Wild - DVD Review

Wild - DVD Review

Rating: M

Based on Cheryl Strayed's memoir, adapted by Nick Hornby and directed by Dallas Buyers' Club's Jean-Marc Vallee, Wild has more than just calibre going for it.

Witherspoon (who produces too) stars as Strayed, who decides to hike more than a thousand miles along the Pacific Crest Trail after a series of life moments push her into action.

With Wild, it's best to know less about the background of the story and go with it - it begins with the tiny Witherspoon losing a shoe atop a mountain, and hurling the next shoe off before screaming at the top of her lungs. Is it fear, frustration, relief?

Vallee reveals much of Strayed's past through elliptical flashbacks, slicing and dicing the onion of time and peeling back multi-layers to her story in a way that draws you in and immerses you in Strayed's mental turmoil.

But, it's easily Witherspoon's film by far.With her small frame eclipsed by a massive tramping pack that lightens as the journey goes on (the allegory and allusion of emotional baggage isn't subtly hammered home but is patently obvious), you clearly wonder how she's going to survive the ordeal as she heads out on her own with only her thoughts and demons for company. (Not even a few animals like Mia Wasikowska managed in Tracks last year).

But the inner resilience of Strayed is brought to life by a subtle Witherspoon and a side of her acting that we've not really seen before - a human vulnerability and complex emotional pull that's really quite affecting as the movie plays out. She's really grabbed something out of the bag to distract the naysayers who believe she's only fit for light and frothy material.

Masterfully weaving flashbacks and some timely moments of the era (a Jerry Garcia memorial setting the scene at one point to remind you of the chronology), Vallee's constructed a journey that is, in many ways, timeless and one that we've seen time and time again. Grief, temptations, familial relationships - all of these fall under the microscope and all have potential to elicit groans from a cynical audience bombarded with these tropes many times before.

Thankfully, the pairing of Vallee and Witherspoon proves to be a powerful concoction that's eminently watchable. Acting solo for the most part (aside from the odd occasional interactions), Witherspoon's already generating Oscar buzz as she straddles Strayed's quest to conquer the elements, her crippling past and her debilitating demons - it's a dazzling, heady watch that captures the essence of the appeal of being alone and yet also explores the uncertainty and doubt that nags at one's spiritual being when so alone.

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Jimmy's Hall: DVD Review

Jimmy's Hall: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Vendetta and Rialto

Against a backdrop of images of workers in old New York and a jazzy old school wartime soundtrack, comes Brit miserabilist Ken Loach's latest.

Set in Ireland in 1932, Barry Ward is Jimmy Gralton - who divided a small community when he built a dance hall nearly a decade ago. Forced out, he went to New York but returns to Ireland "not the same man that went away" and determined to live out a quiet life.

However, urged by the kids who are blessed with wanderlust and boredom, he restarts the hall up only to find his plans pushing him into direct conflict with the Church (in the form of Father Ted's Bishop Brennan actor Jim Norton )

There's a quietly reflective tone to Jimmy's Hall, but it wafts as lightly as a flower on a summer breeze. It's pleasant to look at but is distinctly unmemorable as it goes on. Ward is fine, but lacks any real edge during the genuinely heartfelt drama. Even the conflict with the Church seems tame by comparison and the mournful tone against the lush verdant green backdrops of Ireland proves to be an odd mix that never really fires up.

While there's a vibrancy and energy to the dance hall scenes, they only really ever serve to highlight the fact that that is missing throughout the rest of this piece, which seems remarkably toothless by Loach's standards.
Coupled with the fact this battle for hearts and minds through dance and against the church ethos is never anything but black and white. The church is firmly in the wrong and Jimmy's a hero to all, albeit one that never really serves to light the fires of passion for those watching.

While Loach may be mellowing (see the brilliant The Angels Share for proof of that), his touch on this true story is too slight to be anything as engaging as it should be. 

Penguins of Madagascar: DVD review

Penguins of Madagascar: DVD review

Rating: G
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Ent

The Penguins spin-off from the Madagascar series couldn't be a more perfect piece of screwball insubstantial entertainment for the kids in all of us.

Skipper, Rico, Private and Kowalski head out into the big wide world but soon find their lives are in danger when an old enemy, an octopus called Dave (voiced with glee by John Malkovich), appears on the scene. 

Forced to team up with the North Wind, a splinter spy group headed up by Benedict Cumberbatch's wolf, the penguins must try and save the day from Dave's bitter campaign.

Penguins of Madagascar is frenetically silly, ADD entertainment of the highest order which packs in silly gags for the kids and some adult moments for the rest of us.

From the Werner Herzog documentary crew trailing penguins opening through to Dave's use of Hollywood star names to bark out orders (Hugh, Jack, man the pumps being just one example), the film's clearly got its heart in the zany camp rather than the long -term emotional fulfillment area.

Which is probably a good thing, because the paper-thin story only falls apart around the two-thirds' mark as it hits a lull that is only noticeable due to the lack of throwaway gags and globe-hopping antics.

Coupled with a tacked-on last minute "message" about how looks aren't important and it's what's inside that counts as well as being a valued member of a team, the final third of the Penguins of Madagascar loses some of its prior zippy pacing as it heads towards the finish line.

Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich are terrific in their respective roles; Malkovich's suitably rubbery voice gives some tentacles to Dave and Cumberbatch plays a little looser with his smart and superior TV personalities to give his Wolf (aka Classified) the uptight yin to Skipper's looser yang.

All in all, Penguins of Madagascar may well appeal to the kids of all ages thanks to its scattergun silliness, its off-the-wall zaniness and puns, but it's not quite the soaraway animated success that you'd expect - merely a distracting diversion.

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Home: Blu Ray Review

Home: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment


The fact an email nearly causes the end of the world in Home, the full length film based on the book and extended out from the short that played before the release of Peabody and Mr Sherman, should come as no surprise to anyone who's had Outlook issues.

Jim Parsons is perfectly cast as Oh, a little purple alien of the race known as the Boov. The Boov is a race which is constantly on the run, always searching for a new place to call home thanks to their race being threatened.

When the Boov arrive and relocate the entire Earth populace, one human is left behind - Tip (Rihanna). But Oh inadvertently sets in chain of events which see the bad guys coming to threaten their new Utopia - on the run, Oh meets Tip and the pair work together to try and save the day...

Essentially, Home's central character is the Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper shrunk down to size into one colourful mini-blimp. Sheldon's penchant for taking things literally and annoying those around him has been transposed into Oh and magnified.

Parsons breathes a limited life into the little blob with curious syntax that younger kids may find endearing and amusing in equal parts, though one suspects if you're a Big Bang Theory watcher, you've already seen his schtick.

There's also an overuse of music to punctuate scenes, manipulate people into feeling and also encouraging you to buy the latest music from both JLo and Rihanna, who both appear in the film.

Occasionally, as well, the film stutters to an end with natural conclusions to the arcs showing up - but bizarrely, those endings signify even more beginnings to new threads, leading to the feeling of a lack of coherence all the way through.

The animation is pretty standard all the way through with nice hues of blues and purples setting parts of the screen alight and the tale of the misfits banding together gives somewhat of a diverting thrill to the younger end of the audience.

The problem with Home is that it doesn't proffer anything up that feels new and exciting; it feels somewhat formulaic and perhaps not mined for as much pathos and heart as it could have been.

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The Spongebob Movie - Sponge out of Water: Blu Ray Review

The Spongebob Movie - Sponge out of Water: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Universal Home Ent

Proving you don't necessarily need to have a message to tout, the animated antics ofSpongebob Squarepants on the big screen is nothing more than being here for a zany time.

It's back to Bikini Bottom for a second time in this latest that blends time travel, real life and animated antics into one zany goofball fritter.

It all starts when maligned restaurant owner Plankton tries to make off with Krusty Krabs' secret formula. Continually annoyed that the Krabby patties keep flying out of the doors, Plankton's determined to get his paws on it, and somehow manages to succeed.

However, that brings around the apocalypse (complete with bondage gear for Mr Krabs) and suddenly, Spongebob's world is transformed when he has to work with Plankton to reinstate what relative order there was before.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water is little more than zaniness thrown together with some touches of surreality.

If you're a fan of the Sponge, you'll know what to expect, and to be frank, this is nothing more than an extended episode of the show with a plot stretched so thin, it's practically non-existent. Instead, a series of brightly coloured gags, moments and insanity is poured forth from the screen in a non-stop barrage of lunacy aimed at winning you over.

Mixing in some of Ren and Stimpy's visuals works for the flick, and Antonio Banderas' live action performance as a pirate that's hiding more than you realise, there's little to rail against as the story pours forth. The simple message is one of teamwork, but to be frank, it's neither here nor there as the time passes. Though the motif of the story within a story nicely collides together at the end of the piece, in a touch that's welcome but hardly original.

Nods to The Shining, The Avengers and Mad Max all play out fine; but at the end of the day, this is a film that hits its nadir with the moment when Matt Berry appears and voices a dolphin from the future who shoots a laser from his blowhole and helps Spongebob and his pals to take on Antonio Banderas' pirate in real life. ( A move which recalls the animation style of The Simpsons' venture in the real world all those years ago)

Suitably lunatic, anarchic, occasionally subversive, mercifully short and stretched about as far as it can go, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water will appeal to Spongebob's legion of fans; there's little new for those unaware of the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom even though there's just enough adult moments to amuse - but not on a par with the likes of The Lego Movie, the Toy Storys or the recent Shaun The Sheep Movie.

Goofball and day-glo, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water will amuse the youngsters over the holiday - it serves its core audience brilliantly; nothing more, nothing less.

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Rare Replay: Xbox One Review

Rare Replay: Xbox One Review

Platform: Xbox One

Back in the late 1980s, a game called Underwurlde haunted me.

On the ZX Spectrum this title was simply about negotiating a maze, collecting some weapons, timing some jumps and surviving some falls with some creatures annoyingly wafting around you. It was the pinnacle of gaming back then - and it was the stuff of nightmares for me for years, as I never conquered it.

With the release of Rare Replay on the Xbox One, that nightmare is back to haunt me again, thanks to the power of nostalgia.

Collecting together some 30 titles from the Rare developers, Rare Replay is a calculated slice of nostalgia, that will appeal to gamers of yore and potentially some newer recruits. From the likes of Jetpac to the more recent Perfect Dark, this collection is a lovingly curated slice of sentiment masquerading on the pristine next generation console. And that's not to detract from it at all, because it's immensely playable and utterly addictive - all over again.

Not all of the games are as memorable though. Even though the Xbox One has done a great job of making the games shine and is 100% accurate to their originals (even down to the blocking issues that used to plague Underwurlde), not all of them are as good as other titles. Slalom for example is simply a downhill slope skier that looks like someone took the basics of Outrun and put snow on there instead. The good thing though is that for some of the greater frustrations, there is a rewind facility to give you the chance to dial it all back and work on those errors. I'd settle for a continue button at the end of some of the games, but this is a fair start.

Though, it has to be said, if you're curating a collection from the past, the good and the bad need to end up on the release - games from early consoles, games from Nintendo (though not Goldeneye due to various issues) and some Xbox 360 titles all give this collection a sense of completion which is to be applauded to a point.

As you wander through the halls of the game, there's the history of each one, with each title getting details of release, some information on it and a graphic background that makes it feel like you're in a gaming museum and that gives each title its due reverence. Plus collectibles and stickers unlock development scenes and information - a brilliant building up of an archive.

And if you fancy simply diving in to a few challenges from within the game, it's great too - a Snapshot facility means you can tear off bite size challenges and simply try and achieve some goals. It's a clever touch to expand the lifetimes of some of the games and helps you unlock the hefty amount of stickers within the game (some 330 in total).

Granted, there won't be a game on this collection that people don't enjoy - there's pretty much something for everyone, and thanks to impressive recreations, they all play well. Some titles (I'm looking at you Underwurlde) will get played again and others will get barely a once over (Hello, Slalom) - but I can guarantee you one thing; for the price you pay for these titles (around $1 a go), you'd be a hard person not to remotely even give it a try.

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Game titles on Rare Replay are as follows - Jetpac, Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom,R.C. Pro-Am, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle N Roll, Digger T. Rock, Solar Jetman, Battletoads,R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corps, Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refuelled, Banjo-Kaooie: Nuts & Bolts, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.