The Judge: Movie Review

The Judge: Movie Review

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Leighton Meester
Director: David Dobkin

Robert Downey Jr moves away from his iron-clad superhero counterpart for more human concerns in this drama outing that's as much about fathers and sons as it is justice.

Robert Downey Jr is cocksure lawyer Hank Palmer, who's the epitome of a big city lawyer; flashy home, flashy court antics, quick fire verbosity and a trophy wife. But when he gets a call that his mother's died, he's forced to head home to a world he left behind years ago - and an estranged father (Robert Duvall) who's also the home town judge.

Things go from bad to worse for this big city fish in the small town pond when his father's accused of murder on the day of his mother's funeral - and soon, Hank's forced into begrudgingly giving his services to try and ensure his father doesn't spend his final days behind bars.

The Judge is less courtroom drama, more matters-of-the-heart kind of piece / home-coming dramatics , with Downey Jr's quick-fire rapid skills taking a dial down for more emotional intensity as we negotiate the waters of home-spun sentimentality.

Sure, all the borderline sentimental / schmaltzy cliches are there - the rift between father and son, the chequered past between a trio of brothers, a home-town love that never really left, a question over paternity and a distant daughter to reconnect to - but Downey Jr's relatively restrained and charismatic turn helps you negotiate through the potential mire of predictability of an ever-so slightly overlong two-and-a-half hour drama.

Duvall and Downey Jr have a good chemistry as the decades-old tension is played out and the hostility of estrangement is worked through; certainly as resentments bubble up and boil over, they're nicely played out (even if they're lazily worked into the narrative and unsubtly hammered home; one major row / metaphor comes just as a storm hits the town and is done by the time it all blows over the next day) but there's never anything short of entirely obvious on the screen.

If there's anything objectionable about The Judge, it's really down to how extraneous some characters end up being; a questionable tryst with Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester's bar keep is glossed over and used only dramatically toward the end, the other two brothers fare the worst, with Mark Strong's mentally handicapped Dale apparently on hand to just ask questions, help the audience out and play-out some home movies to ramp up the sentimentality of the past montages; equally D'Onofrio's towering performance largely being sidelined after some initial promise and Farmiga's love interest is there simply when it suits.

At the end of the day, any objections to abject button-pushing and rank sentimentality are over-ruled by the eminently watchable Duvall and Downey Jr show in their third outing together; their headstrong head-butting proves the main drive and focus for this melodrama and while the outcome is never anything less than obvious, the occasionally meandering journey to the final destination is what (just) raises The Judge above its mawkishness.

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Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies poster revealed

Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies poster revealed

Love, Rosie: Movie Review

Love, Rosie: Movie Review

Cast: Lily Collins, Sam Claflin, Tamsin Egerton, Suki Waterhouse, Jaime Winstone
Director: Christian Ditter

From the "One time this lead would have been played by Hugh Grant" file comes this latest Brit romantic comedy, based on the Cecilia Ahern book, Where Rainbows End.

Alex (Claflin) and Rosie (Collins) have been best friends since they were 5 years old, but on Rosie's 18th birthday, a drunken kiss changes everything between them. Orbiting a will-they, won't-they trajectory, life and other loves find a way of setting their trajectories on other paths...

Love, Rosie follows the well-worn path of most romantic comedies; a pair of winsome leads, who try to generate chemistry by lots of stolen glances, aching near-lingering kisses and the fluffiest of situations.

It begins at a wedding with Collins' Rosie teetering on heartbreak and winds its way back through the most predictable and bland narrative fare you'd expect from the author of tear-jerker PS I Love You.

That's not to say there aren't some moments when the youthful exuberance and absurdly comic situations manage to slightly defy your expectations (Rosie's loss of her virginity providing some much needed comedy early on before the sappiness sets in), but this entirely saccharine movie knows exactly how it wants to play you and your emotions from the schmaltz-laden get go.

Claflin channels some Hugh Grantisms and looks like a dead ringer for Kris Marshall in places; but, like Collins, is blandly inoffensive as he negotiates the back and forth of marriages, mistakes and mis-timings. In among the occasional screwball interludes and saccharine minefield of babies guaranteed to get certain sections of the female audience cooing, there's the feeling that it's all too familiar to really stand out in the pantheon of rom-coms.

That, coupled with the fact that the peripherary characters that come in and out of our protagonists' orbit are so badly underwritten and cliched (probably a fault of the source material) that they never feel like a real threat or choice to Alex and Rosie's life decisions, means that Love, Rosie is as bland a romcom offering as you'd expect.

It's all perfectly pleasant and will hit its core audience squarely and perfectly, but I can't help shake the nagging feeling that it's not as sophisticated or as smart as rom-coms used to be back in the day...

Rating:



 

Orphan Black S1 and S2 Blu Ray Review

Orphan Black S1 and S2 Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Sci-fi doesn't get more loved than this Canadian series, which proves you're never clone alone.

Tatiana Maslany delivers an acting masterclass as a woman who assumes the identity of a lookalike after witnessing a suicide. But unbeknownst to her, it's just the first of a series of clones as she starts to wade in to a massive conspiracy around her...

Orphan Black is a series which thrives on the twists and excels on its lead actress, Tatiana Maslany who plays so many variations of a similar character with such aplomb, it's a crying shame her subtleties of performances have yet to be critically acclaimed with awards.

The series is intelligent, low budget sci fi that works well on ideas but never falls short of inventiveness. Just when you think the show's running out of steam, the writers throw a curveball your way and send you desperately scrabbling for the next episode.

Clever and original, both of these seasons are smart, intelligent and well worthy of your time - particularly as season 3 is on the way.

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Forza Horizon 2: XBox One Review

Forza Horizon 2: XBox One Review

Publisher: Playground Games
Platform: XBox One

It seems it's the season for driving games.

What with this and Driveclub on the way for PlayStation, the racing is back as a de rigeur destination for the gamer. Mixing arcade and simulation, along with open-world driving, Forza Horizon 2 is a follow up to the 2012 title of a similar name.

And it's utterly addictive and totally indispensable.

With the Horizon car festival relocating to the south of Europe this time around, the team has decided to mix up the fun and laissez faire feel of the first with the next generation graphics of the current console generations. Lead by Sean Maguire's relatively perfectly rendered Ben, you're inducted into the Horizon festival without any real hubbub and set loose upon the roads to face a series of challenges, with a range of different cars to rely upon.

What a lot of cars there are too - around a hundred at the launch, with even more on the way. So there's not likely to be a lack of choice anytime soon. But the biggest problem with these driving games and one which has put me off somewhat in the past is the way the less able drivers (cough, myself) are penalised for being unable to perfect the turns, take the speeds and avoid hitting things. It's almost as if the developers have taken a page out of the Need For Speed pure bubblegum elements and realised the way to open this up to all is to embrace all levels of drivers. So, Forza Horizon 2 rewards you for drifting around corners and taking them too fast, for smashing through signs and through plowing through fields. Granted, you won't win races for such displays of driving, but you won't be penalised either, with your XP meter rising up for every last little move you make.

As well as the races for each region's championship ( 4 of each) there are plenty of other challenges to face too - from the Bucket List tasks thrust around the open world routes where you're tasked with a range of challenges from getting to a certain speed or wrecking a golf course to various XP boards around which need smashing for points, there's plenty to help you wile away the time. And that's the thing with Forza Horizon 2, you can spend days engrossed with the driving and challenging other drivers in races or head-to-heads or you can pick it up and simply hoon about, fill up your Credits to help you buy cars or your XP to boost your meter. There's a disposability to this game that makes it utterly commanding of any time you spend with it.

Even while you're offline, the Drivatar element which has been brought over from Forza Motorsport 5 helps you out with your car taking part in races while you're asleep or stuck in the office, so you're never left behind. From unlockable perks to a random wheel spin, there are elements designed to help you progress through the ranks; speed traps and cameras to race through and unlock XP - the list really does go on.

Graphically, this game soars too - with the cars looking beyond perfection and the open world environment looking like a picture postcard trip in south Europe. It's superlative on the eyes and it's beautifully rendered - along with the weather environments too, which have been brought in to help perfect the idea that you're in the world and that world reacts around you with the unpredictability and beauty that nature holds.

Forza Horizon 2 is a triumph - a driving game that rewards any level of racer and engrosses any gamer who's wanting to be immersed in a world and part of it. It's easily one of the games of the year for the XBox One and a sign that the next generation, when done right, is damn near close to player perfection.

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Forza Horizon 2 - Ben Penrose Q&A

Forza Horizon 2 - Ben Penrose Q&A

Ben Penrose is the Art Director of “Forza Horizon 2” and leads a team of artists and creatives at Playground Games in Leamington Spa, UK. “Forza Horizon 2” uses the next evolution of the best-in-class Forza graphics engine to deliver full day and night cycle with spectacular weather, lighting, and visual effects.

What can you tell us about Forza Horizon 2?  Horizon 2 is an open world racing game set in southern Europe. Specifically in areas based in Northern Tuscany and the South of France. At its foundation, the game runs on the core engine developed for Forza 5 by Turn 10 studios. That means as well as our open world you will enjoy a best in class physics model and incredibly accurate car models.

Ben Penrose, Playground Games

You’re the art director of the project. Have you been involved in other Forza Horizons series – if so, what did you specifically set out to do this time around?

I joined the Playground team during development on the first Forza Horizon title as a concept artist, so I would be interpreting research photos from a location into designs for the games open world. Since then, I worked up to Associate Art Director and am now the studios main Art Director. In this role it was generally my job to define how the game should look and set out a plan for achieving that through the course of its development. It also meant steering the art ship to maintain that course and communicate our art intentions to the rest of the studio.

This time the game’s more Europe based, what was the reasoning behind that decision – and also what were the challenges?

Europe gave us some great driving roads to use as inspiration. As an art director, it also gave me some stunning environments that we could draw from to produce that signature ‘Horizon Beauty’.

The weather’s the big thing in this game – you’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to get it right?

Yes, weather is obviously a big deal to Forza players because this is the first time it has featured in franchise so we really felt like it was something that we had to get right and treat with as much obsessive attention to detail as we do every other aspect of the game. That meant working out the difference between the way a car drives when the road is drying, verses how it drives when the road initially gets wet.

It’s the first time that such a system’s been employed in Forza – how did the team achieve that?

We spent a long time prototyping various solutions until we found something that ticked all those authenticity boxes.

Do you think that was something which could only have been achieved on the Xbox One?

I think to achieve it in the manner that is executed in Horizon 2, it was only possible with a move to the new hardware. Effects like the real-time road reflections are something we wouldn’t have dreamt of doing previously.

How do you rate the next gen consoles – what’s your experiences of them, both as a gamer and as an art director?

I think as with any tech upgrade it allows for a whole new raft of artistic opportunities. I think specifically it allows you to get even closer to a desired vision than you might have been able to before. I think as a gamer it’s difficult to evaluate. Once you work in development, it becomes the real game changer with regards to how you experience games yourself.

You’re based in the Midlands in the UK (near where I went to Uni), is that starting to become a thriving ground for game development now?

I also went to Uni there… how interesting, Birmingham to be exact. I think actually this university’s response to training requirements for students looking to get into the industry is really driving a lot of that uptake in the video game industry in the UK. I think that for some fairly random reasons the Midlands has been the origination point for many studios. I think for that reason, it will always be a thriving development hub in the UK but I also see a lot of growing influence elsewhere, especially towards the capital.

How do you rate the current gaming environment – what have been your favourite games to play in recent years?

I think the shift to the new consoles has been as interesting/exciting as it is always is. I think as it usually happens there will be some huge leaps in all kinds of aspects with regards to the new generation of games. My personal highlight so far has been Wolfenstein and Destiny – that game is so pretty.

As Digital Nationz has shown, there are plenty of gamers out there – what advice would you give to those who want to get involved in the industry?

I think the industry is increasingly multi-faceted and the key to entering the industry is to find which aspect it is that excites you and consume that subject in a way that constantly tailors to your skill set in the way that makes you an exciting candidate to a developer. It might be art, design, engineering, audio - the avenues the vast!

Just finally – give us a secret about Forza Horizon 2 that you’ve told no-one yet….

Ahhhh… unfortunately it’s been reviewed now so it’s all out there. Nice try though. ;)

Bad Neighbours: Blu Ray Review

Bad Neighbours: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Universal Home Ent

We all know how important it is to have good neighbours. (As the song goes, "Everybody needs Good Neighbours").

Well, this new comedy takes that suburban fear to new heights.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne stars as Mac and Kelly Radner, who've recently had a kid and are struggling to get back into the fun side of their lives. But, fun comes knocking in more ways than one when a fraternity moves next door to them.

Despite president Teddy (Zac Efron) promising to keep the noise down, Mac's forced to call the cops - and suddenly, it's all out war as a feud quickly escalates between the two homes....

Bad Neighbours does exactly what its raucous trailer suggests - and the fact it has Seth Rogen only serves to compound the gross behaviour on display. The film sets its stall out right away as Mac tells his wife he's taking her to "boner town"; and the gross out gags don't stop there - and actually culminate with Mac trying to milk his wife one morning after they've been out partying with the frat. Subtle it ain't, but amusing it is - if you're prepared to lower your standards and check your brain at the door.

And yet for all the base accusations you can level at Bad Neighbours, and its low brow humour, there are some genuinely funny laugh out loud moments, giving you a sense of fun at this movie more than anything.

Rogen phones in his usual slacker stoner humour as the war begins to escalate; Byrne proves a good foil for Rogen, keeping up with his level; and Efron tries, but just slightly fails to bring an edgier touch to his high school goodie two shoes image as the suburban turf war gets into gear.

The only real problem with Bad Neighbours is that at about the two thirds mark, it runs out of collective steam, with nowhere to go. Having showcased the generational difference between Mac, a Michael Keaton loving Batman and Teddy, whose Batman is gravel-voiced Christian Bale, the film throws any attempts at narrative out the window and just decides it has to end it all in the last third with an Efron / Rogen showdown that amuses but pales in comparison to what has already gone on.

If you're prepared to check your brain at the door, and fancy a raucous laugh that doesn't challenge you too much (and even proffers up one of the cutest babies committed to celluloid) then Bad Neighbours will be for you. It may even make you go home and reconsider your stance on that house that's always partying into the wee small hours....

Extras: deleted scenes, on the set, gag reel

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