The Paperboy: Blu Ray Review

The Paperboy: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Director Lee "Precious" Daniels turns his eye to this sexually and racially charged film noir set in 1960s South Florida.

Investigative reporter Ward (Matthew McConaughey reprising his southern lawyer schtick with ease) along with his partner and brother Jack (Zac Efron) are looking into the case of Hillary van Wetter (an uncomfortable John Cusack), who's been accused of murder. Along with van Wetter's death row groupie (Nicole Kidman in a stand out role), the whole situation stirs up a potent mix within the swamps.

The Paperboy is a difficult film to connect with and to really get sucked into.

It starts off with a voiceover from Macy Gray's maid Anita which doesn't help you connect with the characters in the slightest; Throw in some sordid moments which will challenge both the actors and audience alike and it's easy to see why it flopped at the box office - even the shots of Nicole Kidman peeing on Zac Efron (perfectly innocently, I may add) and some of the other sexual material give the piece an uneasy and tonally disconnecting feel.

All in all, The Paperboy needs to be seen for Nicole Kidman's performance - she channels something she had a while back in To Die For and it's electrifying to watch.

Extras: None

Rating:

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary trailer

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary trailer

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary trailer is finally here.

To celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC's released a new trailer teasing The Day of The Doctor episode which will air on November the 23rd.

They've also released an image of all 11 of the Doctors in readiness for the celebration of the Time Lord.

Watch The Day of The Doctor trailer below.

Snitch: Blu Ray Review

Snitch: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Entertainment

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in a dramatic role for a change in this film, inspired by true events. He plays construction boss, John Matthews, a good family man who cares for his workforce as well as his two families. So, when his estranged son Jason is arrested on suspected drug smuggling charges, he's forced to enter the seedy world of drugs and drug dealing to try and get him off a long jail sentence.

But John decides (with a little help from Susan Sarandon's Joanne Keeghan, who's trying to get elected to senate) that the best way would be to help try and bust a drugs cartel. To that end, he befriends one of his workers Daniel (Bernthal of The Walking Dead fame) because he's done time for drugs trafficking but is now trying to go clean.

Daniel gets John an introduction into the world of the cartels, and with the FBI and Mexican druglords closing in, the stakes are incredibly high... Snitch is at times, like watching a more Hollywoodised version of an episode of The Wire, with a surprisingly subtle performance from the man you've come to know as The Rock. A sincere and earnest performance means a bit more presence this time around.

But its message of the horrors of drugs on a white middle-class family is somewhat of a muddle and an unsurprising take on the whole thing. An obligatory car chase scene involving a truck is inevitable but well played as the shoot out heads to the freeway in the film's final act, but despite that, Snitch manages to conceive and execute a morally grey story which is watchable, workmanlike and well acted. It's just a shame the message of drugs being bad, yo, is lost thanks to its ham-fisted and ultimately predictable execution.

Rating:

First Raid 2 image emerges

First Raid 2 image emerges

The first teaser art for Gareth Huw Evans' upcoming The Raid 2: Berandal is now here. 

With the film now in post production with an eye on a 2014 release and a teaser due in coming weeks, Evans has offered up a look at the first Indonesian teaser art for the film.

Take a look at the first The Raid 2: Berandal images here.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones trailer arrives

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones trailer arrives

The first trailer for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones has arrived

And it's somewhat spooky.

It's the latest entrant in the Paranormal Activity movie series



Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones hits cinemas in January 2014.

Hyde Park on Hudson: Blu Ray Review

Hyde Park on Hudson: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Bill Murray was nominated for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of US President FDR in this winsome little film. It's 1939 America and Britain is in the grip of the War. But in America, FDR is growing closer to his sixth cousin, Margaret Suckley (Linney). As they gradually move closer to a romantic relationship, FDR's relative peace is shattered by the arrival of the King and Queen of Britain (West and Colman) who visit him at his upstate New York mansion.

Hyde Park on Hudson tells the story of that weekend's visit and the passions and problems it throws up for FDR as well as Margaret.

To say that Hyde Park on Hudson is pleasant may sound like an insult but it's not. It's just that it's quite dull despite being  perfectly affable in places. Murray channels a bit of relaxed lightness as FDR himself as he gets closer to Margaret (the film's based on her diaries which were uncovered). Linney herself is also fine as Suckley - and Colman is the spitting image of Queen Elizabeth in parts with her hoity toitiness perfectly pitched against the uncomfortable stutterings of her King.

But here's the thing about Hyde Park on Hudson - it's pretty unmemorable the minute it's over.Linney lurks in the background and never really makes much of a splash as Margaret - and Murray never really suggests anything other than a casual approach to the president. It's a shame because the distant and remote performance he puts in forces you to not connect with FDR in places. Colman and West make a great team but there's never really any frisson of anything approaching tension or excitement as this weekend plays out. There's a lack of insight into the characters as well and it's particularly superficial in the approaches to them.

It may be beautifully costumed and replete with stunning period detail, but it's as light and fluffy as a feather blowing on the breeze - though if you're a fan of the likes of Downton Abbey and those kind of gentle films about manners, then this will be right up your street.

But while it's inoffensive, it's all a little too fanciful and nice to have any real lasting impact after the lights go up.

Extras: None

Rating:

The Great Gatsby: Blu Ray Review

The Great Gatsby: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

It's late in the 1920s and on Long Island where we join Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway, who's recovering in a sanitarium and recounting the story of millionaire playboy Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and how their paths crossed at the height of the roaring twenties.(1922 to be precise). Carraway's cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) also shares a connection to Gatsby - five years ago, they were in love when he disappeared at war. So, she married Joel Edgerton's Tom Buchanan, and apparently moved on. But when Daisy reconnects with Gatsby, it throws all manner of spanners into the lavish works with Tom suspecting her of an affair, even though he's cavorting with another woman (played by Isla Fisher).

The Great Gatsby movie is all manner of spectacle and unfortunately, all lacking in real soul.It starts off with real energy and sumptuous excesses as a visual symphony explodes before your very eyes. Using CGI and plenty of shots of a camera pulling away, Luhrmann sets a wonderfully evocative film as Tobey Maguire's haunted and laconic (almost stoned) voice-over plays out.

Through dizzying shots, Luhrmann cramming as many people as he can into any given party scene and ramping up an old school soundtrack with current musical sensibilities, his sense of delivery as a director borders on the OTT in places. Luxurious elegance crams every corner of every frame and opulence flows from the screen as the 3D use falls into place and the myth of themysterious playboy Gatsby is fuelled. Plus Luhrmann uses lines from the text to sing out from the screen, which is evocative, innovative and respectful of the source material.

And yet, once the scene is set and the reveal of Gatsby himself is done (a scene where a grinning Cheshire cat style DiCaprio turns around as fireworks go off in the background is so crammed with cheese you can almost taste it), the fizz and sparkle of this spectacle goes limp.Di Caprio impresses as Gatsby, as he struggles to put on a performance as the rich millionaire playboy; Maguire looks laconic and a bit disinterested as Carraway, the narrator of the piece; Joel Edgerton manages the best he can of a one-note character and Carey Mulligan is fairly wispy and ethereal as Daisy, managing to not entirely convince as a love interest.

The Great Gatsby is more a case of style over substance I'm afraid; it's a film of scale, but one which is built on very little foundation. It's hard to care for or even about any of the characters in the central story as the doomed love story plays out. Interestingly unlike the characters in Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, you don't connect in the same way and it renders the final feeling as one of indifference and detachment rather than romantic longing.

Extras: A whole wealth of them - from swinging sounds of Gatsby, to deleted scene with alternate ending, trailer - a nice solid collection

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