At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
Based on the novel by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the story of Half Of A Yellow Sun concentrates on four people trying to live their lives during the Nigerian war of 1967-1970.
The film focuses on two sisters, Olanna (Newton) and Kainene as they are caught up in the conflict. Olanna's move in with her professor lover (played by 12 Years A Slave star Chiwetel Eijofor) brings about repercussions that none of them could have expected as the explosions of the coup outside match the emotional bombs going off at home.
Half of A Yellow Sun is one of those movies that's earnest in intentions, expertly well crafted, but feels occasionally aloof in its execution. Using archive newsreel footage to serve as exposition for what's going on around them, Bandele chooses to let the people live in the moment rather than spend time setting the scene. The resulting shocks therefore feel a little calculated and serve to punctuate the narrative rather than help it along - a wedding is interrupted by shelling bringing horror into what should be a happy moment.
As the melodrama increases, there's the feeling that none of the characters are eminently likeable or leave you feel you should support them as the horrors of civil war come closer to home; it's a curious feeling and one that's more about how unlikeable people deal with difficult circumstances, but it does leave you wondering about its resolution. Talking of which, an out of left field end jars a little as it bookends the events in the Nigerian conflict.
Heartfelt, earnest and at times, a little slow to progress, Half of a Yellow Sun feels simply like a series of mounting tensions that are punctuated by little to no resonance - each character's motivations for their behaviour are too OTT to leave you caring - and for a film where the horrors of war match the horrors of home, it's a queasy unsatisfying mix.
Digital Nationz is back in Auckland for another year - the show kicks off at Auckland's Vector Arena on Saturday, before running to the end of Sunday.
Here's a list of some of the highlights and speakers at the event:
What to see at DNZ 2014, some key highlights:
·At the
Xbox stand – be the first in New Zealand to get your hands on Halo Master Chief
Collection, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, and many indie titles
·At the
Fiveight stand experience Far Cry 4, Alien Isolation Dying light, Assassins
Creed Creed Rogue, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, The Crew, Disney Infinity 2.0 and
Assassins Creed Unity (hands-off demo).
·The PlayTech
stand – Overclocking workshop, drone obstacle course, and LoL workshop.
·The
LG Stand – new ultra-wide gaming monitors, new 55” Curved OLED TV, Killer
Instinct and Season 2 battles.
·The
Logitech stand – latest in gaming peripherals including the new “G” range
featuring the world’s fastest gaming mouse.
·The
Homegrown area - 10 pods showcasing NZ’s homegrown developer talent and other
Kiwi technology talents.
·Speaking
sessions – over 10 world-class speakers including Jason Sussman from Bungie
(Destiny). See the full list of speakers below.
·The
Atrium exhibits and the upper floor exhibits featuring dozens of exciting
technology exhibitors.
·LOGITECH
G LAN CHAMPIONSHIP - $30,000 prizes and cash up for grabs as players battle it
out in the finals of the championship after honing their skills in the BIGPIPE
BOOTCAMP LAN
David ‘DJ’
Johnson, Lead VFX Artist at Infinity Ward
David Johnson is the Lead Visual Effects Artist at
Activision/Blizzard’s Infinity Ward Studio as a hands-on artist as well as
supervisor/coordinator to multiple ATVI studios. David has 15 years of computer
graphics experience, of which 13 has been dedicated to video games. David has
shipped a remarkable 15+ video games and contributed on some of the largest
names in video game history including the Call of Duty and Halo franchises. The
combined revenue of games David has worked on exceeds 3 Billion Dollars, and
broken multiple records for units sold. David is an active VES member as a
Board of Directors alternate, and member of the education and membership
committees.
Jason
Sussman, Environment Artist at Bungie Studios
Jason Sussman, an Army veteran from Dallas in
Texas, brings 14 years of gaming industry experience to his role as Senior
Environment Artist on Destiny. Of those 14 years, eight years have been spent
at Bungie, creating single player and competitive multiplayer maps, and DLC
environments for Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach. Currently, Jason
designs and creates destination environments for Destiny’s Mars location.
