New Avengers trailer

When it comes to the geek, at the end of the day, you just can't beat the fact a new Avengers trailer was debuted in the middle of the Superbowl in the USA yesterday.

Launching in May this year, it looks like great fun - and this extended trailer gives a sneakier look at what's ahead for the gang - and a little more Hulk time.

Am too excited to say more - so here's the trailer...

Brand new Hunger Games trailer unveiled

The excitement's mounting for fans of The Hunger Games.

The flick hits NZ cinemas in a month's time - and today, a new trailer for the film's dropped.

Here it is..



So let us know what you think in the comments below....

3D continues to captivate

It looks as if the 3D thrill hasn't quite gone yet.

Both Tintin and Hugo have been NZ Box office successes, with Tintin managing to cross the $5million mark.

Paramount Pictures has sent out a release this arvo:

"The film has also bucked a recent trend of decreasing public interest in 3D films with an impressive 70% of its audience choosing to see it in its 3D format rather than the traditional 2D.

Produced by Sir Peter Jackson, Tintin uses motion capture technology to record the performances of stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig, which was then brought to life by Wellington’s Weta Digital who overlayed animation onto the original performances.

In addition to winning over the general public, the film has been well received by critics and has garnered significant awards season attention winning a Golden Globe and the Producers Guild of America award for Best Animated Feature, and receiving a BAFTA and Academy Awards nomination.

Another family adventure faring well in 3D cinemas is Martin Scorsese’s Hugo which collected two Golden Globe awards and goes into the Academy Awards ceremony with more nominations than any other film with 11.

Hugo is the first 3D offering from the man considered by many to be a master of cinema, so it is hardly surprising that 80% of film’s New Zealand audience has chosen to see the film in its intended 3D format."

Should be one in the eye for the cynics who claim the fad of 3D is on the way out? And also, a sweetener to Tintin which was robbed of an Oscar nomination.

Chronicle: Movie Review

Chronicle

Cast: Michael B Jordan, Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell

Director: Josh Trank

What would you do if you were a teen boy and were given superhero powers? Would great responsibility come along with great power?

It’s an age old conundrum, explored in this new sci-fi film from first time director Josh Trank.

Andrew (DeHaan) is a classic high school loner; bullied at school, abused by a drunken father at home and with a dying mother, he’s not exactly going to win any popularity contests.

So, disillusioned with his life, he decides to start videotaping everything to put a barrier between himself and the world around him.

His life changes though, when he goes to a party along with his cousin Matt (Russell) and popular wannabe school president Steve (Jordan).

At this party, the trio of high school boys discover a hole in nearby woods which they, perhaps unwisely, decide to investigate. They find something in the ground which is pulsing, throbbing and somehow, grants them powers – albeit after a blast of light and a series of nose bleeds.

Soon, the trio have basic super-powers; they can levitate objects and as time goes on, their powers grow.

But while Steve and Matt are content to keep the powers quiet and not push the boundaries, Andrew’s pressure cooker domestic life and teen emotions mean he embraces the darker side – and soon, all three of them find their lives spiralling out of control.

Chronicle is another of those found footage/ handheld shaky cam flicks which are so common these days – however, it’d be unwise to dismiss it because of that.

It’s actually fresh, dark and a clever approach to what essentially could be a tired genre – we’ve all seen the superheroes having fun with their powers kind of films before; but by giving this one a slightly more disturbed and psychotic take on it (thanks to the performance of DeHaan who manages to juggle the life of an abused and angry teen as a troubled Andrew), it feels a lot more plausible and realistic because of the original take and cliché avoidance. It feels very natural in terms of what the lads choose to do - and it's perfectly understandable why and how they embrace what they've been given rather than continually question it.

The effects (for the most part) are pretty well done too for a debut director– and while the climax feels a little over the top in places, Chronicle represents an intelligent, smartly made new entry into the genre.

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J Edgar: Movie Review

J Edgar

Cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench

Director: Clint Eastwood

Following on from the success of The Iron Lady, here’s the latest contender for biopic glory.

Leonardo di Caprio stars as J Edgar Hoover, the man who, over nearly 50 years in public office and serving somewhere in the region of 8 presidents, helped redefine the criminal system in the USA, set up the FBI - and who had a tendency to spy on a lot of people.

It starts with a looming voiceover intoning that “It’s time this generation heard my side of the story” and cuts to Hoover dictating his memoirs to a series of agents – starting with his first foray into the world of crime investigation in 1919, while at the Department of Justice.

