Me and Orson Welles: DVD Review

Me and Orson Welles: DVD Review

Me and Orson Welles
Released by Madman Entertainment

1930s New York and young teen wannabe actor Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) finds himself on the steps of the Mercury Theatre.
Samuels is a dreamer and wants to tread the boards - and thanks to a chance meeting with soon to be legendary Orson Welles (a brilliant and stellar performance from Christian McKay), he finds himself cast in a minor role in Welles' Julius Caesar.

But from there, Samuels begins to learn the reality of the life backstage isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Particularly not when the director is Orson Welles, a brilliant, impetuous, temperamental and arrogant man who firmly believes the play's the thing.

Me and Orson Welles surprises on a few levels - it's a spot on recreation of 1930s New York (complete with a spry soundtrack) but it's the acting talent and the story which really shine.

While Zac Efron's better than you'd expect given his High School Musical pedigree, it's really Christian McKay who excels in his role as Orson. From the vocal performance and the perfect encapsulation of the volatile Welles, to the characteristics of the man who polarised many, McKay is spot on and emerges as the real winner of this film.

His Orson is a sleaze, the kind of man who takes ambulances to appointments to beat traffic, a real cad and bounder whose passion for performance eclipses everything else. And it's McKay's performance which eclipses everyone else - he steals every scene he's in and is scarily impressive.

Combined with a sweet central romance between Efron's character and Claire Danes' manager, Me And Orson Welles is an unexpected treat, well worth two hours of your time.

Extras: Interview with original theatre players, star interviews, trailers and obligatory deleted scenes

Rating: 8/10

Being Human Series One and Two: DVD Review

Being Human Series One and Two: DVD Review

Being Human
Series One and Series Two
Released by Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: R16
A story about three housemates, trying to live their lives as normally as possible sounds particularly dull.
But in this series, the trio involved are a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire.
And these two series are examples of the very best of British.
Series one introduces the gang; George, a werewolf who's struggling to get by and find his place in the world - as well as love; Annie, a ghost, whose death is the result of a shocking twist in her relationship and Mitchell, a brooding vampire, who's lost the taste for blood.
Series two ups the ante dramatically as George battles with his demons and guilt over infecting his girlfriend with the werewolf gene; Mitchell has problems with the vampire community and poor Annie finds life in the spirit world can be very very tough.
Throw in a battle for vampire supremacy, hints of a centuries old fight between werewolves and the vamps, as well as worries over what the neighbours think and you may be wondering what the appeal of this series is.
Well, quite simply it's in the masterful writing, wonderful acting and clever characterization. It's an appealing premise which just works from the get-go; there's no clever set up and it feels real because of it. You really do root for the trio as they face what seem insurmountable odds because of who they are - and their desire to just get by.
The ending of Series two is particularly heart wrenching and fans will be clamouring for more - be warned though; once you start Being Human, you may find the compulsive side of your nature coming out - and you'll have to watch it all in one go.
Extras: Series one has profiles, interviews and behind the scenes stuff - nothing on series two.

Rating: 8/10

American Dad Volume Five: DVD Review

American Dad Volume Five: DVD Review

American Dad - Volume 5
Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Entertainment

So the over the top animated adventures of CIA Agent Stan Smith continues in this latest release which collects together some eight hours of entertainment.

A little more cohesive than Family Guy even though it's from the same creative team, American Dad is nonetheless equally as entertaining.

Episodes include Steve, the son, running amok at a bar mitzvah; Francine discovering she was a second choice for wife, and Stan building a DeLorean (the car from Back To The Future).

It's insanity and hilarity in equal doses although after a while, the humour does veer toward the predictable.

Extras: Deleted scenes (numbering over a 100) and commentaries - a reasonable if unspectacular bunch.

Rating: 6/10

Wild Target: Movie Review

Wild Target: Movie Review

Wild Target
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Eileen Atkins, Martin Freeman, Rupert Everett
Director: Jonathan Lynn
The tone for this film is set with the opening sequence.
Bill Nighy, dressed in a suit and sporting a dodgy looking mo, walks into a building. Seconds later as a man falls from a great height, Nighy briskly walks off.
Nighy is Victor Maynard, a 54 year old life long assassin, who's hired to take out Emily Blunt's Rose, a con artist who rips off a local gangster played by Rupert Everett.
But after Maynard fluffs the initial attempt on Rose's life, the gangster sends in his goons to finish the job - and Maynard.
Things get even more complicated when Maynard runs into Rupert Grint's orphan Tony as he's about to kill Rose. Terry ends up saving all of their lives and the trio's forced on the run until it all blows over.
Wild Target is a quirky style farce which channels early Ealing comedies. There's dry humour aplenty to begin with and clearly something a little different to start off with.
Nighy is mightily impressive as Maynard; his unmoving expression and poker face give some of his actions a more comedic feel. Along with his tall slender frame and suit, at times, he feels like John Cleese about to launch into the Ministry of Silly Walks. He's starchy and stiff which makes his eventual thawing a little more plausible - although once again, Nighy gets to dance (it seems to be the law that in most of his films, he gets to boogie.)
Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint offer good solid support - Blunt's Rose is a mischievous impish thief who doesn't realize until too late the trouble she's in. And Grint brings a bit of humanity to the orphan who's taken under Victor's wing.

