Naruto Shippuden Series 18 Short Review

4 stars of the continued adventures and trials of Naruto Uzumaki.

The usual spoiler alerts apply, this series carries on directly from the events of series 17!

The beginning of series 18 sees Naruto and Sakura back at the leaf village, where Naruto is forced to try to explain to the Konoha 11 why he must take the fight to Sasuke alone.

Kakashi is beginning his preparations to become the Hokage, however at the last minute Lady Tsunade awakens from her coma and much hilarity ensues as the poor stone carver is informed that once again he must change the face he is to carve.

Gerotora remembers Jiraiya's words to him and has Naruto summoned to the Great Lord Elder in order that he might be stored within him, thus loosening the 4th Hokage's seal on the Nine Tails and allowing Naruto to summon it at will. A dangerous strategy but one which may prove necessary in a time of war.

The Great Lord Elder also gives a prophecy that Naruto will meet an octopus on an idyllic island and that he must fight a young man with powerful eyes. Naruto of course knows that this refers to Sasuke, but still has no clue as to the identity of the octopus.

The Five Kage's meet and it is decided that both Naruto and Killer B (The Eight Tails) should be kept safe as they are all that stands between the Shinobi and Akatsuki. To this end Tsunade sends Naruto to undertake a training mission with Killer B in the Land Of Lightning, an arduous sea voyage away.

Read the rest over the review over at Road Rash Reviews.

Jormungand DVD Short Review

5 Stars of the greyer side of life.



Taken from the manga penned by Keitaro Takahashi and then turned into anime back in 2012, directed by Keitarou Motonaga, He puts life into this well scripted beautiful display of the loyalty that forms within a tight-knit group and the things that they have to deal with. This is the first full series on two disks.
Koko Hekmatyar is the young daughter of Floyd Hekmatyar who is head of HCLI's European/African Weapons Transport Division and it seams only natural that his daughter would get involved in some way. She and her team are arms dealers. She believes rather than destroying the world, her guns will mend it, therefore she goes about her businesses with an air of confidence in her own abilities and those that stick closely beside her. Normally her bodyguards are recruited through reputation and known contacts, but Koko takes it upon herself to recruit the child soldier Jonathan "Jonah" Mar, a soldier that hates the fact that it was weapons that killed both his parents. Koko likes the irony that this posses the young soldier. She takes him on a mission and they travel to Eastern Europe where an HCLI shipment of fighter upgrades have been kept back in case it causes tension with local regions, as they head for the shipment they are attacked by elite troops with Jonah protecting Koko, Lehm and Valmet back them up as they eventually manage to secure the upgrades. Koko hears that a rival arms dealer is making a deal to sell attack helicopters to the government, she is not happy with this and decides to meet up with Kroshkin and they pretend to be brother and sister, they stall Kroshkin whilst Tojo and Valmet dissuade the government to cancel Kroshkin's order. Behind the scenes Lutz, Mao, Ugo and Lehm take out Kroshkin's snipers leaving him vulnerable and he finally realises that he has been duped, Koko decides to remove the rival and orders Jonah to kill him. This is the final act that makes Jonah a part of the gang.

For the Full Review please click Road Rash Reviews 

Available to Buy on DVD and Blu-ray Now. 

The Lego Movie 3D Short Review

4 Stars of Awesome 3D CGI Lego Style.

From the Directors that brought you Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller once again collaborate to bring this ace Lego movie to the screens and now to our TV's in Brilliant 3D. (2D comes with the 3D Blu-ray)
In the Lego world there is a weapon so powerful it can freeze any Lego figure to its spot forever. The wizard Vitruvius, (Morgan Freeman, The Dark Night Rises) tries his hardest to keep the weapon out of the clutches of the evil arch enemy 'Lord Business', (Will Farrell, Anchorman 2 The Legend Continues) but he fails and as Lord Business leaves with the 'Kragle' Vitruvius prophesies that there will be "The Special" who will be the one to find the "Piece of Resistance" that is capable of stopping the Kragle.

Skip forward eight and a half years we find ourselves on a construction site with menial worker Emmet Brickowski from Bricksburg, it's late and the site should be deserted but Emmet spots someone lurking in the shadows. He finds a woman who turns out to be Wyldstyle, (Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games).

