Oz: The Great and Powerful: Blu Ray Review

Oz: The Great and Powerful: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Walt Disney films

A prequel to The Wizard of Oz, you say?

What a bizarre idea - and one that I have to admit, I didn't see coming. Yet, Disney has released this latest in the hope of attracting the same share of box office that Alice in Wonderland did a few years back. James Franco stars as Oscar Diggs (aka Oz), a shallow womaniser, conman and magical shyster working at a travelling circus in Kansas in 1905. When Oz is forced to escape from the circus rather than being torn apart by an angry mob after he seduced yet another woman, he makes off in a hot air balloon.

Which flies straight into the path of a tornado....transporting him directly to the world of Oz 2013. There, he meets naive witch Theodora The Good (Mila Kunis) who believes he's the prophesied wizard who will rid the kingdom of the evil of the Wicked Witch.  However, Oz is anything but a good man (despite aspirations to be a great man) and initially only takes the job on because of the promise of mountains of gold from the royal protector, Evanora (Rachel Weisz).

He soon discovers that in order to take the throne of Oz and the gold, he must kill the witch - and so sets out into the Dark Forest to carry out his mission. However, there he meets Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams) and discovers that all is not as it seems - and is recruited into freeing Oz from the Wicked Witch.

Oz: The Great and Powerful is an odd film, working in some parts, failing in others and presenting a conundrum as to whether a prequel was needed in the first place.

Visually, it's nothing short of stunning - from its opening puppet show titles to the black and white old style prologue, it's a wonderful homage to Hollywood past. And once Oz lands in the world somewhere over the rainbow, the colours which unfold on the screen are stunning, vibrant and beautiful (even if the 3D glasses do a little to dull their brightness).

But that's where Sam Raimi's film starts to come apart at the narrative seams with little in the mix.

Essentially, it becomes a hollow FX-fest, James Franco doesn't quite have the charisma to bring it as a powerful wizard, with his smirk and also pantomime-esque acting initially unconvincing. While he grows during the fantastical adventure, his speech to rouse the troops at the end is no more than the wet whinings of someone who's out of their depth. Equally, Michelle Williams is way too wishy-washy as Glinda, and is so insipid in her goodness, it's too gooey to be effective. Weisz and Mila Kunis are a good pair of witches, whose morality is somewhat compromised. Zach Braff provides the laughs as a bell-hopped bedecked flying monkey, brought in to puncture some of the darker scenes later on and keep the kids on side.

It's not that Oz: The Great and Powerful is a complete disaster; it's visually spectacular and beautifully costumed, but it's overlong and its pacing occasionally feels off, but the script doesn't quite give us the insights we need into the characters. The Wicked Witch was essentially a woman scorned? Oz, despite his initial shyster behaviour and protestations that he can be a great man, doesn't quite convince in the final stages.

Essentially, Oz: The Great And Powerful is like a cheap magician's trick - it promises much, but peek behind the curtain and beyond the smoke and mirrors, and you'll see a hollow, emptiness which is disappointing to older viewers, but may prove enchanting to younger audiences.
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Pain and Gain: Movie Review

Pain and Gain: Movie Review

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Tony Shalhoub, Antony Mackie, Rebel Wilson, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry
Director: Michael Bay

A Michael Bay movie with only one explosion and shot for just $25 million?

Has the Bay-meister gone arthouse?

In among the body-conscious world of Miami, Mark Wahlberg plays bodybuilder Daniel Lugo, a believer in the American dream, but not in the reality of working towards it. After taking on a rich new client, Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub), Lugo concocts a scheme to kidnap him and get him to sign over all his wealth and wordly possessions, believing he's entitled to it.

Lugo co-opts fellow gym buddy, Adrian (Anthony Mackie) a steroid riddled impotent into helping - and the final link of Dwayne Johnson's Paul Doyle, a former convict who's discovered religion and is trying to go straight - but faces temptation left, right and centre.

But Lugo's plan doesn't quite go as expected...and Ed Harris' PI, Ed DuBois is called in to track the group down.

Pain and Gain is a rather odd beast.

Stylish rather than something with substance, it's an odd mix of the garish world of Miami with the ineptitude of three wannabe criminals whose ideas are executed laughably. There's a kernel of a sermon here about the American dream and how to aspire for it rather than simply to take it, but it's lost midway through.

Worst of all, the story goes for black comedy, but the reality of what happened (the film opens with a disclaimer that "Unfortunately, this is a true story") is actually quite horrific and you're left feeling unsure whether it's the right choice of material for a film in the first place, mixing in queasy laughs with some horrific situations in the sun soaked world of Miami with its glistening and perfectly sculpted bodies.

Wahlberg commits fully to the role as does Johnson (who spectacularly goes off the rails) but none of them are empathetic or sympathetic characters; even the kidnapped Kershaw is a beast to his employees and never really fully deserving of our care or time. A real lack of compassion is fatal in a story like this.

The end result is that Michael Bay's concocted something that feels an unusual film - potentially torn from the lurid pulpy crime novels world, it doesn't quite work on the screen and which descends into hysterically OTT violence as it reaches its climax. Feeling wildly uneven and tonally a bit up and down, the film hits some stylish highs and can't sustain the initial satirical tone it was aiming for. Gallows humour there may be, but some of it just doesn't sit right as it unspools.

Over-long and flawed, this piece ends up being a little more about the pain, rather than the gain.

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Byzantium: Movie Review

Byzantium: Movie Review

Cast: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Daniel Mays, Caleb Landry Jones, Jonny Lee Miller, Sam Riley
Director: Neil Jordan

Ah, vampires.

The eternal souls of damnation wandering the night and the earth and providing countless opportunities for story-telling and moping.

This latest, from Interview with the Vampire director Neil Jordan, relocates to Britain's coastal towns and follows a mother / daughter duo of Clara (a rather buxom Gemma Arterton) and Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) as they negotiate life.

The nomadic duo is constantly on the run or never close to settling down thanks to something jeopardising their new lives; and when the pair end up being forced to leave another town and on the run, they fall into a disused hotel, Byzantium, run by grieving son Noel (Daniel Mays).

Before too long, Clara's turned the hotel into a brothel (a mother's got to provide, right?) and Eleanor's fallen for ailing teenager Frank (Caleb Landry-Jones) and has revealed a little more of their past to him than perhaps Clara would have liked.

However, with forces catching up with them, the duo face the possibility of facing fate once and for all - or moving on once again and facing damnation throughout their eternal life.

Byzantium is a different vampire film than what we've come to expect on a diet of True Blood and Twilight.

Jordan's crafted a piece which is sombre, moody and atmospheric as it weaves back and forth into Clara's past. Arterton and Ronan are great as their characters and present a real contrast to each other; Arterton delights in company as opposed to Ronan's ethereal loner. (She seems to be delighting in these character roles). It's their relationship which is central to the story and which proves to be affecting and engaging as this tale of the damnation of an eternal existence plays out.

Visually, there are some arresting images as well - such as waterfalls turning red with blood after a vampire is created and Jordan gives these killers an extended fingernail to kill rather than the traditional fangs but these moments are somewhat lost in the second half of the film.

It begins to drag a little where the tension should be starting to bite - and some of the historical background becomes a little dull. Sam Riley and Jonny Lee Miller hardly figure in the final mix as well - and given the ending, it would have been better if Jordan had used the Riley character a little more throughout.

All in all though, Byzantium is a commendable and occasionally fresh take on a genre which has been drained of originality over the years.

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Zero Dark Thirty: Blu Ray Review

Zero Dark Thirty: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow and Icon

From the Academy Award winning director of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, comes this film, a look at the decade long hunt to track down and bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Based on first hand accounts of what happened, Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, a CIA agent brought in to the hunt for bin Laden after the September 11th terror attacks. Initially reticent to take part in the controversial methods of torture (water-boarding, deprivation techniques) the CIA used out in the field, Maya begins to work a series of leads which she thinks will find bin Laden's courier.

But, at every turn, she finds obstacles in her path to pursuing this route - from the bosses at the CIA insisting she prevent attacks on the homeland rather than following a vendetta which isn't coming to fruition to reticence from agents in the region who believe she's wasting her time.

However, when Maya finds the compound where bin Laden's hiding, suddenly her decade long quest moves into sharp focus...

Zero Dark Thirty is a terrifically thrilling film, which takes its time to inveigle its way under your skin, but when it does, it refuses to let go. Chastain is electrifying as Maya, the initially wet behind the ears agent, who refuses to take part in the torture of suspects but whose life outlook is changed when her friends are killed and she goes from wavering agent to steely determined agent, who's looking for success no matter what the outcome. But Chastain's great strength in this role is how it gradually builds up to this point and how plausible she makes the character's motivations. When her friends are killed in a bomb attack, Maya explains how she believes she was spared and intones that she's going to "smoke everyone involved in the operation. And then I'm going to kill bin Laden." It's to Chastain's credit that this key line is delivered plausibly and not in true Hollywood fashion with gung ho music and fists being punched in the air. We also know little of Maya outside of the job too - so it's understandable that she's so consumed by it all - and none of that lack of outside life matters to the portrayal as everything we need to know is up there on the screen.

And some of that credit must also be given to director Bigelow, who's fashioned a quiet thriller of a film which builds to a stunning final sequence which follows the Navy SEALS who took down bin Laden's compound. That edge of your seat action is so compelling, heart-stopping and clinical in its direction and execution. Tautly paced, superbly directed and powerfully acted, Zero Dark Thirty is a must own.

Extras: Behind the scenes pieces

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The 12th Doctor is unveiled....

The 12th Doctor is unveiled....

After months of speculation over who would take on the role of the Doctor since Matt Smith announced he was quitting Doctor Who, finally the actor who will be taking the role has been revealed.

Just moments ago in the UK, Peter Capaldi has been unveiled as the 12th Doctor, who will be taking on the position in the TARDIS after Matt Smith regenerates in the Christmas special.

Watch an interview with Peter Capaldi talking about becoming the 12th Doctor here.

NZIFF Review - Only Lovers Left Alive

NZIFF Review - Only Lovers Left Alive 

So, Auckland's closing night of the New Zealand International Film Festival leg threw up Jim Jarmusch's latest, Only Lovers Left Alive.

It's the (slight) story of vampire lovers Adam (Tom Hiddleston channeling lounge lizard and Iggy) and Eve (a more animated Tilda Swinton than I've seen in years).

The duo have been together for years and have seen it all - but are currently living apart. She in Tangier, he in Detroit. He's become a recluse within the walls of his mansion, bitter at how the "zombies" have taken over the world, playing music and having Anton Yelchin's Ian running errands for him - including sourcing old guitars from rock history.

She, on the other hand, also leads the solitary life, getting blood from Christopher Marlowe (a wizened John Hurt). When she calls Adam one day, she decides to head to Detroit to be with him, amid concerns over his mental health.

Adam's elated to see her but things take a turn for the chaotic when Eve's sister Ava, a wild child (Mia Wasikowska) shows up and throws everything into turmoil.

Only Lovers Left Alive is an impeccably cool piece of cinema, with a playful tone at its heart.

Admittedly nothing really substantial happens within this tome as it unspools; deadpan comments over knowing and influencing famous people are made by the duo and that's about as exciting as it ever gets.

But it's just Jarmusch being a bit playful throughout - he evocatively manages to conjure up the worlds they live in; Hiddleston's Adam, surrounded by wires and useless technology, lives in a world of clutter. His only interactions are with Anton Yelchin's hanger-on Ian and Jeffrey Wright's doctor from whom he sources blood.

There's dry humour aplenty in the piece as well - from visual gags such as Hiddleston's dressed up doctor wearing shades in a hospital and causing his supplier to jump to verbal jousting and acidly goofy one-liners which come out of nowhere, (the doctors in the blood bank are Dr Faust, Dr Calgari and Dr Watson) the screenplay carefully mixes cool with audience pleasing moments.

Visually impressive, moodily sombre in tone in places yet deliciously deadpan in others and with little going on outside of the atmospherics, you could be forgiven for not diving into Jarmusch's take on the vampire world in Only Lovers Left Alive..

However, it's due to the leads that it largely succeeds: Hiddleston's introspective and almost suicidal Adam, with half of his face covered with lank dark black hair and Swinton's animated, platinum blond locked Eve are eminently watchable thanks to some real onscreen chemistry. Which is just as well, because occasionally the film meanders and appears to have no overall plot or point.

All in all, Only Lovers Left Alive is a mischievous yet laid back ending to the New Zealand International Film Festival - it leaves you desiring more and facing the fact the show is now done for another year in Auckland.

Newstalk ZB Review - Only God Forgives and Now You See Me

Newstalk ZB Review - Only God Forgives and Now You See Me

This week, I caught up with Jack Tame on Newstalk ZB to talk movies and the latest releases.

Talking Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives and Jesse Eisenberg in Now You See Me.

And at the film festival, The Selfish Giant.