Grand Theft Auto V trailer is here

Grand Theft Auto V trailer is here

Just launched is the brand new trailer for Grand Theft Auto V...

Los Santos: a sprawling metropolis full of self-help gurus, starlets and fading celebrities struggling to stay afloat in an era of economic uncertainty and cheap cable TV. Amidst the turmoil, three very different criminals risk everything in a series of daring and dangerous heists that could set them up for life.

www.rockstargames.com/V

ESRB Rating: MATURE with Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Nudity, Mature Humor, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Watch the new Official Gameplay Video for Grand Theft Auto Online - which shows how we've taken the fundamental GTA concepts of freedom, ambient activity and mission-based gameplay and made them available to multiple players in an incredibly detailed and responsive online world.


In Grand Theft Auto Online, you'll have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto V.

Access to Grand Theft Auto Online is free with every retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V and launches on October 1st. 

Iron Man 3: Blu Ray Review

 Iron Man 3: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Entertainment

"We create our own demons."

So goes the very first line of this threequel, opening to massive expectations and no doubt, box office following Iron Man's last triumphant outing as part of the superhero powerhouse which was The Avengers. 

Robert Downey Jr reprises his role as billionaire Tony Stark - who, this time around, is suffering a little from PTSD following the events at the end of the alien Chitauri invasion masterminded by Loki. Well, you'd expect that from someone who escaped from a wormhole with a nuke in tow...Facing a distinct lack of sleep, Stark has been distancing himself from the love of his life Pepper Potts (Paltrow), who's working hard at Stark Industries and is choosing to dwell on building other Iron Man suits within his basement.

But when bearded terrorist The Mandarin strikes, taking down everything Tony Stark holds dear, Stark has no choice but to go back to basics to try and save the day...

Iron Man 3 is not what you would expect in terms of blockbuster outing.

Sure, Shane Black's fashioned some killer crowd-pleasing, large exploding moments of spectacle but the overall feel of this flick is somewhat of a downer, darker and slightly dour affair - despite moments of humour throughout this character piece. Stark is prone to panic and anxiety attacks - and it gives Downey Jr a new facet to play with onscreen as well as humanising the smarmy, egotistical philanthropist. But it also gives depth of vulnerability and a degree of heartbreak to his distancing himself from Potts (their relationship being the pulsing heart of this latest film) as it all plays out. Downey Jr is never anything less than eminently watchable as it unfolds, whether it's raging anger when laying down a challenge to Mandarin  and chasing after the bearded terrorist (bin Laden allegories, anyone?) or realising how mortal he is post-Avengers' incidents.

Likewise, Ben Kingsley's Mandarin character is a fabulous addition to the pantheon of Marvel baddies. To say too much about this bearded Bin Laden-esque terrorist, with his cyber-hacking broadcasts is to give too much away from the film. But he adds a menace which is befitting and the equal of Stark's theatricality as he exacts his diabolical plots. Guy Pearce brings a level of nastiness and rejected smarm as Aldrich Killian, but Rebecca Hall is frankly wasted in a role, which amounts to little more than an extended cameo. Don Cheadle gets a Lethal Weapon-esque team up with Stark toward the end of the film as Iron Patriot falls into trouble.

Despite there being plenty of unexpected moments, twists and turns, and some eye-catching action sequences, there's a horrendously saggy middle piece. Will it lead to an Iron Man 4?

That's the big question - with the Iron Man 3 ending feeling like a kind of wrap up, and Downey Jr's contract being finished with the role, you'd have to wonder if this is the end for Stark. But given this latest performance, he's irreplaceable - and Marvel would be hard pressed to bring anyone else into a role which Downey Jr has made so emphatically his own.

Extras: Marvel one shot Agent Carter, deconstructing the scenes, gag reel and exclusive look behind the scenes of Thor: The Dark World.

Rating:

Evil Dead: Blu Ray Review

Evil Dead: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Entertainment

A cabin in the woods, a possessed person, plenty of gore and dismemberments, and a reboot of an iconic horror series. It could only be Evil Dead, which was filmed in Auckland's Woodhill Forest.

Jane Levy (Suburgatory) stars as Mia in this reboot of the Evil Dead franchise, which of course was originally helmed some 32 years ago by Sam Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell. Along with four other friends (including her brother David - played by Shiloh Fernandez), Mia's holed up in a remote cabin as they try to help her kick her drug addiction.

