Labor Day: Movie Review

Labor Day: Movie Review

Cast: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Clark Gregg, James Van Der Beek, Tobey Maguire
Director: Jason Reitman

The director of Up In The Air returns for a masterful take on a Joyce Maynard novel.

It's 1987, small town America, and young teen Henry (Gattlin Griffith) is planning to spend Labor Day weekend, dreaming of life and getting ready to go back to school. But Henry's already grown up, having to care for his depressed mother Adele (a washed out Kate Winslet), who's never been the same since her husband Gerald (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D's Clark Gregg) left.

Unable to really live or even leave the house, Adele's prone to only occasional visits out, accompanied by Henry. However, one day, heading out to the shop for their monthly pilgrimage, Henry's approached by a man called Frank who is in dire need of help. Corralling Adele into helping as well, Frank, along with Henry, heads back to their home....it's here that they realise Frank is a criminal on the run.

Suddenly, the tension's palpable and Labor Day weekend is going to be a long weekend in more ways than one.

Labor Day is a gorgeously shot and utterly resonant piece of film-making from Up In The Air director Jason Reitman, who has, in one fell swoop, substantially upped his game (which was admittedly already pretty high).

Through beauteous tracking shots and occasionally portentous music, this surprising drama unfolds in a manner that's both engrossing and utterly compelling, forcing you to wallow in the story. There's a pensive, almost summer dream-like quality to the images as they fall from the screen; through gradual reveals and flashbacks, Reitman weaves together a cinematic tapestry that's subtle, nuanced and utterly hard to ignore.

Winslet's mightily impressive as the single mom, who's battling depression and anxiety after years of being solo and homebound after a break up devastated her. Even that is only the tip of the iceberg for her story, but her performance is never less than captivating as she struggles with trying to come back to life and delusions of a happy ending.

Josh Brolin also deserves praise too for his understated and initially menacing turn as the escaped convict Frank. He brings a palpable sense of dread to start off with as he intimidates Henry and Adele into helping him; but unsurprisingly in this tale, there's more to his story than you first realise. The coming of age / unconventional - yet somehow conventional - bonding he shares with Henry is surprisingly poignant and tugs at your heart strings for all its rugged sensitivity. Add into that a scene which stirs the steaming bubbling pot of sexual tension in the creation of a pie and you've got something hot and sizzling that's all about the interpretation rather than the reality.

It's not revealing much to say that events and neighbours conspire against this Stockholm Syndrome story, but the main trio put in such quietly understated and impressive performances that you can't help but get captivated in this moody tale. All three are hoping for a dream outcome to what can -and must be- a doomed reality. Henry wants a father figure, Adele a release from years of not living and loving and Frank wants to atone for the past, regain what he lost and of course, be free.

All of these are doomed to failure as the bittersweet journey continues, but Reitman handles each with such deftness and directorial dexterity that we're captivated, swept up in the hopes and fears and ensconced in the story telling.

There are a couple of flaws in it though - a scene with Tobey Maguire seems surplus to requirements and some of the flashbacks seem a little unnecessarily dragged out and interspersed too randomly, but these are minor quibbles in a piece of film-making that luxuriates in the finer details of long lazy weekends.

All in all, Labor Day is a superior serving of drama that deserves your time.

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2 Guns: Blu Ray Review

2 Guns: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Sony Home Entertainment

It's back to the world of the buddy cop movie in 2 Guns, the latest movie to team director Baltasar Kormakur back up with Mark Wahlberg. (They previously collaborated on Contraband)

This time around, wise-cracking, fast-talking Wahlberg plays Michael Stigman who's buddied up with Denzel Washington's even-tempered, gold-toothed, hat-wearing Robert Trench. The pair are criminals and are busted on the Mexican border after meeting with Edward James Olmos' drug overlord, Papi.

But unbeknownst to each other, Trench is an undercover DEA agent and Stigman is working for the navy...

Suddenly, when $43.1 million dollars goes missing from a bank they were going to rob to break their way into a drug cartel, the pair find themselves under suspicion from every angle - and under investigation from each other.

Based on a series of graphic novels, 2 Guns is a surprisingly competent comedy actioner, which occasionally flounders around trying to find its own identity. It feels, at times, as if it's unsure whether it's comedy or action, with Wahlberg's constant wise-cracking, smart-ass bouncing nicely off Denzel's usual charismatic underplaying.

But this is not in the vein of Lethal Weapon or the usual buddy up you've come to expect from movies of these types. It's a surprisingly restrained, occasionally twisty movie that proffers up surprises as it unspools. Eschewing some of the usual tropes of the genre, 2 Guns introduces more low-lifes than you'd come to expect in between the explosions and violent bursts of gun fire. Occasionally though, it does lack a little punch and panache as it skates the line between not quite comedy and not quite out-and-out action. And some of the plot's turns and machinations are a little murky at best, with double crosses and revelations left, right and centre making it confused for you to get a handle on.

Washington and Wahlberg's bromance works well, and the film hints at future outings for the fractious pair.

All in all, 2 Guns is perfectly serviceable and utterly forgettable. It's due to the easy going chemistry between the two leads that it works, but if it was a one shot film, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Extras: Deleted and extended scenes

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Newstalk ZB: Radio Review - Mandela Long Walk To Freedom

Newstalk ZB: Radio Review - Mandela Long Walk To Freedom

This week on Jack Tame, there were reviews of Grudge Match, Last Vegas, and Mandela Long Walk To Freedom.

Take a listen below...

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/player/ondemand/1951729526-darren-bevan--mandela---long-walk-to-freedom

Blue Jasmine: Blu Ray Review

Blue Jasmine: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

Woody Allen returns to critical success and Oscar nominations after the recent relative creative disasters of You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger and To Rome With Love. In this latest, Cate Blanchett plays Jasmine, a former New York socialite forced to live with her working class sister, Ginger (Hawkins) in San Francisco after her husband Hal (Baldwin) is indicted for fraud and takes his own life. But Ginger's not seen Jasmine since she and her now divorced husband Augie (Dice Clay) were caught up in the fraud and lost everything.

But the ghastly Jasmine lives in a daze, and is unaccepting of what has happened and recovering after a nervous breakdown, meaning that her relationship with her sister becomes ever more fractious as time wears on. However, it looks like things may be on the turn for Jasmine after she meets Peter Sarsgaard's suave Dwight, who's her social equal and potential future....Blue Jasmine is a fine return to form for Woody Allen, whose last couple of outings have been self-indulgent guff filled with trademark self-absorption.

Granted, Cate Blanchett's bankrupt Jasmine is as self-obsessed as they come, but thanks to a multi-faceted and resonant turn from a brilliant Blanchett as she spirals down and a tight script which sparkles rather than flounders, the film is a soar-away success. Wrapped in swathes of designer gear, popping pills, swilling copious martinis and blissfully ignorant ( in the way that someone who's living in denial only can) Blanchett delivers a powerhouse performance that's layered and complex as she spins through life unaware. She's a nasty creature, horrified when her sister visits in her former life and scornful and resentful of the time she steals away from her other more trivial plans. She's ghastly in the extreme and steals every moment the camera gives to her.

But other players sparkle too - specifically Hawkins' turn as the sister, who's initially reticent to help her after she's been burned by Hal is an impressive one, embodying the awkwardness of someone holding back, then embracing her sister's ideals and finally realising that it's not all it's cracked up to be. Alec Baldwin similarly impresses, while Sarsgaard and Louis CK don't quite get enough time on screen. Allen's also to be commended for throwing together a fully rounded script for the first time in a while (even though it draws on a similar story to Streetcar Named Desire, where one down-at-luck sister moves in with the other. It's one which tackles life post recession and failed finance companies. It's a straight forward piece that doesn't rely on portmanteau or intersecting lives for its twists and turns, and simply uses the narrative as it should be used.

Blue Jasmine is to be frank, Allen's best for a long time. A return perhaps to former form and ideas, this tragedy soars - predominantly thanks to a mightily impressive turn from Blanchett. I'd be surprised if she doesn't receive an Oscar nomination for this.

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A Million Ways To Die In The West: Red band trailer

A Million Ways To Die In The West: red band trailer drops

The official restricted trailer for A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST, starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Liam Neeson has just dropped.

The movie hits cinemas May 29th

Take a look at the red band trailer for A Million Ways To Die In The West below:

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones: Movie Review

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones: Movie Review

Cast: Andrew Jacobs, Jorge Diaz
Director: Christopher B Landon

So, here we go with a kind of spin off to the Paranormal Activity series, but one which has ties to the original franchise in ways you could never foresee.

It's 2012, and The Marked Ones opens with the high school graduation of Jesse, an 18 year old Latina student (played by Andrew Jacobs) about to embark on the summer break. Along with his friend Hector (Jorge Diaz) the duo amuse themselves filming each other doing Jackass-style stunts and following the spooky escapades of the witch who apparently lives in the basement flat of their block.

But when she's shot dead by another of Jesse's fellow students, the pair start investigating - and that's when things take a turn for the spooky as Jesse's whole demeanour starts to change.

Initially Jesse gains super-powers as he can throw people around and do gravity defying things, but soon the darkness is all-encompassing and Hector races to save his friend from a long time curse and a very familiar coven of witches....

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a distraction from the series and franchise, rather than an advancement of the mythology that's built up around Katie (Katie Featherston) and in the previous films. Though, that said, there are subtle nods to what's gone on, as well as the ongoing mythology.

Mixing in touches of Chronicle (teen gets new powers and revels in them before abusing them), a riff on the Exorcist - involving actual eggs (Eggs-orcist anyone?) and throwing in some of the usual jolts, as well as a psychic (and vaguely psychotic) Simon Says, there are a few clever touches thrown in here and there. But after the initial teen edge is dispensed (Kids chasing girls, doing pranks etc), the film settles into the usual routine of drawing out scenes, ramping up the soundtrack before the scare punchline. Some are effective bursts and give the edge that's needed whereas others are unoriginal and expected.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones also suffers from a slightly muddier edge with time portals being thrown into the mix (and uncertainty over how they affect the ongoing story arc) and the found footage format ever so slightly creaks in places as Hector keeps the camera on all the time. Plus, at the end when they end up inside the house rather than running away, you find yourself shouting at the behaviour of the protagonists.

A couple of drip fed hints and allusions here and there to the mythology aren't really enough to sustain the interest in the Marked Ones and while there was a Japanese version of the film way back, you can see why the makers looked to extend the series in some ways.

Here's hoping that the upcoming Paranormal Activity 5 starring Katie Featherston will prove a satisfying end to the series, because the pay off now really needs to come before lovers of Oren Peli's original Paranormal Activity question their own loyalty.

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Grudge Match: Movie Review

Grudge Match: Movie Review

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Robert de Niro, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Hart
Director: Peter Seagal

It's a delicious idea - Rocky vs Raging Bull in the ring, mano a mano with only the bell to separate them.

It becomes a reality in this gentle comedy from the director of Get Smart and Anger Management.

Stallone is Henry "Razor" Sharp, a boxer who decided to retire when his nemesis, Billy "The Kid" McDonnen (De Niro in feisty frowny form) slept with his girlfriend Sally Rose (Basinger). Denied the final title fight, a rivalry's formed through the years - and when their former promoter's son, Dante Slate Jr (Kevin hart) comes to them to offer a chance of a rematch on the 30th anniversary, only The Kid is keen.

But when Razor loses his job, and has no money, he has no choice....

However, will their out of the ring rivalry cause the rematch train to come off the tracks?

Let's pull no punches here, Grudge Match is a comedy that's a little thin on laughs, but gets by on a relative charm as its old timers creak along, complete with predictable side plots - a son comes out of the woodwork, facilitating necessary bonding, an age old score over romance has to be settled and old timers set back on the path of redemption.

Seagal makes good fist of it all (from what there is to work with), as you wait for the inevitable match up at the end - Razor's home in Pittsburgh is beautifully shot against the mists and the bridge, evoking a man who's fallen on hard times.

The major annoyance of the piece is Kevin Hart as the promoter, whose delivery verges on the Chris Tucker / Eddie Murphy motormouth excesses but simply ends up shouting his lines as his scenes draw to a limp conclusion. It's excruciating in places and puts your teeth on edge.

Alan Arkin offers up his usual slice of deadpan mischievous sarcasm as Razor's dad and Basinger is bland enough as the love interest. There are the obligatory training montages and moments as you'd expect in most boxing movies - and there's even scenes of Stallone trying to emote. De Niro still packs a punch as he wrestles with an average script and some phone it in dialogue (and corny cheeseball moments)- but the scenes of him training remind you of the wiriness of Jake La Motta and his physicality is impressive also as he skips around.

The relative knock out blow comes with the fight at the end, drowned as it is with nostalgia, though it's still lacking the killer punch it really needs - but Stallone and De Niro are to be commended for slugging it out in the ring (though you do wonder how many takes it took to get in the can) but to be honest, at this stage, it just looks like two old guys going at it.

All in all, Grudge Match does make you occasionally want to throw in the towel and has you leaving the cinema like you've been punched in the head - make sure you stick around for the credits as the promoter pitches another fight to two others who may have a score to settle; it delivers more of the laughs that you'd have expected from the film in the first place.

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