Robin Hood: Blu Ray Review

Robin Hood: Blu Ray Review

Robin Hood
Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment
Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott reteam in this retelling of the Robin Hood saga.
It's 1199 and a glowering Crowe is Robin Longstride, an archer in King Richard The Lionheart's army, who's been fighting in the Crusades for the past decade.
Following the death of the king in battle Longstride and three comrades (Will Scarlett, Little John and Allan A'Dale) head back to England to try and restart their lives. But before Longstride can resume his life (despite never knowing exactly who his father was), he has to keep a promise made to a dying knight, Robert of Loxley.
The problem is that when he returns to Loxley in Nottingham, Robert's father (a frail Max von Sydow) asks him to impersonate his son to keep the village alive with hope - particularly as the recently crowned King John (Oscar Isaac) has started a crusade of taxation.

Also lurking in the wings is Sir Godfrey (the ever wonderful Mark Strong) who's trying to steal the crown for himself.
Ridley Scott's Robin Hood is a good epic take on the story - sure there will be some who'll feel that he's taken liberties with the story - but what he's crafted is an intelligently told and thoughtful story which in no shape or form is simply Gladiator with Bows and Arrows.
Russell Crowe is restrained as Robin; plenty of scowling but you can tell he is the kind of man who does the right thing. Longstride's relationship with Cate Blanchett's Maid Marian works well as the flick takes time to build it up - giving it more of a realistic feel and one which feels human. The film becomes a thoughtful piece with more of an accent on characters rather than action - though the action scenes which there are do stand out
Extras: An impressive 2 disc release sees the film given an extra 16 mins - and a second disc boasts an impressive 62 minute doco behind the scenes. Add onto that, a slew of deleted scenes and you've got a bunch of extras which certainly hit the bullseye.

Rating: 8/10 

Letters to Juliet: DVD Review

Letters to Juliet: DVD Review

Letters To Juliet
Released by Sony Home Pictures
Rating: PG

Amanda Seyfried stars as the soon to be married American researcher Sophie, who heads to Verona with her fiancée Victor (Gabriel Garcia Bernal) to enjoy a pre marriage break.

But instead of splurging on the culture or her, Victor spends a lot more of his time meeting with suppliers for his restaurant and leaves Sophie to her own devices.

So, Sophie ends up under that infamous balcony where many a star crossed lover posts a "letter to Juliet" asking for help. As Sophie follows a gaggle of ladies who answer these letters, she finds herself questioning her own life and destiny.

Things get worse when she answers a letter written years ago - and that response brings the writer and her grandson to Verona in search of true love.

What can you say about Letters to Juliet? It's another romantic comedy which is light and frothy and pitches squarely for a certain audience who'll be happy with this latest entry into the rom com genre - high art it certainly is not. Beautifully shot though it is - still, with a canvas like Verona to work from, that's not surprising.

There's a few cheesy contrived moments as well as some predictable moments but all in all Letters to Juliet delivers exactly what you'd expect.

Extras: Deleted scenes, audio with Amanda Seyfried and director, the making of, plus a look at the courtyard which is so iconic.

Rating: 4/10

The Road: DVD Review

The Road: DVD Review

The Road

Rating: R16
Released by Warner Home Video

In the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are journeying across America after the world ended in some unknown way.

(Though it appears to have been nuclear)

As they head south at the urging of the father's wife (Charlize Theron) and search for food, shelter and fuel, the duo meet all manner of problems - thieves, cannibals, and worst of all, their own paranoia and fears.

Against a backdrop of a devastated planet, survivors who are reduced to horrendous scavenging ways to get by and an ever increasing cold front, the duo find themselves unable to escape the inexorable physical and mental horrors which surround them.

To describe The Road as compellingly bleak may seem a little odd - but when you have a film which finds the worst that men can do and has a protagonist who would rather shoot his only son to avoid him being eaten alive, it's clearly not a laugh riot.

But yet, this film is intellectually stimulating watching as the events unfold - it's all wonderfully underplayed which adds to the horror -and thanks to the great performances of Mortensen and Smit-
Phee, this is riveting and terrifyingly good.

Extras: Behind the scenes featurettes and a gallery.

Rating: 8/10

Buried: Movie Review

Buried: Movie Review

Buried
Rating: 8/10
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Ryan Reynolds stars in this claustrophobic thriller where the clock is ticking in a deadly race against time.
Reynolds is Paul Conroy, an American truck driver in Iraq who awakes to find himself trapped in a coffin with only a cellphone, a few pens and a lighter for company.
As Conroy comes round, he begins to realize the horror of the situation; namely that he's buried alive, with no idea where he is, why he's there and perhaps most importantly, how he's going to get out.
However, as he makes a series of desperate phone calls, he begins to piece together a potential escape plan. Things get more complicated when those who put him in the box call and make demands of him..can Conroy get it together in time and get out alive with time, oxygen and hope running out?
Buried is a good old fashioned thriller with an intriguing premise and a great sense of claustrophobia.
From the moment the Saul Bass/ Hitchcock style opening credits end, you're plunged into darkness and your senses adjust at the same time Conroy's do. Every sound, every nuance is disorienting on the big screen in the dark - Conroy's frenzied panicked breathing puts you on the edge of your seat right away.
But what will keep you on the edge of that seat is Ryan Reynolds - what a performance in what is essentially a one man film. As the camera pans over Reynolds in his captivity, his every performance (whether it's the breathing or freaking out as he realizes how problematic his situation is) is pitch perfect, conveying the horror of the situation and the desperation of a man determined to get out. He goes through the gamut of emotions with ease and emerges a fully rounded character whom we empathasise with immediately - no mean feat seeing as his is the only face on the screen for 90 minutes.
The script could have so easily run out of steam but with time trickling away, it powers along with plenty of pace and deadly realism.
Director Cortes has done a good job too - with close ups, spiralling camera work in the confined space of the coffin, we get every sense of tension; every feeling of intensity is there up on the screen.
There's also some humour in there - Reynolds has issues with answerphones as he tries to get help; a clash with a sister in law is fraught with desperation - but there's also humanity as Conroy talks to those who matter most to him and thanks to the carefully handled script, the situation isn't milked for effect.

Buried is a nervy mesmerizing treat - a tensely claustrophobic affair which is vividly brought to life by a power house performance from a mightily impressive Reynolds.

Dinner For Schmucks: Movie Review

Dinner For Schmucks: Movie Review

Dinner For Schmucks
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Bruce Greenwood
Director: Jay Roach
Taken from the original French film Le Diner De Cons (The Dinner Game) and Americanised, Dinner for Schmucks stars Paul Rudd as Tim, a mid level executive who's desperate to break through to the upper levels of the board room.
One day, he manages a break through by impressing his boss (Greenwood) over how to net a potential new client Mueller (David Walliams) and is invited into the upper echelons of the board room.
However, on arrival there, he's told of a monthly dinner hosted by his boss which he's duly invited to. But the crux of the dinner is that each of them has to bring an idiot along as a dinner date for their collective amusement - and it gets worse for Tim as he realises the boss picks a winning idiot to give a prize to.
That's where Steve Carell comes in - his IRS worker Barry is run over by Tim. And as Tim talks to Barry, he realises this taxidermist could be his in to win the Dinner. You see, Barry makes diorama and famous scenes with dead mice (eg the Mousea Lisa) and is clearly some kind of idiot in Tim's eyes.
But when Barry enters Tim's life, he brings a whirlwind of chaos and devastation causing Tim's girlfriend Julie to walk out on him and compound Tim's fears that Julie's having an affair with artist Kieran Vollard (a brilliant Jemaine Clement).
So Tim's life is in tatters - can it all be salvaged?
I have mixed feelings about this film (and no I've not seen the original French farce)- Paul Rudd puts in yet another good and likeable act - and Steve Carell is once again, another version of Steve Carell but starts to irritate a little as the film continues. However, it's nice they've made him a loser with a back story that's revealed near the end rather than just a goof.
Dinner For Schmucks is also slow to set up - it's all about the build up to the dinner and when it comes (very near the end), it's very very funny (probably the best part of the film) but it doesn't feel like that's the main thrust of the film. Although a running gag about Vollard knowing Nelson Mandela is funny in Carell's hands because of the idiot naif way in which he carries it out - he believes it's Morgan Freeman.
That's really the crux of this - if you find that funny, you'll like Dinner for Schmucks.
However Zach Galifianakis and Jemaine Clement are the best in this - Galifianakis of the Hangover film plays a man who believes he has mind control - and Clement's artist Vollard (complete with lank pony tail and general artist insanity) is another strong entry into Clement's continuing line of oddball characters.

Dinner For Schmucks can be best described as a meal which promises so much - in the end it resembles a buffet which initially has you salivating but ultimately leaves you wanting.

The Insatiable Moon: Movie Review

The Insatiable Moon: Movie Review

The Insatiable Moon
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Rawiri Paratene, Sara Wiseman, Greg Johnson, Ian Mune
Director: Rosemary Riddell
Shot on a shoestring budget when the Film Commission passed, The Insatiable Moon became a labour of love for those involved.
It's the story of Arthur (a tremendous powerhouse performance from Rawiri Paratene) who believes he's the second son of God and who frequents a halfway house run by Greg Johnson's Bob in Auckland's suburb of Ponsonby.
However, Arthur's life becomes permanently intertwined with Sara Wiseman's social worker at a time when the boarding house is threatened with closure.
With residents galvanized into trying to save their home from those who've got closed minds, the clock begins to tick - and Arthur starts to unravel.
The Insatiable Moon is a story of heart and compassion, populated with some truly brilliant and crowd pleasing performances from the central cast.
It's got audience pleasing moments throughout as well as some laughs but it's Paratene's impishness and charm which sees this film from beginning to end; with big eyes and a disarming grin, he's the heart and soul of the Insatiable Moon - and manages to bind the whole thing together.
However, he's nearly upstaged by a simply brilliant Greg Johnson as the halfway house owner Bob and Wiseman who imbue their roles with such class, it's hard not to be swept along by this heartfelt tale which is inspired by actual characters.

While some may consider that the film looks a little cheap in places and there may be split opinions over the handling of mental illness, it's a real credit to those involved that this project got completed - and once you get over those criticisms, it's more than likely you'll find a film which may engage you in ways you'd never expected.

Johnny English Reborn: Movie Review

Johnny English Reborn: Movie Review

Johnny English Reborn

Rating: 4/10

Cast : Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Gillian Anderson

Director: Oliver Parker

Rowan Atkinson returns as the special agent Johnny English in the sequel to the 2003 flick which saw disaster given a new face of bumbling ineptitude.

When we first see English, he's in a Tibetan monastery trying to recover some sense of self worth after a disastrous mission he headed up in Mozambique ended up with the death of a president.
But when a plot to assassinate the Chinese premier is revealed, MI7, realizing their contact will only talk to English, is forced to recall him into service.

And so it appears Johnny English is the only person who can save the day - if he can pull his act together.

So a strong contender for one of the worst, most predictable films of the year emerges.

Johnny English Reborn feels like a throwback in so many ways; the gags are predictable and at times cringeworthy; in the monastery, English stands the opposite way to all the other monks during a work out; in an MI7 office, he falls off an inflatable back support ball and in a hidden base, he leaps around in a body bag only to jump into a wall. If you like that kind of humour, then this is the film for you.

Granted, these kinds of jokes were the sort of thing British film used to do some 20 years ago - and while nostalgia's a good thing, the relative lack of any kind of sophistication here feels like an insult to today's audiences.

In fairness, Atkinson, channeling his deadpan rubbery face, gives it his all and even manages a few laughs here and there - but even he can't save the averageness of the script from rising up and swamping everything on screen. However, I will concede there will be some who will enjoy this film - the awkwardness and deadpan is worked to maximum effect here but after a while, it starts to grate.