ZB Movie Reviews

ZB Movie Reviews - Gone Girl

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The Selfish Giant: DVD Review

The Selfish Giant: DVD Review

Rating: R13
Released by Rialto

There's electricity in the air in Brit film The Selfish Giant.

From filmmaker Clio Barnard who came to our attention with the Arbor, is this latest tale, based loosely on the Oscar Wilde short story of the same name.

Focussing on the sweet, yet dysfunctional, friendship of two 13-year-old boys, Swifty and Arbor (both young actors delivering stunning performances), it's the story of their lives in the grim up-north British world of council estates, continual debt and scrabbling to make ends meet.

The pair first form a friendship after being excluded from school; forced to stay away, they end up feeling entranced by the world of Kitten, a scrap dealer, whose den of inequity holds the promise of money which so eludes the duo and their families.

It's Arbor who leads the way into a world of collecting junk and trying his luck, with Swifty more interested in the horses that Kitten owns - and particularly the ones which he races on the streets in yet another example of how gypsy culture's become so prevalent within the UK.

But Arbor's a live wire in more ways than one - and when he sees there's money to be made from stealing and melting down wire, he throws the duo on a collision course with tragedy as the inevitable ante is upped and Arbor searches for a big pay off.

The sensitive gentle giant Swifty, with his love of horses, makes a perfect foil to Arbor's ADHD pill taking troublemaker. But at the end of the day, this is a story of friendship and of a relationship torn asunder either by petty jealousy when Arbor discovers Kitten favours Swifty for the racing or tragedy when the final big steal comes around with an audience inducing shock. It's sensitively told, and devastatingly painful as the final scenes play out.

It's here the young actor playing Arbor comes to the fore - his final scenes hanging around the streets are raw with pain and emotion and recall some of the behaviour of the Greeks in mourning.

Make no mistake, while this grit Brit hit is a tale of woe, it's got a vein of humour running throughout which is impossible to deny and black humour which is as hilarious as it is heartfelt. The council estates bring the miserabilism but film-maker Barnard keeps it on the right side of dry humour rather than dour depression.

You'd have to have no heart to be moved by The Selfish Giant; its two young leads are spectacular and its cinematography is stunning to view - sure, there's electricity in the air in this film - and it crackles with cinematic aplomb and storytelling genius. Highly recommended. 

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The Moaning of Life: DVD Review

The Moaning of Life: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Karl Pilkington returns in another travel series that sees him tackling the big issues of life.

Well, more specifically, his attitude to the big things in life - which seems to be directly in contrast to everyone else. Having hit 40 years old, permanently bemused Brit Karl embarks on yet another travelogue that seems destined to push him outside of his comfort zone.

Taking in marriage, death, babies as well as happiness and money, Karl's heading out to various countries to get their take on various traditions and to see if they can persuade him to rethink his attitude.

As ever, though, prolonged exposure to the moaning Brit seems to win you round to his way of thinking; from marriage to running his own wedding in a laundromat on the Vegas strip, everything has a crazy, hazy logic that's constantly laugh out loud funny.

While the travelogue sense of this series lacks the cruelty of prior outings, there's a gentle comedy to this series which continues to amuse.

Extras: Deleted scenes, behind the scenes

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Doctor Who: Deep Breath: Blu Ray Review

Doctor Who: Deep Breath: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

So, here it is - the introduction of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

Only just recently broadcast on TV, this release showcases the introduction of Peter Capaldi to the TARDIS after his brief introduction at the end of the Christmas special.

It's your traditional regeneration story as the Doctor tries to reconnect with himself and deal with a problem or two - this time, it's set in Victorian England (eerily and brilliantly re-created by film-maker Ben Wheatley behind the director's lense, who brings a creeping sense of dread) and sees the Doctor trying to work out what's going on with a dinosaur loose and a series of spontaneous human combustions, all the while involving the fan faves Paternoster Gang of Strax the Sontaran and Madame Vastra and Jenny (to no doubt help transition the newcomers of the show who're used to a younger doctor).

