SusanAdebisi

Danny Is a generally annoying American kid arriving In Oz to re-find his absent old man (a steroetyped bloke), by the end he's become a man having endured his "Initiation" and everything ends bonza. The basic narrative Is fine even If signposted for the hard of thinking(me), all the characters play out exactly as they look they would. Rarely do you believe this Is a not a made for TV representation of Australia although much of the scenery particularly during the later part Is outstanding. The good bits: His old mans line of work Is a great career and the Kulu guy Is oddly endearing with a seriously Infectious cackle.

Not bad

Revolving around aspiring writer Ali's tribulations In a new & unfamiliar setting told from an outsiders perspective. The title, presumably In reference to his numerous different lodgings Is Initially a central plot line, as It progresses the focus turns to finding a Visa bride. Coinciding with the sympathy humour of Ali's beginnings being replaced by adding depth to his plight. Shame as for the first hour there are many funny moments - ie the "inspiration" for his stories.

London under the night lights looks great also rightly portraying a sprawling city that can be Incredibly lonely. The main character(the lippy arab guy from La Haine) Is very good both confident & hapless, Juliete Lewis' In character Munroe Impersonation again good although under-used. The supernatural stuff at the end feels a little out of place but at least has some reasoning behind it so forgivable. Overall a likable film just about judging the balance between light & serious, odd enough to keep you watching. Most Importantly a brit comedy drama that doesn't try too hard - stupid gimmicks, rubbish stereotypes, disgusting overacting etc.

This has the grandeur of a proper mania building to a brilliant last half.

Cruiserweight title - a good opener getting In as much as possible at a rapid pace. Nice contrast between Rey rey's agile cruiserweight zipping around and Hardy's light heavyweight mix of speed & power.

Handicap match - Sadly the weakest match on the card great entrance though. Taker Is good and gets plenty of offence In, Albert Is plain annoying with all his shouting. The tombstone connects properly for a change usually the "victim" tucks his chin In leaving Inches between head & canvas - not A train who visibly gets dumped right on his bonce.

Triple threat women's title - Not bad atall with a decent flow aided by the fact all 3 are technically sound. Victoria Is too fine & at the time was doing her psycho bint routine with the Tatu entrance. Trish worked damn hard but lets be honest for real Jazz would destroy both then some, Stevie's chair shot didn't help much either!

Triple threat tag championship - very well booked & executed as expected Eddie & Beniot stand out through sheer Intensity. Chavo also looks good until flattened by the man beast.

Shawn Michaels/Jericho - Honestly In the long run this match Is hugely underrated In my book on a par with Angle/Hbk 2 manias ahead There's too many counters/reversals to keep up with, many high spots & nearfalls/tap outs. Not a great HBK fan credit where It's due he's nigh on Invulnerable In this, boy can he do drama. Y2J Is even better, the angle that he "wants to be Michael's" Is played out brilliantly as he does EVERYTHING to succeed. Why bother as a cheap shot would have done, great sore loser ending.

Heavyweight championship: HHH/Booker - Actually a good match as HHH has to up his tempo, Booker as always gives It all to make It look a genuine contest. He Is either a master seller or he legit can't physically stand by the end despite hitting a sick Houston Hangover. The build up bordered on the race card, certainly portraying Booker as unworthy. HHH plays a straight bat for the most part toning down the arrogance and Flair aside the cheating. Commentary on this Is hilarious (remember when Lawler was good) "Imagine being represented by a champion who's family portrait Is a courtroom sketch"! "I hang out with Booker T, we went to the mall - he tried to pay for everything with cigarettes". Wrong but funny.

20 year hype street fight between two 50 somethings - Very watchable In parts lots of the red stuff, great taunt leg drop through the Spanish announce table - worse for poor "amigo" Hugo who like McMahon takes a flush chair-shot hands down. I'm not 11 anymore but surely hulking up now & then Is good for the soul!!

Rock/Austin: Take 3 - the usual brawling start before SCSA takes control, Rock works the knee for a bit then fatally dons Austin's bullet proof jacket......and promptly gets served up. Finishers exchanged, a weak spine buster sets up you know what, missed 1st attempt soon rectified for an electrifying moment. Austin being the master of the middle finger no sells the tarted up elbow drop, as well as 2, yes 2 Rock bottom's before Rocky summons the spiritt of the Scorpion King apparently to deny Stone Cold a hat-trick at Wrestlemania.

WWE Championship:Angle/Lesnar - some chain mat stuff to open up that Isn't received well. Angle then flicks a switch & becomes a suplex machine rolling Germans, snap, belly to back regular & Inside to out, + more I can't name. Lesnar for the beast he Is takes Angle's offence well & the 2 put together a good main event both kick out of the others respective finishers. After the 2nd F5 (huge pop) Kurt's done for....Brocks lurching towards the turnbuckle... You know the rest a hastily re-arranged climax sees a clearly shaken up Lesnar become the new champ.

A high standard of action and many memorable moments ie what wrestlemania's meant to do even If only once a year. Austin/Rock are what made WWF so huge In the late 90's - their confrontations electric, their ongoing feud one of the greatest. Rocky drops the heel persona soon as the match Is done and looked genuinely sad to be walking away. And the shooting star that wasn't - a reminder these guys are seconds away from disaster.

Best thing about this Is the brilliant manga type artwork, the action Isn't a patch on the 2 previous SS.

Cruiserweight 4 -way: Not typical frantic, air mile collecting stuff but some good spots from some talented guys.

IC Championship: Christian apparently debuting his Intro In the match of the night. Selling Shelton's Impressive offence CC acts the consummate heel - If cheating won't win then surely abusing your opponent Into submission will, "flash In the pan" slap head! The wrestlings top notch too Shelton hits his finisher flawlessly, pulls out a great assisted slingshot suplex whilst Christian nails a vicious looking DDT, both combine well with many near falls & an exciting climax.

S'down SS tag: The gubbins at the start leave poor Kurt even more handicapped than he was already, Eddie gets pummeled for what seems like an eternity, Big Show manages what appears to be a front roll and despite everything revolving around Cena I don't think he's tagged In once. One very funny bit when Angle's walkout Is foiled backing back towards the ring he fails to notice a man mountain waiting. Great comedy acting pleading for mercy before swinging for him cue multiple finishers and a feelgood end to a largely poor match.

Taker/Heidenreich: Greco/Romano technicality It Isn't but this could have been a whole lot worse especially considering how long It went. I like Tazz & Cole on play by play but when they have to roll with a story......."Maybe Heidenreich CANT be beaten" you sure about that? a particularly weak Last ride won't put anyone over as Invincible.

Womens championship: Surely this could have been done backstage. Trish being Interviewed Intimating fat gestures, Lita runs In goes sick job done. Even better would be Snitsky still loitering.... a huge Improvement on Lita hitting a chairshot to the side of a table and Trish messing her hair up In a complete waste of time.

WWE Title: For some reason my DVD skips large parts of this match - probably one long sleeper hold just after Booker clears House on the outside, It resumes predictably with JBL well on top and a virtually asleep arena. Some decent "who me?" Inteference from the chief of staff repeatedly killing Booker's momentum at crucial points and boy Is old 5 timer not feeling It here.

Raw SS Tag match: For a main event this Is weak, compared with the classic Austin match from the previous year lame. The bickering on Triple H's team is quite amusing but that and the prospect of an HHH/Orton finale should have been left for Monday nights. Benoit Is excellent as always before being cheapshotted out, Snitsky nearly breaks a chair In half some other stuff happens then the RKO to a high pitched shrill. Orton's rubbish music hits to wrap up the show and I couldn't have cared less.

Overall nothing worth remembering or rewatching except for the very good Intercontinental match, the bonus match featuring Cena/Carlito fueding over the US title Is fun for nostalgia value - bring back the wordlife Intro. Hey who'd have thought the electric barber chaired one could see Into the future "Carlito doesn't think you're cool - Carlito thinks you're a punk" Ha, how prophetic.

Initially this looks like another flashboy, techno driven euro flick with young people running around a lot, all style no story but Run Lola Run has far more to offer. Garishly red headed Franka Potente Is great as the tenacious heroine dealing with the same race against the clock scenario only she & boyfriend get 3 attempts to find a solution by calling "stop" & "nein".

Basic hypotheticals really - what would have happened If things were minutely adjusted, a few feet here a few seconds there, a change of plan maybe? The cuteness lies In the detail of the same setup but with a few alterations culminating In drastically different conclusions. Well put together by Tom Twyker who messes about with all manner of screen effects & Inventive shots creating a bundle of energy with a likable cartoony feel.

To crack & this film.

Michael Imperioli Is good In the primary role showing some understanding of the emptiness & selfishness Inherent In serious users - the same cannot be said for the people who put this together. Any credibility his performance earns Is outweighed by the triteness of his descent into "my drugs hell". In no time Angelo goes from respectable guy with an adorable young family to a raving crackhead living out of a tracksuit. His transformation Is well judged In comparison to his friend Ray whose character screams "this Is what we Imagine would happen".

There's plenty of Angelo on the can but nothing to substantiate him urinating his life away, criminally there's even less of Monika. The moral seems to be crack will destroy you In about an hour & a half (It could happen to you!!) as a serious look at drug dependency as Intended this Is weak & clichéd, for Mira Sorvino fans It's merely average.

Unfortunately It's difficult to erase Steve Martin's recent abysmal C.v but this Is very amusing, he plays the Ignorant, delusional eejit as well as anyone as this the man with 2 brains & the brilliant Bowfinger showcase. I saw "bringing down the house" a week later and the un-natural, rubbish humour Is miles away from this highly entertaining turn.

As a despicable mafia sellout Martin Is great In being as low-life as humanly possible. Resorting to the cheapest shot whenever cornered he does It all with a stupid smirk and pithy comeback. Slightly poking fun at Goodfellas In plot Martin's jumped up, jokey mafioso personna makes My blue heaven perfect drunk Friday night fare.

A game with huge return to pull - I've put It In a draw & as good as forgotten about It for weeks but once played again It's enjoyable all over again.

Takes a while to fully command the finer points like all 24 or so grapples, finisher reversals, tag moves etc once learned this game Is a joy. The ability to create superstars Is excellent down to the ring entrances lighting to their kneepads. TLC matches are possibly the best laugh a person can have without being arrested. Most fun to play are comedy heels such as HHH or my favourite Dupree - up taunt/left downed upper body grapple! The commentary Is generally good at points some of the slurs hilarious but at the start of every match we get "here we are from....(somewhere there not)....what a reversal" ad nauseum. Their mock shock over the ref being laid out & disgust over getting tooled up, most the finishers are pretty dramatic too.

The gameplay Is brilliantly done specific cut scenes for many moves, on the PS2 the feel of the joypad Is naturally co-ordinated with what you're trying to execute. It looks as good as Playstation characters get, the random chants, entrances, expressions make for Impressive fine detail.

Depending on the settings the coms AI can become very annoying reversing every other attack, needing 3 finishers to be put away whilst you take one and can't kick out. At times the AI Is un-speakably cheap -expose turnbuckle repeatedly whip Into taunt outside whip Into turnbuckle taunt outside by this time they've got a finisher and of course you can't escape! Worst are the good guys repeatedly coming off the top rope for extremely tedious cheap momentum. Honestly seeing any of the super heavies (taker & esp batista) sling you outside only to come gliding out the ring like Jeff Hardy for the 3rd time has me reaching for the reset button.

The challenges are exactly that, In exhibition mode you can do pretty much whatever these are Interesting enough but It's GM mode that makes this so compelling, after a couple seasons the roster should be mostly 90's popularity players legends & CAW's making for an astounding card.

Great game days & days of fun!

In relative terms having watched a lot of disgustingly bad tele Tom Fontana & Levinson are geniuses for creating & delivering In this writer's book the greatest ever TV show. Oz was treated horribly In this country, the finale went out well gone 3 In the morning, before that It was strictly considered alternative viewing for those oblivious to prime time garbage.

