The Descendants - Blu Ray Review

The Descendants - Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

With ringing critical endorsements, Golden Globes wins and  Oscars noms for George Clooney, The Descendants hits the small screen.

Based on a book by Kaui Hart Hemmings, Clooney stars as Hawaiian lawyer Matt King. King's been an absent father to his two daughters and somewhat distant in his marriage - but after his wife's put into a coma following a powerboating accident, he's forced to abandon his role as the "back up parent" and step up to the plate.

But that's not all - King's the descendant of some of Hawaii's founders and as sole trustee, he's facing the life altering choice of whether to sell thousands of acres of land and change the island's future.

All of that takes a back seat though when he discovers his wife was having an affair.

With the help of his rebellious teen daughter Alex (a brilliant star making turn from Shailene Woodley, star of TV2's Secret Life of the American Teenager), Matt sets out to meet the man who was involved with his wife...

The Descendants is one of those films which is funny, heartwarming, and a totally unexpected gem.
With a deftly amusing script and some very wry moments, it really works astonishingly well.

George Clooney rightly deserves Oscar buzz for his charming yet vulnerable, angry, emotive and restrained turn as weary land baron Matt King. He's on a career best here and mightily impressive throughout - despite being clad in some quite hideous Hawaiian shirts. A scene where he rails at his coma ridden wife conveys all the frustration, heartbreak and anger you'd expect in a film like this where the complicated threads pull together in a tight tapestry of tragedy.

If Clooney's good, co-star Shailene Woodley is his equal; initially just a rebellious teen, she peels back the layers on the complexity of a 17 year old who's faced with her mum dying and delivers such a nuanced performance that it rises from what could have been your archetypal mopey teen.

That's the thing with The Descendants; it defies your initial expectations of yet another dysfunctional family road trip film - it manages to deliver something which is incredibly emotive, has beautifully rich deadpan storytelling and is unexpectedly funny too.

Extras: 8 featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes, music videos - a very solid selection

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Young Adult : Blu Ray Review

Young Adult : Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

Here comes the anti heroine.

Charlize Theron stars as Mavis Gary, an American young adult writer whose life isn’t exactly going the way perhaps her popularity in high school might have suggested.

One day, when she receives an email telling her of the birth of her high school sweetheart Buddy’s latest baby, she decides enough is enough and sets out to reclaim him.

The only problem is that Buddy’s actually quite happily married and unaware of Mavis’ intentions….

Young Adult is an odd film – written by Diablo Cody who brought us Juno (along with Reitman), the script does sparkle with some hipster speak here and there but it’s not exactly that kind of comic film; it’s a very dry, very cynical and slightly oddball look at someone who can’t bring themselves to grow up.

However, Theron is impressive in the role – and you do end up questioning her state of mind as she vehemently pushes on to try and win Buddy back despite everyone’s warnings that he’s quite happy where he is. Theron manages to push this latest role into the “sadly deluded but played quite seriously” territory so it’s an uneasy watch at times to be frank. One scene, at Buddy’s family christening, borders so closely on an intervention into Mavis’ life that you’re not sure whether it’s tragedy or very very dark humour on display.

The hitherto only known as Remy the Rat from Ratatouille, Patton Oswalt deserves a mention too for his role as crippled Matt Freehauf, who forms an uneasy friendship with Mavis. There’s tenderness and heart to his turn as well as sadness at a life ruined by one moment in high school.

Ultimately, Young Adult won’t be to everyone’s tastes – but it’s quirky enough and well acted that it has a curio factor – and could also see some award glory for Theron’s role. There’s an uncomfortable rawness which may strike a chord with some – and others will find it a little too aloof to engage with.


Extras: Commentary, making of, deconstructing a scene, deleted scenes


Rating:

Being Human Series 3 DVD Review

Being Human Series 3 DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow

It's back for a third season and it gets as dark as it can in this story of a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost who are all flat mates.

Having been forced to flee their flat in Bristol at the end of the last series, Mitchell, Annie and George relocate to Wales to live their relatively normal lives. But forces are catching up with them...and soon, everything they know and love about their relatively troubled existence will come to the fore - but nothing will prepare them for what's ahead.

It's fair to say this third series is a bit of a transition piece in some ways; particularly towards the end when newer characters begin to show and you have a feeling everything you've loved about this BBC supernatural drama is about to change. Particularly when lifelong nemesis, the vampire Herrick returns to the scene (after being beheaded in the end of series one)

But there's still the humour throughout and Aidan Turner, Lenora Critchlow and Russell Tovey continue to impress in their roles.

The ending is particularly poignant and sad if you've invested into the past three series - but for the story to move forward, to be honest, changes needed to be made or it'd have become stale and unwatchable.

Being Human 3 is perhaps the most dramatic of the lot but it remains a good solid character piece with some snappy writing, great character performances and good drama. Well worth investing your time in.

Rating:

Dolphin Tale: Blu Ray Review

Dolphin Tale: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Warner Home Video

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.


Extras: Animated short, behind the scenes with the real dolphin, spotlight on scene, additional scene and gag reel

Rating:

A Matter of Taste: DVD Review

A Matter of Taste: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Entertainment


Kiwi directed doco from Sally Rowe, this looks at the rise, fall and resurrection of English chef Paul Liebrandt, the youngest chef to ever get a 3 star NYTimes rating.

Over the course of a decade, we follow Paul as he espouses and lives his philosophy that "A chef who doesn't cook is a very miserable chef" and works in brasseries and joints which are clearly holding his career back.

Level headed (only one Ramsay style explosion is shown), Liebrandt is an affable doco choice with his determined nature the one thing which shines through from start to finish.

Beautifully shot and vibrant with shots of food which will make you salivate,this doco is a testament to dreams, creativity and culinary drive.

There's also an elusive hunt for a critic's visit but you are 100% behind this chef from the get go as we chart the highs and lows of a fickle trade.

It's a fascinating insight into what makes a chef tick and an excellently crafted film which is non intrusive and ultimately revealing and highly rewarding.


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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island: Blu Ray Review

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Warner Bros Home Video

Back to the world of the fantasy lost island film genre we go after the success of Journey to the Centre of the Earth a couple of years ago.

This time around, when rebellious teenager Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) gets a coded distress signal from an island which shouldn't exist, he's convinced it's his grandfather, Alexander, trying to get in touch.

But Sean's faced with a couple of problems - a stepfather Hank (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) who's an embarrassment as far as Sean's concerned - and a lack of transport to help him get to the South Pacific.

So, when Hank helps decode the message, Sean "lets" the stepdad come along - and on the way, the duo hook up with Luis Guzman's Gabato, the only helicopter pilot willing to fly to the island - and Gabato's daughter -and potential love interest for Sean - Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens).

However, when the quartet finds the island, they discover their time will be cut fatally short as it's sinking and if they're unable to make their way off, they'll be stranded forever....

Journey 2 The Mysterious Island is skewed to a younger audience - a family with younger kids will definitely enjoy the relatively short outing (though the parents may find parts of it a stretch).

Hutcherson and Hudgens work reasonably well together; Dwayne Johnson has a goofy, if ever so slightly annoying, charm as Hank - even if he does try to be self effacing and ends up more irritating. When he's butting heads with Michael Caine's Alexander, there's a nice vibe between the pair, but it can't save the film.

Entirely predictable, Journey 2 The Mysterious Island plods along well enough with a side of cheese coating its dialogue and action sequences, which never fully soar.

The use of the 3D though is utterly appalling and lazy in the extreme - one sequence where Johnson gets to show off his "dancing pecs" (don't ask) is shoe horned in simply to have a series of objects shoot off the screen and into the audience. And that in a nutshell is what's wrong with this - if it was a little more relaxed and less cynical, Journey 2 would be watchable to all sections of the audience.

Rating:

Prometheus Movie Review...

Prometheus Movie Review...

Prometheus Movie Review... A look at the new film from Ridley Scott.

Stay tuned to the blog, to get a review of Ridley Scott's new film, Prometheus, this weekend..

For now, though, here's a new Prometheus featurette,