For the Fuill Review please click Road Rash Reviews

Available to Buy on 3D Blu-ray and Blu-ray on the 21st of July.

Nead For Speed 3D Blu-ray Short Review

5 Star High Octane High Performance Racing.
This is Director Scott Waugh's, (Act of Valor) second venture into the feature film universe, but he is well qualified to make a film about fast cars and the inherent danger that lye's within. As he has 41 Stunts credits to his name, (We Were Soldiers, Bad Boys II, Mr and Mrs Smith).
What he has created is a petrol heads dream, whether you are male or female as there is plenty of eye candy, from American muscle to European super cars.
You're in for Speed,  Smashes, Crashes and Ace Driving.
After the death of his father Tobey Marshall, (Aaron Paul, The Last House on the Left) takes over the running of Marshall performance Motors. he and his friends do up American muscle cars such as GTO's and Mustangs. But there isn't enough work coming through the doors, so there is a visit from his dads old bank manager calling in the loan. He supplements his money by taking part in late night street races for a prize of $5000. He may be too  good as his old rival Dino Brewster, (Dominic Cooper, Captain America: The First Avenger) turns up to watch him race along with his old girlfriend Anita, (Dakota Johnson, 21 Jump Street) and he tells him he wants to see him after the race. Anita is Little Pete's sister and little Pete, (Harrison Gilbertson, Haunt) has been taken under Tobey's wing as a younger brother. Dino is the one from MT Kisco New York that made it all the way to NASCAR and even though he thinks Tobey is beneath him he admires his skills as a mechanic and offers him a job of finishing the car that disapeared the Ford Shelby Mustang that Carroll Shelby was working on when he died. The cash strapped Tobey has no option but to accept the 25% finished car price, estimated to be $500,000. He is ribbed by his friends, they think he is doing it to get back with Anita.

For the full review please click Road Rash Reviews

Ashens And The Quest For The GameChild Short Review

3 stars for this hilarious but thoroughly weird adventure/buddy film.

Ashens is written by and stars Stuart Ashen, famous for his YouTube channel, in which he demonstrates, puts down and generally destroys random and worthless tat, (look him up, it's brilliant).

This film is essentially semi-autobiographical, as he plays his YouTube persona Ashens, who has been collecting for years and now has only one item missing from his ultimate library of rubbish, the GameChild. This hand held console was released as a rip off of the GameBoy, but recalled after only two hundred sales on account of burning out retinas and setting fire to fingers.

His arch nemesis, imaginatively named Nemesis (Chris Kendall, another popular YouTube comedian), beat him to the GameChild on it's first release, but now with only one remaining that wasn't recalled, the hunt is really on.

Ashens is assisted in his his quest by The Professor (Robert Llewellyn - Red Dwarf, Junkyard Wars), with whom he fell out after losing his girlfriend Ashley (Millie Reeves - The Trap) to him. Also tagging along is his very bizarre and dysfunctional friend, Chef Excellence (Dan Tomlinson), a failed TV chef who is determined not to give up the whites for anyone.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews

Some Like it Hot Cinema Re-Release

5 Star Super cast for a Super Film
A Classic Film returns to selected cinema's this summer, 55 years after its first release in the UK on the 17 May 1959.
From the great director Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment).
The film starts in Chicago 1929, it's the middle of prohibition and gangsters fight the police as they transport there illegal alcohol across the city, they also vie for power amongst themselves.
Joe and Jerry are two musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. They are spotted but get away and this starts the journey of laughter as the only band they can join is a girl troupe that are going from Chicago to Florida. (Brilliant Idea).
But the troupe are never going to take on a couple of ruff men, so welcome Josephine and Daphne the saxophone and Bass player the need. The girls are readily accepted and they all get on like a house on fire but Joe cannot hold back his feelings for Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, (Marilyn Monroe, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). So he invents a millionaire character called Junior. But who could ignore "Marilyn Monroe and her bosom companions" (Film Tag line).
Sugar Kane is a hard drinking hard playing ukulele player who is on her final warning from Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators.
They think they have got away when they arrive in Florid with nearly 2000 miles between them and Chicago, but they are wrong.

let the hilarity begin.

MGM Studios' Some Like It Hot is back in cinemas from 18 July, opening at BFI Southbank, Irish Film Institute, Filmhouse Edinburgh, Glasgow Film Theatre and selected cinemas nationwide.

For further information

Park Circus Press Office – Jack Bell

Email: press@parkcircus.com Tel: 0141 332 9867

 In Cinemas From 18th July

Escape From Planet Earth Short DVD Review

3 Stars for the Hero From Planet Baab

Escape From Planet Earth comes from the pen of Cal (Callan) Brunker and this is his first major film. He has worked on some big films as a storyboarder and the influence of those films show in this one, (Despicable Me, Ice Age: Continental Drift).
Scorch Supernova, (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy) and his smaller brother Gary, (Rob Corddy, Warm Bodies) both work for BASA based on Planet Baab and Scorch is the Planets hero, he goes around the universe doing daring rescues of people and little blue babies from their enemies, the fierce Gnarlachs. He is victorious, mainly because Gary is behind the scenes giving him the edge over the enemy.
Scorch is interviewed by hero worshipping anchorwoman Gabby Babblebrook, (Safia Vergara, Machete Kills) and you can see the affection between them but they cannot show it on camera. Back at Gary's house his son Kip, (Jonathan Morgan Heit, Date Night) really dotes on his uncle and wants to be a 'Scorch' rather than the button pushing 'stay in the office' worker like his father.
Soon a call from the Boss of BASA, Lena Thackleman, (Jessica Alba, Sin City) comes through to Scorch and Gary that an SOS has come through from the "Dark Planet" (Earth) a place that is infamous in that no species of alien has ever returned from their first contact mission. Gary sees this as a mission to far and argues with the conceited Scorch, the argument gets heated and eventually Gary quits BASA before Scorch can fire him. Buy the time he gets home to his wife Kira, (Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex in the City) he finds out that Scorch is already Earth bound and the rescue mission is all going to be beamed back to Baab for all his adoring fans. But soon things outside the 7/11 go wrong, even with the power of his suit Scorch is captured by the Hazmats and the General Shanker, (William Shatner, Star Trek...). This upsets Kip who, wanting to be a Scorch immediately decides that he will rescue his hero but Gary is against it and wont do it himself he send Kip to his bedroom, but soon after decides that he was wrong and goes to apologise, but Kip is gone and there can only be one place he can be. Kira dons a pair of rocket boots and they fly off to BASA.

For the full review please click Road Rash Reviews 

Available to Buy on DVD and Blu-ray Now.

Unit One Series 4 Short Review

4 stars of gripping Danish crime thriller.

Unit One began its life in 2000 as Rejseholdet (Mobile Unit) and is a long running and extremely popular Danish crime thriller, featuring a small team of experts who travel the country assisting local police forces with difficult cases. It is being released in the UK with English subtitles under the Arrow Films Nordic Noir label.

Altogether there were 32 episodes made, season 4 features the final 8 episodes and the dramatic conclusion to this excellent series.

All of the episodes are based upon actual cases which occurred in Denmark over the course of two decades, which makes for some pretty impressive stories.

Central to the story is Ingrid Dahl (Charlotte Fich - Headhunter, Drabet), the Detective Chief Inspector, promoted during the first season. She now has the full respect of her team and despite their sometimes unorthodox methods, they almost always get the job done. Ingrid struggles with her private life, working long hours and trying to raise her son Tobias. She is unsure of her relationship with Ulf (Erik Wedersoe - The Idiots, Little Big Girl) who is her superior but who was also good friends with her parents. She is assisted by I.P. (Waage Sando) the Detective Inspector, who wanted her job, but now helps her to do it.

As Ingrid struggles with her life, the cases keep coming in, and one of the most important members of the team is Allen Fischer (Mads Mikkelsen - Hannibal, Casino Royale), who is good at his job but will do anything to get results and is not above bending the rules.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews.

The Hooligan Factory Short DVD Review

5 Star Laugh Out Loud British Comedy.

Nick Nevern, (Terry) does it again, He wrote, Directed and Stars in this spoof of football films such as The Football Factory, Green Street, The Firm and many more. It was also produced by one of the other stars Jason Maza, (Welcome to the Punch).
Danny, (Maza) is an unhappy young man, he has been expelled from school and ever since his father Danny Snr, (Ronnie Fox, The Sweeney) got sent down for a long stretch for making a judge swallow his own wig, he has been living with his Grandfathers flat. Danny craves the notoriety of his father.
Meanwhile in Wormwood Scrubs Dexter the infamous football hooligan is just about to be released.

For the full 5 Star review please click Road Rash Reviews 

Available to Buy on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 July.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan S2 P2 Short Review

4 Stars of Human and Demon vs Demon and World Annihilation.

Once again we are thrown into the complicated world of demon vs demon with the humans very much in the mix.
Following on from series 2 part 1 we get the conclusion of this arc Demon Capital, as Rikuo and his Night parade of a hundred demons take on the Kyoto Yokai along with their leader Hagoromo Gitsune's and her dream of giving birth to her unborn 'child'.


With just one seal to break Hagoromo Gitsune gathers her followers at Nijo castle (the 1st seal).
Whilst Rikuo and his Night Parade are going to the summit of the Forest of Torii. Where Awashima finds she is whisked away to another realm owned by Senju Mukade, where she remembers that some yokai are invincible in their own realm, so she must find what gives this yokai his powers.
When they reach the top Hidemoto tells Rikuo that the seals have been put in a spiral to lure the enemy into the centre of the spiral and Rikuo and the Night Parade must help in defeating the Ayakashi and replacing the seals on the outer spiral. But before they can get started Tsuchigomo, an ancient Ayakashi who was tricked by Hidemoto into a 400 year slumber, turns up and wants to fight the toughest Fighters. A huge battle takes place a Rikuo is beaten and battered as are the Night Parade, the sun comes up and Rikuo turns back into his human form but still wants to fight. Tsuchigomo is impressed so he kidnaps

For the full review please click Road Rash Review 

Available to Buy on DVD Now.

The Trials Of Cate McCall Short Review

3 stars for a well written if slightly predictable courtroom drama.

The Trials Of Cate McCall is written and directed by Karen Moncrieff (The Dead Girl, Petals On The Wind) and tells us the story of Cate McCall (Kate Beckinsale - Underworld, The Aviator), a talented lawyer whose rise in her chosen career was matched by the fall of her private life, as her descent into alcoholism caused her to lose custody of her daughter.

Now, after coming out of rehab, Cate is trying to get her life back on track and agrees to take on the case of Lacey Stubbs (Anna Anissimova - The Whistleblower, Flutter) who is in prison after admitting to the murder of another woman. However, she has since changed her story and Cate finds herself defending her appeal based on a number of glaring mistakes and oversights on behalf of the prosecution and the police.

However, as Cate delves deeper into the case, with the help of her sponsor, Bridges (Nick Nolte - Cape Fear, Warrior) she begins to uncover some very disturbing facts about the local police force, especially Detective Welch (Mark Pellegrino - The Number 23, National Treasure), who stands accused of rape and of withholding evidence. With doubts about Lacey's guilt, she sets about getting her released.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews. 

Dragon Ball Collection 2 part 1 Short Review

4 Stars as Goku battles the Red Ribbon Army.
Another great addition to the Dragon Ball story as Goku goes up against more nasty foes.
Now that the tournament is over Goku and Krillin are at a loose end, with Master Roshi telling them to take a break from training, but Krillin insists on spoiling Roshi's pervy fun with Launch and goes to live on the island with him.
A year has passed since the Dragon Balls disappeared so Goku decides that he will try and find his grandfathers 4 star ball, with his happy go lucky attitude he thinks that it will be an adventure and with the dragon ball locator that Bulma gave him, he sets off on his journey without a care in the world.

Meanwhile Nam heads back to his drought ridden village with Roshi's present. But along the way he is grabbed by a flying dinosaur and taken off to be its dinner, but fortunately for him he is spotted by the bathing Goku who gives chase and rescues him before Nam heads back to his village. But the water situation gets worse as the present of a 'dinocap' full of water isn't enough to solve the villages problems.

For the full review please click Road Rash Reviews

Available to Buy on DVD Now.

Absentia Short Review

4 stars for this tense and exciting horror/chiller.

Absentia is written and directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ghosts of Hamilton Street) and is a very intelligent and well written horror/ psychological thriller which offers an interesting new take on an ancient legend.

This film tells the story of Tricia Riley (Courtney Bell - Oculus, The Puzzle), wife of Daniel Riley (Morgan Peter Brown - Piggies, Biology 101), who disappeared seven years previously. Although she has never really given up hope of finding him and still puts up posters, after seven years and being heavily pregnant by her new boyfriend, she decides the time is right to declare him dead "In Absentia", thus freeing the insurance money to help her in her new life.

In order to ease this transition, her wayward drug addict sister Callie (Katie Parker - Oculus, The Family) moves in with her to offer moral support. However, as the paperwork nears completion, Tricia begins to have disturbing hallucinations centered around her missing husband, and Callie starts to develop an unhealthy fascination with the underpass near to the house.

As Detective Mallory (Dave Levine - Oculus, The Asylum), in charge of the missing persons case, continues to apply pressure to get her to move away from the neighbourhood, strange things start to happen. Callie sees people in the tunnel and trinkets appear in the house, without any sign of forced entry.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews.

Non Stop Blu-ray Release Short Review

5 Star Neeson doing what he does best.

This a tense and compelling film that shows the flaws of man and the thoughts of those that think their country doesn't go far enough to protect them.
Liam Nesson joins director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) once again to bring you Non-Stop a film about the not so pleasant in flight entertainment.
Bill Marks (Nesson) is a Air Marshal but he is a flawed one as he has a drink problem and those in the know, know about it.
Even though he is seasoned in his job he still hate the take off and he has to wrap a piece of ribbon around his hand to calm himself much to the amusement of Jen Summers, (Julianne Moore, The Big Lebowski ) the passenger in the window seat.
He is contacted on his secure mobile and says it's a go, his job starts here, keeping the passengers safe from all those who may harm the plane or the passengers. After having a cigarette in the toilet he is contacted again this time it's not the office.
The effects here are good as you get to see the conversation without the camera always looking at the phone screen.

For the Fukl review please click Road Rash Reviews 

Availble to Buy on DVD and Blu-ray Now.

Expecting VOD and DVD Short Review

4 stars for this heartwarming and funny film.

Expecting is written and directed by Jessie McCormack (The Antagonist, The Amateurs) and deals with the tricky topics of I.V.F. failure and adoption and the ways in which they can affect people, in a way that is both bold and funny.

Lizzie (Radha Mitchell - Silent Hill, Pitch Black) is desperate to have a baby with her husband Peter (Jon Dore - Mash Up, My Life As An Experiment), but after four rounds of I.V.F. it is becoming increasingly apparent that it just simply isn't going to work. The constant failure is causing all sorts of problems for the couple, who are under the care of Dr. Grayson (Mimi Kennedy - Due Date, Midnight In Paris), a marriage counsellor  with some very unorthodox but hilarious methods.

To make matters worse for them, Lizzie's foul mouthed, fancy free and very single friend Andie (Michelle Monaghan -  Source Code, Due Date), falls pregnant from a one night stand. Feeling guilty about rubbing their noses in it, Andie decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and offers to give them her baby.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews.

One Piece Movie: Strong World Short Review

5 stars of glossy swashbuckling adventures.

One Piece Movie: Strong World is the tenth One Piece film and is written by Eiichiro Oda (the creator of the original Manga) himself, the first of the films that he actually wrote the story for. The film is directed by Munehisa Sakai. 

For those of you who are following One Piece using the releases from Manga UK, you will immediately notice a few things different, due to this film being slightly ahead of our timeline. Firstly (and most noteworthy), the Straw Hats are no longer aboard the Going Merry, they are now on the Thousand Sunny. There are also two new crew members that we are yet to meet in the series. These are Franky, a Speedo wearing robot who is a shipwright and handyman, and Brook, a skeleton with a big Afro who is the ship's musician.

It tells the story of Shiki, The golden Lion, a pirate who is in the process of hatching a dastardly scheme when he encounters our friends, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.

Shiki first encounters the crew when they contact him to warn of an impending storm. Upon realizing that it was Nami who first detected the storm where his own navigators failed, he decides that he must have her for his crew and lures them to his flying island. Once there, he kidnaps Nami and scatters the others to different corners of the island, where they are forced to take on the might of the strange and abnormally large and powerful creatures which are it's inhabitants.

Read the rest of the review over at Road Rash Reviews.