Redband Evil Dead trailer debuts...

Redband Evil Dead trailer debuts...

Good news for fans of the Evil Dead 2013 remake.

A brand new redband trailer for the Evil Dead 2013 has been released.

And it seems to have plenty of gore on hand....

Brand new A Good Day to Die Hard Trailer

Brand new A Good Day to Die Hard Trailer

Good news for fans of Bruce Willis as John McClane.

He's back in another Die Hard film, out in February.

And a brand new trailer for A Good Day To Die Hard has been released...

New Man of Steel image

New Man of Steel image

There's a brand New Man of Steel image from Zack Snyder due later this year.

It shows Henry Cavill as Superman...

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: DVD Review

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Those pesky Mayans, eh?

Predicting the end of the world and then some.

Well, this comedy-drama with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley is a tender piece which looks at what people would do if a massive asteroid was coming on collision course with the world. It's no Armageddon with the disaster scenario living up to expectations and when the plan to destroy it fails, then the end of the world is really coming.

Carell plays Dodge, whose wife leaves him when the news hits. Realising his life's not gone to plan, Dodge ends up befriending Knightley's Penny, who just wants to see her family in England. And when Dodge receives a letter telling him his first love always loved him, he decides that's the push he needs to go and find her.

So the pair end up on a road trip - and I'm sure you can guess the rest.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a quite sweet, tender piece which is all about the two leads rather than everyone else. Carell does a morose, downbeat turn as Dodge and gives it a feeling of quiet desperation and reality; equally, Knightley works well off of him and gives the film a bit of heart. It may ultimately affect you more than you'd expect as well.

While it's a little predictable as to how this will end, the journey is a good one and a quirkier one than you'd expect despite a bit of meandering and uncertainty over where it's going next narratively.

Extras: Making of, trailer, commentary

Rating:

New releases for January 2013

New releases for January 2013

Happy New Year to you all!

It's going to be a busy one in 2013.

So, here's your trailer guide to some of the new releases for the month of January:

Life of Pi - out Jan 1st


Jack Reacher - out Jan 3rd

Les Miserables - out Jan 10th


Gangster Squad - out Jan 17th


Django Unchained - out Jan 24th


The Impossible - out Jan 24th

The Bourne Legacy: Blu Ray Review

The Bourne Legacy: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

Matt Damon is gone from the Bourne movie, but his presence casts a shadow over this latest outing.

Jeremy Renner is now the Bourne again spy in this action thriller, which has been stripped of its original team but tries to revamp the Bourne series.

Renner stars as Aaron Cross, an agent being trained in black ops program, Operation Outcome. the training's brutal; abandoned in the wild, Cross is taking blue pills to increase his mental skills and green ones which enhance his physical skill sets.

However, when the events of the Bourne Ultimatum come to fruition with Jason Bourne exposing the details of Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone Project, the CIA decides to close all their ops down and eliminate their assets thanks to the involvement of Edward Norton's clandestine agent Eric Byer.

But Cross discovers he's been double-crossed and escapes...

At the same time, scientist Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) escapes a massacre at her laboratory (which was testing the subjects of Outcome) and finds her life threatened by her involvement in the undercover operation. Luckily though, Aaron Cross is there to save her and the two end up on the run...

What to say about The Bourne Legacy?

Firstly, this parallel-a-quel really does suffer from a murky and confusing script and not exactly heaps of tautly put together action sequences which proliferated the first three films, excellently put together by Paul Greengrass. There are chunks of heavy exposition from plenty of scenes of CIA suits standing around monitors and barking orders - which don't serve to add to the tension or suspense, merely to slow it down.

Secondly, it's incredibly hard to warm to Jeremy Renner's character, regardless of how well he acts throughout the film's rather dour, slightly stuffy and overlong running time.

Don't get me wrong, Renner is nothing less than electric as he launches  a career as an action man of the movies - even if he does lack the charisma of Damon; but it's symptomatic of the film that you don't really warm to Cross in a way you did with Bourne.

While Weisz brings a permanently pained and shocked expression to her Marta Shearing, she adds very little else except to maybe serve as a potential love interest and to run about in need of saving. Norton's nothing less than icy and cold as Byer and presents a menacing presence for future films.

There's not enough action throughoutThe Bourne Legacy - and while there are some impressive sequences when they do show up, they're never as immediate or gripping as what's gone on in previous films.

The Bourne Legacy feels like an extended first act with no face off or ultimate conclusion between the good and bad guys, giving it the feeling of one (over)long tease which offers hardly any pay off. Interesting it may be and a solid thriller it is, but it's just not quite enough excitement to sustain and enthral you for 2 and a quarter hours of your life.

Extras: Deleted scenes, behind the scenes featurette on bike chase and fight sequences

Rating:

Hope Springs: Blu Ray Review

Hope Springs: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Welcome to the world of Twilight sex.

Not Edward and Bella - this is an altogether less supernatural phenomenon, although frankly, no less terrifying.

Meryl Streep's Kay and Tommy Lee Jones' Arnold have been married for over 30 years.

They're in the later years of life, and also their love life. Stuck in an endless routine - the same eggs and bacon for Arnold for breakfast every day, the same Arnold slumped asleep, watching the golf channel at night and the same separate bedrooms without a hint of intimacy - Kay decides enough is enough.

Rather than walking out the door, Kay enrols Arnold and herself in a week long intensive couples therapy clinic run by Steve Carell's Dr Feld.

Unsurprisingly, Arnold's against the whole idea and is cynical about being involved in the first place. As time goes on though, the pair begin to discover intimacies about each other held long locked away and face truths which could prove difficult to overcome.

Hope Springs is a dramedy, with the emphasis more on reality and drama than endless bouts of sex comedy.

Streep and Lee Jones are perfectly matched and deft at breathing life into this somewhat unoriginal story. Sure, we've all been to films where couples are having trouble but this one is adept at putting the story squarely into the latter stages of life. Both the leads bring a light comedic touch to a tale which is essentially downbeat and seriously dramatic in parts. They lift the duo from being stereotypes and give them a warmth and humanity which makes you empathise with them - and Kay and Arnold's situation - immediately and as the film goes on. both handle what's asked of their characters wonderfully. Sure, there are comedic moments which are required of both but the drama lingers long after the humour's worn off and as the therapy (both for the audience and the characters) grinds on.

Equally, Carell who spends most of the time smiling sympathetically is incredibly convincing in his dialled-down turn as the therapist.

That's the thing with Hope Springs - it has a hefty dose of reality which may hit a little too close to home for some in the audience; there's a tenderness and honesty to the script which may cut to the quick but has its roots squarely in something which may face many in years to come.

Hope Springs is quite a serious piece - despite how knockabout the trailer initially appears, with a pace that may actually give you the feeling that it's infinitely longer than it is.

However, you should also be aware that there's plenty of squirm in your seat moments as we have the duo discuss their sex lives, watch Meryl's character Kay literally get in touch with herself and hear sex talk that may frankly put you off any meal you may be about to have...It's to be applauded for getting this kind of thing on the big screen, a rare feat in Hollywood these days, but for some in the audience not over a certain age, it could be a hard ask.

But what you should be impressed with in Hope Springs is an adult dramedy that really does explore what it's like to be older, and dealing with issues of intimacy and attraction - with two very impressive performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep.

Extras: Gag reel, an expert's guide to lasting passion, commentary, making of, and couple of other pieces with the cast

Rating: