The Rover: Blu Ray Review

The Rover: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

How do you follow a critical smash like Animal Kingdom?

By staying in Australia and going into an apocalyptic world if you're director David Michod.

Starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce, this is set 10 years after a mysterious "collapse" turned everyone in Aussie a little feral and made the law of the gun the law of the land.

Pearce is Eric, whose life is somewhat of a mystery but who's determined to get back his beloved car when a band of outlaws fleeing from an event unknown make off with it, having crashed their own means of transport. Setting off after the group, the grim faced Eric comes across the injured Rey (Pattinson) and finding out he has a link to those crims, he makes him his passenger to ensure his aims are met...

An unusual road movie The Rover may be but it's also an unconventional buddy film as well as Rey and Eric head deeper into the post apocalyptic outback. While Michod never explains exactly what's happened, the inferences are easy to read - and particularly given Eric's state of mind, there's some debate over whether the "collapse" refers to his outlook and life as well as the global one.

Stark imagery is posted throughout the film, and glimpses rather than dwelling on them do much to show the true horror of what's gone on - particularly powerful are the hideous brief views of people crucified on power poles is one of the most terrifying that's on show.

Michod's crafted together something here which hits some highs but also hits a few narrative lows - a showdown at a ranch is dismissed when the tension's being ramped up, leading to issues over escape and what happened next. Equally though, the bleak cold bloodedness of Pearce's Eric is frightening, with only a couple of clues seeded as to why he's so keen to get his car back. The final shot seems like a cruel joke in many ways, a joke played on the audience who's invested time in this road movie - but it's symptomatic of the slightly skewed take on the world that Michod's created.

While Pearce is impressive and grimly stoic as the determined and wearied Eric - witness his face when he's asked by one character what there is to get worked up about these days, Pattinson is the opposite, all tics and vocal jumps as he channels what's lovingly labelled a halfwit by some in the movie.

There are a couple of moments when The Rover doesn't fire as best it could - including a tense build up to a shoot out at a farm which simply cuts away as the dramatic beats reach a crescendo. It's moments like that which provoke frustration with The Rover, but perhaps demonstrate how much Michod is willing to stray from expectations. 

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Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series: DVD Review

Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

With a cast list reading like a Who's Who, Freaks and Geeks is the TV series that launched a thousand faces, made only one series and then had ripples throughout the TV world.

Set in an American high school and all horror that that encompasses, the piece is a funny, poignant and heart-breaking journey as we follow the Weir siblings Lindsay and Sam through the daily tribulations of the high school routine; from bullies to small victories at proms during the 1980s.

Freaks and Geeks really nails the outsider feeling but also presents a cast that are particularly relatable to anyone who's been through the school system (which is pretty much all of us). As well as the joys of spotting a pre-famous cast, there's an ease of story-telling and a heart which becomes compulsive viewing.

The series has gathered a devoted cult following through the years and it's easy to see why - from slackers to geeks, there's the whole emotional gamut to run through here - issues are raised and explored and never in a movie of the week after school special feel.

There's just something unique about these 18 episodes - if you're serious about TV, it's a set you can't afford to be without.

Newstalk ZB Review - The Dead Lands, St Vincent, and 22 Jump Street

Newstalk ZB Review - The Dead Lands, St Vincent, and 22 Jump Street

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-at-the-flicks/

Ghostbusters I and II: Blu Ray Review

Ghostbusters I and II: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Sony Home Ent

Who ya gonna call?

If you don't know the answer to that one by now, you clearly need to get these two Blu Ray releases as soon as is humanly possible.

Re-released in its 30th anniversary, it stars Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis as three psychologists dealing with an outbreak of ghosts and ghouls in New York. Also starring Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters still holds up as one of the absolute bests of the genre - a comedy horror that's a blast no matter how many times you see it.

Remastered and still a great treat, this double pack is worth your time - without a shadow of a doubt.

Ex Machina Trailer

Ex Machina Trailer

Ex Machina stars future Star Wars ensemble player Domhnall Gleeson as a programmer at an Internet giant who wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain estate belonging to the company’s CEO (Oscar Isaac). 

Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test—charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. 

That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined. The film was written by Alex Garland and is his directorial debut.

Ex Machina is in cinemas March 5th, 2015.

Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge out of Water trailer

Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge out of Water trailer

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: SPONGE OUT OF WATER, reaching cinemas on April 2^nd, 2015.

SpongeBob SquarePants, the world’s favourite sea dwelling invertebrate, comes ashore to our world for his most super-heroic adventure yet.

Directed by Paul Tibbitt (SpongeBob Squarepants TV Showrunner), the film stars Antonio Banderas, Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence and Douglas Lawrence. 

The film was also written by SpongeBob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets: DVD Review

Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

Florian Habicht's foray into the music doco genre is to be frank, a triumph.

Bookending with Common People at the Sheffield venue the band finished the tour in 2012 cleverly captures the essence and exuberance Pulp has brought to many through their energetic live shows and countless albums.

But it's the common touch and gentle humour that Habicht captures on the streets of Sheffield which serves him the best. Choosing a clever range of subjects from around the grim northern city best demonstrates both the English attitude as well as the devotion Cocker's clan inspires in all.

From the dance troupe to the harmony group, the kids who are given a chance to star in a movie to the old ladies who believe Cocker's dad is onetime warbler Joe, Florian displays once again an eye for the indomitable spirit and unflappable way the English have when given a chance to appear on screen.

But it's the warmth that propels this with Habicht's disarming technique once again rising to the fore. Cocker is not spared this approach either, whether it be filming him changing a tyre or showing his range of medical options that are at gigs in case something happens, each moment is constructed for maximum crowd pleasing effect.

However, scratch beneath that veneer and there's a hint of something more revealing; such as Cocker revealing that fame was like a bit allergy or keyboard player Candida Doyle fearing illness would cripple her chances of re-joining the band, there's something beneath the surface.

Habicht's eye for a shot never deserts him either; be it a beautiful slow mo shot of Cocker hurling toilet rolls from the stage with an impish grin or the mundanity of a news stand's billboard ( Fall woman broke every bone in her body) the canvas is richly decorated and wonderfully observed in this hash of concert footage and real life.

(One only hopes Habicht's captured all of the concert performance and intends to release it; it would make a perfect companion piece.)

All in all, Pulp: A Film about Life, Death and Supermarkets is a fusing of two masters; a genius fusion and meeting of like minds and possesses a joie de vivre that's undeniably essential. 

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