Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons: DVD Review

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Entertainment

Finally, one of the Fourth Doctor's most loved adventures arrives on a 2 disc DVD set.

Set in 1975, Terror of the Zygons channels some of the trademark fears of body swap horror so prevalent in Philip Hinchcliffe's time in charge of Doctor Who. Returning to Earth, the Doctor (Tom Baker) and companions Sarah and Harry arrive in the Scottish highlands and are thrown into an investigation into the disappearance of several oil rigs. Is is the Loch Ness Monster?

Sure, some of the creature effects for the Loch Ness Monster are a bit wobbly at best, but Terror of the Zygons remains essential Doctor Who, a perfect encapsulation of Tom Baker's time in charge of the TARDIS. Great performances propel a story along which has a few plotholes here and there but it's a fabulous 70s romp.

A solid if unspectacular set of extras include a director's cut and a range of commentary and mini docos (some of which come from 2003). The third part of the UNIT Family doco brings the series upto date and give this set a warm feeling.

Extras: Directors cut, commentary, Dr Who stories, easter eggs and more.

Rating:

Burning Man Set to Light Up Armageddon Expo Opening

Burning Man Set to Light Up Armageddon Expo Opening

Opening night at Auckland Armageddon this year will see a seven metre tall ‘Guy’ burn to the ground to mark the start of New Zealand’s largest fantasy and gaming expo on Friday 25 October at the ASB Showgrounds.

For the past three years, Len Julian of Pyro Company Fireworks has spent more than two months in the lead up to the expo putting together a giant effigy to be set alight.

Julian says that this year, the colossal figure is inspired by the Guy Fawkes character from the film V for Vendetta.

“We’re putting the ‘Guy’ back in Guy Fawkes with this one and we can’t wait to see him ablaze, he’s going to be spectacular,” he says.

The statue is made from a robotic skeleton and is covered in natural hemp so as not to let bad fumes into the atmosphere.

“This year he’s got some tricks up his sleeve to impress the crowds,” says Julian. “Expect more than your standard Guy Fawkes guy.”

Event organiser William Geradts says they started the burning man as a way to really kick off a weekend that’s full of fantasy, technology and sci-fi.

“It’s a bit rebellion and a lot of fun. Something outer-worldly almost, which fits in perfectly with the expo,” he says.

Friday night at Armageddon, before the Burning Man kicks off, is a gaming preview evening, where visitors can check out all the exhibitors and games on offer before they line-up for signatures and photos with their favourite movie, TV and fantasy stars over the weekend.

One stall that will be a buzz with excitement is the exclusive Wargaming station, where the latest games from the world of online battles can be tried, tested and examined by gaming fans and fun seekers alike.

Gamers will be able to meet top players from across Australia and New Zealand who will provide tricks and tips at the live demo areas.

“We’re delighted to have so much fun stuff for people to see and try, including the most gaming and console previews at any one site in the country,” says Geradts. 

Spanning across the main event floor, the expo has massive displays from Wargaming, Nintendo, Nerf, Activision, Warner Brothers, Dell Computers, PlayStation and Microsoft, as well as many others, and features exclusive gaming previews and displays.

Alongside the gaming floor, Armageddon this year brings big international names, Billy Boyd, Pippin from The Lord of the Rings and Evanna Lynch, Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series; as well as multiple stars from Doctor Who and Supernatural and comic book and anime stars.

Diana: Movie Review

Diana: Movie Review

Cast: Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

There's no denying the power and emotional sway the so-called People's Princess held over the public.

To many, she was an icon and a paparazzi target, with her every move photographed and explored, pored over endlessly. So, it's no wonder that a film about the last two years of Princess Diana's life and her affair with Pakistani surgeon Hasnat Khan would come under such close scrutiny.

Diana, the movie, looks at those last two years and finds Naomi Watts giving her best Diana impression, from the sad-looking-down heavily-mascaraed eyes to the tilting to one side of her head. But it's hard to really shake the feeling that you're watching anyone other than Watts in this film, which, is to be frank, more suited to a small screen and is over-dramatic tosh, filled with corny one-liners which are more suited to the page than the screen.

Written by playwright Stephen Jeffreys, the film tries to polish and sparkle and consequently suffers under the same scrutiny afforded Diana in her lifetime. With paparazzi buzzing around Diana from the beginning, it's clear the film-makers are trying to ensure you're in her corner, but this is a film which never shies away from the darker sides of this after-life canonised saint.

Of the famous "There were three of us in this marriage" interview with Martin Bashir, Watts' Diana's shown rehearsing her lines in front of a make-up mirror, exposing the fact this woman had her foibles. It's a brave move which is somewhat torpedoed by the fact Watts tries her best in her impression but can't manage to pull it off when it truly counts. Moments which display Diana's humanitarian concerns come close to clinching the reason she was so beloved, but just fail to meet the mark.

Elsewhere, Lost star Naveen Andrews is reduced to a stoic, stuffy, cigarette smoking cardiac surgeon whose emotionless veneer wouldn't go amiss in a remake of Casablanca; consumed with his career first,he desperately wants to be with Watts' Lady Di somehow. A lack of real chemistry between the two is fatal and the wooden acting which ensues, reducing Diana to some kind of giggling school girl who's discovered her first crush, is almost cringe-worthy, no matter how much truth it may or may not be based on.

Soapy cheesy dialogue leads you to thinking that the slightly stalkerish Diana, who skulks about at night (wearing an even worse wig than the blonde one afforded to Watts) to see him at work in the hospital, has been rendered directly from the pages of a book which may be best described as trashy. While Andrews and Watts work with what little there is, director Oliver Hirschbiegel who brought us Downfall does little to enhance the experience, which is all lavish style and very little substance at all, leaving you reeling at the sight of a Mills and Boon doomed romance playing out in front of you on the big screen. An absence of any of the rest of the Royal Family, bar two people playing Wills and Harry, makes the whole thing reek of a lack of real context. (I should at this stage point out I'm not a Royalist or Diana fan at all)

All in all, Diana the movie is car-crash viewing of the worst kind; stuck between neither fish nor fowl and definitely not in the so-bad-it's-good category, not one person emerges from this overlong car-wreck of a movie with any kind of credibility in tact thanks to the lack of insight or character within.

Rating:

Star Trek Into Darkness: Blu Ray Review

Star Trek Into Darkness: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

Set phasers to stunning....

Following on from the success of the 2009 reboot of the Star Trek series, it was inevitable there would be a sequel. And it's a much welcome decision if the meltdown on the internet over the plot and subtleties of this latest is anything to go by. Chris Pine once again returns as the younger version of Captain Kirk, who, this time around, finds his world is shattered with the arrival of John Harrison (a villainous and cold Benedict Cumberbatch), a terrorist whose actions rock the very core of Star Fleet.

But when Kirk is despatched to bring in the war criminal, the stakes are higher than ever before...

Even if you hadn't been expecting the last Star Trek movie to be thrilling and exciting, this new film never lets those expectations drop - and in fact, it completely exceeds them.

Even with the advent of the internet, there has never been so much rabid fan assessment of every detail, each single trailer, every single nuance of dialogue and story hints. Trust me, it's best to go into this completely cold and unspoiled.

Conversely, director JJ Abrams and his team are to be commended for pulling together a film which totally services the incessant whimperings of the fan base through moments which acknowledge its past without ever sacrificing the broader appeal which the first film carefully traversed and successfully paid homage to.

Kirk and his crew are utterly engaging once again as the action piles up and it's Chris Pine, whose heroic central performance deserves the most commendation. It's a stunning turn once again by an amazing Pine who brings a maturity to his hot headed and brash Enterprise captain.

Not only is there action a-plenty in this latest Star Trek movie, there's just so much of it. The film begins at a breakneck pace with Kirk and McCoy racing through the undergrowth of an alien world, but after two hours, just when you think you can't cope with any more, JJ Abrams throws in a final showdown piece which takes your breath away as the parallels to the contemporary politics of war reach an epic conclusion. The end result is mesmerizing - a perfect blend of blockbuster thrills, spills and excitement as this latest boldly goes into 3D, which adds depth to the Enterprise and vastness to the space scenes - as a bigger, bolder and more exciting piece than its predecessor, it's an utterly, unashamedly enthralling ride.

Easily one of the films of the year without a shadow of a doubt.

Extras: Creating the red planet, attack on Starfleet, klingon home world - a reasonable bunch

Rating:

Runner Runner: Movie Review

Runner Runner: Movie Review

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Ben Affleck, Anthony Mackie, John Heard
Director: Brad Furman

Justin Timberlake dances back onto the big screen with this latest, a cat and mouse thriller set in the world of online gaming.

JT is Richie, a Princeton grad student, has been earning commission referring students to sites but when he's threatened with eviction off campus by the Dean, he goes for broke in an online poker game, risking all his fortune.

But when he loses it all, he realises the system's cheated him - so he heads to Costa Rica to confront online gambling tycoon Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). However, Block's impressed by Richie and seduces him into his world by offering him wealth.