But when one of the five discovers the Book of the Dead and reads out one of the incantations out of pure curiosity, all hell breaks loose as the demons are summoned and Mia is possessed....

Evil Dead starts with a bang and gore and doesn't really let up from there.

It's an old school horror in that it ramps up the tension, plies up the horror soundtrack and ratchets the uncomfortable feeling to 11 - and then some. The idea that Mia is in lockdown and detox adds a little something to the whole possession edge of the film and makes her initial strung-out behaviour a little easier to play on.

Add in tensions between David and Mia because of family and the concoction is there for a truly horrific showdown. And in many ways, that's what you get; buckets of blood, neck-cricking possessions (a la J horror movies) and some moments where you can't bear to look at the screen.

The Evil Dead movie is refreshingly old school; not self-aware, and true to its mythology. It's also the home of some great CGI technology, prosthetics and some stomach-churningly impressive FX work as the splatter-fest begins. It also makes moody work of the Woodhill Forest location and builds on the cabin's claustrophobia. Jane Levy impresses as she gives her all on screen as the shocks and jolts begin to build up.

Bloodthirsty and brutal, it will appeal to the original fans of the series. It's also bloody good fun in an old school horror way - and with a sequel planned and more films involving Bruce Campbell's Ash from the Evil Dead franchise, now is a good time to get possessed by the obsession which has been running for years.


Rating:

Oblivion: Blu Ray Review

Oblivion: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

Tom Cruise returns in this latest from the director of the TRON: Legacy film and those behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He plays Jack Harper, one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on an Earth which has been abandoned for years following decades of war with a group known as the Scavs. Along with Victoria, his wife (played with ice maiden overtones by Andrea Riseborough) they maintain the fleet of drones, protecting the earth from the threat of the Scavs.

Yet, when a series of drones go down, and a spaceship crashes with a beautiful survivor Julia (Olga Kurylenko) onboard, Jack finds his life changed forever as everything he knows (or thinks he knows) is blown apart.

Oblivion is an incredible piece of visual sci-fi, which reeks of epic scale. From its sleek, wonderfully realised world of day-after-tomorrow style technology to some brutally intense fight sequences (Attack of the Drones anyone?), it's one of those films which screams to be watched on the biggest screen possible.

Director Kosinski, who cut his teeth on TRON: Legacy has done an incredible job of harnessing the power of VFX - from the robot drones which hover in the sky to the ship which Cruise pilots, it's certainly up there with some of the best.

And yet, that's where Oblivion starts to falter a little. It all feels a little too familiar in places, particularly if you're well versed in various sci-fi tropes. It feels very reminiscent of many others from the genre and while it mashes a lot of those influences together, you can't help but feel towards the end, that new movie Oblivion has offered little to the genre and is ever so slightly derivative. It's very much a case of style over substance in terms of story, rather than spectacle which is a real shame for the genuine concept behind the Oblivion movie. Based on a graphic novel, there's very much the feel of a video game in this as well; mend the drones, rescue the girl, save the planet etc as each sequence segues into the next; complete with an at times OTT OST with blasting synth and drums at key moments, you can't help but feel this is occasionally console entertainment, stepped up for the big screen.

Overall, the Oblivion movie isn't a disaster by any stretch of the imagination; as the mystery initially plays out, you do find yourself drawn in, but as the pieces begin to slot together, you can't help but feel you've seen it all before - and given the concept those involved put together, it's a real shame.


Extras: Deleted scenes, making of, isolated score, commentary with Tom Cruise

Rating:

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: DVD Review

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

Steve Carell stars as Burt Wonderstone in this comedy about a magician duo (teaming up with Steve Buscemi as his partner) who have ruled the Las Vegas scene for years. The pair were childhood friends and have been performing for years but Burt's ego and arrogance is raging out of control.

When a street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey in dialled down mode) shows up, their act begins to seem rather stale - and when they're fired by the casino operator (James Gandolfini) the duo split and Burt hits rock bottom.

But, after a chance meeting with a childhood hero (Alan Arkin) he sets out to rediscover his love of magic and recapture his crown.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a little bit of a mess to be honest.