Jason will be found around the Big Pipe – Media
Design School stand to do more Q&A’s when he isn’t speaking and is coming
courtesy of Media Design School.
Josie
Nutter, Software Engineer and UX Specialist at Technical Illusions
Josie Nutter is a software engineer and UX specialist
with almost two decades of experience in the video games industry. She has a
B.S. in Human Centered Design and Engineering from the University of
Washington, where she received the Undergraduate Award of Excellence for
demonstrating special strength in innovation. Coming from a background in
gameplay and tools programming at companies such as Crystal Dynamics, Snowblind
Studios, and PopCap Games, she is now working on the software side of castAR
(projected Augmented Reality) for Technical Illusions after helping launch a
successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1M.]
Dr
Michelle Dickinson AKA Nano Girl, University of Auckland
Michelle has a talent of being able to break pretty
much anything put in front of her, which is lucky because it is her job. As the
director of New Zealand’s only Nanomechanical testing laboratory, Michelle gets
to make and break things on a daily basis.
With regular slots on national television and
radio, Michelle is passionate about explaining complex concepts in everyday
language and strives towards breaking down the barriers created by high walls
of scientific and technical jargon.Lots of
people collect things and Michelle likes to collect certificates, including one
that says PhD and a couple of other postgraduate qualifications. The desire to
keep learning and challenging herself never stops. With an internal compass
that seeks out adrenaline and adventure, Michelle is often found salinating her
skin while kitesurfing, exfoliating her fingertips on a rock climbing mission,
or creating tree bark skin impressions from a mountain-bike ride. Michelle
tries to break all the stereotypes that are traditionally associated with the
tech field, by bringing her high energy personality, an enthusiasm for gadgets
and a style of presenting that will make you want to join in too!
Dmitry
Selitsky, Founder and CEO, Thought-Wired
Dmitry founded Thought-Wired with the vision of
making the world accessible to everybody. On their journey to develop assistive
solutions based on direct brain interfaces and principles of user-centred
design, thought-wired gained invaluable knowledge and expertise for working
with the newest interfacing technologies. Now they want to share that knowledge
with you.
Fletcher
Dunn, Valve
Fletcher
has been making video games since 1995 and has around a dozen titles under his
belt across a variety of gaming platforms. He worked at Terminal Reality in
Dallas, where as principal programmer he was one of the architects of the
Infernal Engine and lead programmer on BloodRayne. He was a technical director
for The Walt Disney Company at Wideload Games in Chicago and the lead
programmer for Disney Guilty Party, IGN's E3 2010 Family Game of the Year. He
now works for Valve Software in Bellevue, Washington. Oh, but his biggest claim
to fame by *far* is as the namesake of Corporal Dunn from Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2. Fletcher Dunn will be found around the Big Pipe – Media Design
School stand to do more Q&A’s when he isn’t speaking and is coming courtesy
of Media Design School.
Simon Barlow, Design Director,
Evolution Studios
Originally trained as a Level Designer on the
legendary Colin McRae Rally games, Simon has spent close to 15 years at the
forefront of game design. Having held the lofty position of Head of Design for
SCEE's North West Studio Group, Simon has been one of the driving forces behind
the WRC and MotorStorm series. When it came to work on DRIVECLUB the task was
simple: deliver a cutting edge user experience that draws inspiration from
social media, and redefines the console racing game experience. From coding the
user interface backend to directing the game's companion application, Simon has
left his mark on every aspect of DRIVECLUB's development.
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab
Peter Beck founded Rocket Lab in 2007 following
almost a decade and a half of propulsion research and market development in the
international space community. Peter has since established Rocket Lab, both in
New Zealand and the United States, as a premier institute for innovative space
systems. As comfortable on a CNC mill as he is in a board room, Peter is both
the head visionary and technical adviser for the Electron program. He is also
an acclaimed scientist and engineer, having been awarded a Meritorious Medal
from the Royal Aeronautical Society for service of an exceptional nature in New
Zealand aviation, and the Cooper Medal, presented by the Royal Society
bi-annually to those deemed to have published the best single account of
research in physics and engineering.
Brad Allen,
Artist, Respawn Entertainment
Made from PVC metal and silicon, Brad stands 67″ tall and comes equipped with accessories, such as
a sketchbook, magic ham and cheese sandwich ™,
Zombie/vampire repellent, Robot (Chop-o-matic) arm and a custom base for
display. Warning: Possible choking hazard. Do not take Brad internally…his wife
will get mad.
Past projects:
Titanfall
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
David Tremont,
Senior Model Maker , Weta WorkshopDavid Tremont, the senior model maker at Weta Workshop in Wellington,
has tonnes of experience in model construction and design which started when he
was a kid. Early TV shows, such as Doctor Who and Thunderbirds, inspired a
sense of wonder for making models in David and he started trying to replicate
what was on screen with cardboard and Lego. This set the foundation for David’s
career as he started as a professional model maker in the late 70’s working on
TV commercials, film and displays. The early 90’s saw an opportunity to set up
a workshop in Queensland, Australia at the film studios, where he spent ten
years working on back to back films before moving to Wellington in 2001 to work
on Lord of the Rings with Weta Workshops. These days David is involved to some
extent in just about every single collectible Weta Workshop produces and wants
to inspire future model makers.
Once again, the mining of family squabbles forms the large part of this French-Moroccan family drama, centring on a clutch of sisters brought back together for a funeral.
Omar Sharif stars (briefly) as Moulay, the head of the clan, whose death precipitates the return of the family from disparate emotional corners to mourn his passing. But it's Sofia's return which causes the most flux within the dynamic; an actress, living in America, she's seen as a big star presence; however, that return brings out all manner of hidden secrets, nastiness and resentments among the clan.
Rock The Casbah is beautifully shot within its Moroccan confines; Sharif's prologue where he breaks the fourth wall in among some truly sumptuous surroundings sets the tone for the piece; shades offbeat irreverence, emotion and warmth. With his intonation that "my heart has always been a fragile thing", the death robs the film of a vital presence, even if his shadow is cast along upon proceedings.
Interestingly, Rock The Casbah is a curious experience, a mash of tones that doesn't really settle - and scenes of veracity and emotional warmth have the carpet ripped from under them by an undercut of off the cuff humour (Sofia's initial return and reunion with her father being the biggest casualty).
When the sisters are united on screen is really where the familial bond is best explored and the film finds its feet. It's predictable in places and engaging, but never really fully challenging as it explores the stereotypes of the women within this society.
All in all, Rock The Casbah has a warmth exuding in parts and is pleasant enough cinematic fare - but it could have done with more Sharif.
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Mirelle Enos, Olivia Williams
Director: David Ayer
Arnie's back.
In a new film from the director of the criminally underrated and under-viewed End of Watch, he's grizzled and haunted as Breacher, the leader of a DEA team.
When Breacher and his gang of agents break into a Mexican cartel house and take down the bad guys, they unleash a viper's nest. As the group appears to siphon off $10 million from the cartel while escaping, the FBI becomes suspicious that the team took the cash for themselves and despite their protestations of innocence, Breacher is confined to a desk job, hounded to see if he'll crack and leave the force and the squad falls apart.
However, when the investigation's ultimately shelved due to a lack of evidence, the team is put back together - and all seems to be going well, until one by one, they're picked off. With mistrust at an all time high, and the belief the cartel is behind these gruesome deaths, it's a race against time for Breacher to get to the bottom of it....
Sabotage is a grubby, grimy blast of a seedy urban underbelly.
