Mirror Mirror: DVD Review

Mirror Mirror: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Another take on the Snow White story arrives on the small screen- and this one on the heels of a certain Twihard's performance in a similar role.

But this one is very clearly aimed at the family PG market.

Lily Collins stars as Snow White and Julia Roberts the Queen who steals the heart of the King (Sean Bean) in a world far, far away. When the King disappears, the Queen keeps Snow White locked up in the castle and away from the rest of the kingdom, which she taxes at an exorbitant level to play for lavish parties and life in general.

However, when the Queen is told she's near bankruptcy, she looks for ways to marry out of the predicament - and one of those, Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer), literally ends up on her doorstep. 

But at a chance meeting, Alcott falls hard for Snow White and becomes besotted with her. The Queen, though is having none of that - and decrees Snow White's death....

Cast out into the forest, Snow White meets the seven dwarves and sets about reclaiming her birthright.

Mirror Mirror is as completely different a take on the Snow White story as you'll ever see. 

It's from Tarsem Singh who brings such incredible visuals to the big screen in all his films but has yet to match the dazzling visuals with an equally dazzling story. Sure, it's a take on the original fairy tale - but it veers more off in a completely different direction than you may expect.

Julia Roberts plays the Evil Queen more as a sarcastic witch with a bitchy outlook than an out and out "boo hiss" villain - and it's a touch which director Singh uses to give it a slight point of difference but it's also what unfortunately confuses the feel of the film. It does, however, give rise to some funny moments and oddball comments which make the whole flick seem like a bit more of a slightly off kilter pantomime than anything else. That said, they are amusing.

If you're looking for the classic elements of the Snow White story, they're all there - the seven dwarves are given different names but are essentially the same characters - but not just in the way you may expect. Mind you, the dwarves are given somewhat of a makeover with accordion style expanding legs as they maraud around the woods - it's a sort of Cirque du Soleil crossed with little people - but again, it's visually inventive.

Arnie Hammer is more comic relief and slightly cheesy than dashing prince (even though he does spend an inordinate amount of time with his top off - which is remarked on by the Queen as she 'struggles to concentrate' with his shirtless ways) and Lily Collins, while initially a little wet and weak as Snow White, gives rise to a lot of misty focused moments and winsome gazes rather than single minded heroine. It's very family orientated viewing though thanks to their performances - plus throw in Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane and you've got a great ensemble.

That's the thing with Mirror, Mirror - this family film deserves to be lauded for its stunning costuming and unbelievably dazzling visuals (it even ends with a Bollywood style dance song during the credits and opens with a stunning shadow puppet animation) but in terms of the story, thanks to an odd mismatch of styles and narrative ideas, it's a little bit of a mixed and flat experience. 

Extras: Trailer, looking through piece, prince and puppies

Rating:

Show Me Shorts festival details revealed

Show Me Shorts festival details revealed

Hot off the press, details of this year's Show Me Shorts Film Festival have been revealed.

Here's the press release from Gina and the gang about what's ahead.

(You can find out more about this year's films as well as when it's all on at their site on www.showmeshorts.co.nz)

WORLD PREMIERES A PLENTY IN THIS YEAR’S SHORT FILM FEST

With this only the second year of accepting international entries from outside of Australia and New Zealand, the profile of Show Me Shorts was strong enough to garner entries from over 30 countries around the world. Festival Director Gina Dellabarca credits the reputation for international success that New Zealand short films have firmly established among the international filmmaking sector for this. 

There are 18 international short films that made the final 40 films selected for this year's Show Me Shorts Film Festival. Although Australia is still the most strongly represented, there are also films from Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, Spain, India, Iceland and the USA. Dellabarca says, "We are quietly forging relationships with international embassies, film commissions, filmmakers and festivals at the moment. We're really happy with the international entries this year, but we can see room to grow them even further next year." 

To that end, Show Me Shorts is working with the Israeli Embassy to try and bring David Shadi to New Zealand to represent his comic film 'Gentledog'. David is likely to attend the Wellington Opening Night and may also participate in the StarNow Short Film Seminar in Wellington. Indian writer/director Manjari Makijany, who made 'The Last Marble' is also expected to attend these two Wellington events. Manjari will be in Brisbane just after Show Me Shorts, where his film will feature in the Brisbane International Film Festival. In Auckland, Australian filmmaker Susan Earl is expected to attend the Opening and Awards Night, and may also participate in the StarNow Short Film Seminar with her animated film 'Valmay the Visitor from Beep Beep Beep'.

Further strengthening ties with Australia, Show Me Shorts is presenting a package of short films in Melbourne this October. Federation Square have invited the festival to curate a selection of short films for their 10th birthday celebrations. Dellabarca says, "We have worked with Federation Square before, and it's great to be invited back. We'll be screening all our Best Film winning short films from the last six years. We're really excited about this opportunity and love the idea of taking it on tour. It's also great to be able to highlight our Best Film winners in this way. They really are outstanding short films, so it's a pleasure to find more opportunities to screen them."

Four of these titles will make their world premiere at Show Me Shorts, while the fifth has been a hit at film festivals internationally. There is a comedy, a drama, a documentary, an animation, and an Icelandic zombie thriller. Something for everyone! 

Brand new Hobbit poster drops

Brand new Hobbit poster drops

There's another brand new Hobbit poster which has just been released.

And here it is....

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits cinemas in December.

Dredd 3D has NZ Premiere

Dredd 3D has NZ Premiere

It's on the way for being one of the films of the year for me personally, and now you've got the chance to see what the fuss is all about.

I am of course, talking about Dredd 3D (Dredd 3D review here) - which has now opened in New Zealand cinemas and stars Karl Urban giving good Dredd.

The film had its NZ premiere last night, with plenty of fanfare and also with its star, Kiwi Karl Urban in attendance. Urban was charming and witty as well as being particularly open to being approached by people who wanted a pic or to congratulate him on the role. Earlier in the evening, there was another preview screening of the film which saw Karl collecting tickets from the punters as they went in.

Karl's clearly the real deal too - as he took time to do a Q&A on Dredd - make sure you read it.

Check out a few of the shots of the awesome graffitti done for the Dredd premiere below - plus see the shots of people modelling the awesome helmet and lawgiver brought in by the guys from Heroes 4 Sale - and make sure you head to see it in cinemas now!

The Lone Ranger trailer hits

The Lone Ranger trailer hits

Here's your first look at the trailer for the Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp.

It hits cinemas July 2013.

Paranormal Activity 4: Movie Review

Paranormal Activity 4: Movie Review

Cast: Katie Featherston, Kathryn Newton, Matt Shively, Brady Allen,
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

So here we go once again with another outing for Paranormal Activity, the new horror franchise which delivers year on year.

In Paranormal Activity 4, Katie Featherston returns as Katie as the film takes up five years after a possessed Katie killed her boyfriend Micah and also stole her sister's son Hunter after offing her sister Kristi.

It's 2011 and the action switches to the suburbs and a new family about to be terrorised by ghostly goings on.

This time, it centres on teenage girl Alex (Newton) whose family is going through fractured times and is weathering a breakdown of her parents' relationship. However, Alex is starting off a relationship with Ben (Shively) and a lot of it is carried out on Skype chats.

Things take a turn for the creepy when Alex and her family are forced to take in neighbouring kid Robbie (Allen) for a while after his mum is hospitalised. Robbie befriends Alex's brother Wyatt and the pair form an uneasy bond.

And things get creepier as bumps and noises and all manner of spooky things start happening right after Robbie moves in - having left his mum Katie behind....

Paranormal Activity 4 is to be frank a bit of a disappointment after the creative highs of the third film.

While the version I saw was presented as a work in progress, I'm not sure there's too much the directors can do to change it so it could be that this version may never be fully seen again.

The thing is with this franchise you know exactly what you're going to get - contrived use of cameras via a series of set ups and long drawn out scenes with a jumpy freaky ending to help you void your bowels and shoot out of your seat.

This time around, modern tech plays more of a part - there's no cam fan like in the third film but everything of the mundane daily life is taped via Skype chats or webcams. Perhaps the smartest piece of taping comes courtesy of the use of XBox Kinect which turns everything in the front room into an alien glow with green dots scattered around - this is a smart touch by the writers.

Once again, there are fake outs as the tension's gradually eeked out and extended as far as it can go - and I have to admit by setting a lot more of the creepier action during the daytime hours, the creative team aren't exactly resting on their spooky laurels and are trying to do something a little different.

Brady Allen offers up a truly unsettling turn as Robbie, a pale kid with moppet hair - his under-performance and perfectly nuanced delivery of one line in particular is quite disturbing.

Throw in a Shining reference as well and you'd hope that the team have got it right.

And yet, there's not quite the edge to this latest Paranormal Activity outing which you would expect. It's more of the same rather than concentrating on something a little new.

Long swathes of monitored action take place with little scares on hand - sure, there are bumps and knocks and doors close unexpectedly here and there, but the effect is somewhat akin to a low rent haunted horror house rather than a full on spooktacular.

Also, whereas the third film extended some of the film's mythology and storyline, this one, despite its trailer promising to let you "see where all the activity's been leading", does little to deepen the demon storyline and the family possession background. It's bitterly disappointing on that front. In fact, the spirit this time around seems more malevolent and intent on simply killing the residents whereas in the past, there's been hints of manipulation and reasons for the paranormal outings.

It's a real shame because the ending when it comes delivers in spades on scares and leaves you wishing that there were more of those final scenes throughout - even though it's somewhat similar to the ending of Paranormal Activity 3.

Paranormal Activity 4 is an okay found footage horror film; it has a bit of tension throughout but to be honest, as an entry into the franchise, I'm afraid it's left wanting.

There are a few scares, but never enough to give it the truly frightening edge it deserves. I'm just hoping that any inevitable future releases for this series think seriously about putting an end to the Paranormal storyline and offering up a creative resolution which is now sorely needed rather than continuing to extend the franchise simply for the money.

Rating:

Brand new Breaking Dawn Part 2 poster

Brand new Breaking Dawn Part 2 poster

It's nearly time for you Twihards to hyperventilate.

The final part of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 hits cinemas next month here in New Zealand and today we've had the last poster released for the film.

And as well as Edward, Bella, Jacob and wolves, it also features....erm, running???

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 hits cinemas November 15th