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

Billy T : Te Movie: Blu Ray Review

Billy T: Te Movie

Rating: PG
Released by Sony Home Ent

"His mark on comedy is like a pen mark on a shirt - by a Vivid pen - it's indelible."

So a doco about the irrepressible and much loved Kiwi comic icon Billy T James finally hits the small screen. 

Te Movie is more about Billy T's life and draws inevitable parallels with Leanne Pooley's Topp Twins Untouchable Girls in terms of how it's put together. Using archive performance footage, past interviews and current day recollections and reconstructions from colleagues, friends but no immediate family, this piece by Ian Mune is a sensitive, relatively rounded portrait of the man who clearly set the standard for Kiwi comedy (and whose groundbreaking talent and natural showmanship have yet to be matched from what I can tell.)

Ian Mune uses footage of him truly rocking the house and reducing everyone to laughter to show what a talent he was - and what a stellar performer he was once he overcame his initial shyness and found his stride in the Maori Volcanics group.

He's also wisely chosen to adopt a somewhat matey approach to interviewing friends and colleagues of Billy T - a trio of bros is interviewed in a field in Auckland, quite a few other mates are interviewed near a cowshed - there's a very uniquely Kiwi and casual approach to putting together this film. Contributions also come from long term Billy T cohort Peter Rowley as you'd expect.

But it's telling that there's no real comment - other than archival footage - from immediate family and that's the one real hole and glaring omission which truly stops this from feeling like a rounded and full portrait of the man.

Ultimately, because of the lack of immediate family, Billy T: Te Movie falls just short of greatness; don't get me wrong - Ian Mune's pieced together a warmly fitting tribute to the man who made such a difference to entertainment and Maori/ Pakeha relations.

And quite frankly, decades on, Billy T still has what it takes to reduce audiences to laughter - no matter how old or young they are in this charming doco which will have you giggling like Billy T.

Senna: Blu Ray Review

Senna Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

You wouldn't expect a film about Ayrton Senna to be so moving unless you were a Formula One fan.

You would be wrong.

This doco, simply made using archive footage of races, interviews and home movie footage is one of the most rewarding films of the year.

It tells the story of his life -mainly on the track to be honest - and his rivalry with fellow driver Alain Prost, the Frenchman with whom discord became all out war.

But what emerges from director Asif Kapadia is an intimate portrait of a focussed and driven man who's knocked around by the system because all he wants is success and isn't willing to play the game.

Scenes of racing, some of which come from cockpit cameras are scintillating; there's footage of drivers' meetings which have been hitherto unseen and hint at some of the conflict felt by Senna as he butted heads with the powers that be; and of course, there's a wealth of footage from races thanks to videoing done at the time. By not using the traditional talking heads in a studio format, Kapadai's interlaced dialogue over footage of Senna - and it's a nice touch which immerses you more in Senna's life rather than taking you out and transporting you back to the studio every five minutes.

Throw into that some family footage, scenes of holidays and truly, Senna is a wonderfully multidimensional picture of the man who was a star on the tracks and a role model to so many Brazilians who were living through some truly horrific times back home.

The whole film is a truly emotional journey as it becomes a fascinating battle of wills, tactics and rivalry as the feud between Senna and Prost heats up.

Add in the final section of the film which deals with Senna's death in Imola in 94 and it's just heartbreaking, leaving you a wreck after the preceding joyous celebration of the legend.

Ultimately this doco is one of the best of the year; at the end, I left having been through the gamut of emotions and brimming with interest at a subject I didn't remotely care about when I initially sat down to watch this.

 

Rise Of The Planet of The Apes - Blu Ray Review

Rise of the Planet of The Apes
Rating: M
Released by 20th Century Fox

Modern day San Francisco and Will Rodman (James Franco) is a troubled scientist, working on a cure for Alzheimers disease and using chimps as well as illegally using his father (John Lithgow) to see if the ALZ 112 cure works.

When one of the chimps which is showing signs of growing intelligence thanks to the trials in the lab breaks out and is killed, Rodman discovers she's protecting a baby - whom Rodman promptly takes home and raises as his own test subject.

Three years later and Caesar the test subject is also showing signs of inherited intelligence and has learned sign language - however, when Caesar attacks a neighbour protecting Rodman's dad, he's locked up in a primate sanctuary.

But it's not long before Caesar's plotting a break out from the chimpanarium his human captors have imprisoned him in...

A reboot of the Apes franchise was in no way on my radar after the somewhat messy Tim Burton/ Mark Wahlberg attempt back in 2001 - but quite frankly, this reboot is perhaps one of the best of the series - and one of the best reboots of a flagging franchise I've ever witnessed.

That's mainly, it has to be said, due to the work done by WETA in creating the chimps and Andy Serkis' motion capture suit work as the lead Caesar. We've now reached an age where digital technology can do pretty much anything and can do it astoundingly well.

While the early digital realisation of the baby chimps is something akin to a Mogwai/Ape cross and a little creaky, when Caesar ages and comes into his own, it's really an astonishingly good cinematic moment (even if early shots of him careering around a home are unnecessary and feel shoehorned in as if to show off what the tech can do) as the ape rises up and begins to emote. There's so much feeling conveyed in Caesar's eyes that you can't help but connect with the primate and his kin and for that, those involved in this film really do need huge kudos as it's never easy to get an audience to empathise with digitally created creatures.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is one of the best blockbusters of the season; it's a thrilling, emotion filled and intelligent ride which reinvigorates the franchise and has got me salivating for a potential sequel

 

 

 

Dolphin Tale: Movie Review

Cast: Harry Connick Jr, Winter the dolphin, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd,  Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson

Director: Charles Martin Smith

From the people who brought you the inspirational Blind Side, comes Dolphin Tale, a similarly spirited family movie based on a true story.

Gamble stars as Sawyer, the young kid of a broken family; his dad left him and his mum (Judd) years ago and as the flick starts, Sawyer’s about to lose his cousin to the war abroad and is forced to go to summer school to boost his grades.

However, whilst heading in on the first day, Sawyer finds a dolphin on the beach caught up in a crab trap. Sawyer helps cut the dolphin free and it ends up in the local marine aquarium, where Dr Clay Haskett (Connick Jr) and his co-workers try to nurse it back to health.

But things get worse for Winter (the name they end up giving the dolphin) when her fin has to be amputated – and facing an uncertain future.

And it’s not just Flipper’s pal who’s got trouble – Dr Clay’s Marine centre’s in dire financial straits and Sawyer’s schooling has also taken a dive.

The thing with a Dolphin Tale is you can see what it’s doing a mile off; it’s one of those films which feels like a made for TV movie that occasionally the American audiences revel in and the rest of us wonder why schmaltz like this continues to be made.

Firstly, aside from the opening where the dolphins frolic in the water, the 3D in this film is pointless; it adds little to the story.

Secondly, there are so many clichés at play in this you can see them before they even show; every stereotype is here – from the kid with a broken family who needs the wounded animal to heal – both for his well being and the animal’s - to the doctor facing financial adversity.

And yet, for everything that’s served up in this overtly sickly sweet film with terribly earnest acting, there’s just something about it which keeps it engaging – just.

That would be Morgan Freeman’s appearance as a prosthetic limbs specialist. He brings a welcome note of humour which pricks the dour feel of the film just at the right moment. Essentially he’s playing another nice guy, but the warmth he brings just about saves this saccharine celluloid outing.

All of the cast give it their all and there’s certainly something to be said for the family feel of this film – if you’re willing to leave your day to day cynicism at the door.

Dolphin Tale: Movie Review - Rating:

The Thick of It: Specials: DVD Review

The Thick of It: Specials: DVD Review

The Thick of It Specials
Rating: R16
Released by BBC and Roadshow

A couple of specials released by the Thick Of It are actually head and shoulders above any other comedy around.

Peter Capaldi once again reprises his vicious spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the Rise of The Nutters and Spinners and Losers, in these two mini serials. Capaldi once again dominates the satirical proceedings with his caustic wit, powerhouse performance and blistering presence.

But the show wouldn't be as good as it is without the smart and spot on writings of the team behind it - viciously targeting the absurdity of politics and politicians, it makes for an insightful piece which is also side splittingly and intelligently funny.

Rating: 7/10 

This Is England 86: DVD Review

This Is England 86: DVD Review

This Is England 86
Released by Madman
Rating: M

Director Shane Meadows returns to familiar pastures with this 4 ep series spun off from the successful This Is England film.

Set three years after the film and influenced more by the Mods than the skinheads this time round, it still concentrates on the same gang of Shaun, Woody, Lol, Smell, Gadget, Meggy et al and follows their escapades as they try to negotiate life in 1980s England.

It begins with the attempted wedding of Woody and Lol but quickly spirals away from that as life takes a hand (to reveal too much is to spoil the central story) in events.

With recession and lack of jobs affecting the UK at that time, there's plenty of material for Meadows to broaden the depths of his characters - and despite some initially dour moments, there's a welcome shot of dry humour throughout this mini series.

Joe Gilgun and Thomas Turgoose give great central performances and are compelling from beginning to end; it'll help to have some familiarity with the characters from the film but This Is England 86 gives welcome life to the gang - and while it could be said to be quite downbeat and perhaps a little miserable in places, it's still British drama at its finest.

Rating: 8/10