The problem with Wild Target is that despite the talented cast, this feels a little too farcical (albeit very funny in places) to be completely successful. It doesn't offer anything radically new in terms of story and gags (an intelligence lacking hitman eats pot pourri mistaking it for a snack) and because of that, it doesn't soar as much as it could.

True Grit: Movie Review

True Grit: Movie Review

True Grit
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin
Director: The Coen Brothers
Jeff Bridges stars as Rooster Cogburn in this remake of the 1969 Western which originally starred John Wayne.
Cogburn's a one-eyed US Marshall who's charged by Hailee Steinfeld's teenaged Mattie Ross to bring her father's killer, Tom Chaney (Brolin) to justice.
Initially reticent, Cogburn takes on the job - and ends up teaming up with Texas Ranger La Beouf (Damon) who's also tracking Chaney.
The three of them head out on the trail - with Ross determined to make sure Cogburn brings her father's killer home to face justice rather than see him swing in Texas (La Beouf's wishes).
But when Mattie accidentally stumbles across Chaney, the quest suddenly becomes deadly.
True Grit is a straight forward Western, which while sublime in places, in my humble opinion, is nowhere as outstanding as it's been made out to be. (Although I'm probably against the tide on this given the Academy's bestowed it with seven nominations).
Bridges and Damon are good but all in honesty, they're acted off the screen by Steinfeld, whose performance is astoundingly star making. Her Mattie is precocious, head strong and described by one character as "hard as nails". And yet once or twice, when the bravado slips, Steinfeld brings to the role a steely vulnerability and a humanity which it's hard not to warm to - or be impressed by.
Ethan Coen's said that if the kid didn't work in this film, there'd be no film - and he's completely right. Possibly that's some of the division I felt over this - Steinfeld's so good that Bridges and Damon seem merely adequate.
There's some of the usual Coen imagery here in the unexpected - a man wearing a bear skin walks up on a horse, a dead man swings from the trees in a misty forest; it's a film redolent of lasting imagery and sly humour.
And yet, this straight laced, at times slow, tale of 3 people searching for something didn't quite move me as much as I was expecting.

The reason to see True Grit is Steinfeld - she's a star in the making and her part in this film will be the best teen performance you see this year.

Secretariat: Movie Review

Secretariat: Movie Review

Secretariat

Rating: 6/10

Cast: Diane Lane, John Malkovich, James Cromwell

Director: Randall Wallace

This latest from Disney is the tale of a horse and of a woman who wouldn't let go.

Diane Lane stars as Penny Chenery, an 1960s American housewife, whose family has spent generations breeding racing horses on their Virginian farm.

When her father (Scott Glen) becomes too ill to continue on the farm, Penny, against the wishes of her family, takes over the business. With the help of maverick trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) this housewife with a passion for horses and honouring her family's legacy takes on the industry and leads her horse, Secretariat, to the challenge of winning the Triple Crown.

Secretariat is one of those to file under earnest and worthy but dull at times.

It's incredibly slow to get going - from its sombre opening to the final furlong two hours later, there's a bit of a slog here to be frank.

Sure, Diane Lane and John Malkovich turn in sturdy performances in this aspirational and inspirational film - but you can't help but feel your attention drifting when the focus moves away from the racetrack and the inevitable financial troubles faced by the family.

That said, when it's on the race track, that's where the film truly comes to life - and sees you on the edge of your seat.

Cameras take you right into the heart of the racing - be it on a horse or by the hooves, the filming of the races really does soar and gets your pulse going.

Secretariat won't win any awards, does exactly what you'd expect from an inspirational film and does at times feel like a little earnest TV Movie - which is a shame because the final 20 minutes sees the film come vividly to life with an injection of drama and tension.

The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell: Movie Review

The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell: Movie Review

The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell
Rating: 8/10
Cast: William McInnes, Robyn Malcolm, Joel Tobeck
Director: Brendan Donovan
Set in East Auckland's Howick, The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell is the story of William McInnes' manchild Gazza Snell, whose world is falling apart with a failing business.
All he's obsessed with is getting his eldest son to Milan for a karting championship in Milan.
However, when his youngest is seriously injured in a crash, Gazza loses all touch with the horrifying reality of what lies ahead - and instead becomes insistent on focussing solely on the karting.
That causes the family rift to widen.
The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell is a feelgood Kiwi battler kind of treat- despite the initial beginnings there's plenty of warmth in this tale of a suburban dad; thanks to good solid performances from McInnes and Robyn Malcolm as his desperate housewife, it succeeds - even with its sentimental ending.
It's thanks to the everyman feel of the film that it becomes a winner - the universal tale of Gazza needing to grow up is clearly based on the reality - and Donovan himself has admitted that the father figure is based on several dreamers he knows.
There's also the racial element as Snell's eldest begins dating an Asian girl - and with a sly script, it exposes some of the stereotypes that Howick (and parts of New Zealand itself) are prone to.
Robyn Malcolm gives a quiet solid desperation to her first leading woman role on the big screen - and there's unexpected laughs throughout. There's also a lot of honesty on display in this film - in the performances, the writing and the direction - it's an unashamedly crowd pleasing film which is easily identifiable to many of us.

The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell is packed full of heart, humour.. and Howick- and deserves to be a massive hit thanks to its essential Kiwi feel.