No Other Choice: 4K Blu Ray Review

Cast: Lee Byung-hun
Director: Park Chan-wook

Talk about eliminating the competition.

Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s adaptation of novel The Axe delivers a somewhat satirical look at the world of unemployment, emasculation and the continuing rise of the machines in a tale that has a dark heart and a taut execution.

Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun plays Man-soo, a wealthy patriarch who’s spent 25 years working in a paper company and who’s casually tossed to the side when an American company comes in. (The first use of the No Other Choice motif that runs through this.)

Believing he will be a part of the workforce again pretty quickly, Man-soo gradually loses his way and his sense of self as he futilely plays his way through auditions and applications, before happening on a way to eliminate the competition and ensure he will be the first choice for any future roles.

There’s a comedic edge to the beginning of proceedings which will either suck you in or repel you. Perhaps it’s not dark enough, or the satire is a little too close to home for some, but Chan-Wook and Byung-hun manage to turn a potential killer into a deeply sympathetic character whose motivations are universally relatable. As he struggles to be the family provider, he fails to see what’s falling apart around him, pushing him into more extreme ideas and blackly comedic situations.

But halfway through, Chan-wook tonally shifts proceedings into thriller territory, ensuring that the movie maintains an edge as it hurtles to its conclusion.

Depressingly, this feels like a globally relatable tale – one that takes old age or time served within a business as something that’s to be cast aside and put out to pasture. So in terms of the satire, it’s not as strong as it could be, given the worldwide shift into AI and the reality that abounds.

Ultimately, this is a watchable enough piece of cinema – perhaps a little more darkness would have ensured it hit a level much like Parasite did – but Chan-wook leaves you with No Other Choice but to saddle up for the journey and its conclusion.

Tuner: Movie Review

Cast: Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno

Director: Daniel Roher

A movie about a safe-cracker who gets in way above his head may not sound like the most exciting of premises.

But Navalny director Daniel Roher, making his debut as a feature director after cutting his teeth in documentaries, does much work up front to ensure that there are few cliches and plenty of genial surprises in this overly familiar tale.

The puppy-faced Woodall (One Day, The White Lotus) plays Niki, a genius piano tuner whose hearing condition of hyperacusis, an over-sensitivity to sounds around him, makes him a genius on the piano tuning front. Wearing earplugs all day to prevent noise from jarring him and over-the-ear headphones when in public, Niki works with Dustin Hoffman's Harry Horowitz, who's worked as a tuner for over 30 years, but is battling hearing loss and potential dementia.

When Harry's dementia stops him getting into a safe where he's stashed medical aid, Niki discovers his sensitive ears help to unlock the safe. And when on a routine job, Niki meets Uri (Raz), the owner of a security firm which caters to rich clients and impresses him by opening another locked safe. However, Uri's not 100% on the level, telling Niki he could use his talents to help him out.

Things come further to a head when Harry's hospitalised and Niki needs money to keep the company afloat and the medical bills paid. Suddenly he finds the pull of Uri's desire to rob his rich clients of valuable items too much to resist - but before he knows it, he's in over his head. 

There's much to enjoy in Tuner, an unfussy, unforced heist movie that does a lot of the solid lifting early on - plenty of which helps it through any familiar plot contrivances.

Along with a jazzy soundtrack, there's fizzy banter back and forth between the avuncular Harry and his charge Niki. Plenty of quick cuts, easy and warm dialogue between the pair and a running gag that their high-end clients see them only as odd job men able to turn their skills to other more menial needs when desired. Coupled with Niki's gently burgeoning relationship with concert pianist Ruthie (Liu), the film builds a solid emotive base from which to threaten the foundations. 

And while Woodall's almost-dialled back performance anchors the whole thing, the moral clash he faces with Uri's desire to play Robin Hood and rob his clients of a few items here and there which he claims they won't notice is a solidly executed one. There's one moment when Uri's psychological manipulation of Niki works exceptionally well, with the language barrier subsequently revealing to the truth of the matter to his Israeli comrades.

With touches of Rain Man, Good Will Hunting and Robin Hood, as well as a plethora of 90s movie thrillers, Tuner benefits from solid character work and its work in escalating the tension and paying off one narrative thread late in the day to devastating effect.

Plus, an incredible soundscape from Oscar-winning sound designer Johnnie Best does much to let us into the aural terror of Niki's world - never has an air horn been such a devastating threat before.

Pitch perfect in parts and hitting the right note, this finely tuned thriller has the capacity to surprise when it needs to - and does so in disarmingly clever and original ways.

Fallout: Season 2: Blu Ray Review

The weight of responsibility hangs heavy over each of the main protagonists in this second season of Fallout, with every single one of them grappling with the enormity of decisions either facing them or in their past.

For vault-dweller and eternal optimist Lucy McLean (Yellowjackets' Ella Purnell), it's the question of bringing her father Hank (Kyle McLachlan) to justice; for the Ghoul (Walton Goggins, The White Lotus), it's the enormity of what part his wife played in the blasts that wiped out the world and for Brotherhood member Maximus (Aaron Moten), it's about the responsibility to keep the Knights in order as they teeter on Civil War.

But not everything's as clear-cut as they'd hope, thanks to the arrival (in the past) of the mysterious tech entrepreneur Robert House (an enigmatic Justin Theroux) and his RobCo Industries robotics company.

Fallout fans will know what that arrival signifies, but the second season is more interested in building up the intrigue, rather than simply getting to New Vegas.

It means that the early half spends an inordinate amount of time handling seemingly disparate stories, which gives it a generally disjointed and episodic feel.

That's not to say that it's not enjoyable. From the odd couple pairing of the perky Lucy with the world-weary Ghoul to the Fallout Shelter-styling of Woody's world back in the vaults, there's a lot of small parts being moved around and flitting back and forth.

It's a stylistic point that makes this latest feel lesser than the first, even if it's not the intention. Production-wise, Fallout still looks incredible.

From its retro-future mix to its flashback sequences, to the wastelands and beyond, the show stands out visually.

In terms of atmosphere and storytelling though, the early parts of this feel too staccato to welcome newcomers and conversely, growth may be difficult to achieve initially. 

But as the show goes on, its structure eases and as a result, it feels like a show that's intriguing enough to latch onto. Certainly, latter episodes where motives become muddied and moral questions arise, there is a feeling that thematically, plots are paying off.

The banter between the odd couple of Lucy's optimism and the Ghoul's more cynical character is great and both Goggins and Purnell work well as a team. So much so that a spinoff with their adventures in the wasteland would be very welcome. Maximus' storyline is a tougher one to sell, the loss of innocence and the falling away of the scales from the eyes is a tough path to follow, but Moten works the doubt angle well. There's much more going on under the surface with him, making his Maximus character one of the more interesting parts of dealing with doctrine, facing fears and taking the right path if that's what the moral code pushes you to do so.

Ultimately, Fallout could really have fallen back on its laurels and repeated the success of the first season, but by taking a creative gamble, it proves that it's one of the more interesting propositions in episodic TV - diversions or otherwise.

007 First Light releases

The highly anticipated "Young James Bond" game 007: First Light has now released.

The game, from IO Interactive, the makers of Hitman, gives you the chance to earn the Number. 

A thrilling espionage action-adventure game from IO Interactive gives you the chance to follow James Bond as a young, resourceful and sometimes reckless recruit in MI6's training programme, and discover an origin story of the world’s most famous spy.

Primate: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Johnny Seqouyah, Troy Kotsur, Jessica Alexnader, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin Cheng, Miguel Torres Umba
Director: Johannes Roberts

Primate sets out its stall in its opening moments.

As a vet walks into a chimp enclosure, he's guided to a darkened part of it where an unknown force awaits...

Johannes Roberts' creature horror mixes elements of horror and odd moments of comedy, but in truth, it's a lack of development in the human side of things which proves to be a minor flaw in a largely enjoyable but forgettable ride that leaves it feeling lesser than it could.

As Lucy (Johnny Seqouyah) returns to her Hawaii home after the death of her animal linguistics mother, family tensions are strained. Her deaf father (Troy Kotsur) is obsessed with his book career rather than his family; her sister is distant, and the family ape Ben (yes, really) is about to have a really bad day after a mongoose bite.

Coupled with the fact a group of friends are at their home for the holidays, things go south quickly when it's clear Ben (Umba) has rabies and turns on them all, trapping them and leaving them fighting for their lives...

As the carnage picks up, the director makes great fist of the fact that Ben can't communicate (outside of a device which at one point, he uses to taunt them with the word 'dead' being repeatedly said) and becomes a killing machine that's mute in the vein of the shape from Halloween. (In fact the soundtrack seems to channel that iconic score in parts.)

But as with some horror films, you're not here for the character development and while there are a few moments of the cast doing stupid things, the kills are particularly brutal and viciously executed - even though a lack of depth prevents you directly caring.

However, there's a commitment to the atmosphere and an impressive continuation of a killer that can't be reasoned with or stopped which makes Primate effective in the moment in cinema.

Embracing the horror genre tropes and a terrific scene from a deaf point of view that is chilling in its execution, Primate proves it's not just here to ape around with horror conventions - it's here to deliver some killer blows too.

Backrooms: Movie Review

Cast:  Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
Director: Kane Parsons

The latest psychological horror to hit screens comes from the director of a viral web series exploring the existential fear of spaces and transitions, as well as the whole Creepypasta vibe.

When furniture store owner Clark (Ejiofor) discovers a series of rooms in his store that he wasn't aware of before, he starts to explore. But after his therapist (Sentimental Value's Reinsve) discovers he's missing, she sets out to find him.

In  many ways, Backrooms is best experienced unspoiled. It's a film that's destined to be dissected, debated and done to death with screenshots as online forums pore over every single visual clue and comment.

There's a distinctly unsettling edge to the 90s set story and visuals with found footage vibes meshing nicely with sly nods to the past, via way of Creepypasta-style dread and unease.

But it's a little obtuse at times, giving non-fans a workout in terms of what's happening. However, what proves to be most effective during the atmospheric film's unsettling aesthetic is the contortions of memory, the dread of empty space and the unending hum of lights buzzing away.

The liminal horror genre is prone to using slave to unsettle and Parsons peppers much of the environments with carefully disturbing imagery, a loop of visuals and mirror images twisting what you see.

Like the first Paranormal Activity film where the home camera swept from side to side, Parsons makes great fist of his spatial sets and unending corridors with shadowy elements lurking in the background. It's easy to see where Severance got its inspiration from.

But while the visuals provide the nightmare fuel, both Eijofor and Reinsve tap into the existential dread of their characters with ease, even if direct answers aren't coming and opacity clouds proceedings.

For Reinsve's therapist,it's looping memories of the loss of the family home that rattle her carefully structured solo world. And for Eijofor's Clark, it's the frustration of how his life went from architect to crummy furniture salesman, left by his wife.

If Parsons does much to expand his shorts series, it's by design. A slow burn throughout builds up to very little, but with mono-yellow vistas and droning hums if lights, the film's high on its own atmosphere.

But by focusing on just two characters and placing them in worlds that challenge their beliefs, he creates a vision that's deeply haunting and one which will never allow you in future to look at an empty corridor without some kind of dread.

Nuremberg: DVD Review

Cast: Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Leo Woodall, Michael Shannon, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham

Director: James Vanderbilt

With its message of how Nazi propaganda can spread through charismatic mouth pieces, there couldn't be a more timely film than James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg.

Set at the end of the Second World War, the film begins with Russell Crowe's narcissistic Hermann Göring being arrested as he tries to escape. Assigned a psychiatrist, Douglas M Kelley (played with style and a wide-eyed smirk by Rami Malek throughout), the pressure begins to build a case against the surviving members of the regime.

But it's not just the pressure on Kelly - with a cross-international group looking to prosecute the war criminals, there's a lot hanging on this. A successful win will crush Germany and its legacy once and for all; however failure will leave the allies unable to ever take the high moral ground and prevent any further prosecution of other war criminals...

Nuremberg is a prestige piece of cinema that works solidly as a piece of fictionalised drama and one which is backed up by the impressive work of the cast within. Crowe underplays the role and creates a genuine feeling of a monster whose haughty beliefs delude him into thinking he's above everyone. There are chilling moments and Crowe does well to not overemphasise some of the elements. Equally, Malek is strong as Kelley, and Shannon makes the most of his screentime as the lawyer given the unenviable job of prosecution.

A kind of Silence of the Lambs relationship builds between Kelly and Göring, but it's a softer one that sees both actors channelling some of their best work in their shared scenes.

Yet, there's a somewhat glib atmosphere hanging over the dramatisation of the build-up to the Nuremberg trials that makes the initial part of the film feel like it's playing fast and loose with the devastating legacy of the Nazis and what they wreaked on the world.

Add to that the fact that the one surviving leader of the atrocities, the commander in chief of the Luftwaffe and the Nazis' second-in-command, Hermann Göring is humanised as a man separated from his wife and family, and suffering from a heart condition, plus the fact there are some obvious scripting gags early on, it begins to feel like Nuremberg is a little too knockabout for the weight of its subject matter.

If anything, most of the film spends a lot of time showing that Hermann Göring's family is human, papering over some of the more horrifying truths as Kelly goes back and forth to them delivering letters, drinking tea and listening to piano lessons from his daughter.

With Trumpian allusions and a courtroom scene that echoes Jack Nicholson's cross-examination in A Few Good Men, Nuremberg feels more like a broad film aimed at wanting to echo the warnings of the past to the widest audience possible. (A sentiment that is admittedly noble by any consideration.)

It's not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination and its 150-minute runtime hurtles past at speed. Plus its end is shocking to those who don't know the outcome - a devastating reminder that evil seems to triumph long-term, no matter what.

But it is extremely telling that in among all the acting that's going on, the one moment that speaks the most is genuine footage from survivors of the concentration camps that's played as evidence during the trial. With emaciated bodies, hollowed out eyes and piles of corpses being shifted by diggers, it's absolutely horrifying compelling imagery that still (rightfully) hurts decades on.