The Golden Globes 2012 Awards

Updated 3.16pm

Get a list of all the latest winners here...

The Golden Globes 2012 winners

They're on now.

If you're stuck at home and not near a TV showing it, then here's where you can catch the show.

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/live-updates-golden-globes-2012-4689231

The Descendants featurette

It's a strong contender for Golden Globes success and even Oscar talk - George Clooney's latest, The Descendants.

I was lucky enough to see it this week - you'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get my full verdict (Hint - it's very good) here on the blog but for now, here's a little featurette from gorgeous George and the gang.




The Descendants hits NZ cinemas from January 26th.

Horrible Bosses: Blu Ray Review

Horrible Bosses: Blu Ray Review

Horrible Bosses - Totally Inappropriate Edition
Rating: R16
Released by Warner Home Video

Jason Bateman stars as Nick Hendricks who despises his boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) after he's passed up for promotion; his pals Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudekis) who have issues with their bosses played by Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell respectively

Perhaps Dale has it worst with his sexually suggestive and lecherous dental boss Julia (played with delicious relish by Aniston) as she's always trying to seduce him and continually sexually harasses him.

So the trio decides enough is enough and plot to off their big bad bosses to ensure their continual happiness.
But because they're inept, things go seriously awry.

Much like the film itself, to be brutally frank.

Bitterly disappointing and horribly flat at times, Horrible Bosses is crushingly unfunny which is a real shock given the talent involved. Don't get me wrong, the main trio work well and have a good dynamic but the dark comedy of this premise goes largely unexplored and becomes quite wasted as the time wears on.

Aniston clearly has fun, putting to bed the good girl image she's spent years on - and some of the language out of that potty mouthed character will surprise some and will make force casting agents to look at other darker roles for her. Spacey is menacing as one boss but Farrell's barely on screen for long enough to warrant anything more than a cameo appearance in this.
Bateman, Day and Sudekis gel well on the screen and there are some laugh out loud funny moments - but they're too few and far between for this version of the Three Stooges

Ultimately Horrible Bosses runs out of steam and its uninspired denouement is clearly sign posted well in advance.
Extras: A Good bunch of an extended cut, interviews and snippets here and there

Rating: 4/10

That 70s Show - S1 to 8: DVD Review

That 70s Show - S1 to 8: DVD Review

That 70s Show Seasons 1-8
Rating: PG
Released by Magna Home Ent
200 episodes of this sitcom are now available on DVD - and what a decadent trip it is.

Centred around a group of teens in 1970s Wisconsin, it's a funny series which guarantees you at least a few good belly laughs per episode.

A talented ensemble cast - including the likes of Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace - do brilliantly at connecting with the 1970s vibe of free love, hippiness and teen problems.

But this is a well written sitcom too - with characters which are easy to love which makes watching each episode easy; there are way too many plots to go into but Topher Grace's courtship of Laura Prepon gives the show much of its initial thrust.

The final season is a little uneven as it's missing a couple of its leads - but they return for the show's end. Throw in some reasonable extras, promos, mini featurettes and these 8 releases make for a good nostalgic throwback comedy.

Rating: 8/10 

New John Carter poster revealed

From the guy who brought us Wall-E - or Andrew Stanton as he's known - comes John Carter,a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars).

Based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs - anyone remember Naked Lunch?

The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). 

In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands

John Carter hits NZ cinemas on March 8th

Hugo: Movie Review

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emily Mortimer

Director: Martin Scorsese

With talk of awards and nominations already stacking up for this 3D film, it’s fair to say it arrives in cinemas with the weight of expectation heavily upon it.

Butterfield (who many will remember from the Boy With the Striped Pyjamas) stars as orphan Hugo Cabret. Cabret lives in the walls around the station of Paris in the world of the 1930s; after his clock maker father (Jude Law) died in a fire at the museum where he worked, Cabret was an orphan.

But Cabret spends his day stealing food and clockwork pieces from Ben Kingsley’s toy shop owner, Papa Georges, as he has a secret. Hugo is trying to rebuild an automaton left to him by his father as he believes the machine has a message from his departed dad.

But, Hugo’s missing a heart shaped key for it – and it appears Isabelle, Georges’ granddaughter, may be able to help unlock the mystery.

Martin Scorsese’s film is a passionate piece about a love of cinema – even though it doesn’t start out like that. Initially, it appears to be a tale about an orphan boy, avoiding the clutches of Sacha Baron Cohen’s station master.

However, it soon switches to a mesmerizing and breathtakingly beautiful tale which celebrates the wonder of cinema and the influence of early film makers – specifically, one by the name of Georges Melies.

It’s also a stunning use of 3D as well and it finally makes the technology feel magical and wondrous. Opening with a shot of a clockwork mechanism, it fades into a Paris landscape and then swoops majestically into the train station – it’s a bold and stupendous opening shot which shows the scope of Scorsese’s ambition for this film.

Cinephiles will love this film – it’s bound to be a classic celebration of the pioneering cinematic forefathers – but Hugo is not just for film fans.

It’s a beautifully crafted, passionately heartfelt and spellbinding, enigmatic and magical film which is a captivating watch from beginning to end.

RATING:

War Horse: Movie Review

Cast: Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irvine

Director: Steven Spielberg

So, Spielberg’s push for Mr Oscar begins here with this book fondly remembered by some from their childhoods.

Irvine stars as Albert, a lad living on a Devon farm in the UK, whose dad brings home a horse called Joey one day. Against the odds, Albie and his horse bond but trouble lies ahead in the form of the outbreak of World War One.

When Albie’s father realises the farm’s financially struggling, he’s got no choice but to sell Joey into the cavalry.

And it’s here that Joey’s adventure begins as he heads to France and into the lives of English infantrymen, German soldiers, and the middle of No Man’s Land.

But Albie can’t forget his horse – and soon Albie heads to the front line to see if he can find his foal…

War Horse is an unashamed family film and one which will tick a few emotional boxes too – but for the first two thirds of the film, it’s a curiously familiar and oddly detached piece with every kind of cliché you could need; a father who’s lost his sense of faith after the Boer war, a plucky kid who thinks he can overcome the odds, horses jumping over obstacles – they’re all there for the viewing.

Throw in a list of characters who jump in and out of the narrative and whom you invest time in only to see them taken off the screen and it’s hard to really support what’s essentially just a horse.

And yet, in the final parts of this film – and specifically when Joey ends up in No Man’s Land, there’s a real emotional pull which is extremely hard to resist. The sequence involving an attempt to free Joey by a handful of troops is a real lump in the throat moment and only then do you realise how Spielberg’s managed to capture you.

Spielberg also rolls out another truly harrowing sequence showing how devastating war is as the lads go over the top and it’s only really when he takes his foot off the schmaltzy directing that you remember why he’s one of the best. It’s here the brutality of war is shown and is so effective - compared to the other moments where he appears to shy away from the horrors of World War One.

War Horse is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination; it’s beautifully shot and it’s perfect Sunday afternoon family fodder - which is a little slow to get going but is endearingly emotional when it counts.

RATING: