Terminator: Genisys Trailer is here

Terminator: Genisys Trailer is here

He is back.

Here's the first look at the first Terminator: Genisys trailer

What We Did On Our Holiday: Movie Review

What We Did On Our Holiday: Movie Review

Cast: David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, Billy Connolly, Ben Miller, Celia Imrie
Director: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin

The producers of Brit comedy Drop The Dead Donkey and (perhaps more relevantly) Outnumbered essentially produce another version of Outnumbered with a parallel cast.

Dr Who star David Tennant and Gone Girl Rosamund Pike star as Doug and Abi, who are about to head their separate ways and more pressingly to Scotland for Doug's father Gordy's birthday.

As the duo - along with three kids - pack up and head north, the inevitable tensions begin to rear their heads. Convincing the children not to say anything about the separation has varying degrees of success, but when the family hits the homestead, it soon becomes clear that Gordy's health is deteriorating quickly - and any revelations will hasten his potential demise.

Cue the predictable cracks, exasperations and awkward moments that seem to plague British family get togethers and summer holidays within the UK...

What We Did On Our Holiday is very good at honing in on what it's like to be eminently British and how to behave during strained family outings. But it's plagued with moments which feel forced, an uneven tone that doesn't veer too closely to broad comedy or drama to be effective enough.

Using the old adage of "kids say the darndest things" at the worst moment, the trio of children are set up as wiser than their parents and unleash truth bombs and absurdities for maximum effect. However, it's a mix that doesn't quite gel unfortunately, given the wealth of talent involved.

Tennant is as watchable as ever, mixing a bit of OTT behaviour and drama; Pike is relatively straight-laced; and there's a certain tragic irony in seeing a maudlin Connolly play a man who's quite sick. The issue really with What We Did On Our Holiday is more one of tone; by not quite deciding whether to delve deep into farce or drama, the script feels all too predictable and inevitably mawkish (even with the occasional spontaneous reactions from the children) as the secrets and lies swirl around before bubbling over.

The central conceit that adults don't know enough and children do thanks to their innocence and all-seeing eyes, as well as explosive secrets coming out at inopportune family meetings just feels all too familiar and lacks the freshness to give What We Did On Our Holiday an edge or bite that it desperately needs as it teeters between pathos and tragedy.

A final act resolution jars and feels unnatural in places thanks to the pacing of beforehand, but there are bittersweet moments and performances in What We Did On Our Holiday which help you through - and may even provoke a feeling of familiarity.

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Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Film Review

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Film Review

Cast: Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould
Director: Miguel Arteta

Disney fires off a pre-Christmas cannon shot in the form of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a safe, relatively inoffensive piece of family fare.

Predicated on the idea that Alexander (a lispy Aussie Oxenbould) is always having bad days, while his family's life is going to perfection.

His mom (an uptight And underused Jennifer Garner) is on the verge of scoring a VP role with a book launch, his stay-at-home dad is about to score a much-needed job interview, his brother Anthony (an Alan Ruckish Dylan Minnette) is about to take his driving test and take his girl to the prom and his sister is about to storm the stage as the star of Peter Pan.

Whereas the Aussie-obsessed Alexander is feeling neglected since a baby was born into the brood, rejected as his birthday party is happening at the same time as a popular kid and is struggling to vocalise his feelings to his school crush.

On his 12th birthday, he makes a wish they'd all have a bad day like him...

Which, of course, this being a Disney comedy about family and values, they subsequently do.

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day does exactly what it sets out to do and makes the journey along the way a relatively pleasant one to endure.

With some silly laughs for the kids and a couple of adult-only zingers, as well as Dick van Dyke making a cameo, it's all fairly safe family fare that never deviates into dangerous territory or is in danger of having parents dive for to cover their children's ears.

Carell provides the laughs in his usual deadpan and nonsensical way and while the kids aren't overly cute moppets with perfection in range, they are perfectly relatable and watchable in this relatively toothless family comedy which doesn't outstay its welcome with a zippy run time.

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day won't be the biggest Christmas hit here from the studio (that accolade's likely to go to the animated Big Hero 6) but it is a timely reminder as we head into the holidays of the power of family pulling together and the fact that no good, very bad, horrible days sometimes pan out quite well if you stay positive.

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Terminator: Genisys trailer drops...soon

Terminator: Genisys trailer drops...soon

It's very nearly time - the Terminator: Genisys trailer will be arriving soon...

Horrible Bosses 2: Film Review

Horrible Bosses 2: Film Review

Cast: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey
Director: Sean Anders

Horrible Bosses 2 posits the theory that in order to not deal with Horrible Bosses, it's better if you have to branch out on your own.

In theory, self-starters are a great economic boon; but in cinematic practice, this second outing for the inept (and borderline annoying) gang is nothing short of once over lightly again, with the jokes stretched as repetitiously thin as the first time around.

Nick, Kurt and Dale (Bateman, Sudeikis and Day respectively) are sick of working for the man, so decide to become the man by starting up their own ShowerBuddy company. However, when they get ripped off by Christoph Waltz's CEO Bert Hanson and his son Rex (a brilliantly cast Chris Pine who steals scenes left, right and centre), they're suddenly facing a massive crisis.

So, brainstorming they decide the only way out of the predicament is to kidnap Hanson's son...

As with Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2 sets the bar low early on with a series of visual gross out gags that involve showers, shadows, Day and Sudeikis and doesn't really aim much higher throughout.

While the bond between the trio is still evident and the comic charisma is there among these starting -to-grate Three Stooges, the material simply isn't enough to propel this flick through. And things get worse when the characters from the previous film are rolled out to up the ante on what they did before; so Jennifer Aniston's sex-addicted dentist gets to be filthier, Kevin Spacey's jailed boss gets to rant and seethe through the other side of the prison glass and Jamie Foxx's criminal gets extended screen time, but none of them really add to the mix.

Waltz is wasted and Pine is the only one who actually helps propel the all-too familiar daddy- doesn't-love-me-how-can-I-get-his-attention storyline along with a unchained performance that actually brings some fire to the screen.

To be fair, a couple of moments hit their target including an amusing car chase that plays with the perceptions of what it should be and takes things to their logically absurd conclusion. End-credits come with the usual yuks and fluffs, but given the material wasn't that strong in the first place, even they feel tired.

Mediocre and just not funny enough, Horrible Bosses 2 is a massive disappointment to end 2014 on.

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What We Do In The Shadows: DVD Review

What We Do In The Shadows: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

There's a lot at stake for this vampire mockumentary movie set in Wellington, following Taika Waititi's success with Boy.

Boy director Taika Waititi directs and acts alongside Flight Of The Conchords star and co-director Jemaine Clement in this piece that's been put together by the duo and breathes some life into the undead who have traditionally been a little staid and stuffy in recent cinematic outings.

It follows the exploits of three vampire flatmates Viago (Waititi), Deacon (Brugh) and Vladislav (Clement) who are trying to do all they can to get by in modern day New Zealand. From paying the rent to sticking to the house work roster, the trio's got an uneasy alliance with the petty squabbles of flatmates coming to the fore.

But when a newcomer Nick (a deadpan dry Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) comes into their lives and is turned into a vampire, everything within the dynamic changes as the group gears up for the annual Masquerade Ball that's the pinnacle of their society as well as trying to maintain their level of secrecy within the Lower Hutt area.

What We Do In The Shadows(funded as it is by the New Zealand Documentary Board in one of the earliest laugh out loud moments) is packed full of smart, sly gags.

From visual gags to outright slapstick, this played-not-for-laughs piece is  more or less a riotous gem from beginning to end, slyly mocking the conventions of the vampire world but also showing a deft understanding of what makes the genre so appealing.

There's a devilishly delicious playful tone running throughout - but one which is underpinned by a level of sadness that adds a welcome level of melancholia to some of the proceedings. Viago's tormented by the fact his one true love grew old without him, Deacon's rattled by the newcomer Nick into the house gang, feeling his position as the cool dude is under threat and underneath all the depraved behaviour, Vladislav is threatened by his nemesis, The Beast.

While the spoof hits a little bit of a lull around two thirds mark (but manages to shake that off in the final home strait), it's the gags which keep providing some smart laughs as well as the laconic leads' turns.

Waititi anchors the start of the film, but then wisely positions Viago more in the background as this series of some interviews with some vampires begins to bear some of its teeth. Brugh takes on more of the centre stage as his cocky young vampire feels threatened by Gonzalez-Macuer's Nick - the scenes where they try to one up each other work very well, and channel eternal rivalries which persist between flatmates and acquaintances. Equally, Clement shows his usual comic mettle with Vladislav and throws some pathos into the relationship with the Beast

There's an underplayed quirkiness to the film which benefits from a subtlety that beats through its veins. Viago prefers to lay newspaper and towels down before draining his victims; a quick sight gag involves the vampires drawing each other to demonstrate what they look like before hitting the streets of Wellington, one vampire says he'll stay in to do his bidding before a quick cutaway to hisbeing on TradeMe - all of these quality gags come thick and fast and point to the horror comedy genre being given a shot of Kiwi blood in the arm.

It's fangs to Taika and Jemaine thatWhat We Do In The Shadows hits so many of the marks they're aspiring to; for a subject that's been around for centuries, it's certainly been given a fresh once over in one of the smartest Kiwi comedies to hit our cinemas. It's a vampire movie that doesn't sparkle - or suck.

Quite simply, What We Do In The Shadows has an undead beating fun heart that's hard to deny - it's a fresh and hilariously smart take on the mockumentary that rewards as much in laughs as it does in intelligent film-making.
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The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: Movie Review

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: Movie Review

Cast: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Evangeline Lily, Christopher Lee
Director: Peter Jackson

And so the unexpected journey comes to a much expected end.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies feels like the most workman-like of the franchise though, with it having to resolve a myriad of plot-threads, tie the film to the Lord of the Rings and also end it on a high.

Opening with Smaug's desolation of Laketown and then seeing him off in relatively quick time thanks to Bard the Bowman's shenanigans, Jackson seems keen to give the film a roaring blast of action before it kicks into a web of plotting, politicking and planning ahead of a major fight at the end.

With Smaug dispatched and several of the main characters of Laketown crushed asunder, the focus shifts onto Thorin (Richard Armitage) and his succumbing to "dragon sickness" and the corruption within the gold as he essentially initiates a stand-off by threatening to go back on his word as the forces amass around the King under the mountain in his stronghold.

But as Gandalf soon realises, Thorin's insane gambit is threatening to destroy all of the unity between elves, humans and dwarves; and that could prove detrimental as the Orc forces amass...

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is considerably lighter on plot than the previous outings, with all roads essentially leading to a mammoth confrontation toward the end that recalls Jackson's prior Rings outings in terms of action, spectacle and relative excitement (even though placing Legolas occasionally in peril is dramatically pointless given how he figures in the LOTR trilogy).

There are character moments within, though, noticeably fewer than what's gone before and with some of the residents of Laketown (including the Master's squire who appears to have wandered in from a pantomime rather than channeling more of the weasel) throwing in some relatively ropey acting / dialogue, some of these flaws unfortunately stand out a little more than in prior outings.


Conflicts between Orlando Bloom's Legolas and an icy Lee Pace's Thranduil, the resolution of the love triangle between Evangeline Lilly's Tauriel, Legolas and Being Human Aidan Turner's Kili, and Thorin's face-off with just about everyone who comes near him as well as the orc Azog are all thrown into the mix and vehemently stirred asunder before boiling over.

Freeman's Bilbo appears less on the screen this time - likewise the majority of the dwarves - but he once again shows why he's the perfect actor for the Hobbit. A simple look, twitch of his face can tell more than a thousand words and is used to maximum effect throughout. Equally, it's Armitage who steps up to the plate this time with the dragon sickness malignancy adding a much needed dimension and giving him the dramatic weight that's needed as we head to the end sprint.

Newcomer Billy Connolly makes an impression as the Glasgow kiss-touting cousin Dain of Thorin and proves to be the perfect tonic to lots of portentous talk and foreboding; Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, and Ian Holm all appear, giving the movie the chance it needs to lead into the Lord of The Rings series and imbuing it all with an continuity that's needed for its conclusion.

The inventive action sequences as Jackson's camera sweeps across giant plains do much to impress and showcase the technical prowess of all involved, providing a scope that's befitting of the scale of what's occurring and Jackson's not lost his eye for spectacle with Legolas's escape from a falling bridge showing there's visual creativity still left to be had in the series as he moves the figures around like a war master toying with a giant open-world set of goodies and baddies.

In among the bluster of the blockbuster trappings and once the dust has settled on the incredible action sequences, the overall feeling is that The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies thrills and frustrates in equal measures.

Tauriel's sidelined as the love interest in this, which is a frustration given how much she stood out as a point of difference during The Desolation of Smaug; Bard the Bowman simply disappears from proceedings once his usefulness is dramatically spent and the majority of the Company of Dwarves (with the exception of Ken Stott's Balin and Richard Armitage's Thorin) is simply set-dressing, lacking the emotional edge that was so evident in the last film as it built to its crescendo. This time around, it lacks the cohesion needed to push the series into air-punching rousing territory as it ends.

Spectacular it may be, and an achievement from Sir Peter Jackson and his team it undoubtedly is, but The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies brings the series to an end in a relatively uneven fashion. As a standalone film, it just misses the mark due to some dramatic constraints, but as part of a series, it proves a fitting send-off to Middle Earth.

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