Her: Movie Review

Her: Movie Review

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde
Director: Spike Jonze

Cinematic wunderkind Spike Jonze returns with a world that doesn't seem so far away.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer who works in a letter writing company. His days are spent helping others connect with their partners, friends and relatives and helping them express emotions that they cannot. Ironically, he's a little repressed, with the final stages of his divorce coming through and he spends his time briefly with friends, at work or playing a virtual video game in his front room.

Melancholy and maudlin, Theodore decides to buy a new artificial operating system, the OS1 to help him get through life. However, once the machine's switched on, it starts to take on a life of its own as it grows and evolves with Theo's interactions. Known as Samantha (and voiced with dusky sultriness by Scarlett Johansson), Theo starts to fall in love...

Her is an incredibly timely piece of cinema, blessed with a great story and intriguing premise.

We already live in a world where technology is running rampant and taking over our lives, so why shouldn't the next step be to fall for a virtual other half? But where Jonze succeeds with this, is that he makes the idea of love and loss seem so plausible and viable - Theodore inhabits a world which embraces retro fashion (with trousers hoisted up around the chest) but can't connect with anyone.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers a multi-layered performance that's heartbreaking, recognisable to anyone who's suffered a romantic loss and which is incredibly joyous. It's a logical conclusion that Ted falls for Samantha and Phoenix really sells the relationship, making us believe totally that this is a man who can no longer connect with human beings for fear of rejection (a divorce from Rooney Mara's character, a failed date with a desperate woman played by Olivia Wilde); he seeks solace in the technology of the world around him as that won't damage him. He even intones at one point "Sometimes I feel I've felt everything I've already ever felt", implying that he's become so distanced from life that the existential is the only way forward.

Credit also has to go to Scarlett Johansson, whose disembodied voice supplies every emotion and nuance needed. She's rightly won awards for this performance and her narration and delivery of lines is pitch perfect. Equally, Jonze needs credit for the Oscar nominated screenplay - while it collects together a story of love and loss, it never loses sight of humour in the technology - from the abuse given to Theodore by the video game he plays to a sex line encounter, there's plenty of humour among the pathos and heart of the piece.

Compassionate, plausible and shrewd, Her is a marvellous piece of cinema - while there is a slight lag in proceedings at one point, it's the only low in a journey that's packed full of highs and which presents a not-too distant future that's both recognisable and emotionally frightening.

Rating:

Guardians of the Galaxy poster drops

Guardians of the Galaxy poster is here

Good news for Marvel fans - it's your first look at the Guardians of the Galaxy poster!

It follows the launch of the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer earlier this week.

The movie trailer for #GOTG Guardians of The Galaxy is the first full look from Marvel following the Collector's appearance at the end of Thor: The Dark World.


An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits - Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand - with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

Guardians of the Galaxy is due in August this year.

Call Of Duty ®: Ghosts Customization Items Trailer is here

Call Of Duty ®: Ghosts Customization Items Trailer is here

There's some news this morning for fans of Call of Duty.

The Call Of Duty ®: Ghosts Customization Items Trailer has dropped!

New customization options now available for Call of Duty: Ghosts.

·         Personalization Packs: Fight in style with the Ducky, Space Cats, Inferno and Circuit Personalization Packs. 

·         Special Characters: Intimidate your enemies as one of the Ghosts. Choose from Keegan, Merrick, Hesh and Elias.

·         Captain Price Legend Pack: Become one of the most legendary Call of Duty heroes of all time with the Capt. Price Special Character and themed Personalization Pack.

·         Extra Slots Pack: Increase the number of Create-a-Soldier loadout slots from 6 to 10 for each character.

TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™ video game revealed

TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™ video game revealed

TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™ will be released on Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation®4, Xbox 360, PlayStation®3, Nintendo’s Wii U™ and the Nintendo 3DS™ as well as Windows PC.

ACTIVISION AND HASBRO REVEAL

TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™ VIDEO GAME FOR NEXT GEN AND CURRENT GEN CONSOLES

Auckland, New Zealand - February 21, 2014 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), and Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced TRANSFORMERS™: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK™, a video game compliment to Paramount Pictures’ upcoming film,TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, set to release this June. This third-person action adventure video game goes beyond the movie by uniting the universe of director Michael Bay’s TRANSFORMERS movies with the ever-popular Cybertron universe. Players will choose from over 40 playable characters from the two different universes as they battle to secure the Dark Spark.

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK will be releasing on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Sony’s PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Nintendo’s Wii U™ system and the Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system and Windows PC.

“TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK is an arc between the Cybertron and Earth based worlds of this popular franchise,” remarked Mark Blecher, SVP Digital Gaming & Corporate Development at Hasbro, Inc. “This year marks 30 incredible years of TRANSFORMERS.  This game tells another chapter in the TRANSFORMERS story that all fans will love.”

Serving as a follow-up to both the upcoming TRANSFORMERS live-action film and Activision’s TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON and TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON titles, TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK jumps worlds and factions as it weaves the tale of the hunt for an ancient relic as powerful as the Matrix of Leadership – the Dark Spark. Players will be able to switch between the heroes of the noble AUTOBOTS and the nefarious DECEPTICONS throughout the single-player campaign. Similar to High Moon Studios’ CYBERTRON entries in the highly regarded series, gameplay features nimble, fast-paced running-and-gunning combat paired with traversal and vehicle action across open battlefields for large-scale, dynamic conflicts.

Players will also see the return of the fan-favourite multiplayer mode, Escalation, which delivers wave-based, survival-style gameplay for up to four players online co-operatively. It features new, upgradeable defence systems, recognisable adversaries from the lore, and an expanded roster of playable characters from past and present. Additionally, an exciting new levelling system transforms single-player and multiplayer into one unified, persistent character development path. Experience earned in any part of the game unlocks potent awards and tactical load-out choices – including new characters, stronger weapons, special abilities and consumable bonuses – for use throughout the entire game.

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK is currently rated “CTC” (Rating Pending). Be sure to check out the latest information on the game atwww.transformersgame.com.

About Hasbro, Inc.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company dedicated to fulfilling the fundamental need for play for children and families through the creative expression of the Company’s world class brand portfolio, including TRANSFORMERS, MONOPOLY, PLAY-DOH, MY LITTLE PONY, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, NERF and LITTLEST PET SHOP. 

From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with innovative play and entertainment experiences, in a variety of forms and formats, anytime and anywhere. The Company's Hasbro Studios develops and produces television programming for more than 180 markets around the world, and for the U.S. on Hub Network, part of a multi-platform joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK).

Through the Company's deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, including philanthropy, Hasbro is helping to build a safe and sustainable world for future generations and to positively impact the lives of millions of children and families every year. It has been recognized for its efforts by being named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" and is ranked as one of Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." Learn more at www.hasbro.com.© 2014 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Introducing the Xbox One Media Remote

The XBox One Media Remote is here

Xbox One owners will now be able to take total control of their TV and entertainment thanks to one simple device – The Xbox One Media Remote.

Set to hit New Zealand shores in early March, the Xbox One Media remote is designed to help you listen, watch and switch among experiences. One device will now control your Blu-ray, streaming video, apps, TV power and volume. With a soft silicone finish, the remote also has motion-activated backlit buttons which illuminate in the palm of your hand – ideal if you love watching movies in the dark!

The Xbox One Media Remote will retail in New Zealand for $34.95.

The Family: Blu Ray Review

The Family: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

The mobster genre gets another shot with this dark dramedy, The Family. A bearded, greying Robert De Niro is Mob Boss, Giovanni Manzoni, a notorious mafioso who, along with his family has been forced into the witness protection programme after snitching on the powers that be within the family. But, despite being undercover, Giovanni, his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), daughter Belle (Glee's Dianna Agron) and son Warren (D'Leo), are constantly having to move from one home to the next.

This time, the family find themselves relocated to Normandy, along with grizzled handler Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) in another attempt to settle in to a life undercover. However, Giovanni is having trouble staying within the confines of their house and decides to reinvent himself as a writer and that he will write his memoirs.

But Giovanni's unable to control his sadistic violent streak and finds his patience stretched by the French attitude to life; meanwhile, the rest of his family are trying to settle into the humdrum life - Belle's obsessed with her older Maths tutor, Maggie's bored with the snobby French attitudes and Warren's running a series of rackets within school because that's all he knows.

Thanks to one minor slip (and major coincidence) the Mob discovers where the Manzonis are hiding....

The Family is an odd mess of a film.

The mafia fish out of water plots are pitched as comedy initially, and seem to play heavily on the fact that De Niro's spent most of his life playing something to do with the mob. But there are scant laughs along the way that it makes it difficult to latch onto what exactly Besson is pitching for - sure, there are some smart, sly digs at the stereotypes of the French and the American ways of life and sensibilities that just hit the mark but they are largely sidelined after the opening 20 minutes.

Robert De Niro though, shows some real life in his acting, which has not been seen for years - and the meta moment when his character is invited to the local film club and ends up watching Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas suggest the film which has been struggling for a direction is about to go somewhere original. But it doesn't - it settles in for playing out all the cliches and offering no twists in its slightly overlong plot. It all results in a Besson style gun fight at the end and adds to the overall unbalanced feeling of the film.

All in all, The Family aims for dysfunctionally dark and doesn't quite go far enough; likewise, with its subtle comedy and commentary, it's guilty of holding back rather than fully going for it. Which means all in all that the tonally inconsistent mafia film The Family just needs to fuhgeddaboudit.

Extras: Making of, The many meanings of f**K

Rating:

Wolfenstein: The New Order release date released

Wolfenstein: The New Order release date released

Wolfenstein: The New Order, the first-person action-adventure shooter, will be available in Australia and New Zealand on May 22, 2014. 

As an added bonus, everyone pre-ordering the game will be invited to access the DOOM beta with their copy of Wolfenstein: The New Order. For more information on the DOOM beta access pre-order bonus, as well as applicable terms and restrictions, please visit: www.wolfenstein.com/DOOM.

Currently under development at MachineGames, Wolfenstein: The New Order reignites the franchise widely recognized for pioneering the first-person shooter genre. Set in the 1960s, the monstrous Nazi regime has used mysterious advanced technology to win World War II. They now rule the globe with an iron fist. Wolfenstein: The New Order sends you across Europe on a harrowing mission to bring down the Nazi war machine.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is slated for release on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. For more information on the game visit: www.wolfenstein.com.