Central to the story is the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s son in 1932 aka The Crime of the Century– which not only sent J Edgar’s FBI into the spotlight but horrified the nation at the time.

And at the same time, Eastwood’s picture concentrates on Hoover’s own internal struggle with his sexuality, his attraction and friendship to protégé Clyde Tolson (played by The Social Network’s Armie Hammer), and his relationship with his mother (Judi Dench) and his fiercely loyal secretary, Helen Gandy (Watts).

While the narrative jumps around a lot and flashes back and forth between the investigations and Hoover’s later years, it’s a film which really does belong to Leonardo di Caprio.

His ferocious blistering performance as the man whose puritanical, even evangelical speeches were clearly his defining trait, is one to watch from the moment it begins. It’s a commanding performance which while seeming initially full of bluster, is one which lets some of the hidden truths about Hoover come out through a subtly nuanced performance of inner turmoil.

Scenes with Judi Dench stand out as well – as Hoover tries to reveal to his overbearing mother he doesn’t like women, he’s told she’d rather have a dead son than a “daffodil”.

Di Caprio’s co-star Armie Hammer does well as Tolson in conveying their relationship and mutual love too – even if towards the end, he’s a little weighed down with latex and liver spots. Naomi Watts suffers a little from a lack of limelight as Hoover’s trusted secretary Helen Gandy and you’re never quite 100% sure why she supported Hoover so rigidly.

All in all, J Edgar is an interesting – if occasionally overlong - portrait of the man – and while Clint Eastwood’s direction sometimes errs toward the clunky, it’s a fascinating and compelling central performance from di Caprio which keeps the audience along for the ride.

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A Few Best Men: Movie Review

A Few Best Men

Cast: Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Olivia Newton-John, Ramsy the sheep, Rebel Wilson

Bridesmaids has set the bar high for R rated wedding based comedies.

And so the latest contender to the crown emerges from Australia and the UK in this joint venture.

Twilight's Xavier Samuel stars as David, whose holiday fling ends with him proposing marriage to Aussie girl, Mia. So when he heads back to the UK, David gathers his friends, Graham, Tom and Luke, tells them the news and the gang of four head down under for the society wedding.

But, as ever, things don't go according to plan - as Tom and Graham unwittingly unleash the wrath of a drug dealer thanks to a misunderstanding; and Mia's senator father finds his plans for the big day, disrupted&will David manage to get things back on track?

A Few Best Men manages a handful of good laughs scattered throughout, before pulling out every predictable gag in its limited repertoire as it weaves its way to its unsurprising end.

Jokes involving the sheep, drugs, sheep CPR, toilet humour, Hitler moustaches, gimp masks - they are all unveiled as the writers throw absolutely everything they have into the mix but it's not enough to be able to save this from a real mire of awfulness.

And because it's so predictable and bad, it becomes a matter of enduring to the end of the film rather than enjoying it.

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Like Crazy: Movie Review

Like Crazy

Cast: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Alex Kingston, Jennifer Lawrence

Fresh from Sundance success, Like Crazy hits Kiwi cinemas.

And it's for one for the romantics everywhere - and even for those who may have forgotten a little how love feels.

Rising star Felicity Jones plays Anna, a British exchange student in LA, who falls for Anton Yelchin's Jacob, a design student.

She spends the summer with him as the two form a heady and strong relationship - but when facing the prospect of her student visa running out, Anna decides to ignore the authorities and overstays.

When she heads back home for her sister's wedding and tries to return to Jacob, she's detained and sent back by immigration, forcing the duo to begin that most difficult of things - the long distance relationship.

But as they continue on this path and fighting to get the ban overturned, they face various obstacles - can the course of true love win the day?

Like Crazy is an angsty yearning kind of film which will make you recall the heady days of young love, where anything's possible, everyone's wrong and nothing will stand in your way of the one who has your heart.

Through great performances, there's a universal plausibility to this relationship which many will relate to and in Jones and Yelchin, a new poster couple for teen love. Jones in particular impresses and once again, demonstrates she's a stellar star on the rise.

Both manage to convey the pain of being apart well and the strains of a long distance relationship, as well as those pangs when you're separated from the one you love. With some added humour and some awkward moments, there's certainly all facets of love explored here.

However, after an hour of all the yearning, aching, angst and frustration, it feels like there's little else to explore and the characters follow a repetitive cycle of going back and forth, flitting between other loves and generally leading to a frustrating resolution.
Like Crazy will stir the romantic deep within you - it's guaranteed to become the new swoon favourite of some; but others will leave the film feeling a little unsatisfied at the relative lack of conclusion. A little bit like some relationships in some ways...

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