If you walk through the garden..

Hello readers,

Now I'm going to do something a bit different today with this blog post - I'm going to educate. You see I often ramble on about all kinds of random junk on this thing, but very rarely do I ever impart true wisdom unto you all. Well today all that's changed as I say to you now....

You MUST watch the Wire.

Now this is a bit of a weird one, because despite all the ridiculous amount of critical acclaim this TV show has received, it's still ridiculously under-watched. It's so frequently described as the best show on TV, but in truth it's much more closer with the statement 'The best show on TV... that noone has ever seen'. This is about to change of course, as it's currently being shown on BBC2 each and every night - the whole five seasons back to back.


If you think you can keep up with it on BBC then I urge you to do so, but be sure to give it your full attention as it will pay you back many times over. The other alternative is to buy the DVD box sets online, as I currently am. This way you can afford to take your time with them, savour them, and enjoy them exactly when you want to. It also means that you don't have to worry about staying up until 11.20pm every night to catch them! I went into HMV on Oxford Street the other day and noticed that they were selling them for about £30. However the very same box sets on the HMV website are selling for just £15 each. And for what you get out of it, that's a damned bargain!

All the online retailers feature them at about the same prices - HMV, Play and Amazon. Alternatively you can go for the uber whole series box set in one go, but it actually doesn't work out any cheaper - how lame is that?

Tonight I actually finished the second series, and it made me sad, as I know it made a lot of other friends sad. Not necessarily because of the story, but simply because we know that we only have 3 more left before it's all over - and we want to delay that day for as long as possible! The first season was truly excellent, but by the second season you can start to see a much bigger story taking place, and it carries a bigger emotional punch to it.

Powerful, brilliant, intelligent, gripping, absorbing, laugh out loud funny, completely tragic, completely real. It's all this and more - so what more to say other than - BUY IT.

Ps: Bring on season 3!! I literally cannot wait for the postman to come knocking!

- Jimmy

The DVDs Every Man Should Own

A few weeks ago Short List magazine (shortlist.com) had a feature called "The DVDs Every Man Should Own", and they invited 5 critics from various big-time publications to offer up their top five. Quite why they didn't think to invite me I don't know, but whatever..

The only problem with the feature is that they seemed to have completely mis-communicated the idea to the critics, because some of the options are RUBBISH. I mean honestly, is Mary Poppins a film that every man should own do you think??

So in order to set this gross injustice straight, I have provided my own list. Feel free to read along whilst drinking beer, scratching your nuts and grunting in approvement..

THE (REAL) DVDS EVERY MAN SHOULD OWN

1. The Alien Quadrilogy

You know, I don't know of a single bloke whose life wouldn't be more enriched by the awesome power of Aliens. The Alien Quadrilogy has to be the best DVD set EVER MADE. Firstly you have one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time with Alien, Ridley Scott's slow burning masterpiece. Then it's on to Aliens, Jim Cameron's sci-fi action masterpiece - surely in the running for one of the best sequels ever made. Then, while the next two films in the saga aren't nearly as good, they're both fun and enjoyable in their own right - and they still have kick-ass aliens in them!

Weirdly this DVD set is always stupidly cheap with many online retailers. Check out a previous post about it here. Now the Alien Quadrilogy is being sold at HMV for just £9.99 with free delivery. I can't even begin to explain to you how crazy that is - You must buy it!

"GAME OVER MAN... GAME OVER!"

2. Predator Special Edition Collection

Knock Knock! Yet another iconic franchise, with brutal action, iconic monsters and wicked one liners. This 4 disc edition DVD has both Predator 1 and 2 Special Editions in it, and has all kinds of kick-assery. Just note that while both the Alien and Predator franchises make the cut, by no means should the two ever cross! If new films are ever made, then they should only be allowed to be touched by talented directors with a passion for the material - which is why the announcement of Robert Rodriguez's 'Predators' comes as such a cool piece of news!! (Read more here) Damn I can't wait for that one..

"STICK AROUND!"

3. The Terminator Collection

As much as I enjoyed Terminator 3, it by no means hits the classic status of the first two films - which are precisely what you get in this boxset, in special edition form! Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been better, Jim Cameron has never been more balls to the walls, and action and story rarely come together so well. But which is the better? Why, Terminator 2 of course - which I would like to put out there as the greatest action film of all time. Disagree? Comments below please!

GET... OUT!

4. The Star Wars Trilogy

Any bloke worth his mettle should own this series in at least some format, and I would like to suggest the following as the best choice - the entire classic trilogy in one boxset. It has some seriously annoying re-touches and contributions from George Lucas (Gredo shooting first, Hayden fucking Christenson replacing the original Darth Vader ghost!) but you can't knock the overall awesomeness of the Star Wars trilogy. It has everything - heroes, anti-heroes, iconic villains, sage demented puppets, a girl in a gold bikini, explosions(!) lightsabers(!) Jedi's(!) and, er... ewoks. Ignore the second lot of films, which in my opinion are utter wank. Just remember, don't give in to hate!

"I'VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS.."

5. Fight Club Special Edition DVD

The First Rule of Fight Club is...

Ah to hell with it! How can I not talk about it? Fight Club is the ultimate film for all real men out there. For all the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

So you need a film to reaffirm your own manliness? How can Fight Club not be on the list? Really.. I am Jack's complete lack of surprise..

"THE THINGS YOU OWN END UP OWNING YOU"

So there we have it, the DVDs every man should own! Comments welcome!

- Jimmy

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter is an animated story from the original Watchmen graphic novel. It is the perfect companion piece to the superb Watchmen movie. Voiced by Gerard '300' Butler, the tale features a ships Captain who is hell-bent on saving his hometown after a pirate attack.

Its pretty cheap too - check out these prices!

HMV £6.99 Delivered
Play.com £6.99 Delivered
Amazon £6.98 + Delivery