Erich Fackert

Due Date story of Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is a highly-strung architect who is flying home to Los Angeles for the birth of his first child. Due to some Apatow-esque farcical events (which all seem to stem from child-like aspiring actor, Ethan Tremblay (Zack Galifianakis)), Peter ends up being shot by an air marshal and put on a “no-fly” list. As luck would have it, fortune comes in the form of Tremblay, who offers Peter a lift to LA, as Ethan himself is travelling to Hollywood to try his luck at becoming a “real actor”.

Straight away the two men’s diametrically opposed personalities clash, and we find out that Ethan has a second motive for his travels – to spread his recently deceased father’s ashes. It is clear instantly that Highman has not a lot of time for Tremblay, and this is not helped by the fact that Ethan decides to make a pitstop at the house of the nearest pot dealer. (whom Tremblay “found on craigslist – she’s very legitimate”)

The situation only gets worse from here, when the pair discover that they have left, and to add insult to injury, Ethan spent 0 on weed. Peter decides to have money wired through to Ethan’s account (Highman’s wallet, along with the rest of his luggage, were left on the plane), however when they set up the transaction, Ethan uses his stage name (Tremblay), but only has ID to show his real surname, Chase. When the obnoxious cashier (Danny McBride), who just happens to be a “handi-capable”, wheel-chair ridden war vet, decides to take matters into his own hands, and attacks Peter with what looks like a police truncheon, the situation gets out of control.  Read more... (1022 words, 1 image, estimated 4:05 mins reading time)

Made in Dagenham movie opens with some facts and figures about the Ford Dagenham factory and the number of people employed, a fraction of whom were women.

Against a background of Desmond Dekkar’s “The Israelites” the opening shot shows the sewing room where the seat covers and door panels are hand-sewn by women on individual sewing machines. Many of the women are stripped down to their underwear, presumably because of the hot working conditions.

The union shop steward, Albert, played by Bob Hoskins, walks into the room, he has to shield his eyes in embarrassment from the half-undressed women. He tells them that the only way for the women to progress their claim against being regarded as unskilled workers is to take industrial action. They all agree to an overtime ban and a one-day strike.

The women are then seen at a party celebrating a birthday, one of the girls slips out and is seen having sex in the back of a car (a Ford Corsair). She returns and they get rapidly drunk before staggering home.

Rita is then shown having breakfast with her family. Husband Eddie has to be roused out of bed by Rita with a splash of cold water on his back! Rita’s son complains that the teacher has hit him, Rita resolves to sort it out. She goes to the school to see the teacher, Mr. Clark, who is dressed in academic robe. He explains that he forgot his protractor on numerous occasions and was caned, he explains in a patronising way that children from the council estate sometimes couldn’t cope and needed reminding on how to behave and not forget things. Rita is furious, leaves the classroom and bumps into another parent (later identified as Lisa) who, when she asks if she is OK, she tells to F…. off.  Read more... (1731 words, 1 image, estimated 6:55 mins reading time)

Shrek Forever After begins just before Shrek (Mike Myers) rescues Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in the first film. Desperate to lift their daughter’s curse, King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) meet with con artist Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), who requests becoming king of Far Far Away in exchange. Just before the deal is contracted, the king and queen learn that Fiona has already been rescued. In the present, a disgruntled Rumpelstiltskin wishes Shrek was never born and seeks revenge.

Meanwhile, Shrek has grown tired of being a domesticated family man and celebrity among the local villagers, leading him to yearn for the days when he felt like a “real ogre.” He takes his family to Far Far Away to celebrate his children’s first birthday where lots of fictional characters are present. Shrek gets annoyed here when the three little pigs eat the kids’ cake. After he lets out a roar of frustration, the entire crowd cheers. He then smashes up a replacement cake and storms off. He meets Rumpelstiltskin, who offers to give Shrek a day to live like a real ogre again in exchange for a day from his childhood he wouldn’t remember being erased. Shrek agrees and signs the contract, and abruptly lands in a world where he is still feared by villagers. He enjoys causing mischief until he finds wanted posters for the ogress Fiona and his home deserted. He is suddenly captured by witches and taken to Rumpelstiltskin, who is now the king of Far Far Away, which has become derelict and uses ogres and even some of Shrek’s friends for slave labor.  Read more... (636 words, 1 image, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

In the coming weeks shoppers will be able to benefit from the deployment of robotically operated DVD vending kiosks, and one machine being launched as a trial in a Tesco Ireland store initially could see the concept rolled out in 2008.  The kiosks, which offer users touch-screen access to a range of new release movies, will also be launched in Centra and Applegreen stores with an expected deployment across both the UK and Ireland should the trials prove successful.

The Movie Booth is a newly created brand which supplies DVD rental kiosks to retail stores throughout the UK and Ireland enabling users to rent movies on a pay-as-you-go basis from a fully automated machine, offering a modern alternative to the traditional high street DVD rental store.

The futuristic concept is the brainchild of award winning young entrepreneur Carlos Marco Rider, who noticed the gap in the DVD rental market and came up with a solution that could offer a convenient and cost-effective way for people to rent their favourite new release movies from their local shop.

Mr Rider commented, “The DVD rental market has faced big changes in recent years, and I felt that high street DVD rental services didn’t offer value to their customers.  By eliminating space and staffing costs, our kiosks can offer the most competitive DVD rental prices in the UK and Ireland.  To many people renting a DVD from a machine can be intimidating but these kiosks are designed to be completely user-friendly”.  Read more... (464 words, 1 image, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Movie Review - Plot

The movie opens at the New Jersey State Police Academy in the autumn of 2008. Paul Blart (Kevin James), a single father, tries out to be a cop. He does surprisingly well on the obstacle course despite his size, but passes out due to hypoglycemia, and fails the course.He lives with his mother and daughter, who tries to find him a girlfriend on a dating website, as his wife had previously left him, and he had been feeling lonely ever since. He tries to make ends meet as a security officer at West Orange Pavilion Mall. He takes the job very seriously, but receives no respect from the patrons. The next day, Blart is introduced to a new trainee named Veck Sims. Blart takes him on a tour of the mall, teaching him the basics. While patrolling the mall, Blart sees – and falls for – a kiosk owner, Amy. After a few attempts to muster up courage, Blart tries to talk to Amy, but awkwardly asks for hair products instead. Upon their second “meeting”, Blart offers to give Amy a ride to her car on his Segway, and they agree to meet later in a bar where the mall staff are regular patrons. Unfortunately, Blart accidentally gets drunk, and humiliates himself in front of everybody present. Thinking he has ruined his chances with Amy, Blart returns home in low spirits. Later, Blart’s co-worker offers him his daughter’s phone so Blart could call Amy.

   Read more... (952 words, 1 image, estimated 3:48 mins reading time)