Schwarzenegger spends most of the film looking weary and almost defeated, and Ayer throws as much visual nastiness as he can at him; it begins with Breacher watching a torture video (later revealed to be his wife) before timejumping 8 months on into the raid on the cartel's luxurious home. And it's here that Ayer reveals his MO - a restrained, almost downbeat Schwarzenegger is held back from unleashing all kinds of hell. Ayer chooses to replicate some of the grit he garnered with End of Watch, revelling in the urban decay and corruption that's plagued so many American suburbs - and executing action sequences that are dialled down and precise.
The film gets off to a great pace and impresses in its grottiness but Ayer rushes the earlier acts to get to the meat and bones of the movie, and it's telling that when some characters are picked off, you're not quite sure who's got the chop until you realise you've not seen them on screen for a little bit.
When Schwarzenegger's paired up with Olivia Williams' investigating uptight homicide cop, there's a sense of liveliness that sparks between the pair with her dismissive banter and withering put-downs. It's a welcome touch of life in at times comatose action thriller.
Ayer brings some directorial flourishes and smoke and mirrors to the screen - some action shots are from the gun's POV and an inter-cutting of time delivers welcome tension as it messes with your perception as Breacher hunts for an off-the-grid colleague. But it barely makes up for the one-note characters who populate the rest of the movie.
While Worthing is almost unrecognisable with shaved head and Sons-Of-Anarchy style goatee, he has a presence that's undeniable in this - which is more than could be said for the OTT acting of both Mirelle Enos as an unhinged undercover cop who's become addicted to the drugs and True Blood's Joe Mangianello who simply shouts a lot of his lines in a display of macho pomposity. With little time for them to breathe, the cast do as much as they can as the faintly ridiculous explanation and reason for what's going is revealed, before a hail of bullets and standard action sequences are dropped on you.
All in all, Sabotage is a real mixed bag of a movie - it has moments that visually impress and some action sequences that are pared back - but it's not enough to shake the grubby middling feeling that you have when the movie ultimately ends.
Rating: M Released by Sony Home Ent Written and directed by Jon Favreau, Chef is clearly a passion project.
Favreau stars as temperamental chef Carl Casper, who's spent years building up his name within the food industry, but blows it all away one day when he becomes so incensed with an online review. (Seriously, who pays attention to online reviewers, anyway?)
When the video of his explosion goes viral, Casper realises there's more going on and that he's desperately unhappy with his life. Estranged from his son, separated from his wife and desperate to recapture his flair and integrity, as well as his culinary voice, he goes back to basics.
Heading with his wife Inez (Vergara) to Miami, and with his son in tow, Casper reignites his own passion for cooking, by starting up a food truck - and so begins a (predictable) road journey to self-enlightenment... Chef is not without its charms, even if this none too original road trip cum father / son bond-fest rambles and meanders to a totally predictable and unabashedly crowd pleasing denouement ( thanks largely to a completely pointless final scene). An overweight Favreau is amiable enough as the chef who wants to pursue his heart rather against the soulless wishes of the owner (Dustin Hoffman) when a food critic savages his culinary fare. Cooking up reasonable chemistry with his ex wife Ines ( Modern Family's Sofia Vergara) and his hitherto distanced son Percy (Anthony), Chef works best when the set up of getting Casper to quit and follow his heart is ditched for a road trip that mixes sumptuous food porn with landscapes rarely seen on the big screen. (Even if by then, great actors like Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson have been cast aside or rendered redundant - step forward Vergara).
The rapport with Leguizamo as the truck's sous chef works well and the company is perfectly affable as the El Jefe Food Truck dream becomes reality. A scene where Chef Casper rails against Oliver Platt's food critic for simply " shitting on my shit" bristles and simmers with sub-text but that's the closest Chef comes to providing any bite or slightly bitter after taste. Directorally, Favreau over-uses some flourishes (such as the twitter bird flying off the screen each time he tweets) but pieces together a road movie which will appeal to foodies and those willing to satiate their appetites on little more than gentle bonding and food eye- candy. Just don't be surprised if this charming movie leaves you feeling a little bloated thanks to an over-extended run time and distinctly saccharine denouement. Rating:
Rating: PG
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
They say every dog has its day - and now this latest kids animated piece sets out to prove it.
The tales of a time-travelling dog and his human companion were a big hit in the 1960s TV landscape. Years later, this spin-off from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show has now got its own full-length movie outing.
Mr Peabody (voiced by Modern Family's Phil Dunphy aka Ty Burrell) is a talking dog, whose superior intellect meant he was ostracised when he was younger for being too intellectual. Years later, Peabody adopted Sherman (Charles) and the two have been close ever since, with Sherman sharing in Peabody's time travelling ways as he visits history rather than just learning about it.
However, when Sherman starts school for the first time, he finds himself bullied by mean girl Penny (Modern Family's Ariel Winter). Things get worse when Mr Peabody sets up a meeting for the families to try and resolve the issue - and Penny discovers the time-travelling escapades, becoming lost in the past.
So begins a rush through history to find her and restore harmony at home....
Zany, and with some terribly corny puns that kids will love, Mr Peabody and Sherman is a bit of an animated blast (from the past). Thanks to the episodic feel and a rush through history (ancient Egypt, Greece and the Renaissance), kids will love the animated antics of this duo and adults will find some of the more lunatic moments a welcome addition to a fun plot.
All of the necessities are there for this family outing - a tender storyline involving a father and son (even if it is an adopted relationship), dealing with school bullies and a chance to bring history vividly and rollickingly to life. Throw in some silly word-play and all the ingredients combine to make Mr Peabody and Sherman an animated fest that works despite the oddness and wacky non-sequitur moments being thrown in for nonsensical effect.
And yet, the conclusion of this film completely loses any semblance of reality, becomes confused as it gets wrapped up in its own time travel shenanigans and is just a little confusing. The 3D is used in some parts to generically lazy effect (things flying out of the screen for no reason other than they can) but the voice cast is excellent - with Burrell channeling enough nerdiness and warmth into his Peabody that it feels welcoming.
At the end of the day, Mr Peabody and Sherman is a goofy zany movie which will keep the kids amused in the holidays - but this time travelling tail (sic) may also do a little more than that, stoking the fires of interest in history - which is a true bona fido (sic) treat for all.
Hallowe'en comes a little early in this latest release, as the PlayStation Vita gets its latest all for the Vita game with Murasaki Baby
In fact it looks like Tim Burton had dabbled in the video-gaming world with this short run piece. (An opinion which has been echoed by so many who've played this Gothic styled game)
This occasionally twisted and nightmarish side-scroller takes the touchpoint reasons the VITA exists and moulds them to be the main reason for the game and its gameplay.
Taking control of an adorable little baby that has teeth on her head and her eyes near where her mouth would be, you get to guide her through a series of scenarios that she stumbles on after waking in the middle of the night and getting lost trying to find her mother. Clutching a heart-shaped balloon and blundering off into the dark, Baby's soon got her own concerns as the worlds around her proffer up all manner of scares and obstacles.
Thing is though, nobody puts this baby in the corner (sorry), thanks to the swipe controls and OLED touchscreens which are used, you're able to guide Baby around using the front facing screen, helping her to jump away from the boogeyman and various obstacles which soon confront her. Sinister is the key here as you progress through the game and the backgrounds change to be progressively darker and more moody.
But the backgrounds also hold the key to solving some of the mysteries of Murasaki Baby - bringing on rain can remove the threat of fire from Baby's path or using the wind to help propel her across an ocean - it's a really clever touch that takes a couple of moments for you to think laterally about how to solve the puzzles.
Cute is also the order of the day - you bond instantly with Baby as it plays on the nightmares of abandonment and horrors of things lurking under the bed from your formative years, as well as making everyone who plays this an instant parent.
Murasaki Baby is an essential buy if you're a PS Vita owner - its use and command of all the touch screen capabilities and the deep rich emotional and primal moods it taps into are a superb showcase of what a PS Vita title only should be doing.
Here's hoping there'll be some DLC for this fiendishly attractive and devilishly cute game.
