Noomi Rapace stars in new Prometheus viral video

Brand new Prometheus viral video features Noomi Rapace's character

A new Prometheus viral video's been launched today.

The video features Noomi Rapace's character Professor Elisabeth Shaw and is intriguingly titled "Quiet Eye".

It's not too spoilery but if you're hoping to go into the film with no clue what's going on, this may be a good time to read another awesome post on Darren's World of Entertainment.

Here's the Prometheus viral video with Noomi Rapace.

It comes after more new Prometheus images were unveiled this week.

There's even more stuff spilling out for Prometheus, ahead of its launch in New Zealand on June 7th.

A whole stack of images from the film have been unleashed - and they're non too spoilery; more intriguing than anything at all...

Meanwhile it comes on top of a whole heap of Prometheus content - we've already had the brand new trailer to Ridley Scott's much anticipated sci fi flick, Prometheus.

Warning - a few spoilers lie ahead.




Prometheus, which stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron, returns to the genre that Scott helped define with Blade Runner and Alien. A  team of explorers discovers a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the corners of the universe where they must fight a  battle to save the future of the human race.

The film hits New Zealand cinemas on June 7th and has already been preceded by a massive viral marketing campaign.....

There's also been a new Prometheus featurette released too...


And here's all the marketing so far...

There's also been some new imagery released from the film too.

Prometheus hits NZ cinemas on June 7th.

Starring the likes of Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, this is likely to be one of the biggest sci fi hits of the year - and we get it a few hours before America does too.

Here's the official trailer for Prometheus...

And if you want to see everything which has been released so far - here it is...
There's also been a heap of viral activity for Prometheus - here's them all rounded up into one easy to monitor place...Something called "Our Family is growing" from Weyland industries...



And of course, the Guy Pearce fronted, TED 2023 talk from the Weyland Industries leader...

The Boy With Tape on his Face - More Tape: Comedy Festival Review

The Boy With Tape on his Face - More Tape: Comedy Festival Review

There’s just something about the Boy With Tape on his Face and his show which renders you happy throughout its entire duration.

It’s a very simple premise – Sam Wills, a renowned Christchurch prop comic, is on stage with a strip of dark black tape across his face. He can’t speak, doesn’t speak and spends an hour making the audience do things for his pleasure – and ours.

It’s not a show I want to spoil in any shape or form but with Wills' tall gangly frame and bulging eyes being his only window of communication with the audience, it’s entirely down to the audience for the interaction.

Props on the stage help with the set ups and punchlines for his visual gags – and quite frankly, if you’re lucky enough to be invited up to be part of the show (and believe you and me, it’s a real privilege if you do), you’re an idiot if you don’t play along with this guy.

Wills is an expert puppet-master, a masterful mime and class clown who knows what he wants from the audience; but here’s the thing with this show – it rises and falls on what the audience members bring to it.

There are some moments where TapeFace’s a bit non-plussed by the failure of some to understand what he wants them to do – but it’s that level of unpredictability which really makes every night totally unique and each show inventively awesome.

I’ve seen TapeFace perform every time he’s been here and it’s great to see the show and its star grow; each time you see it, the randomness adds something to it which elevates it to the truly brilliant. 

I’m in awe of Sam Wills, his creativity, his childlike naivety on stage and his sense of fun is seared through every second of this hourlong show. And this time, I like the way TapeFace is a bit dismissive of those who don’t quite get it. One guy can’t work out what’s needed of him and is summarily dismissed from the stage. 

But here’s the thing – he doesn’t do it cruelly or use that to mock you if you’re not quite sure what’s required. Simply put, The Boy With Tape on his Face – More Tape is truly a magical hour of entertainment; it’s such good fun you leave on such a high and with a grin beaming from ear to ear, having been transported to the earlier times of childhood where innocence was prevalent and everything was a play thing, ready to be fashioned for your own fun.


I utterly adore this gloriously original act and wholeheartedly recommend this show without any doubt whatsoever; if you don’t laugh or fail to be moved by the truly brilliant genius that is Sam Wills/ Tape Face, then you have no soul.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Blu Ray Review

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Following the successful 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, Guy Ritchie once again reteams with the gang for another outing with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective.

But it's all change for the duo - Jude Law's Dr Watson is about to marry his sweetheart and the partnership appears to be over. However, Holmes is investigating a series of bombings across Europe amid fears that this case could have global implications.

And he believes that his nemesis, Professor James Moriarty (Jarred Harris) is behind it all and trying to ignite tensions between France and Germany.

Holmes' investigation leads him to gypsy fortune teller Madam Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace) whose involvement with separatists could give them the break they need.

Soon, Holmes and Watson are plunged into their deadliest conflict yet, with an enemy who appears to be smarter and swifter than the pair of them...

Downey Jr is once again back on form as this ramshackle brilliant version of Holmes; a self assured but insane Holmes with ADD who jumps around as he tries to keep up with his own intellect. There's the usual bickering between the duo and both Law and Downey Jr and their rapport works well.

Stephen Fry does admirably playing essentially an extended version of himself as Mycroft - and Guy Ritchie's brought his directing flair to some very impressive speed up and slow down set pieces (a sequence inside a wood as the group are under attack is simply breathtakingly good); he manages to score highly for this because of the dialled down nature of the action sequences rather than opting for over the top action.

However, it's the quieter moments of the film where you really appreciate this flick - particularly in the one-on-one exchanges between Holmes and Moriarty.

Jared Harris is brilliant as Holmes' nemesis; he can flick between anger and brooding menace with ease and it's the perfect foil to Downey Jr's manic detective. It's a great partnership and a wonderful capturing of the essence of their relationship.

The only damp disappointing squib in this is Noomi Rapace - she's grossly underused and feels very surplus to requirements.

A Game Of Shadows has it all; humour, action and character - it's great to see this second Holmes soaring above the heights of the first. 

Rating:

Dr Who - The Daemons - DVD Review

Dr Who - The Daemons - DVD Review

Rating: G
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

Fans have been clamouring for this release from 1971 to be let out on DVD for years - and now here it is.

In the village of Devil's End, something mystical and a bit evil is brewing. As a crew ready themselves to investigate a burial mound, there's the possibility of black magic coming to the fore. Throw in the appearance of the Master (Roger Delgado) and Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who is fighting a race against time to prevent the summoning of a Dæmon.

This five part adventure from the 70s is relatively spooky to start off with before going a bit creaky and uneventful towards the end - granted, it's remembered for some visual moments as well as an iconic phrase uttered by Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier but really, it's a bit of a fizzer. The ending is appallingly simple and ruins the build up of the rest of the serial.

A gargoyle demon - essentially, a guy in a grey leotard - is more hilarious than horrific but if you can overlook these minor constraints of the story, the acting of Pertwee, Katy Manning as his assistant Jo and Delgado is solid and very watchable.

Overall, this story's probably best remembered with nostalgic tint rather than for good reasons.

Extras: Commentary, a doco, location film shoots from the time, colourisation tests, a tribute to show producer Barry Letts.

Rating:

Dr Who - The Nightmare of Eden: DVD Review

Dr Who - The Nightmare of Eden: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow

A story from the classic range of the 1970s from Tom Baker's teeth and curls era as the Fourth Doctor, this adventure is probably one of the ones I remember the most vividly from my youth.

When two spacecraft collide, the Doctor and his companion, Romana (Lalla Ward) along with K-9 are forced to intervene. But what they find is something stalking the corridors of the ship, a zoologist with a machine that can project onto other planets and a conspiracy involving drugs.

Erm, I'm sad to say that this story is distinctly tinted with the nostalgia eyes - rewatching it again as an adult and you can see the creaks (literally of the sets) and the joins (literally of the costumes) of the story's execution. It's also pretty badly acted - even Tom Baker looks angry as the Doctor rather than genial alien. Sure, it's a darker story and daring for a 70s serial to talk drugs but the baddies, the Mandrels are a horrendous miss; monsters with flares and who wave their arms around more than actually striking anyone when attacking, they're just laughable.

While it's watchable and pacy enough fare, it's instantly forgettable - who knows what I was thinking at such an impressionable age.

Extras: Commentary, look back at the troubled production, a few interviews - the usual mix. Plus special mention for the in screen production notes which enhance the viewing experience with a good solid mix of a hint of cheekiness and fact.

Rating:

The Dictator: Movie Review

The Dictator: Movie Review

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Anna Faris,
Director: Larry Charles

So, after what seems like a lot of press recently, The Dictator finally arrives in New Zealand.

Sacha Baron Cohen's latest creation was always going to be divisive and when a film begins with a freeze frame of Kim Jong Il and the words "In loving memory", you're pretty much going to have a clue what's ahead.

In this latest, Cohen plays General Haffaz Aladeen, a dictator of Wadiya in North Africa. Summoned to the UN in America to face concerns over his nuclear programme, Aladeen finds his world turned upside down when he's abducted, shorn of his beard and cut adrift in America by his cousin Tamir (Kingsley) who's jealous of his power and installs a doppelganger as Aladeen.

When Tamir's plan to turn his beloved Wadiya into a democracy instead of a dictatorship, Aladeen schemes to get back power and ensure his way of life isn't changed.

Scabrous, satirical and scatalogical, The Dictator is a patchy but funny affair, helped by some truly hilarious one liners and some provocatively offensive gags.

That's the thing with Sacha Baron Cohen - he's never afraid to push the envelope and I'm grateful for that. Unfortunately this time, it feels like the joke's gone on a little too long and has ceased to be as hilarious as it used to be.

It starts off very well, mixing in verite news footage culled of figures of power warning the Dictator must step down - and even shows Aladeen's birth (complete with the mother being snuffed out by a pillow, as she "dies in childbirth") - it's almost as if Cohen and Charles decide early on to shock and make you question whether you should even be laughing in the first place.

But once it settles in there are some very funny moments, great visual gags and some amusing set pieces. A clever sequence inside a small American plane mocks stereotypes of beliefs and 9/11; news commentators are shown as idiots when they speculate on what Aladeen's saying and doing; and a final speech where Cohen mocks America is frankly intelligently funny fare which is sly and spot on. Granted, there's some satire over UN treatments of dictatorships when it suits at play here, but it's buried among the offensive.

However, let's be clear though - this isn't all sophisticated humour throughout the film; it's one of those no holds barred, everything's up for the offending - there are poo jokes, masturbation and male nudity as you'd come to expect from an offensive Baron Cohen film. And a sequence where a woman's giving birth in a shop is frankly as far as some people's tastes will go (though I'm willing to admit it's actually funny).

Don't get me wrong - I'm no prude and there are parts of this film where I did indeed LOL as when Cohen is on the money, nobody else does it better. Unfortunately, this feels a little predictable and tired in places and while the film benefits from a story line and a decent character, who's forced to grow up, as opposed to sequences where the likes of Borat and Bruno simply try to offend, it's not quite enough to push it over the mark. Plus the fact this is more straight laced and scripted really does make you feel like you're missing the anarchic improvisational touch of Cohen's humour which was prevalent in Bruno and Borat.

If you're after a no brainer bit of occasionally puerile fun, then The Dictator is for you. Otherwise, you can join the ranks of the apparent infidels who feel The Dictator isn't as good as it promised to be, and while it's content to offer some hearty belly laughs, there's just the feeling that this scripted piece could have been a little more.

Rating:

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Movie Review

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Movie Review

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked
Director: Lasse Hallstrom

It's really all in the title to be honest.

Based on a book by Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen stars Ewan McGregor as Dr Fred Jones, a scientist who works for the British fisheries. With a crumbling marriage and a tedious job thanks to civil service bureaucracy, Dr Jones is a cynic who's seen it all and can't be convinced of anything new.

Enter into his life, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) a consultant who works for a corporation employed by a sheik named Muhammed (Waked). Chetwode-Talbot has just recently started seeing a soldier and has been tasked by the sheik to research the possibility of a project to bring salmon to the Yemen so that he can hold a fishing competition. (See, I told you it was all in the title).

Gradually, despite Dr Jones' reservations, the pair begin work on the project while fielding other crises in their lives - he a marriage about to fail and she the fact her soldier boy is missing in action...Factor in the UK's Prime minister's Press Secretary (a wickedly tart Scott Thomas) who's after a good news story...

Salmon Fishing in The Yemen is quite a sweet film which has a gentle disarming charm and some truly funny moments.

McGregor is brilliant as the cardiganed slightly Aspergers' doctor - given the lion's share of some funny lines and a dialled down performance gives the whole thing a very realistic feel. Likewise, Blunt is the perfect foil for this slightly uptight doctor - and gives her Harriet Chetwode-Talbot a likeability and humanity which stretches beyond the story. The two have a nice easy chemistry and work well together as their friendship and inevitable relationship/ courtship begins to grow.

Narratively, the story is predictably what you'd expect and I have to admit to feeling once the romance angle came into play, complete with some shoehorned scenes of marital discord and a returning soldier, I could feel the directorial and story cliches being rolled out and checked off a list. Throw in some shots of a salmon swimming against the rest of the run and you're really veering into formulaic territory.

Which is a real shame because all in all, thanks in part to Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt's performance, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a refreshingly breezy little charmer of a feel good film which is funny, realistic and human - and can bring joy to even the most cynical of hearts.

Rating: