Winter's Tale: Blu Ray Review

Winter's Tale: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

The latest entrant into the paean of romantic pap is an adaptation of the 1983 Mark Helprin book set in a mythic New York City where demons roam in human form, taking down humans and advancing the fight of good vs evil.

Colin Farrell plays Peter Lake, an Irish orphan, who's living a life of thieving and getting by in 1916 New York. But he's angered the boss of a mob, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe in dead eyed Irish accent mode) and has a price on his head.

It all changes for Lake though, when he meets the consumption-ridden Beverley Penn (Downton Abbey's Lady Sybil aka Jessica Brown Findlay) and falls in love. But when tragedy strikes, Lake finds himself in 2014 New York with another chance to redeem himself....and give it all for love again.

Winter's Tale starts with a plummy British voiceover explaining the virtues of the stars and how the angels are born and goes downhill from there pretty quickly.

Mixing in a smattering of the mystical into a dour film, it very rarely stops to offer any kind of real explanation of what's going on or make you believe in the truly implausible romance between Beverley and Peter (as they fall for each other over a cup of tea). It's supposed to mix in magic thanks to a white horse guardian who appears to Peter at a time of need and can fly away, but there's no sense of it ever really soaring in any shape or form.

Dreary performances (with the exception of Brown Findlay, whose luminescence and lively eyes light up the screen) taint the movie and rob it of any feeling other than of actors on auto-pilot. Farrell looks non-plussed in the moments that he's not trying desperately to emote as he pours tears from under his caterpillar like eyebrows; even he struggles with getting any kind of grasp of what's going on; Crowe looks constipated as he tries to glower as an angry demon; Smith crops up as Lucifer (!) and seems completely lost and Connelly is totally wasted and wishy washy as a mom whose child has cancer in the present day segment of the movie.

But here's the thing with Winter's Tale - there's just no emotion or feeling to it whatsoever, leaving you more with the impression that you've just wasted 2 hours of your life thanks to a cloying, confusing narrative that doesn't play up the eternal love angle, it simply doesn't seem to know what story it really wants to tell. It relies on wild leaps of faith from the audience throughout, and doesn't reward them for taking the chance or the journey. It's a fantasy movie without any of the fantastical.

Rating:

Disgaea 4 announced

Disgaea 4 announced

NIS America is thrilled to announce that Disgaea®4: A Promise Revisited will hit Australia and New Zealand on the 12^th of September for PlayStation®Vita , both in retail form and digital! This is an expanded and enhanced version of the fan favorite fourth game in the Disgaea series, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, which was originally released on the PlayStation®3 in 2011, and features all the DLC from the PS3 version as well as tons of new content!

For more information, please visit NISAmerica.com/games/disgaea4-a-promise-revisited

"Sunset Overdrive" Chaos Squad Gameplay Video

Sunset Overdrive" Chaos Squad Gameplay Video

Microsoft and Insomniac Games unveiled the first look at “Sunset Overdrive’s” co-op multiplayer at E3 and today have released an action-packed video which provides more details on the experience: 

Want to learn more about Chaos Squad? See below for details!

·         Choose Your Chaos Wisely – The amount of Chaos is what determines the difficulty of your team’s final Night Defense. The higher your Chaos– the tougher your Night Defense is going to be, but you’ll get more chances to receive cool rewards at the end. The amount of Chaos you have will depend on which missions you voted for leading up to Night Defense. Take a mission with a lot of chaos to increase difficulty and potential rewards? Or take a mission with a team boost to make the group more likely you succeed?

·         Go straight from campaign to chaos-squad, in game – So, you’re leaping around Sunset City in single-player and your friend/acquaintance invites you to join her Chaos Squad. You drop off a grind rail, strut up to the nearest future photo booth, and enter.  You’ll go straight into multiplayer with the same clothing, same amps, same everything as your character from the single-player campaign.

·         Vote on missions in the open-world – At the start, you and your rag-tag band are going to get two mission options to vote on. You conquer it, two new ones crop up. And they’ll have different objectives and be in separate locations from the first round. So, the result is that each Chaos Squad experience feels unique as you’re going through the open-world.

After a few rounds of voting and slaying and Chaos or boost getting – it’s time for your team to face the main event: Night Defense!

·         Night Defense – This is where you will fend off enemies and protect your vats of Overcharge at one of many forts across the city by not only using your weapons, traversal, and amps – but by placing traps, as well. Before each wave – you’ll have a bit of time to place your traps, but if you made a horrible calculation, you can move and place them during the waves, as well.

And then – the enemies attack. And what comes next is an assault of 8 players simultaneously jumping, shooting, grinding, and exploding nearly every damn thing in sight. Each wave brings an increasingly difficult and new variety of enemies to your door.  And, remember, the more Chaos you gathered in the open-world missions – the harder it’s going to be.

·         Rewards for your character you can take back to campaign! – But! Your reward output is based on your Chaos. So, if you manage to survive with a large amount of Chaos – you’re going to get way more chances at better rewards than the wuss teams who took team boosts instead of Chaos.

Developed by Insomniac Games, “Sunset Overdrive” is a stylised open-world shooter filled with overpowered weapons, crazed mutants and a sprawling city full of carnage. Set in a futuristic metropolis called Sunset City, “Sunset Overdrive” transforms the mutant apocalypse into your tactical playground, immersing you in an action-packed experience as you grind, vault and wall-run across the city while using a devastating, unconventional arsenal. With hyper-agility, unique weapons, and customisable special abilities, Sunset Overdrive rewrites the rules of traditional shooters and delivers an explosive, irreverent, stylish, and totally unique adventure exclusively to Xbox One this spring.

For the latest on Sunset Overdrive:

Check out Sunset TV, Sunset Overdrive and Insomniac Games’ weekly web show all about the game, with the latest news, footage, and updates from the development team. www.youtube.com/sunsetoverdrivegame

Lone Survivor: Blu Ray Review

Lone Survivor: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Sony Home Ent

The pantheon of war movies is littered with many attempts to show the bravado and courage of those under fire - but who are usually triumphant.

Lone Survivor sets out to do some of that - partially.

It's the story of the ill-fated mission Operation Red Wings, in which a four man US Navy Seal team were dispatched to the Afghanistan hills to capture or kill notorious al Qaeda leader Ahmad Shahd in June 2005.

But things go wrong when the quartet encounter a group of goat herders who may or may not be affiliated to the al Qaeda presence in the village below....Soon, all four of them, including Marcus Luttrell (played by a beefed up Mark Wahlberg), are fighting for survival, with no idea if help will be coming from their colleagues back at the base.

Lone Survivor is a brutal and brutalising piece of cinema - it's an unflinching look at a side of war rarely glimpsed.

However, with the troops under fire, all chances of characterisation are out of the window as the banter between the four simply resorts to an f-bomb every few words. Director Peter Berg is hardly interested in that though, given that he starts the movie with snapshots of the training that the SEALS undergo, and the bond that forms as they are broken or complete the training.

An initial sequence on a base gives some moments of insight into the SEAL lifestyle - worries over weddings, colour schemes for rooms at home, and whether to buy a horse or not and allow a newbie to join their ranks, but they're swiftly dispatched for a more visual and bone-crunching experience as the fire fight begins. A major kernel of interest - the morality of troop behaviour in war and during contact - is also jettisoned at a time when characters could have risen to the fore; it's a shame as Berg drops the one narrative ball that could have been much more.

While Berg's crafted something that collects together the horror of being pinned under fire and a situation many of us will never experience as well as the courage of the men under attack, he would have benefited from a slightly more subtle approach in places. Lingering close ups are a little too heavy handed - one on the paint scheme floating away from one of the Navy Seals after he's shot could have done with more subtlety - granted, with the story being taken from Luttrell's book, there's little wriggle room for him to manoeuvre outside of the fight sequences, which are visceral, bone-crunching and claustrophobic.

Inevitably a massive fire fight erupts at the end (which is apparently at odds with the reality of what actually happened) - perhaps it's the jingoistic release which was needed after such a downbeat portrayal of combat.

However, an opening sequence which shows Luttrell being choppered off should have been jettisoned; most will be unaware of the circumstances of this mission and a little uncertainty would have made the ride even more edge of your seat kind of cinema. Instead, that spoiler robs the movie of the tension it could have benefited from.

Overall, Lone Survivor represents a truly grim war time experience, but a chance to see a side of combat rarely glimpsed on the big screen. A final montage of the actual troops who were involved in the mission is nothing more than an attempt to be mawkish manipulation and while it's powerful stuff, it's more likely to resonate with those still in the armed forces and those in awe of the courage of others.

Extras: Bringing the story to light, various little featurettes

Rating:

Grand Theft Auto Online: The Independence Day Special details

Grand Theft Auto Online: The Independence Day Special details

From Paleto Bay to the Port of Los Santos and everywhere in between, it’s time to celebrate the birthplace of freedom with The Independence Day Special (in association with Ammu-Nation) for Grand Theft Auto Online.

Demonstrate your exceptionalism and own the road from sea to shining sea with two new star spangled rides, theSovereign motorcycle and the super-sized Liberator monster truck. And protect your rights the same way our Founding Fathers did with the latest addition to Ammu-Nation's antiques collection, the high-powered Musket... or channel your inner Jack Howitzer with the spectacular Firework Rocket Launcher.

Seven new properties have also been added to the Dynasty 8 rolls, including locations in Paleto Bay and Vinewood Hills that provide plenty of yard space to scorch the grass with your very own Fireworks show. Use up to 12 varieties with different fuse lengths to create a spectacle that would make even the most battle-hardened Republican Space Ranger shed a tear. If you prefer rickety amusements operated by minimum wage teenage workers over incendiary lawn displays, then venture down to Pleasure Pier where you can now ride the Ferris Whale and the Leviathan Roller Coaster.

This limited-time update also features an overabundance of patriotic flare: show off nationalistic pride with a "Made in the U.S.A." t-shirt, a backwoods mullet or let the eagle soar with an animal mask featuring this great nation's most fearsome and majestic creatures.

This special seasonal content will be available to redeem in-game until Mid-July (we will announce a specific redemption expiration date soon). The automatic update for the Independence Day Special also includes additional game tuning updates and other adjustments, including the new On Call Matchmaking function. This new option allows players to accept a Job invite and continue playing in Freemode until that Job fills up, reducing time spent idle while waiting for Job to start. For the complete list of all the fixes and tuning updates, visit the Rockstar Support site.

To download the Independence Day Special, fire up your online-connected PS3 or Xbox 360 and start GTAV. You'll be prompted to download the automatic update (1.15) and Xbox 360 players will also be required to download an additional compatibility pack upon entering GTA Online.

And look for details about the upcoming celebratory 4-day Independence Day Weekend Event tomorrow.

 

Grand Theft Auto Online: The Independence Day Special – Musket:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoEcnDapvY4

Grand Theft Auto Online: The Independence Day Special – Fireworks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqyQI-0H4Lk

God of War Collection: PS Vita Review

God of War Collection: PS Vita Review

Platform: PS Vita
Released by Santa Monica

Kratos returns in this portable port-over of the God Of War's first two outings.

Simplicity is the key to this release as you take over control of Kratos and release seven shades of hell against those who've slighted you on your quest for vengeance.

It's a pretty standard transition to the small screen, with the same controls you'd have used on the PS2 or the PS3 HD remaster which came out in 2009 and sees you using the sticks and buttons to take Kratos into combat and to defeat all around him, as well as collecting orbs and power ups as you go. The back rear pad can be used here and there as well, so the PS Vita controls are all aligned with this.

It's pleasing to report that the quality of the cut scenes and the visuals haven't suffered too much in this downgrade to the PS Vita format and the visuals look as well as could be expected with the OLED screen. That sounds like damning it with faint praise, but it's not; as God Of War works on an almost cinematic scale at times with the big screen giving size and scope. Inevitably the transition to a smaller screen would mean the loss of that but the port has done as much as it can to ensure the loss is minimised; occasionally, the cut scenes do look murky but they last briefly and you're back into the action.

Touch screening means swapping Kratos' weapons around, so you need to be a little ambidextrous at times, but it's good to see some concessions have been made to the tech available. The QTE moments are still within as well, but are easier to operate than before.

The game's certainly playable enough in its portable form and will offer plenty of amusement to those willing to get stuck in for the long haul.

The God Of War series is an iconic one and the portable take on it is certainly one to embraced. Wreaking vengeance and mixing it up old Gods style has never been so easier and so much fun.

Rating:

Short Term 12: DVD Review

Short Term 12: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

Community star Brie Larson heads up this earnest lo-fi indie about a supervisor at a foster-care facility in America for teenagers.

She plays Grace, the slightly damaged go-to carer for these kids and who's trying to acclimatise one of them Marcus (Stanfield) to life on the outside. At the same time, a new teen Jayden (Denver) comes into the unit and Grace has to cope with a change in her own conditions...

There's an understated warmth toShort Term 12 that's engaging and entertaining - as well as a depth to the performances which is ultimately rewarding. Brie Larson gives a vulnerable yet strong turn as the fragile Grace, whose determination to help those around her almost comes at her own detriment as she juggles several lives at once. While there are some questions about whether Grace, who so clearly has issues of her own, would be running a care facility, Larson does much to assuage those doubts.

But the star is also Cretton who's crafted together something which has moments that shine.

One sequence where Marcus tries out a new rap with one of Grace's co-workers speaks volumes in the 30 seconds he has on screen about the pain and sadness of life before the foster home. Other directors would deliver a heartfelt, yet impassioned speech, but Cretton's simple use of a lingering camera and the actor is quietly impressive and totally emotionally mesmerising.

All in all, Short Term 12 exudes a confidence and empathy which is compelling to watch; it offers an insight into a world which reveals the daily doubts plaguing some of our youths, but also celebrates the daily victories of life in among the quietly authentic moments.

Rating: