Amour: Movie Review

Amour: Movie Review

Cast: Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Isabella Huppert
Director: Michael Haneke

Fresh from critical acclaim and widespread accolades, Amour arrives on NZ screens.

Haneke's Palme D'Or winning and Oscar nominated film is a heartbreaking delve into a relationship and bond strengthened by years and devastated by illness.

Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva) are in their 80s and living a life of retirement. But when Anne's struck by an illness which is debilitating, their lives are irrevocably changed as Georges is reduced to carer.

In Amour, you can't help but be moved by this tale which is poignantly and sensitively told with two compelling central performances. 

Subtly layered and shot beautifully, it really gets under your skin as it plays out. It's a haunting film, which leaves you wondering what you'd do if it happened to you - and the final act's shocking denouement is likely to elicit many a gasp from the audience.

Both Riva (the oldest person to be nominated for an Oscar) and Trintignant deliver powerful performances which reek of veracity and lay bare a truth many of us may have to encounter later on in life.

Haneke's on good form in this painful to watch film (which is only painful because it powerfully pushes emotional buttons) - Amour (aka Love) is about devotion and a bond - and it's a tragic and empathetic piece which will affect you more than you may realise. 

Rating:

Brand new Oblivion posters unveiled

Brand new Oblivion posters unveiled

Entertainment Weekly's got the first look at some new Oblivion posters.

The Oblivion posters star Morgan Freeman and Tom Cruise.

Oblivion's due later this year.

On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man’s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind. Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete.Living in and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Brand new Iron Man 3 poster

Brand new Iron Man 3 poster

Poor old Tony Stark.

He's been somewhat left off the recent round of new Iron Man 3 posters which have been out and about.

But that's been rectified with a brand new Iron Man 3 poster, featuring Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark.

Iron Man 3 hits NZ cinemas in April.

Paranormal Activity 4: Blu Ray Review

Paranormal Activity 4: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

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.

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.

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 

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.

Extras: 30 minutes of unseen footage leads to extended cut and the Recovered Files

Rating:

V/H/S: DVD Review

V/H/S: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

A horror anthology which promised to deliver the scares, V/H/S has certainly got the indie credentials. 

Its premise involves a group of utter losers breaking into a home to steal some videotapes from a house. As ever with the found film footage genre, they're taping their every action for us to enjoy. 

But while that's the wrap-around for the over-arching story, the hook comes in the videos that one of them watches while the others are searching the house. 

Comprising five tales, each from an expert in the genre, the quality is varying and the results sometimes scary and other times not so. In fact, to be honest, the first two found footage videos played didn't float my boat at all - and I wondered if the rest of the film would be frankly as uninspiring. 

How wrong, because the final three films are utterly brilliant and pack as many inventive scares and smart new ideas as any long form Hollywood horror movie can dream of. A trip to the woods, a Skype chat between two lovers which turns deadly and a ritual on Hallowe'en are the smartest pieces of genre film making I've seen in years. 

Grubby, lo-fi and packing nudity of male and female, V/H/S really does have something for everyone and while there are plenty of "WTF was that?" moments, there's certainly no real "Oops, I've soiled myself in fear" moments throughout. 

The filmmaking talent involved's smart enough to offer up enough chills to rejuvenate the format and using the Video footage means the audience is carefully scanning the screen trying to see what's coming. 

The beauty of this piece? You won't and what you do get will surprise and titillate even the most jaded of horror lovers with freshness and smarts.

Extras: Interviews with the segment directors

Rating:

New Monsters University character poster is here

New Monsters University character poster is here

Mike and Sully are on their way back....

To University.

Take a look at the new Monsters University poster here.

Brand new Iron Man 3 image

Brand new Iron Man 3 image

There's been a glut of new Iron Man 3 images recently.

Brand new images for Iron Man,  Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin and Don Cheadle as Iron Patriot have all been revealed.

And the trend shows no sign of letting up.

Empire Magazine's latest cover has Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man....