Paranormal Activity 4 - NZ Scared?

Paranormal Activity 4 - NZ Scared?

Paranormal Activity 4 hits NZ cinemas tomorrow - and now, reactions from the secret screening I attended have been unveiled...

Take a look at the video below:

First look at Frodo in the Hobbit

First look at Frodo in the Hobbit

As we gear up for the Wellington premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey next month, we're starting to get more peeks at the characters from the Hobbit.

Including a first look at Frodo in the Hobbit.

Spanish site Cinemarcado.com has unleashed some pics from The Hobbit - and here they are below for people wanting to see Elijah Wood as Frodo.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey  hits theaters on December 14 this year,  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug  on December 13, 2013 and  The Hobbit: There and Back Again  has scheduled to debut July 18, 2014.

Rock of Ages: DVD Review

Rock of Ages: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

It's 1987 and the Sunset strip, Los Angeles in Hollywood - enter Julianne Hough's small town girl, Sherrie Christian, fresh off the bus and hoping to find her dreams. But within seconds of stepping off the bus, she's been robbed of her most vital possessions - her rock records.

Enter Diego Boneta's Drew, a bartender at famous rock joint, The Bourbon Club (run by Alec Baldwin's Dennis Dupree) - who comes to her aid and falls instantly in love with the fresh face.

But there's a storm brewing - and not just for the two lovers.

A new mayor's (a barely there Bryan Cranston) trying to get into power and the main thrust of his campaign, run by his wife, the evangelical Patricia Whitmore (a perma-bronzed Catherine Zeta Jones) is to get rid of the Bourbon club and sweep all of its rock'n'roll depravity into the confines of history.

Throw into volatile mix, the return of the original bad boy rocker and legend, Stacee Jaxx (played by Tom Cruise) who's about to go solo and is in town for one last gig with his band Arsenal at the Bourbon Club - it's all about to go down.

If you're after plot and deep character exposition then move on - this is a musical. But if as the song says "You ain't looking for nothin' but a good time", and you can cope with a bit of guilty pleasure music then, Rock of Ages  with Tom Cruise, really is for you.

Along with the cheese and a hint of comedy, comes a large side order of ham as some of the cast throw in a bit of over-acting here as is the wont of musicals. It is really the music which is the star of this flick - even if there are a few too many tunes belted out all over the place. 

Chalk Rock of Ages up to a guilty pleasure. It's as bloated and as excessive as the overblown 1980s rock music scene but hell, it's a fun night out  - if you're prepared to just put your brain in neutral and go with it.

Extras: Look at the real Sunset clubs, music featurette and Def Leppard live at the premiere.

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Madagascar 3: PS3 Review

Madagascar 3: PS3 Review

Released by Namco
Platform: PS3

I'm quite happy to admit that I really enjoyed the latest cinematic Madagascar outing for Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Melman the giraffe and Marty the Zebra - it was a sign that lightning does indeed strike three times in a row.

So, I was kind of bemused to see if the small screen game tie in would offer the same level of zaniness and originality that made the time in the cinema a lot of fun.

Sad to say that Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted The Video Game doesn't really hit the bar of the same level - unless you're a child or 2 children playing together in a co-operative. (I should have probably known when it said for ages 3 and upwards on the front cover.)

The platformer is still quite cartoony and follows roughly the same kind of script as the film - the gang has to avoid animal control  - but adds in a few newer layers.

Initially though in Story Mode, you have to complete some basic levels and get used to the various controls and ideas which permeate this title. After the same level of lunacy in the story telling as pervades the movie, you're into the game - but not before King Julien's interrupted the Penguins who are trying to tell you what to do. It's here that Madagascar The Video Game really captures the madcap spirit of the movies and begins to amuse you.

Sadly though, that laughter was lost when the actual gameplay began to roll out.

The theme here is co-operation with each of the animals bringing their own skillset to the table - and you needing to wise up quickly to take advantage of these skills to achieve what's expected of you. For example, Gloria can side bump boxes but you'll need Marty's kicking skills to send them exactly where you need to get to. It's with this move that the game really comes more alive for a couple of kids wanting to sit down and play a little together, as a Billy-No-Mates one player has to keep switching between characters to get the job done. There's nothing wrong with that but it certainly does slow down what are essentially mini-games and occasionally interrupts the flow of it all. Add into that mix, a level of repetition and wandering around which becomes tiresome after all and the story mode is somewhat difficult to fully immerse yourself in.

Circus mode for the game is perhaps a bit more fun - well, if you fancy a bit more of a mini bitesize mood to the game. Taking the roles of different characters in the circus, you get to do a variety of games by tapping the circle, square, cross and triangle buttons - it's a fairly predictable way of doing it but with the games proffering up such gems as hurling bananas or peach at a baying crowd, guiding Vitaly the tiger through hoops or taking Gloria on the tightrope, it's a fairly disposable fun way to spend a bit of time.

Graphically, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted The Video Game does well at capturing the likeness of its lead characters but they do little other than exist on the screen - that's not to say that they don't leap out at you, but even with the talent reprising their voices, it's still unremarkable if loyal work. That's actually perhaps the best thing about this game - the voices; it's great to have a tie in with ties to the movie.

But the problem with this release is that it doesn't tend to offer a long gaming session on the PS3 - it's more about bitesize gaming and challenges and as such would perhaps be better suited to a portable system to keep the kids happy in the back of the car for an hour. It's certainly colourful and respectful of the tone of the movies in general, but it's lacking a real reason to engage with it for prolonged amounts of time.

All in all, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted The Video Game will keep the kids amused more than anything; it's a childish platformer which clearly skews younger in terms of demographic and certainly won't be loved by adults forced to play it thanks to repetitive gaming and a real lack of anything other than momentary entertainment.

Rating:

World's End poster revealed

World's End poster revealed

Colour me wet my pants excited...

I've just seen the first World's End poster and had to share it with you.

For those not in the know, World's End is the third re-teaming of the Cornetto trilogy team of Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and follows the brilliance that was Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.


Here's a bit more about World's End:

Working Title Films and Big Talk Pictures have commenced filming on The World’s End, the third instalment of Edgar Wright’s trilogy of comedies, following the successes Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007).  The new movie is filming in the U.K. As with the first two movies in the trilogy, Universal Pictures International (UPI) will distribute The World’s End internationally and Focus Features will distribute it in North America.

As with the two earlier pictures, Mr. Wright co-wrote the script with Simon Pegg, who will once again star alongside Nick Frost. Joining the team are actors Martin Freeman (Shaun of the Dead, The Hobbit), Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes), and Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher).

The World’s End also marks Mr. Wright’s third movie with Working Title and Big Talk, following Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; The World’s End is produced by Nira Park of Big Talk and Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The film will be executive-produced by James Biddle, Mr. Wright, Mr. Pegg, Mr. Frost, and Liza Chasin.

Mr. Wright is also reteaming with such creative collaborators as director of photography Bill Pope, production designer Marcus Rowland, hair and make-up designer Jane Walker, editor Paul Machliss, stunt coordinator Bradley Allen, and VFX Double Negative. Guy Speranza is the film’s costume designer.

In The World’s End, 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub – The World’s End.  As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realise the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

Resident Evil 6: Game Review

Resident Evil 6: Game Review

Released by CAPCOM
Platform: PS3

I have to confess to never having fully been a paid up fan of the Resident Evil franchise.

There was just something about the third person shooter which really didn't sit well with me - and having now played Resident Evil 6, I know what exactly that was.

Fear.

A prolonged stench of it extends from the TV screen when playing this latest franchisee; from tension to suspense to outright blood and bone curding crunching, there's plenty to scare the beejesus out of you. But let's not get ahead of myself just yet.

With three different storylines playing side by side, there's certainly a whole wealth of content available for you to get engrossed in. With these threads playing out in a disparate way and seven lead characters taking part in the story, and all of them following on from the events in Raccoon City, it's certainly an ambitious game to say the least from CAPCOM.

Following Chris Redfield, Leon S Kennedy and newcomer Jake Muller, the stories are presented theatrically and with an eye to the story telling rather than simply moving the action on from one moment to the next. Be it the action film opening to the creeping around a campus trying to locate people and avoid the scares, there's certainly an overarching feeling that CAPCOM's really thrown everything into this release.

My last exposure was Raccoon City which wasn't an overly bad experience but one which didn't leave me chomping at the bit to play another Res Evil title. But what with Milla Jovovich reprising her role in Resident Evil Retribution it was inevitable another one would surface.

However, what the game makers have got right is the cinematic, almost horror movie feel to the game. Creatures lurk in and out of the frames with barely any warning and give you scares when least expected. And while they may take a while to knock down and explode in a splatter of gore, the AI which sees your partner team up with you is a welcome relief; this time, your other half actually takes out the creatures, rather than just standing back or half heartedly firing and not hitting anything. It sounds stupid, but it's a little touch like this which adds rather than detracts from the gameplay. Sadly though, moments like being unable to clear chairs from your path in corridors when you could moments ago, don't exactly scream consistently - no matter how minor the niggles are, they are still niggles. Also irritating is the way cut scenes simply lurch into the game, without any warning and stop you from carrying on when you're already immersed in what's happening.

Overall though, Resident Evil 6 offers up plenty of entertainment, shooting, scores and nods back to the previous games. I'm only starting to get into this - but thanks to atmospheric chills, good story and a truckload of zombies, this is still going to be one I'll be playing for a while to come. With all the frights though, I'm just grateful the nights are a bit lighter....

Rating:

Argo: Movie Review

Argo: Movie Review

Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, Clea duVall, Victor Garber
Director: Ben Affleck

Returning to work behind the camera for a third time after Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Ben Affleck's latest turns his attention to the tensions between America and Iran in 1979 and into 1980.

Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA agent with a floppy 70s haircut and slightly dodgy beard, who finds himself in the middle of a stand off between the two nations. When Islamic extremists storm the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979, 52 people are taken hostage.

But a group of six made their way out of the Embassy and end up holed up with the Canadian ambassador (Garber) at his home - as tensions increased in the stand off, the CIA (led by Bryan Cranston's Jack O'Donnell) try to do whatever they can to get them out.

That's when Mendez comes up with a plan - pretend to be out in Iran, scouting to make a scifi film and smuggle the six out from under their noses.

With no other realistic options in front of them (or as the CIA describe it "the best bad plan we have"), the wheels are put in motion....

Argo is a thrilling and nimbly dextrous piece of film making from Affleck, who, once again, demonstrates he has the directing chops to bring a drama vividly to life.

From the spot on period decoration of the 1970s and styles through to the sci fi nods, it's a spot on tense drama which unwinds in front of you. Granted, it's quite earnest but serious in tone, with only hints of half smiles coming from Mendez as he sets about his mission. And the house hostages are equally as serious throughout as this involving story unfolds.

Thankfully, the dour tone is lifted by the film-makers Lester Siegel and John Chambers (Arkin and Goodman  respectively) who bring some much needed humour to the proceedings and who lighten the tone immensely as they deadpan and joke their way through setting up the studio for the fake film. One of the best lines comes from Chambers who intones that the "target audience will hate it - that's anyone with eyes." Equally, Siegel proclaims that if he's "going to do a fake movie, it's going to be a fake hit!" with such aplomb, you can't help but laugh.

But that's what Affleck's got so right with this story - the mix of light and dark; he never appears to overplay the seriousness of the situation for anything other than the sake of the drama - and the end result is that you're captivated in your seat as the tension ratchets up towards the end and you wonder whether the operation will be successful or fail, resulting in everyone's death. It's a masterful piece of movie making which has got all of the small details right and a strong - if surprising - contender for one of the best films of the year.

I'd highly suspect that Argo is on the way to getting some recognition from the little gold man come 2013; it's a confident, respectful and utterly gripping piece of movie making from a director who's shaping up to be one of the generation's finest.
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