I first caught Oz towards the end of the first series and from then on It was an unmissable watch. My man Adebisi possibly the most Intimidating villain ever, Beacher the perfect anti-hero, Eammon Walker's Saeed an acting class In evocation. There was the hardcore stuff of course - some plain evil but essentially Oz had soul. Augustus narrates the unfolding plot with pearls of Insight while the struggles of Beacher, Mcmanus, Saeed, Rebedahl etc are better than any soap opera before or since. Compassion violence wisdom tragedy Intelligence pain joy brutality love & heroism Oz went through the spectrum of human emotion - all Inside a max security prison!

I can honestly say those Thursday nights with the great Vids to follow Oz series 2/3 way back In 99 were the best TV I'll ever see. Beacher assaulting Vern In the gym Is a moment I don't need a video for - a small screen classic I'll never forget.

Imagine what Oz would have done with the same push as the Sopranos given a 10 pm timeslot and all the promos??? Fine I'm over that now, for those that caught It consider yourself privileged for those who didn't TV is shite.......and you deserve It.

The best part of 70 thousand peeps the huge aisle & tight ringside made for an Incredible atmosphere.Lots of bumps brawling & brilliance before a main event that was simply unforgettable.

-IC Championship: Jericho's entrance Is as gooder way to kick off as any but overall the match was pretty tame. Regal looks like a pasty tourist

-6 man tag: Not auspicious for RTC Stevie Richard's gets 3 words on the mike, Bradshaw nearly takes the reformed PIMP's head off In a brief but entertaining knock about

-Hardcore title: You just knew Raven was In for a pasting. Interesting to see the layout backstage and the Big red Machine taxiing the ref about! Kane lands on his arse apparently for the win.

-Euro Championship: Two fabulous power moves from Test - the tiltawhirl suplex & spin out powerbomb don't hide the fact this was a cheap miserable victory for Eddie. That was some big Boot! Smack

-Angle/Benoit: Methodical & technically top notch featuring 2 of the best In the business, sappy weak ending though.

-Women's Champ: Ivory's fit In a sort of 15 yr old teacher crushing way but she got squashed good & proper

Regal's encounter with Kamala Is funny an upside down splash would have been perfect.

-Mcmahon street fight:Always great to see Vince getting a beating never thought that jump would come off.

-TLC 2: Not as mad as Mania 16 the run In's were patently a case of having to do something different. Kudos to Jeff Hardy for being such a masochist although he botched the ladder walking bit. Lita half stripping before eating the 3D gets the rewind every time. Don't see why E/C needed to win again

HHH/Taker: A fight with very little wrestling. Deadman's last ditch reversals are horribly predictable but still get me cheering

WWe Championship: A classic. Rock especially puts In a great performance despite being booed out of town. Austin's face whilst stuck In the shapshooter will remain one of the most memorable stills In wrestling history. I'll never view a steel chair so Innocently ever again!

A couple gripes. Both guys obviously blading somehow lessened the protagonists - what was already a nailed on classic living true to the hype didn't need them to look slightly ridiculous covered In red. And re watching this there are several moments where I've had to turn the sound down due to Paul Heyman being such a loudmouthed tool. He nearly ruined the TLC match and gamely tried to spoil the main event with his rubbish overstatement, repeatedly leaving JR swinging In the wind with his hollered nonsense.

Overall In terms of feeling and climax this Is one of the greatest Wrestlemania's.

This was on at 2 or so In the morning one Saturday a few years ago, for various reasons I don't remember the entire story but what remains are the two standout performances from the central characters. Dom has had a unfortunate lot, manipulated & literally working a rubbish job, Eugene torn between personal aspirations and duty towards his sibling. Tom Hulce' Dom doesn't plead for sympathy - It comes naturally. Ray Liotta Is a universe away from Henry Hill, displaying a soft centre In what must feel a thankless position.