Tonally all over the place, it starts off as broad comedy masquerading as a family film, goes a bit darker before becoming totally predictable and utterly unoriginal. Carell's good as Wonderstone and elicits some laughs but he's never quite convincing enough; Carrey is dark as the street magician but manages to muddle his way through to his trademark gurning - and Olivia Wilde, who plays the love interest is charming enough but underused. Alan Arkin brings his trademark acerbic delivery and Gandolfini's pleasant enough, but the whole film feels like a muddle of styles and loses its way with its message.

Is The Incredible Burt Wonderstone magic? Not entirely, which given the calibre of cast, is a real shame.

Extras: Gag reel

Rating:

RED2: Movie Review

RED2: Movie Review

Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Neal McDonough
Director: Dean Parisot

RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) was a sleeper hit back in 2010.

Its infusion and mix of an older group of action heroes and the fact Helen Mirren got to shoot a very big gun (thus shattering a lot of stereotypes) meant that it was an unexpected worldwide box office hit.

So, perhaps a sequel was inevitable.

This time around, retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses (a broodier Bruce Willis) is back and forced into action once again. Which he's not happy about because he's enjoying the quieter life with beau Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) - even though she craves the more active life and has a taste for danger since the first outing.

When former colleague Marvin (Malkovich) is apparently assassinated, (minor spoiler - he wasn't) the group is sent on a global jaunt to try and track down a missing portable nuclear device...and that sends them right to Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) a scientist from Frank's path - and also into the sights of Frank's former flame Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

With RED2, it's a case, really, of repeating the successes of before - and adding in a few more ingredients of the older generation to get a wider audience. But with a few caveats.

Unfortunately, some of the thrill of the first film was seeing Helen Mirren in action - she's largely sidelined in this piece and separated from the group, which is a real shame. Though, Mary-Louise Parker's character has come more alive in this and her need to fulfill a vicarious streak to her nature leads to some more comedic moments than perhaps you would initially have been expecting. The cattiness between Sarah and Katja is entertaining for a while but its lightweight nature threatens to topple RED 2 despite some average action sequences.

With a plot that closely follows that other uber-work of Bruce Willis, A Good Day to Die Hard, it's almost as if Bruce is suffering from deja vu here. And deja vu is present in many ways, with Neal McDonough taking on Karl Urban's role from the first, as the hard-as-nails pursuer - but there's way too much comedy in this piece to make it feel like the right mix. The problem is the characters do nothing new - with perhaps, the exception of Mary-Louise Parker who gets to be part of the spy world and get the action she so craves.

Distinctly average but fairly disposable entertainment, RED 2 is another outing for the Grey Team - and perhaps some will enjoy that. Others though will feel that they maybe need to actually stick to the concept of being Retired (but with a third installment planned, that could be a long shot).

Rating

Love Story: DVD Review

Love Story: DVD Review

Cast: Florian Habicht, Masha Yakovenko, Florian's father
Director: Florian Habicht

Delightfully quirky, and a little bit insane, this is the latest from NZ film maker Florian Habicht who made Kaikohe Demolition and Land of the Long White Cloud. It's opening in Auckland and playing in the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival as well.

It's a mash of genres - with a dazzling pinch of interactivity.

Love Story is made on the fly with the truly interactive feel of New York and those who live there. Basically, Habicht one day sees a woman (Masha Yakovenko) walking on the streets holding a plate with a piece of cake on it.

Spurred on by a whim, he introduces himself to Masha and persuades her to be part of his film - only, he doesn't really have a vision of where it's going and this is where the New Yorkers and his father come in as he seeks advice from them about what he should do next

Love Story is random, nuts, hilarious and touching throughout as well.

There's a real blurring of reality though as Florian the film maker plays "Florian the film maker" (or does he?) as he directs himself in this film which takes the path chosen by the New Yorkers he randomly meets in the streets.

It's also got a brilliant turn by his dad - who tends to skype in and join the discussion at highly random times but with laugh out loud repercussions.

This wonderfully absurd and highly watchable film is rewarding, entertaining and will make you smile the biggest smile as you head out into the winter nights. It's to be commended for its light tone which shows an inventive touch at work and one who'll clearly be able to turn his hand to anything when necessary.

Plus you'll never look at romantically eating food off someone in the same way again when you see this...

Extras: Behind the scenes, deleted scenes, sort film, world premiere and phone message

Rating: