About Robert Kirkwood

Born on 9/11, thirty years before it got famous, I'm a Scotsman who said he'd give London a try for a year. Two and a half years later I'm still here, making audio books at a recording studio in Camden Town ... basically sitting with my feet up getting read to every day. I got into DVD after I bought a DVDRom drive for my PC. It's still there, but now the video signal is sent to a TV and the audio is sent through a 5.1 speaker set up. It's a bit fiddly at times but with PowerDVD 4 and DVD Genie I have a DTS/multi region/macro free/bells and whistles set up. Or I can use the cheapo player in the kitchen. Whatever. I don't favour any particular genre (if it's a good movie, I'm happy) ... but left on my own I'd stick to good sci-fi or action that makes over use of the sub. My other half however keeps up a steady flow of world cinema and independant productions that keeps up the balance. Right now we're making our way through the Star Trek DVD box sets as I'm a bit of a Trekker and slowly but surely turning her into one too.

Latest Reviews By: Robert Kirkwood

Guru, The
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

"Name one Indian famous in America" "That guy from The Simpsons!" Story. The movie starts with Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry) as a young boy sneaking out of an Indian musical movie to a neighbouring screen where he's captivated by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John belting out 'The......

Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

One film, three stories and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu gives Tarrantino a run for his money.

Set in Mexico, this movie features the stories of Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal), Valeria (Goya Toledo) and El Chivo Emilio Echevarria), three very disparate characters who are linked by a devastating car crash that changes the lives of them all...

National Lampoons Animal House: Special Edition
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

In August of 2003 Hollywood Boulevard was closed down for a parade. It featured a live elephant, a giant float shaped like a cake and had Otis Day and the Knights providing the music. Just as they were getting a little bit louder now, there was a screech of tyres, the throaty roar of a BIG engine as 'The Deathmobile' scattered all and sundry with a cry of "Ramming Speeeed!" The 25th Anniversary...

Christmas With The Simpsons
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

I love the Simpsons, have done for a while, but I've always gone for the complete season DVD's rather than the loosely grouped collections that appear now and again. In saying that, Christmas with the Simpsons has a few classic episodes that are worth watching again and again, even when I wrote this ... in the middle of June!

Ned Kelly
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Ned Kelly and his three gang members are falsely accused, go on the run, commit horrible deeds, are cornered and have one last showdown ... trouble is, none of it is true.

This DVD tells the story of The Kelly gang, two brothers and two friends who were rough Irish settlers making a living in a hard country. The Australia of the time was moving slowly from the convict era...

World War I - In Colour
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Episodes

Catastrophe
Slaughter in the Trenches
Blood in the Air
Killers of the Sea
Mayhem on the Eastern Front
Victory and Despair


War: long periods of drudgery and boredom punctuated by moments of excitement. Just like World War I in Colour then, except without the excitement.

A two disc set with over six hours(!) of rare footage from World War 1 presented

Good Girl, The
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Justine (Jennifer Aniston) is unhappy. Unhappy with her job at the Retail Rodeo and unhappy with her stale marriage to pot smoking Phil (John C. Reilly) who she suspects is unfertile. She sees something in fellow 'put-upon' Retail Rodeo employee Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) and the two of them start a relationship that threatens to destroy both their lives...

Goodbye Mr Chips
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Fifty years in a public school: life, love and a few fags.

Based on the James Hilton novel, the Carlton DVD Goodbye Mr Chips tells us the heart-warming story of Mr Chipping's 50 years at Brookfield School and how he touched the lives of the pupils who passed through his classroom. This 100 minute drama takes us from his arrival as a keen new Latin master; through his courtship and marriage

Nil By Mouth
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Rearrange the following in any way you want and write your own opening paragraph, "gritty, East London, hard-hitting, fantastic acting, realistic, violent, junkies, drink, love and hate."

Star Trek 1 - The Motion Picture (Special Edition)
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

Three years after the Enterprise's five year mission under the command of Captain Kirk, the earth find's itself under attack by a large energy cloud concealing the being known as V'ger.This disaster reunites the original crew, many of whom ha

Star Trek 10 - Nemesis
Robert Kirkwood  //  11/04/2005 00:00:00

"Good, very good, not brilliant, but very good." ... was the lengthy,in-depth and articulate review of this movie I posted here after I saw it at the cinema on holiday last December. I was under pressure ... it was someone else's computer and there