Beautiful Boy: Blu Ray Review

Released by Madman
Rating: M

A colleague of mine has a theory that films come in pairs when released - ie there's usually another of a similar ilk around the corner.

So it is with Beautiful Boy which has a lot of common themes with the upcoming We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Beautiful Boy stars the ever versatile Michael Sheen and the ever watchable Maria Bello as a couple Bill and Kate, whose relationship is under strain and falling apart. But it gets an even bigger shock when their son executes a high school massacre on the eve of them deciding on a family vacation.

Struggling for answers, they try to pick up the pieces and carry on while forever questioning why their son committed such an atrocity - and what they could have done to prevent it.

Beautiful Boy is a powerful film with two compelling lead performances. It's horrifying stuff in places as you realise what Kate and Bill will have to live with for the rest of their lives; a film like this could be milked for the drama but thanks to extraordinary performances from the leads, handheld camera direction which gives it a sense of reality and never feels staged, it really gets under your skin.

Sheen and Bello are incredibly good as they run the gamut of old emotions and new stages of grief and anger - it's a very real performance from the pair of them - but also some credit needs to go to the stoic supporting cast of Moon Bloodgood, Alan Tudyk and Meatloaf. A great ensemble and a well done drama make this a surprisingly watchable piece which will haunt you long after it's done.

Extras: Commentary and a couple of deleted scenes.

Rating:

Two Little Boys trailer

This has just shown up on my old Facebook feed and I simply have to share it with you.

It's Two Little Boys, aka the new NZ flick from Robert Sarkies starring Bret McKenzie and Hamish Blake as two long term mates Nige and Deano.

It's due to hit NZ cinemas in September this year and it's already proving to be a hit after 3 packed out performances in Berlin.

I don't want to spoil the fun of the trailer, but suffice it to say, this looks great - and without further ado, here's the Two Little Boys trailer....

New Wrath of The Titans trailer

A new trailer's dropped overnight for the upcoming sequel to Clash of the Titans, called erm, Wrath of the Titans.

It hits NZ cinemas here very soon - but here's the trailer for now.

When A City Falls: DVD Review

When A City Falls

Sometimes, a film makes itself.

So it is with When A City Falls, the documentary film about the series of earthquakes which rocked Canterbury this year and last, and changed our worlds as New Zealanders forever.

Christchurch resident Gerard Smyth  really didn't have to do much when they hit - he simply picked up his camera and let the documentary make itself.

Basically made over an 12 month period and beginning with blue skies and daffodils on the Canterbury plains, Smyth follows the events which unfold in the Garden city and nearby. As Smyth's own voiceover at the start of the film intones: "This is a film I could never have planned to make".

But what emerges is a grippingly, emotional piece on the human condition and how we as human beings respond in times of tragedy and personal loss.

Also, what comes out is a deeply humbling study of what makes us Kiwis and showcases the very best of human nature.

Smyth's strength in this film is the people around him. He's smart enough to realise that this story is powerful enough to not need voiceover and limits it to simply asking questions.

These are images from the quake which have haunted (and continue to do so) many; but When A City Falls also benefits greatly from this approach by letting the people involved tell the story rather than a pompous voiceover. That works wonders by giving it a more original feel and an immediately identifiable stranglehold on your emotions

Plus when the footage of that fateful day on 22nd February is shown, the powerful ferocity of what unfolds is even more affecting because the screen simply shows what happened.
Countless faces are caught in crowds, moments framed by time and the film-makers; and the people Smyth uses are nameless but their stories are universal and instantly recognisable as well as heartbreaking, humbling and inspiring.

That's the thing with When A City Falls - there are a million stories to tell and a million voices to be heard with an event such as this. And it would've been easy to let it descend into doom and gloom.

But what's been done here ends up being uplifting in spirit and unique as we follow everyday people trying to live their lives and cope with what nature dealt to them thanks to help from strangers, their communities and from further afield. The fact Smyth's had unfettered access to what was going on means a lot of the footage is new to many of us but horribly recognisable in many ways.

Also, Smyth and his team choose to tackle some of the problems from the quake; be it the arguments over heritage buildings' destruction, people's shops torn down by accident and even heads to New Orleans and San Francisco to proffer up some help for the region.

When A City Falls won't be an easy watch for those involved in this - but I'd suggest it offers a little piece of healing up as it demonstrates quiet dignity and moments of resilience and pure humanity that will shine through.

Truly inspirational and utterly important, this doco demands to be seen and will ultimately stand as a testament to Cantabrians and this nation as a whole.

Rating:

Frankenweenie poster and images out there now

I'm a sucker for great animation - and original animation too.

So I'm quite excited by Tim Burton's latest, Frankenweenie.

And I'm even more excited by the images and poster I got sent this morning for this unusual looking treat.

Due out here in October it stars the likes of Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Martin Landau and looks like being a bit of fun.

Frankenweenie is a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” will be filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience.

Apparently when Tim Burton originally conceived the idea for “Frankenweenie,” he envisioned it as a full-length, stop-motion animated film. Due to budget constraints, he instead directed it as a live-action short, released in 1984. 

It is of course, not Burton's first foray into stop motion animation - he's done “Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”—both of which were nominated for Academy Awards®.

Over 200 puppets and sets were created for the film.

 The voice cast includes four actors who worked with Burton on previous films: Winona Ryder (“Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands”), Catherine O’Hara (“Beetlejuice,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas”), Martin Short (“Mars Attacks!”) and Martin Landau (“Ed Wood,” Sleepy Hollow”).

And just finally in the facts section, several of the character names—Victor, Elsa Van Helsing, Edgar “E” Gore and Mr. Burgemeister— were inspired by classic horror films.

Can't wait.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Movie Review

Cast: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffery Wright
Director: Stephen Daldry

Based on the best selling book by Jonathan Safron Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the story of one boy's life after his father was taken from him in the September 11th World Trade Centre attacks.


Newcomer Horn stars as Oskar Schell, a borderline Aspergers Syndrome sufferer who shares an incredibly close bond with his father Thomas (Hanks). The pair are inseparable and his jeweller father sets quests for Oskar to complete and mysteries for him to solve.

So, when his father is killed in the 9/11 attacks, Oskar is devastated and rejects his mother Linda (Bullock), drawing further into his own world. And his world is blown apart when Oskar one day finds a key in a vase - believing his father's left it for him and with only the clue Black written on the back of the envelope it's written on, Oskar sets about finding the lock the key will open...

However, his quest looks unbeatable with the odds mounting up against him - and Oskar ends up getting the help of Max von Sydow's The Renter, who lives with his grandmother. Unspoken and communicating only via written notes, The Renter begins to fulfill Oskar's father figure needs as the quest goes on...

It's a powerful subject to be tackled in a haunting film like this and there are still some I suspect who may find the idea of a film like this difficult to watch.

It's certainly harrowing in parts and you can't help in places but feel emotionally manipulated as this extremely long film spools out. But there's no denying the wallop some scenes hit you with - one where Oskar tells his mum he'd rather she'd died in the Tower collapse is horrifically shocking but feels so true and real in these actors' hands.

The trouble is that in places you can't help but feel emotionally milked and wish Daldry would have eased back a little on some of his direction; montages of people reading letters and the frankly cheesily appaling freeze frame end would have been better excised from the final cut. Also, a scene of Hanks plunging to his death could really have been left out.

Yet, thanks to a very impressive turn from first time actor Horn gives this something for us to pin our cinema going hats on; it's a remarkably assured performance as the troubled borderline Aspergers syndrome kid hunts for the key to the mystery. But it's not just that - it's the fact, Horn's anger feels real and in line with what a kid would feel when railing against the injustice and unfairness of the death of his father.
Likewise supporting players like Von Sydow, Viola Davis, Hanks and Bullock also give this sense of gravitas and empathy in amongst the brooding.

Scenes of Oskar listening to the six answerphone messages from his father trapped within the towers feel raw, awkward and intrusive, hinting at a grief which is still too new but also alluding to how families of those affected must still be coping.

A veritable weepie in places, this will reduce even the hardest of audiences to tears at times - and while not exactly an overwhelmingly upbeat film, its ending certainly hints at a healing.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close rises above mawkish sentiment by very impressive ensemble performances from its cast; and while it's not flawless, it's certainly an emotional watch which feels raw and true.

Rating:

 

Contraband: Movie Review

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lukas Haas, Ben Foster, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: Baltasar Kormákur

A remake of a 2008 Icelandic film, which starred the director, Contraband is a heist film set on the seven seas and in Panama.

Wahlberg stars as Chris Farraday, a notorious smuggler, who's now retired from the trade. He's now a family man living the quiet life with his wife Kate (Beckinsale) and 2 kids and working in security alarms rather than hijinks on the waters.

But smuggling runs in the family - and when Kate's brother Andy messes up a deal for boss Tim Briggs (Ribisi), the debt proves to be high and the cost could be Andy's life. So, forced out of retirement for this last job, Farraday decides to head to Panama to call in on some old contacts and try to smuggle out millions of dollars in counterfeit bills.

However, (unsurprisingly), not everything goes to plan - and suddenly Chris is not only fighting for his life but his family's back home...

The idea of one last job for family or to settle a debt is nothing new to be honest - it's been used countless times before.

But Contraband doesn't seem to care as it straddles increasingly strained and preposterous ideas and one (predictable) betrayal after another; however, Wahlberg makes it watchable somehow - even if there is a relative lack of any suspense or real tension.

Ribisi channels feral (at times OTT leering) weasel as the unhinged lunatic Briggs who's trying to cash in the debt and threatens Chris' family with it for the rest of their lives; Wahlberg is solid if unspectacular as Chris, whose attempts to reign in the debt see him involved in a Pollock Panama heist.

Despite a dark grimy unwashed feel to the film, director Baltasar Kormákur Opts for countless swirling and unnecessary aerial shots to bridge the gap between the 'action'. The effect is irritating rather than dizzying and detracts by taking away from any tension which may have been created.

The problem is a real lack of emotional investment in the characters, their plights and resolutions. The often lumpy script doesn't help this either as the noose tightens around everyone's necks. Wahlberg looks suitably perplexed throughout and the pay off at the end (complete with twist) just doesn't feel rewarding enough.

Don't get me wrong; this is well put together, it just lacks a certain little something to make it either edge of your seat stuff or gripping. As it is, it's perfectly serviceable, relatively cliched and instantly forgettable the moment the lights go up.

Rating: