off-screen, obviously for budgetary reasons.

TRON: Legacy

TRON: Legacy needs little introduction; if you didn't see the original TRON movie, you must have picked up on the hysteria surrounding this one. I'm not always one to buy into sequels, especially after a long delay, but recent years have delivered Terminator: Salvation, Predators, and now TRON: Legacy - and all have done justice to their lineage.

It's great to see Jeff Bridges back as Kevin Flynn - rest assured this is more than a cameo appearance and Bridges hasn't lost it, 30 years on from the first film. But Garrett Hedlund also does a fine job of taking the mantle as this instalment's lead character, Flynn's son Sam. An almost unrecognisable Olivia Wilde adds the main female presence as Quora, with Beau Garrett appearing as Jem - both characters providing beauty and strength in equal measures in a film where nobody is there purely to look at.

DVD & Blu-ray Round Up: Doctor Who - The Complete Fifth Series

Finally, five months after the series finale aired, the BBC have released a box-set of the complete Doctor Who Series 5. And wouldn't you know, you wait five months and suddenly 4 box-sets come along at once. Take your pick from the rather spiffy lenticular 3D cover to the left, available on DVD or Blu-ray, or the executive-looking Special Edition steelbook complete with collector's booklet, 4 illustrated artcards, and a host of the usual commentaries and extras, again on DVD or Blu-ray.

I've already touched on this Doctor Who series a few times on the round up, and made no secret of the fact that I loved it. Matt Smith stepped in to David Tennant's shoes and looked a natural right from the start, and the addition of the beautiful and brilliant Karen Gillan hasn't done the show any harm whatsoever.

All in all series 5 was a great success, from the charming opening to The Eleventh Hour, through the spooky Vampires of Venice, the petrifying Time of Angels to the quirkier episodes like Vincent and the Doctor, and the good old fashioned two parter of The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, everything seemed to more or less click in to place.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed: Blu-ray Edition

The Disappearance of Alice Creed is what would probably usually be called a "stylish thriller". We're not talking George Clooney style here, we're talking about gritty, true-to-life cinema. If the character would swear in real life, they swear in the film. If there'd be violence, there is. The only real deviation from that is in the necessary fiction required to drive the plot, which is well crafted with all the twists and turns you might expect from a really well planned short story.

A cast of thousands this certainly is not - in fact, only three people appear on screen in the entire film. If you're a fan of Reservoir Dogs, with its ensemble cast, clearly laid out situation and dedication to driving the events towards that scene, rather than taking the actors to where the action is, then you should find something to like in The Disappearance of Alice Creed. If you're not much of a cinema fan, just buy it for the chance to see Gemma Arterton nude in high definition.

Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Re-release

It's been a busy year for Back to the Future. Of course it's 25 years since the original 1985 release of the movie - and it's a little strange to think how close we now are to the dates used in 1989's Back to the Future Part II. We might not have hoverboards, but we're getting closer to massive holographic sharks, so that's good.

As any of you who use Twitter to an obsessive extent will no doubt no, the anniversary festivities really got underway on July 5th when Totalfilm got it a bit wrong and thought JUL 05 2010 had ever appeared on the top row of the DeLorean's time circuits... and then did some ill-advised Photoshopping to go alongside their apology.

But now it's October - just like in the movie - and the 25th anniversary DVD and Blu-ray versions of the original film are being released to mark the proper milestone. What's more, they've only gone and put it back on the big screen, too. Great Scott!

DVD & Blu-ray Round Up - Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island grabs the coveted POPSICULTURE DVD and Blu-ray Release of the Week(TM) this week. It's okay Marty, you don't have to come over to pick up the award. The thriller starring Leo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo divided opinion at the time of its cinema release, seen by some as a glorified B-movie unworthy of its director, and by others as a chilling psychological masterpiece.

The truth, as always, is somewhere in between. Shutter Island a slow-slow-fast movie, full of lingering suspenseful scenes, interspersed with the occasional burst of action to keep you on your toes. DiCaprio and Ruffalo play charmingly named US Marshals, Teddy and Chuck, who are sent to the eponymous island to investigate mysterious goings on at a hospital for the criminally insane. It’s hard to get away from the B-movie connotations in that plot, but there are enough twists and turns throughout the two-hour running time to hold our attention. Suffice to say nothing, and no one, on the island is what it seems.

Predators

The first pure Predator movie in two decades opens in cinemas this week, and this time they're not coming to us - we're going to them. Predators takes the action to an unknown planet used by the eponymous hunters as a kind of massive game reserve. Their prey remains the same, however, as a group of Earth's finest and least trustworthy adversaries is selected to pit their skills against the maw-faced aliens.

Predators is the third film in the franchise proper, with the original released in 1987 and Predator 2 out three years later. Two Alien vs. Predator movies brought the dreadlocked hunters back to our screens in 2004 and 2007 and, like Aliens did for Alien, this latest movie brings them back once more with the weight of numbers behind them.