In many ways this deals with the dilemma many young carer's face - the past or the future. As It turns out, with some work the two can happily co-exist. Thoughtfully handled & sensitively played Dominick & Eugene Is difficult not to warm to.

Unlike "BBC'S hit sensation" or "Itv's thrilling new series" Shameless has gonads - on top of that wit, family, a great script and actually a purpose then you've got to love It.

Much Is played for laughs with exaggerated characters but It gets the estate mentality spot on, keeping It strictly northern working class. With few renowned names and In truth the cast In general are relatively un-attractive meaning the story & tone have to carry the show. Frank Is a legend - there Is no better at acting severely pished and pathetic, the kid Debbie seriously Impresive and Martin one of the most quoteable people on tele - "finish me off!" Despite losing key cast and continually forced to focus on lesser characters Shameless still shines, easily the most enjoyable drama emanating from Britain for a long, long time.

Scattar!

If this Is a realistic portrayal of New York youth then the kids definitely ain't alright.

I don't know anyone who grew up In NY but I have known a few skateboard kids and they didn't act like the jerkovs these two blokes do. To me the dialogue sounded like this: "Yo dude, It's like hey man, It's like this film Is really ace man, It's street dude, we're white & bad - whatup?" - the two muppet lead characters need a proper shoeing.

If the black guy who gets rushed Is half as dangerous as he's made out to be surely he would have got his boys down there to use them as target practise. And the ludicrous Aids plot Is so contrived It could pass for a government propaganda piece shown to 9 year olds.

The title could so easily be an anachronym: Kleptomaniacs In Directionless Sh*t. Disaffected kids loiter about every where, go loiter around with them Instead of taking this haemorrhoid of a film as gospel.

As Is the consensus Vidz was pure genius. A strange contradiction of the most vulgar and amusing yet hugely educational, Vids was unmissable at whatever obscene hour of the morning. Late night or Indeed genuine cult TV has never been so good.

Flying In the face of those awful "At the premiere" type love-Ins with some sycophantic, chizeled jawed moron Vidz told It straight. For all the stupidity Nige & Stef knew their films, the number of films Nigel actually endorsed could be counted on one hand - the only one that comes to mind being Ringu.

Vids actually ran for about 3 years maybe 4 seasons In all, the last series clearly shoehorned In. Never repeated since I can't think of a more anarchic guy on tele than Nige at his craziest and that sadly Is probably why Ni-gel (or Lingus) won't ever get the gig his talent deserves - Imagine the litigation from studios after unanimously slating 95% of the rubbish In the cinema. When you see the propaganda accompanying a film "It's great 9/10", "better than Goodfellas" etc just wonder what the vids boys might have put on the poster!

The answer be.....Halashapadooooo

Hugely underrated on release, probably still so now this Is an excellent cautionary tale of friendship & naivety. For all the world It lulls you In to thinking It's a quirky, coming of age drama but mutates Into something very dark - as the main maniac vows. The beauty Is In the simplicity, concentrating on a handful of humdrum people In an unremarkable setting leaving It to the characters & actual story to do the work. It's Paddy Considine's eclectic performance as the small time psycho that dictates the tone & holds the film together - varying from hysterical oddness to very sinister Indeed. Honestly Morell portrays more complexities than many rubbish films I've wasted time/money on.

The military green mini-van should be In a museum somewhere as It's priceless and his attempt at seduction Is Inspired. This Is a guy who truly believes a purple shell suit/visor Is going to Impress women - clearly the work of a sick mind. Despite all his great dialogue he's a sort of twisted pied piper, ultimately shown up for what he Is but even after completely losing the plot Considine Is damn funny - ask flash boy. And he must get some sort of award for possibly the least challenging question ever: "do you want me to put a hammer round your yead?, do you want It?"

Turning a blind eye to his seriously manipulative, cynical ways Morell would be great entertainment on his own but that would detract from the story. At It's core this Is a sympathetic - almost feel good film and credit to the kids Andrew Shim & Ben Marshall for balanced displays belying the fact they were merely kids at the time. Shane Meadows Is a talented, no gimmick director who will hopefully go far - taking Paddy along with him for the ride.

Joke. For all the stick at times this Is undeniably hysterical. "The book" gag Is about as highbrow as this gets - even that Is based around being as offensive as possible. I always thought It funny that In Smith's previous films whenever Jay & Bob are on screen you're wondering what the chubby guy actually does apart from guern a lot - only mastermind the whole thing.

Jason Mewes' Jay Is In all fairness - a moron. Concisely described as "a foul mouthed chuckle-head", with an unhealthy obsession for all things crude but he Is excellent. Chris Rock's character Is a nightmare, stealing the show for the few moments he's on. Interesting to see who he's based on as I'm sure these people do exist In the film world. Choice of women Is top notch - Shannon Elizabeth Is really rubbish In Scary Movie(difficult I know) In this she's perfectly fine. As for Eliza Dushku - mamma mia. Also good to see soft lad Cyril from Oz In a funny cameo "how do you like THEM apples?"and Breakfast Club anti-hero Judd Nelson pops up as a dummy gavva.

People who slag Jay/S.Bob off are redundant as they are already dealt with, a pre-emptive put down, "teenagers & guys who can't get laid" check out the bit In the diner.. Anyone wanting to learn business sense should pay attention to the deal Jason Mewes proposes when dealing with the security guard. And I'll never think of a sociology project In the same way ever again. In terms of sheer Idiot comedy a classic.

Billy Bob Is astounding In this film, the fact that he Is also responsible for the writing/directing makes Sling Blade even more remarkable.

Jutted Jaw to the fore his record doesn't look great - carving up his old Dear, but Carl Is the sweetest lawnmower blade murderer I've ever seen.His friendship with the boy mm-hmm, Is genuinely warming. Two outwardly very different people who In fact share a lot of un-happiness. Not just Thornton but the whole thing Is so damn simple - In a good way that gives It real feeling. Dwight Yoakim's Doyle, the prime nasty character gets what he deserves - namely to be used like a watermelon. Both the friends have a lot to deal with and true to life just try and get along as best they can. Carl doesn't really have anything aside from his new "family" but the end Is still a hugely noble action concluding a brilliant human story.

Lucas Black puts In an accomplished performance as the kid Frank alongside Billy Bob's peculiar presence. Vaughn Is a cracking character, there's no more room In the closet, In the cafe he even has Carl down as a bit of a plilosopher! Jim Jarmusch appears through a fast food hatch to Ignite Carl's love of potato chips mm-hmm and J.T Walsh Is sinister as the depraved pervert. Carl winds up right where he started, glaring out the window listening to the ramblings of a proper sicko. Carl Is asked what he did when out, "met a boy" he replies. "I bet you did" Walsh leers back oozing turgid thoughts.

What promotes Sling Blade Into the realm of the superb Is the end along with Billy Bob Thornton's Idiosyncratic display. Never really smiling It's a permanent sort of grin and that accent, mm-hmm. Honestly he a masterclass In how to understate a very precious role, compare this with say Sean Penn. There are scenes particularly with company where such Is his effacing performance he could pass for a prop, un-like a lot of these alleged ac-tors who only want the audience to look at them. What a film, what a guy - a must see.

Typically scatter shot, hugely hit & miss In the tradition of the great Southpark Parker/Stone revert to their favourite trick - avoid using real people(this time marionettes) and let loose. Mocking and laughing at as many varied things as possible along the way.

Starting out by lampooning The U.S' meddling abroad encompassing big budget movies, special ops, a love story and a Weapon of mass deception. To be honest the whole thing disappoints as by the end It's a very silly action movie parody, no where near Hot Shots. Shame because the concept Is a bold and clever one that Intrigues. The presentation Is brilliant and smartly done, the songs devised very funny - "montage" & "love you a bit more" are as good as "blame Canada" or "what would Brian Boitano do?". Much has been made of the gratuitous stuff but to quote Brian Connelly - IT'S A PUPPET, albeit very naughty puppets.

Team America's token value will always be high as It's like an explicit Thunderbirds and just for originality deserves credit. Saying that I got this a while ago and watched It straight after but haven't been near It since.

Very contrasting ideas here mixing the violence of the former Yugoslavia with the shallowness of the British upper middle classes. Throw In smack, Tottenham fans on the loose, Immigration, a depressed journalist, snobbery, an overworked doctor a blind kid plus a whole lot more and the result Is an eclectic film that's got enough about It to succeed.

The tone does flip wildly from war zone misery to light domestic matters and that can be a little off-putting, and has been mentioned some of the sound work & a few of the accents are dubious at best. Charlotte Coleman Is very good as the central lead even though she Is peripheral to many of the more memorable moments. The dark comedy Is very funny and unlike so many British films It's not a case of "Who's he?" or "what's she been In?". Most of all It's got spirit & conviction, definitely worth persisting with.

Just happened upon this channel hopping In the early hours saw Steve Buscemi and wondered what's going on here? Not a lot as It seemed but that's not the point. Just sit back - preferably with a lager and allow Tree's Lounge to charm your trousers off.

Wonderfully subdued comedy showing that Buscemi Is not only a cult anti hero on screen but that he has much promise as a director. The characters stand out as they can be related to - everyone will recognise the Bill type regular permanently attached to the counter. Mark Boone's wife also as a seriously difficult woman who hasn't a clue what she really wants, stereotypically so. Tommy yes, Is a manchild aimlessly squandering his life away, for sure It Isn't a good role model to aspire to approaching middle age but hey that's his perogative.

This Is Steve's film and he's got charisma by the barrow full to make Tree's Lounge a real treat. That trick with the glasses will work once - provided your not too hammered practising. But It's Uncle Al who gets the best lines - "he loves your mothers", his excuse for his lecherous behaviour on the couch will bail a lot of people out of a lot of trouble.

This film Is very hard to track down, 90% of video shops I went to hadn't even heard of It and It's been on terrestrial Tele twice - once a week late- the reward Is well worth the effort.

After bouncing his rivals head off a particularly unfriendly ceramic sink big, lumbering Ray Winstone's Carlin' Is the Papa now.

Years ago the authorities saw fit to send delinquents to places like this, those not seriously troubled upon arrival certainly would be come time to leave - If they got to leave. Not long In the tone Is set with the top boy drawing his own conclusions of Carlin' - mainly all over his face, but Winstone's character Is not to be tested. Within 25 mins he's running the block ascending the wings brutal hierarchy In no time, not only a a hazard for his fellow porridge consumers but a big problem for those In charge.

It looks dated 35 or so years on but really that adds to the bear pit mentality of nastiness and base human behaviour. Give this a revisionist re-make with gleaming white teeth and tidied up language It just wouldn't work. The point Is treat people like dirt and what do you expect In return?

Hard arsed condemnation of routine borstal life, a million miles away from the Lock Stock... tarted up violence played for laughs(I'd love to see Guy Ritchie In one of these places) The Idea of the Institution being the problem Is hard to Ignore which makes It all the more menacing, the screws/hacks are In a position of complete power despite their deviant ways. Like those old propaganda bits the government used to bang on about - the system's right - without question. Even when It couldn't be further away - and there's bugger all you can do about It.

I remember seeing this on a Tuesday on C4 years ago, about 2 In the morning and the sheer visceral experience sticks with you. Scum doesn't even consider pulling a punch, It lamps you with a crude kosh. The two suicides are horrible, just In the Imagination. The way that black kid Is told about the death of his partner made me wince and I defy anyone to even mumble as the silence of the credits roll. After the old nonce In charge patronises them and asks them to pay respect to the kid who'd just been burglarised then took his life In a most terrible way.

Scum Is Infinitely quotable ie:- "Where's your *expletive* tool?", "what *expletive tool?", "this *expletive tool you *ethnically diverse Individual*".

It Is a reminder of how the Scum of today get It easy with their play-stations and rec. time but also how to breed the problem people of tomorrow- Watch this film.