Footrot Flats: Blu Ray Review

Footrot Flats: Blu Ray Review

Footrot Flats
Rating: PG
It's the 25th anniversary of the release of the animated tale from Tom Scott and Murray Ball, which of course is now an iconic Kiwi film and NZ's first ever animated full length outing.
Starring Peter Rowley as Dog, the faithful mutt of the cartoon series who worked on the farm with owner Wal (voiced by John Clarke), there's a whole list of talent mixed in to this - with guest turns from Rawiri Paratene as Rangi, and Billy T James as a takeaway chef, it's really a nostalgic collection of the best.
The story is really very thin in comparison to animated films these days; Dog tries to help Wal when he tries out for the All Blacks, falls for local female dog Jess and takes on the dastardly Murphys, who are stealing stags from Wal's friend Cooch.
In some ways, Footrot Flats has aged in quite a way but there's still a lot to love about this - it's a collection of rural snapshots and comic situations and quite deadpan humour, such as when Wal takes prospective girlfriend Cheeky to the takeway for a meal out - "Forget the expense love, you can have chips with everything".
Dated but charming, Footrot Flats is quite a nice throwback to New Zealand of yesteryear.

Extras: Commentary

Rating: 7/10

Luther S2: DVD Review

Luther S2: DVD Review

Luther S2
Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow
A 4 hour long BBC drama starring Idris Elba, who gained fame for US crime series the Wire.
He stars as London detective Luther who's back for another round of investigations following the murder of his wife. He's an obsessive, possessed, and sometimes dangerous detective in the violence of his fixations. But Luther has paid a heavy price for his dedication; he has never been able to prevent himself from being consumed by the darkness of the crimes with which he deals.
He's back in action just as a masked serial killer, wearing a Punch (from Punch and Judy) mask is out randomly killing people and out to make a name for himself
Soon Luther's caught in the net and the case gets very personal and comes very close to home
Dark, bleak, a little bit sinister and scary, it's an intelligently put together show with a great central performance from a weary Elba as Luther. He's kind of the genius you can relate to but there are no flashes of brilliance here and there and a lot of burning and frustration as he investigates. It's slow but also slow burning and there's a hell of a twist at the end of the first episode which makes you want to watch the second very quickly.
Compelling and gripping, Luther's well worth investing your time on a rainy weekend.

Rating: 7/10

The Green Lantern: Blu Ray Review

The Green Lantern: Blu Ray Review

The Green Lantern
Rating: M
Released by Warner Bros

So another superhero franchise looks to take flight.

This time, it's the turn of the Green Lantern to try and sprinkle box office magic and ensure a future for the series.

Ryan Reynolds is cock sure pilot Hal Jordan, who despite his plucky exterior and all American clean cut image, is scarred by daddy issues, having seen his pops blown to pieces when a flight went wrong.

Jordan finds himself chosen by a green light one day (I know - bear with me) after an alien from the Green Lantern corp - a sort of green wearing space police - finds himself dying on the earth.
You see, the corp is trying to fight Parallax, an entity so evil it intends to wipe out the universe and take vengeance on the Green Lanterns, threatening the balance of power and tipping it in evil's favour

The Green Lantern is an FX heavy slightly off kilter attempt at launching the franchise. It lacks a real emotional centre and has some completely absurd dialogue thrown in for good measure.
Apparently, green is the universal colour for will and yellow is the universal colour for fear. So now you know.

And yet, it's not the massive failure you may expect having seen the very underwhelming trailer; Reynolds is very watchable as Hal and brings a level of performance which is engaging and believable; similarly for his role as Sinestro, Strong (one of the best character actors around) brings the gravitas to the mentor. Blake Lively continues her ascent from Gossip Girl, playing a ball busting pilot and business woman and Taika Waititi cracks a few lines here and there as Jordan's engineer friend.

But the problem with the Green Lantern lies with the evil side of the story; Peter Sarsgaard's Hector Hammond, who's Jordan's nemesis and infected by Parallax early on, seems to simply become the equivalent of Frankenstein's monster as he lumbers around the screen, howling and becoming the Jekyll character. Sure there are jealousy and daddy issues for him to deal with, but it's a one note performance from Sarsgaard which doesn't deliver by any stretch of the imagination.

All in all, I don't think The Green Lantern has enough to really stand out in the superhero crowd; it lacks the grittiness of a Batman, the everyman appeal of a Superman and the fun offered up by this year's Thor.

Rating: 4/10 

The Orator: DVD Review

The Orator: DVD Review

The Orator
Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

The Orator (O Le Tulafale to give its Samoan title) arrives with a certain amount of prestige behind it.

The tale from first time director Tusi Tamasese has been submitted for consideration as Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Academy Awards®, to be held in Hollywood on the 28th of February 2012.

It's the story of Vaaiga, (Tausili Pushparaj) who's been banished from her ancestral village - she's now living with little person Saili (a stunning turn from debut actor Fa'afiaula Sagote) who's angered neighbours near their home by refusing to move the graves of his parents.

Vaaiga's brother Poto (Tanielu) is also causing problems for this small family; he's sick and wants her to return home.

However, Poto's wish has disastrous consequences for all of them.

Quite frankly, if you fail to be moved by The Orator, you don't have a pulse.
Lusciously shot and beautifully subtle and nuanced, this entirely Samoan film is one for the heart as well as the eyes.

This isn't all about highly compelling slow-burning drama; there's a rich vein of subtly dry humour running throughout - mainly thanks to a Samoan rugby team - which gives the weightiness of the script a much needed touch of lightness.

Ultimately though The Orator is simply strong measured storytelling and impressive acting; it's engrossing, heartfelt and in its final scenes, profoundly moving.

Extras: Short film and trailer

Rating: 8/10 

Captain America: Blu Ray Review

Captain America: Blu Ray Review

Captain America - The First Avenger
Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

So, another film from the Marvel juggernaut heads our way ahead of the release of the super powered The Avengers next year.

This time, it's the turn of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) aka Captain America to take the centre stage ahead of the launch of the franchise.

Rogers is a weedy, asthmatic runt of a man whose quest to sign up for the American army and take on the Nazis is continually turned down because of his imperfect physique.

Overhearing one of his pleas to join up, Rogers is co-opted by Dr Abraham Erskine (a brilliant character turn from Tucci) into a platoon run by Tommy Lee Jones' Colonel Chester Phillips which is aimed at creating a super soldier to win the war.

However, at the same time, Nazi Germany is gearing up for takeover with the help of the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) who's using technology from Odin's world and the might of his underground organisation HYDRA to push the weapons as far as they can go...and take over the world.

Well, let's get the good out of the way - Chris Evans is very good as the all American pie hero Rogers/ Cap America; he brings a real extra dimension to what is essentially only a one dimensional character. Rogers' whole mantra is "I don't like bullies - I don't care where they're from" and it doesn't really make for an in depth character to root for. Plus the Captain could do with a dash of something to prick his pomposity, be it self deprecation or a bit of sly humour.

Credit has to go to the digital team who've done a great job of digitally shrinking Evans down into his weedier version pre-transformation - the work is seamless, visually impressive and ranks as one of the best effects committed to celluloid thus far this year.

The whole Captain America affair is a kind of Boys' Own derring do, Saturday matinee piece of patriotic fluff. As a set up piece and origin story, it's slight and feels inconsequential to the likes of Thor, Iron Man et al. It does score points though for a song and dance routine...

There's nothing inherently wrong with this slightly cheesy, cornball, slow mo action shots explosion fest but it does feel like it's been shoehorned into release schedules to ensure everything's in line for the Avengers. It's only credit to Chris Evans that the film manages to work.

Extras: A very solid bunch here - featurettes, deleted scenes, commentaries - well worth an extra rating

Rating: 7/10 

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2- Blu Ray review

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2- Blu Ray review

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Rating: M
Released by Warner Home video

The final part of the final Harry Potter film is unleashed on the world - and with it, the end of a saga which has entranced a world and created a multi million dollar lifestyle for creator JK Rowling.

As you'll remember from the first part of the Deathly Hallows film, Harry, Hermione and Ron set out to find the Dark Lord's Horcruxes (a sort of magical object which gives Voldemort his power) and destroy them - in the hope that that will end this battle once and for all.

This film takes up right after the end of the last, with Dobby the elf despatched, the battle lines drawn and Harry aware the ultimate battle is nearing a final perhaps fatal end.
But as the fate and destiny of Voldemort and Harry Potter play out, the path leads back to Hogwarts and to a dark secret which will finally settle the score between the Wizarding world and the Muggle World...

Quite frankly, what a stunning, magical epic and emotionally rewarding end to the long running and much loved saga

It's a truly unexpected film - there are moments of absolute silence where the acting simply takes the foreground and the soundtrack goes silent and thematically, there is much to engage the grey matter (although a spiritual flight of fantasy does feel a little unnecessary and meandering even though it's a metaphysical jaunt into Harry's psyche- and don't even get me started on the "19 Years Later" epilogue which is cloying and sickly saccharine and ultimately unnecessary and disappointing).

This is the Harry Potter film I've been waiting for in many ways; perhaps, it was inevitable that it would be the final film which got it right, but as a closing chapter, it's near perfect and is the best send off it could ever have been given.

Extras: A shedload of stuff as you'd expect for the last one - featurettes galore and additional scenes

Rating: 8/10 

Bad Teacher: Blu Ray Review

Bad Teacher: Blu Ray Review

Bad Teacher
Rating: R16
Released by Sony home Ent
You'd think a raunchy comedy involving Cameron Diaz as an apathetic, pot smoking, drinking and uncaring teacher would be a natural sequel to Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa.

But I'm sorry to say this film is probably about as far away from that as you can get.

Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, a just retired teacher at a school, who's dumped by her fiancee after she's accused of gold digging by her would be mom-in-law. So facing a lack of cash and determined to get $10,000 for a boob job so she can net a sugar daddy, Halsey heads back to middle school and tries to cruise by and simply earn the cash she needs for surgery.

When Justin Timberlake's Scott Delacorte starts up as a supply teacher alongside Elizabeth, she senses he's got a bit of cash to splash and an inheritance to dig her claws into.

Throw into the mix Jason Segel's gym teacher, Russell who's got a crush on Halsey and it's a case of problems ahoy in the classroom.

Vulgar and crude can work - and in some parts of this film, it is laugh out loud funny as the foulest things come out of sweet looking Cameron Diaz's mouth - but there's little else on show in this "comedy" which exploits Diaz's sleazy looks and body for "laughs". (There's even a scene with Diaz wearing very short shorts and hosing herself down at a charity car wash while a rock song plays loudly in the background.)

Don't get me wrong, this has its moments and Segal, Diaz and Timberlake get by on the screen but the laughs in this flat comedy are few and far between - sure, there are some great one liners which cause mirth but it's not enough to get you through the film without it feeling like it's sagging. Diaz works as hard as she can but she can't save it

Extras: More raunchy footage, deleted scenes, gag reels, outtakes

Rating: 5/10