Things take a turn for the nasty when the FBI shows up, warning Richie that he's over his head and revealing just how much danger he is in....

Runner Runner is annoyingly flat for a so-called cat and mouse thriller that's supposed to seduce you into another world and offer you everything.

With its "House Always Wins" mantra, this bland excuse for a movie proffers up scant tension and hardly any hints of danger as each side is manipulated by all those playing the game. Timberlake delivers his lines well, but there's little conviction behind them; Gemma Arterton is simply there to be wasted as bronzed eye candy and Affleck appears to phone it in as a charmer turned wannabe gangster type.

There's no indication of life in the script, no zing in the dialogue and no real reason why Ritchie is seduced into this world - he attends one party and suddenly believes the online gambling world is the place for him to thrive; there's no conviction in any of the performances and there's certainly no passion or chemistry between Arterton and Timberlake as their so-called affair "heats up". Not once did Affleck convince me there was a simmering bad guy lurking beneath the charming veneer, threatening to boil over into some kind of explosion - there's no menace within.

A thriller that fails to bring anything truly thrilling to the genre, Runner Runner is a massive waste of the talent involved - it's supposed to be a cautionary tale of greed, a take on the American Dream and a story of one youngster being seduced by a charming bad guy. But all that emerges is a film that's tedious and dull - despite its 90 minute run time.

Do yourself a favour - and don't gamble on Runner Runner.

Rating:

Captain Phillips: Movie Review

Captain Phillips: Movie Review

Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener
Director: Paul Greengrass

Tom Hanks heads back to the open water (again) in this thriller based on real life events from April 2009.

Hanks is Captain Richard Phillips, a cargo ship captain, whose latest job sees him guiding the Maersk Alabama around the Horn of Africa. But as those in the waters know, that stretch of sea is famous for attacks from Somali pirates.

When a group of four pirates board the Alabama, the line between the Captain and the lead pirate Muse (Abdi) is drawn - and so begins a psychological game which could have fatal consequences. Things get worse when the pirates kidnap Phillips and put him into a lifeboat trying to escape.

145 miles off the Somali coast and with the clock ticking, the stakes are raised even higher when the US military's called in to the first hijacking of one of their ships in over 200 years....will Phillips live to sail another day?

Captain Phillips is trademark Greengrass. The director of two of the Bourne trilogy films brings his usual eye for tension and detail to the fore of this tale that ramps up the suspense in some parts and simply tells the story as it is.

But with an unnecessary shaky cam feel from the start - why this couldn't have been left until the water scenes I'll never know - it takes a while to get into the feel of the film and the drama. It's more a tale of two captains, who have desperation fuelling their decisions than a straight psychological piece. For Muse, it's fear from failing his superiors at home which spur him into the situation he finds himself in; and Abdi delivers a bony, edgy, nervily compelling performance which threatens to boil over at any point into horrifying consequences.

With Phillips, it's about the protection of his crew first off and Hanks does an excellent job of an average man trying to do an above average job in trying circumstances. It's a role Hanks has excelled at before and one that he shines at again, though in all honesty, it's not until the end of the movie that we actually see Hanks acting during a delayed emotive reaction to what's happened and it's spine-tinglingly good.

Which is why it's a shame to report that there's no real emotional pull during the rest of the film. While the khat-chewing pirates are fairly well drawn out (there's the young newbie, the unpredictably volatile one, the one with heart) and stand out as characters of their own, it's only really when there's the head to head with Muse and Phillips that the film gains an edge. That tension seems to dissipate a little when the action moves off the boat and onto the submersible, which to be honest is somewhat of a surprise given that is where the claustrophobic atmosphere should have been ramped up. With shaky cam prevalent throughout, and no explanation as to why the military suddenly become so heavily involved in this altercation, there's a feeling that this flick leans quite heavily on Hanks' performance.

And that's a good thing given the level of underplayed intensity that he brings - certainly, by the end, I was a little more invested than I'd initially felt. While parts of Captain Phillips are all at sea, the underlying tension throughout niggles and inveigles its way under your skin - but it's all due, once again, to a powerhouse slow burning performance from Tom Hanks.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Movie Review - 2 Guns,Machete Kills and Spring Breakers

Newstalk ZB Movie Review - 2 Guns, Machete Kills and Spring Breakers

It's a busy time with the movies at the moment, leading to the Christmas period.

First up though, this week, to give you some context, Jack Tame finally ended up going to the movies - to see Gravity. A week after my recommendation...

Here's his opening comments.

Here's the reviews this week - 2 Guns, Machete Kills and Spring Breakers...

http://newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/player/ondemand/418712122-darren-bevan--movie-reviews