Orphan: DVD Review

Orphan: DVD Review

Orphan
Released by Warner Home Video
Rating: R16
It appears the scary kids are back.

Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Saarsgard) are two parents trying to put the pieces back of their lives after losing a third child - however, the strain is showing as Kate also battles with going back on the booze and blaming herself for her youngest daughter Max's deafness after an incident involving a lake near their home.
So as they try to get back on track, they head to the local orphanage where they're immediately charmed by 9year old Russian girl, Esther.
Esther becomes a part of their lives - and splits the younger kids - with the elder Daniel wary and Max (Aryana Engineer) being overly welcoming and in thrall of her new sister.
However, it soon becomes clear that Esther is not all she seems&.
For the majority of its (slightly long) two hour running time, Orphan is racked full of suspense - with the sense of foreboding quite powerful at times.
It's quite an honest portrait of a family trying to get back to a normal life - both Farmiga and Saarsgard are compelling and realistic in their portrayal of a normal couple who are stretched to the limits by what's happened.
Of the younger kids, newcomer Aryana Engineer gives an impressive debut performance as Max (traumatized and empowered in equal measures)- but it's Isabelle Fuhrman who provides the requisite spooks and gives you the creeps as her Esther skulks around on screen.
Some will find the brooding build up a little slow in places - and at times the soundtrack pulls no punches in screeching its terrifying intentions (not always to the best effect).
Unfortunately after the end twist sucker punch, Orphan sadly has nowhere left to go and descends into a conclusion mired in clichéd horror films - but for shocks and moments where you find your nails digging into the cinema chair, Orphan delivers the necessary goods.
Extras: Additional scenes including an alternate ending don't add too much to the package - but at least there's something.

Rating: 6/10

My Life In Ruins: DVD Review

My Life In Ruins: DVD Review

My Life In Ruins
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: PG
The team behind the eternally successful My Big Fat Greek Wedding, have reteamed for this frothy rom com about a tour guide working in Greece.
Nia Vardalos returns and is this time playing Georgia, a history professor who is now slumming it as a tour guide for a dodgy tour company in Greece. Georgia's not doing too well - preferring to concentrate her tours on the architecture, despite her groups insisting they see the tacky tourist traps while out and about.
However, Georgia's about to give up - unlucky in love, unlucky in life, she's decided enough's enough. Her competitor tour guide (played by British impersonator Alistair McGowan) is determined to drive her out - so when Georgia's latest tour group turns up, he seizes his chance.
What can you say about My Life In Ruins? Disappointing is perhaps the politest way to describe this piece of romantic fluff which will anger the sensible with its awful racial stereotyping and distinctly unfunny script.
Vardalos does ok; and even with the support of the ever dependable Richard Dreyfuss, she can't do much to raise this from the mire (which is bizarre as she wrote most of it as well).
Perhaps the best thing about My Life In Ruins is the Greek scenery - some of the ancient monuments look just stunning on screen - however, the jokes about their bus driver's name (he's called Poupi) do little to raise the cultural bar.
Extras: Audio commentaries by Vardalos, director and writer as well as deleted scenes and a featurette entitled Everybody Loves Poupi should tell you everything you need to know about this.

Rating: 3/10

Ponyo: DVD Review

Ponyo: DVD Review

Ponyo
Released by Madman Entertainment
Rating: G

Cast: Frankie Jonas, Tina Fey, Noah Cyrus, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
From the renowned animation stable of Studio Ghibli - the studio which bought you Howl's Moving Castle, comes Ponyo.
Or to give it its full title - Ponyo on a Cliff By The Sea.
A 5-year-old boy, Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas) adopts a goldfish (the titular Ponyo played by Noah Cyrus)when she emerges from the sea one day having escaped from her father, the king of the ocean (voiced by Liam Neeson.)

However their friendship is torn apart as quickly as it's begun after the seas reclaim her. But Ponyo works a way out to become human and return to her friend - yet, her desire could signal the end of the world.

Studio Ghibli animation is always a delight - and this latest offering from the stable of Hayao Miyazaki is no exception. It first wowed me at the New Zealand International Film Festival and has done it again on the small screen - even if it is the American dubbed one with major actors in the roles. Shame, there's no sign yet of the Japanese version in all its majesty.

It's a truly enchanting tale - quite beautifully animated with traditional drawings as opposed to the computer animation so prevalent in today's cinematic world. Ponyo has a pure heart and joy about her - even when a tsunami threatens to engulf a town, the visual of Ponyo, in her human form, skipping over the waves brings a smile to your face.

A work of pure fantasy and one which shows there's plenty of life left in Studio Ghibli - let's hope Miyazaki has got many more tales in mind.

Rating: 8/10 

Separation City: DVD Review

Separation City: DVD Review

Separation City
Released by Sony Home Entertainment
Rating: M
"A film about falling out of love for the first time."
In this Kiwi film from renowned writer Tom Scott, all aspects of relationships are pored over. Political speech writer Simon (Joel Edgerton) and Pam (Danielle Cormack) are in suburban hell - their marriage is suffering because of their stifling lifestyles. Elsewhere Berliner Katrien (Rhona Mitra) has followed her husband Klaus (Thomas Kretschmann) to New Zealand but has quickly discovered he has a wondering eye.
When Katrien's introduced into Pam's social circle, she soon takes Simon's eye - and the sexual tension in the room could cause an explosion&
It's of note that despite being a Kiwi venture, Separation City has a rather international cast - its male lead is Australian, its lead actress is English - in fact Tom Scott has made no secret of the fact they cast the net far and wide for people to be involved. Mind you the whole film has a distinctive Wellington feel - as it's shot around parts of the capital and in Parliament - it's a real ode to the beauty of the city.
There's a lot to admire in Separation City - it has some genuinely funny laugh out loud lines - most of them courtesy of Les Hill's journalist Harry whose sardonic - and realistic - approach to life is the perfect tonic for Joel Edgerton's dreaming would be stray Simon. It does however, fall slightly short and ends up being simply a reasonable piece of the state of relationships later on in life.
There's also much mockery of the touchy feely approach to life - a men's group consisting of a core group of dysfunctional guys provides a lot of the humour as they bemoan the fact that staying monogamous makes life so difficult (again Les Hill has the lion's share of the best moments during the groups)
Separation City has some fresh moments and will end up being rabidly loved by some - it's a grown up comedy which may not hit all the right notes but certainly has a good go.

Rating: 6/10

Year One: DVD Review

Year One: DVD Review

Year One
Released by Sony Home Entertainment
Rating: M
It was one of the films I enjoyed least of 2009 so it was with a degree of trepidation that I watched the DVD and Blu Ray release of Year One, the comedy with Jack Black and the ever brilliant Michael Cera.
They play Zed and Oh respectively, a pair of cavemen who find themselves kicked out of their tribe and thrust into the real world. Along the way, the feeble hunter (Black) and the timid gatherer (Cera) form an unlikely friendship and find themselves in a bit of a predicament.
The problem with Year One is the script - it's clearly not with the performers and the legendary director Harold Ramis (who may be destined to be remembered for Groundhog Day) but the material is a little feeble and just tragically unfunny - which is not great for a comedy.
There are some great supporting performances as well from the likes of House's Olivia Wilde as an empress and Cera's fellow Arrested Developmenter David Cross - but it's just not enough to pull the film together and make it any more cohesive.
Year One ranks as one of the year's hugest disappointments - younger teens will love it - but the rest of us may wonder what's so funny.
Extras: Quite a good collection here - a theatrical and unrated version give you twice the thrills if you feel like it; alternate scenes, deleted scenes, gag reels, commentary with director and stars and a featurette are the lion's share of the extras

Rating: 4/10

Boy: Movie Review

Boy: Movie Review

Rating: 9/10
Cast: Taika Waititi, James Rolleston, Te Aho Eketone-Whitu
Director: Taika Waititi
Unmissable.
Quite simply that's the only way to describe this latest film from the genius behind Eagle Vs Shark, director Taika Waititi.
It's the story of Boy (a superb James Rolleston) and is set in 1984 on the rural East coast of New Zealand.
Boy's a dreamer - he loves Michael Jackson and lives with a clutch of cousins, his Nan and his brother Rocky (who believes he has super powers after his mum died giving birth to him). He also believes he'll score the girl of his dreams.
He imagines his dad, a deep sea diver, carpenter and owner of some totally boss Michael Jackson moves is overseas - the reality is his father Alamein (a glorious Waititi) is serving a stretch behind bars for robbery.
One day, his dad gets out - and both he and Boy gradually bond. But as the pair start to find their way in the world, and despite Alamein's love for ET, Boy's forced to face the reality of his life.
Poignant, hilarious and heartfelt - and unmissable, Boy is a beaut of a piece of New Zealand rural nostalgia, crammed full of funny moments and heartbreak as the reality of Boy's life starts to take sharp focus in this coming of age vignette from Waititi.
While there is a measure of the quirky, there's also a lot of humanity in the story as Boy begins to realise that his father isn't everything he wants him to be and that he doesn't want to grow up to be like his inept dad. Likewise Waititi's Alamein is a beautifully textured performance; by turns he's comic relief, then simmering violent resentment and finally accepting what life's given him. Te Aho Eketone-Whitu's subtle performance masks a sadness in Rocky at being bereft of a mother and facing the guilt she died giving birth - in fact both the central performances from the two young leads are just beautifully sublime and will see you go through the gamut of emotions.
Waititi's world is one I'd love to spend more time in - from its family message about being true to yourself and your whanau, to some wonderful fantasy scenes and animations, I really can't wait to see what he'll do next.

From the opening quote (from ET no less) and with the strains of Poi E bursting onto the screen - right to the final moments (this critic won't spoil those but let's just say, stick around when it looks like it's over), Boy is a Kiwi delight and deserves to be loved worldwide.

Automorphosis: Movie Review

Automorphosis: Movie Review

Rating: 8/10
Director: Harrod Blank
How much do you love your car?
Well, I can guarantee your love isn't as much as the love displayed by the characters on show in this doco which is out at the World Cinema Showcase.
Automorphosis follows the very American world of art cars as they explain why they love the phenomenon and how it's taken over their lives.
Basically Harrod Blank's doco meets up with those who are most proud of their car handiwork - from the Spoon Man who's decorated his vehicle with spoons, to the man who'd heard copper was good for arthritis and decked out his entire car with copper pennies (as well as a copper jumpsuit), these are all people who have a story to tell and a passion to spread.
Initially, you find yourself agog, wondering what on earth these people are thinking and whether, quite frankly, they're nuts and their hobby is a little out of control.
But what you begin to realise is everyone has a damn good reason for doing what they do and the world would be an emptier place without these guys and gals.
In a film littered with so many visually amusing moments and images, there is no way I could do it justice on this page - you really do need to see them for yourselves. What's engaging about it is that the director is actually a part of this world and is trying to get people into his passion - and with infectious light story telling, Harrod Blank can't fail but to hook you in.

Automorphosis is a brilliantly entertaining look at the world of art cars; and I'd be surprised if you didn't leave this doco feeling like it's time you did some work on your own motor.