Deep Breath is an odd mix, if I'm honest. While Capaldi owns the role from the moment he's on screen (all madness, anger, rage and general uncertainty) some of Steven Moffat's writing doesn't quite hang together; assistant Clara spends a lot of the time sulking about the regeneration where previous series have shown that she's been aware of regeneration and what it does (a logic that's hard to get past) and some of the menace of clockwork robots falls apart under close scrutiny. An introduction of a season long arc induces more of an eye roll than an excitement - but there's still time to see how that plays out.

To the credit of all involved, this Doctor was supposed to be a darker affair, a more fractious and morally greyer one - and to Capaldi's credit, by the end of the episode, for the first time, I don't know what kind of Doctor he is. But I do know that he owns the role, and deserves his place in the time Lord pantheon.

Deep Breath is not a fantastic regeneration episode but as a taster to the new series, it's got hope for a new direction written all over it.

Extras: Behind the scenes, cinema intros and the show that saw Capaldi unveiled as the new Doctor.

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Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary collection: Blu Ray Review

Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary collection: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

Last year's 50th anniversary of Doctor Who was a big deal for a show that had been sidelined to the scrap heap at the end of the 80s. Managing to make a half century became a worldwide event for fans new and old, with cinema screenings of the special episode, various one offs and more Dr Whooey-goodness than we've ever experienced before.

So, in true limited edition style, a wonderful collector's edition set's been released - only 500 DVDs and 575 Blu Rays here in NZ - and if you're a fan, it's worth getting (though if you've collected the majority of the material before, you may question your bank balance first.

I've already discussed at length The Day Of The Doctor so, skipping over that, the special features are what makes this set worth investing in - the first Blu Ray outing for An Adventure in Space and Time (the story of William Hartnell's tenure and how the show was made) as well as The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Peter Davison's ode to getting the classic Doctors into the 50th anniversary.

The set's beautifully put together, a nice compendium of everything that was done - including behind the scenes stuff, trailers, the Doctor Who at the Proms - everything a fan could want in one collection. Oh and a neat welcoming of Paul McGann into the fold that caused the internet to implode.

For the fact it's limited, and the fact it's such a historic outing, you'd be mad not to pick this set up.

Extras: Behind the Scenes, Night of the Doctor, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide, Behind the Lens, The Last Day,  The Day of the Doctor – Script to Screen, Cinema Intros – Strax & The Doctor, 50th cinema trails, Deleted Scenes – from The Time of the Doctor & An Adventure in Space and Time, Tales from the TARDIS, Farewell to Matt Smith, A Night with the Stars - The Science of Doctor Who, William Hartnell: The Original, The making of an Adventure, Reconstructions, Title Sequences ,The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Doctor Who at the Proms 2013

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Dracula Untold: Movie Review

Dracula Untold: Movie Review

Cast: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Charles Dance
Director: Gary Shore

Another October, another re-imagining of the origins of the Dracula story in time for Hallowe'en.

It's 1442 Transylvania and Hobbit star Luke Evans is hunky-but-troubled Prince Vlad, who's forced into taking terrible measures to protect his people from the oncoming might of the Turkish army, led by warlord Mehmud (Dominic Cooper, all guy-liner and one note).

After discovering an immortal devil atop a mountain cave, Vlad the impaler makes a pact with the creature to save his family from death and slavery and his kingdom from slaughter. But that deal with Charles Dance's Faust-like demon means that Vlad has 3 days to resist the urge to drink human blood or forever be changed into a creature of the night.

Dracula Untold is more a medieval fantasy fight film than a full on blood-sucking Dracula flick.

Moping and brooding, the troubled Luke Evans as Vlad the Impaler does the best he can with a fairly anaemic script that's more about family, fathers and sons, reincarnation and destined tragedy than seeking out scantily clad ladies and biting them.

It's surprisingly bloodless too, with most of the proceedings being taken up by some very impressive FX shots from heat seeking infra red vision for the Dracula creatures watching from the dark, peeling off of skin when struck by sunlight, some smart CGI bat work as they swirl like an out of control twister to an opening 3D freeze frame shot which shows off the stylistic vision of first time director Gary Shore. As well as the FX frenzy (and the usual Dracula horror cliches - millions of bats flying out of mountains), the main thrust of this revision is an attempt to give Dracula more of a tortured almost emo-like conflict and make his ascent to what he is a more internal moral struggle as he battles with the monsters within, trying not to become the monster himself.

Which is perhaps a good thing, because a lack of any real solid antagonist during the muddy proceedings to face off with is somewhat crippling. Cooper's Mehmud is bereft of screen time, character development and consequently is as little a threat as you'd ever encounter, with his sole machinations being to get 1,000 boys conscripted into his army. Likewise, his wife (played by Enemy star Sarah Gadon) has little to do and is subsequently wasted.

That said, there are some pleasing touches and references to the Dracula mythology; a believer in Dracula who wants to be his servant raises a few nostalgic smiles (including the iconic "Yes Master" deference line) but the desire to fill the movie with darkly lit battle scenes where the Turkish hordes are covered with bats makes for somewhat eye-crippling viewing.

Along with a frankly ludicrously tacked on final sequence, and so much wood at times that it's almost fatal for a man troubled by stakes, this Dracula is somewhat of a muddled outing with some bad dialogue riddled through the script. It lacks the bite of the start of a franchise, but should be applauded for trying to humanise the monstrous myth as this movie tries to Bat-ter your heart as well as the senses.

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Gone Girl: Movie Review

Gone Girl: Movie Review

Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens
Director: David Fincher

Based on Gillian Flynn's widely acclaimed  novel and directed by House of Cards director David Fincher, Gone Girl comes with the weight of expectation.

Ben Affleck is Nick Dunne, a former writer who becomes the focus of a nationwide obsession and police investigation when his perfect wife, Amy (a character and career best Rosamund Pike) goes missing. With the thrust of the media glare, public opinion and police scrutiny firmly on his shoulders, Nick's apparent innocence in this case comes heavily under question as the mystery begins to unfold...

To say anything more about this darkly twisted thriller (unless you're familiar with Flynn's book) would be unfair and would venture into spoiler territory. With the shifting narrative told in flashback from Amy's point of view and juxtaposed with the current police investigation into Nick, half the visceral thrill of this deliciously devious story comes in the playing out of the details.

A slickly cerebral and taut thriller, Gone Girl manages to inveigle its way under your skin in the most uncomfortable fashion you could imagine. As Fincher examines the facade behind Nick and Amy's marriage, unreliable narratives, questions and nagging doubts form in your mind, thanks largely in part to an understated and unshowy Affleck as Nick, the man for whom the spotlight never twists away as he veers from sympathetic to suspicious and from a career-redefining powerful turn from Pike as nice-as-pie one moment and ice-queen-the-next-Amy, the woman who seems too good to be true (and who would be suited to femme fatales, Hitchcock and one of Linda Fiorentino's finest).

Elsewhere, Neil Patrick Harris takes suave and cool to a new unexpected level - but in a twisted David Fincher way. Further solid support comes from Carrie Coon as Nick's twin sister and Tyler Perry as an all-too-familiar high profile hotshot lawyer to stir this potboiler into a seething mix.

Fincher's also brought an insidiously stylish charm to this almost pulpy movie, and as the paradigm shifts so quickly and around the halfway mark, the creepy atmosphere is almost too much to bear as the cracks beneath the suburban veneer begin to show. Quick cuts in scenes mean you're never given chance to take in the dizzy turns, but also, you're never left behind.

Not since Twin Peaks has there been a drama about love, marriage and suburbia that's been as dark and as disturbing as this and that's largely in part to Fincher overseeing it all and your descent into moral depravity, complete with an unsettling Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross OST as this perversion of perception heads towards its final shockingly repugnant stretch.

At its heart, Gone Girl is a skewed and daring take on the trust between couples, marriage and the psychology thereof, a sly view on an unwanted "celebrity" life within the media and justice system and a shocking mystery thriller that's as button-pushing and as riveting as you can ever hope for.

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