Moneyball Blu Ray Review

Moneyball: Blu Ray Review

Released by Sony Home Entertainment
Rating: M

Brad Pitt stars in this latest film about baseball.

But before you roll your eyes and get out your sports movie cliché bingo card for the inevitable cinematic moments (locker room chat, slow mo shots etc), this is one which is actually a good solid watch. Although a few of those clichés are present and correct, in case you’re worried.

It’s 2001 and Pitt stars as Billy Beane, failed former baseball prodigy and now general manager at the Oakland Athletics team.

When another loss to the New York Yankees sinks the team, Beane’s forced to recruit some new players as his big hitters are being poached by other major league teams.


Sick of being, as he terms it, "an organ donor" for the other sides, Beane ends up meeting Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, in a watchably restrained and quiet performance) who believes major players are overpaid, and that there’s a league of underused players who actually perform better when you look at their statistics rather than their showy team mates.

So, with nothing to lose (cliché bingo, anyone?) and despite his advisors disagreeing, Beane tries this strategy for the new season. 

Unsurprisingly, in the face of staunch opposition from everyone, the method doesn’t work out and the Oakland Athletics fare worse than hoped.

Suddenly, Beane and Brand find themselves the outsiders of the game – and facing uncertain futures in the wake of dismal results…

Moneyball features a winning performance from its two leads – and its director also. It doesn’t fall into the usual trappings of a sports film as it’s really about the mentality and statistical mindset of the sport rather than what unfolds out on the pitch (or diamond if you will).

But it’s the turns by Hill and Pitt which make this so watchable; Hill gives a quiet and dialled down performance which makes him feel real rather than a character. Likewise, Pitt has energy and spikiness but he channels that into making Beane feel a flawed and yet rounded character – and in the one scene when he’s negotiating three contracts on three different phones, you find out everything you need to know about this character.

At the end of the day, while Moneyball is your traditional underdog sports film in many ways, it’s probably one of the more intelligent offerings into the genre.


Extras: Deleted scenes, blooper reel, behind the scenes piece, adapting the film, drafting the team


Rating:

Dr Who - Ace Adventures: DVD Review

Dr Who - Ace Adventures: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by the BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

There are times when it's hard being a Dr Who fan.

Sure, there's been the renaissance of the new series and the show's new found popularity. But for those of us who've been there from the beginning, there are the dark days of the 80s when budget cuts didn't help the lofty expectations of the writers and the show became a little more slapdash in the story department.

Sadly, Ace Adventures is partially one of those times.

These two tales - Dragonfire and The Happiness Patrol - from the late 80s see Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor teaming up with new companion, Ace (played by Sophie Aldred) and bidding farewell to Bonnie Langford's Mel.

In the first, Dragonfire, a three part serial, the Doc is involved in a treasure hunt and gets to meet Ace; and in the second, both Ace and the Doc end up on a world where happiness must prevail otherwise death comes a knocking.

Both are fairly average tales with some good moments but also some appallingly bad ones too. Sophie Aldred makes a solid entrance into what became a fairly successful partnership for the final years of the show.

The release's not been helped by a relatively unremarkable set of extras; basic behind the scenes and little else bring nothing additional to the experience.

A disappointing release for a much loved companion.

Extras: Commentaries, behind the scenes/ making of docos and a couple of mini featurettes.

Rating:

Arrietty: Blu Ray Review

Arrietty: Blu Ray Review

Rating: G
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

Another Studio Ghibli outing, Arietty is essentially an animated version of the classic tale The Borrowers.

This time around Arietty is one of the small creatures living at the end of the garden of sickly child Sho.

Arietty is desperate to be part of the borrowing crowd and so one night, she goes out with her dad to "borrow" a few things.

However, Sho sees Arietty and while initially welcoming, this meeting sets in motion a chain of events which causes all of them to inadvertently suffer.

Arrietty is another fine example of the quality of product emerging from Studio Ghibli, and while this is a very slight tale, it's charming and sweet and with a high quality of animation.

The interplay between the characters is wonderful and there's something timelessly magical about the nature of the story; its animation is charming too but it's all pretty and family friendly.

Whilst it's not as wonderful as say Ponyo, there' plenty here for everyone to enjoy and drift away to for a good 90 minutes.


Extras: A Whole heap - the English dubbed version, original Japanese version, storyboards, trailers, TV spots, interview with Miyazaki, English cast interview


Rating:

This Is Not A Film: DVD Review

This Is Not A Film: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

The name Jafar Panahi may not mean a lot to many, but this "film" doco about one man's struggle against creative repression is an intriguing insight into what happens when an artist is told he can't create.

Imprisoned under house arrest for a year in Iran and waiting a verdict on a 20 year film making ban, Panahi resorts to venting his creative juices by acting out his script and vision for a new celluloid outing, whose future release is never anything less than uncertain.

All there is in the flat is Panahi, his cameras and eyes to the world (the Japanese tsunami a year ago gets a look in to give some context) plus his daughter's gigantic iguana

What plays out on screen is a fascinating insight into creativity and frustrations.

Freedom of expression has never been so important - and by putting a face on it, it's never been so watchable.

Rating:

Bobby Fischer Versus the World: DVD Review

Bobby Fischer Versus the World: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Entertainment
Rating: M

One of the best docos at last year's New Zealand International Film festival, this one takes a look at chess prodigy and genius Bobby Fischer in the build up to his crucial world chess championship game against Boris Spassky.

With a backdrop of cold war relations forming a major mental part of this doco, it's a fascinating, rewarding and richly put together look at what fuels a genius, what troubles them and what kind of mind games they can play - both on and off the board.

It's the classic tale of inner demons, family issues, psychological warfare and a teen whose talent thrusts him further than he'd ever expected.

But it's also a chilling insight into Fischer's life after the match which saw him head into obscurity and recluse territory as he was never sure where to go next-as one talking head says "The only person who knows what Bobby Fischer is going to do next, is Bobby Fischer himself"

Packed with twists and turns, this is by far one of the most rewarding films around  this year and leaves you with more questions than answers.

Extras: The fight for Fischer's estate, Chess history, taking on the grand master, Kings in the ring

Rating:

True Blood: Season 4 DVD Review

True Blood: Season 4 DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

A little bit of a case of it ain't broke, don't fix it with this latest True Blood release.

The 12 part series four collection based on Charlaine Harris' very successful books, heads back to Bon Temps, the sleazy sexy mid America where vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, faeries and politics all mix together.

Picking up where season 3 ended with Anna Paquin's Sookie Stackhouse disappearing into the faerie realm, the 12 part run kicks off one year after Sookie vanished, meaning that all the stories which dragged a little at the end of season 3 could be resolved off screen.

But when Sookie returns, she finds her world changed and a coven of witches creating havoc in Bon Temps....

This latest season of True Blood doesn't really expand the premise much further out and adds perhaps a little too much of the supernatural elements to the mix. Don't get me wrong, all of the cast and the increasingly lunatic storylines are present - as well as some sizzlingly sexy love scenes too - but there's just the feeling that this series is starting to lose touch a little too much with the reality which helped make it a soaraway success in its first two years.

Here's hoping year five sees the show a little back on track and going back to the basics.

Extras: Commentaries

Rating:

Resistance Burning Skies: PS Vita Review

Resistance Burning Skies: PS Vita Review

Rating: 13
Released by Sony Home Computer Entertainment

The Resistance First person shooter series makes its PS Vita debut.

It's August 1951 and without warning, an attack on the North American coast gets underway. Slap bang in the middle of that is firefighter Tommy Riley, who really just wants to save his family. But when the Chimera attack increases in ferocity, Riley steps up his resistance to take on the bad guys, save the day and his family.

Resistance Burning Skies is not perhaps the gaming experience we'd have been expecting for such an iconic franchise - but it does show some promise for the possibilities of what a portable console can do for a FPS title.

In many ways, it feels like a Doom style game as you negotiate rooms and areas with your gun in front of you, shooting and killing anything alien and badass in your path. Couch, move, kill - that's the limit of the scope of this title unfortunately.

But what the developers have managed to do is also to bring a level of sophistication and touch controls to be an organic part of the title. From pressing the front screen to use your fireman's axe to using the screen to tag Chimaera before firing into them, this is a game that promises the scope of the Vita's capabilities even if it doesn't deliver in much on the original play front.

It's not easy to ingratiate those ways of play into the game though - you have to really be a bit adept and swift at tagging the baddies, launching grenades and using the axe, as well as crossbows. But it's almost as if the enemy are aware that it takes time for you to adjust as they do little else but stand and shoot. I have to wonder whether some of the AI of the creatures has been dialled back a bit to help cope with the tech on display.

Resistance Burning Skies is playable enough and blessed with a brilliant soundtrack that's really evocative of the B Movie alien invasion films of the 1950s but if you're after something a little different from the FPS, you may be disappointed. However, what they've shown is that touchscreen can be brilliantly incorporated into the VITA and now the door is open for some developer to really revolutionise the genre.

Rating: