Gianax's PANTY AND STOCKING WITH GARTERBELT Coming To UK This July!

This is probably one of the weirdest names for Japanese animation  but Gianax's PANTY AND STOCKING WITH GARTERBELT has a cult following and in July UK&Irish fans can now own the series on DVD!

Panty and Stocking - the Anarchy Sisters - are two nasty angels who got booted from the pearly gates for being foul-mouthed bitches! Now they spend their days blowing up ghosts in the lecherous abyss between Heaven and Earth. Panty likes sex, Stocking likes sweets, their afro-sporting main man Garter Belt has a fetish we can't mention. Together, they're keeping the streets free of bodily fluids. Ghosts don't have a prayer against their panty pistols and stocking swords, and if this debaucherous duo can collect enough Heaven Coins, they just might get their halos back. They've got a slim chance in hell, but rolling commando is the best way to get lucky - especially with Panty and Stocking!

Ok this isn't you straight up anime nor is it the dreaded Hentai, its naughty, sexy, funny and the mix of stereotypical anime style and ren&stimpy visuals may appeal to a wider audience. Manga Entertainment are releasing the series (season one) on DVD in UK&;Ireland on July 30th, pre order your copy and check out the UK trailer below. 

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EIFF 2012: Grabbers Review

★★★1/2☆
Jon Wright's Irish set horror, Grabbers, feels like a welcome return to the days of the 1980s creature features laced with comedy. So far, it is also the most entertaining horror film of this years' Edinburgh International Film Festival.

After several dead whales wash up on the shores of Erin Island, Garda Officers Ciarán O'Shea (Richard Coyle) and Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) are set on the case. They soon discover the presence of blood-sucking, tentacled aliens  on the island, promptly named "grabbers". However, it soon becomes clear that these creatures have an aversion to alcohol - so let the drinking ensue!

Part of the joy of Grabbers, is that it never takes itself too seriously, balancing both comedic and horror elements single handedly. It replicates the effortless whimsical charm of timeless monster features like Gremlins, Tremors and Critters - ensuring this is a fun watch from start to finish. Even the basic premise of Grabbers gives you an insight into the cheeky nature of the film - who doesn't want to see a town of drunks battle against aliens?

Grabbers may be fun, but it does not skimp on the darker horror elements. There are plenty of unexpected jumps and scares spread throughout - something that many other of Festival's horror films have been lacking. Wright's uses the eerily isolated Irish coastline for numerous creepy set pieces, from an attack on the beach to a country house invasion. There are also a variety of sweeping aerial shots capturing the picturesque qualities of the Irish setting.

Many a horror film has been let down by the eventual unveiling of its antagonist. Sometimes not seeing the source of the terror is far scarier than what is actually presented. However, the creature effects team behind the monsters in Grabbers, ensure that this is not the case. These are convincing, nasty looking monsters that are just as sinister on screen as they are when out of shot.

Grabbers also boasts a strong cast of excellent British character actors in well-written and engaging roles. Richard Coyle, who excelled in this year's Pusher remake, brings a truly endearing performance to Grabbers, whilst also proving to be equally talented whilst handling more comedic elements. The relationship between his slack, heavy drinking Garda officer and Ruth Bradley's straight-laced, young recruit, provides some welcome laughs. Bradley shows a wonderful sense of comic talent in Lisa Nolan's transformation from loveable prude to an even more loveable drunk - she is completely terrific throughout. Russell Tovey pops up for a smaller supporting role which provides a few laughs, but as good an actor as he is, the role is more annoying than entertaining.

A hilarious supporting cast continue Grabbers' charm offensive from Pascal Scott's turn as the town's cheeky GP to David Pearse and the excellent Bronagh Gallagher as the quaint local pub landlords.
Grabbers is a thoroughly enjoyable return to classic creature feature horror/comedy. Atmospheric direction, a perfectly comic screenplay and charming performances help Grabbers stand out from the rest of the festival's horror pictures. It is great fun.

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey
Director: Jon Wright
Release: 25th June 2012(EIFF)

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A Dangerous Method DVD Review

★★☆☆☆

I know I'm not the only one waiting for David Cronenberg to go back to his roots. The man previously known as “the Baron of Blood” gave us the head-exploding Scanners and the fingernail-popping The Fly. However, of late, ol' Davey Croners seems more about “prestige” pictures than flesh-crawling horror. I'm not even a huge fan of horror, but I've always admired Cronenberg's way making things/ideas/images stick with you, like a splinter in your brain. This is something which I haven't really experienced with his latest output. Unfortunately, A Dangerous Method continues this trend and even struggles to contain anything memorable at all.

A Dangerous Method is based on the play A Talking Cure, which in turn was based on the book A Most Dangerous Method, which in turn was based on real, actual life that bloody well happened. The story follows the career of renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), genital obsessed beardo Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a woman who went from a certified maniac to becoming one of the first female psychoanalysts. Having only a passing knowledge of Jungian and Freudian principles and no previous knowledge at all of Spielrein, I felt the story was immersive, but only up to a certain point. I wanted to know more about Sabina, but had to deal with Jung and Freud debating whether everything boiled down to cocks or not. Both Fassbender and Mortensen were great, with the mercurial Mortensen giving an especially enigmatic turn as Freud. Less great is Knightley, who spends the first act of the film gurning and maniacally laughing like real mental patients don't. I have yet to be convinced by a Knightley performance and her appearance in A Dangerous Method doesn't do anything to change that. She's not necessarily a bad actor, just bad at making me forget she's an actor. Vincent Cassel also shows up, having a whale of a time as the philandering, polyamorous Otto Gross.

A Dangerous Method is basically a stage play writ large. There's nothing inherently cinematic about it and the film seems to work best when the various brainy people are endlessly arguing the inner workings of the mind and psyche. I liked some of the ideas the film toyed with and especially liked Jung's turmoil over his relationship with Speilrein. The mentor/friend/rival relationship between Freud and Jung was well done too. To me, repression is the big central theme of the film, with Sabina's BDSM leanings being too shocking to even consider in the early 1900s. Jung's repression is also important, with him struggling to contain his wild side and having to choose between animalistic rutting and spanking with Spielrein or the more socially acceptable nicey-nicey family life with his obscenely rich wife.

I just don't know what to really think of A Dangerous Method. It's well acted (for the most part) and deals with some interesting concepts. It made me want to find out more about the real story and the people, but I wasn't exactly entertained watching it. There's no sense of Cronenberg in this film and it could have been made be any number of the more “arty” directors out there. It's technically brilliant, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Ben Browne

Rating:15
UK DVD/Blu-Ray Release: 25th June 2012
Directed by:David Cronenberg
cast:Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel
Buy:A Dangerous Method On DVD or Blu-ray

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