Big School: DVD Review

Big School: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

David Walliams' return to sitcom feels like something from a bygone era.

Walliams stars as teacher Keith Church who falls for new school recruit, Sarah (played by Catherine Tate), the French teacher brought in after the previous one died. The six part series follows the fraught attempt at courtship and the inanities of teaching at a school. (Organising a talent contest, Ironman entries, trip to France just a few of the situations the pair find themselves in)

To apparent comic effect.

Which is odd because Big School hits hardly any of the comic heights it aspires to, thanks to a script and punchlines which wouldn't feel out of place in the 1970s pantheon of great British comedies.

Big School is tried and tested formulaic gentle sitcom and while Tate and Walliams give their all to these deluded characters, they unfortunately begin to grate in their naivete. Granted there's a heart in this piece, but as a big sitcom with some big names, it all appears to be unfortunately rather trying.

As a school report may say of this show- Must try harder.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Review - American Sniper, Birdman, Into The Storm

Newstalk ZB Review - American Sniper, Birdman, Into The Storm

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-american-sniper-birdman-into-the-storm/

Into The Storm: Blu Ray Review

Into The Storm: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

The law of averages says a disaster film has to contain the following elements:

Nature in its full FX fury, people exclaiming they've never seen anything like it, people making extremely stupid decisions which are life-threatening in the face of danger - and a journey of redemption in the face of self-sacrifice.

Thankfully, Into The Storm contains all of those - and very little else.

Set in America (where else), in the city of Silverton, there are more than actual tornadoes going off over one day - there are emotional tornadoes lurking at every turn.

The action focuses on a group of storm chasers, headed up by Matt Walsh's Pete, whose number also includesThe Walking Dead star Sarah Wayne Callies'Allison. With the threat of funding being ripped from them after a miserable season, Pete's determined to get the money shot, putting the desire to succeed ahead of the feelings of his crew.

Elsewhere, Richard Armitage's school teacher Gary is trying to pull together the class for an outside graduation, while negotiating problems with his sons, Donny and Trey. And finally into that mix, there are a couple of Jackass loving, Youtube video creating daredevil idiots who are wandering around Silverton, filming.

All of this is the calm before the storm hits...

Into The Storm is exactly what you'd expect - as outlined above, it hits all the tropes and expectations of the genre but falls apart massively when it comes to the one-dimensional characters and their problems. Everyone's practically toting a hand-held camera in this as well, as the powers that be try and use the found footage genre to their advantage, but which slows the pace down as everybody stops to record every few minutes.

Visually, when the storms hit 30 minutes in, the FX work is stunningly well-realised and the destruction is calm and measured, rather than relying on overtly OTT shots (even if potentially some of the science may be a bit shonky). There's a relief when the storms finally hit, because the build up is slow, plodding and distinctly uninteresting. However, Quale (Final Destination 5) chooses to keep cutting away from the destruction (or it just peters out inexplicably) which frustrates, but keeps within the found footage genre. Additionally, the sound was incredibly under-utilized with the effects sounding like they were in a wind-tunnel rather than the fury of nature.

There are hints that sequels are planned (one scientist intones that these storms happen once every few years, rather than once every lifetime - and what could happen if it hits a city like LA or Chicago?) but it's possibly tele-event material ahead for this franchise, rather than long term accolades like with Twister. If the series could find some danger and an edge (it refuses steadfastly to kill off one character when the emotional weight of doing so would lift this much higher up) it could deliver more. (Kudos to the writer who penned the line delivered to Sarah Wayne Callies' character that it's like a zombie apocalypse out there...)

Ultimately, Into The Storm blows a lot of hot air, but delivers a washed-out fizzer rather than a weather-bomb.

Rating:


Extras: Tornado files, FX recreation, car break down

Critics Choice Award winners 2015

Critics Choice Award winners 2015

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood
Birdman
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory Of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory Of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory Of Everything
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into The Woods
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault In Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent
Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie
Noah Wiseman – The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into The Woods
Selma

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman – Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory Of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Unbroken – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild – Nick Hornby

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Birdman – Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator
Inherent Vice – David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator
Into The Woods – Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Snowpiercer – Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Birdman – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
Gone Girl – Kirk Baxter
Interstellar – Lee Smith
Whiplash – Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into The Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Foxcatcher
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Into The Woods
Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Edge Of Tomorrow
Guardians Of The Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Interstellar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie
Big Hero 6
The Book Of Life
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Guardians Of The Galaxy
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge Of Tomorrow
Fury

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Tom Cruise – Edge Of Tomorrow
Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt – Fury
Chris Pratt – Guardians Of The Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Edge Of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana – Guardians Of The Galaxy
Shailene Woodley – Divergent

BEST COMEDY
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Jon Favreau – Chef
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Bill Murray – St. Vincent
Chris Rock – Top Five
Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Interstellar
The Babadook
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Snowpiercer
Under The Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Life Itself
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days In Vietnam
The Overnighters

BEST SONG
Glory – Common/John Legend – Selma
Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
Everything Is Awesome – Jo Li And The Lonely Island – The Lego Movie
Lost Stars – Keira Knightley – Begin Again
Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

BEST SCORE
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory Of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Wild: Movie Review

Wild: Movie Review

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee

Based on Cheryl Strayed's memoir, adapted by Nick Hornby and directed by Dallas Buyers' Club's Jean-Marc Vallee, Wild has more than just calibre going for it.

Witherspoon (who produces too) stars as Strayed, who decides to hike more than a thousand miles along the Pacific Crest Trail after a series of life moments push her into action.

With Wild, it's best to know less about the background of the story and go with it - it begins with the tiny Witherspoon losing a shoe atop a mountain, and hurling the next shoe off before screaming at the top of her lungs. Is it fear, frustration, relief?

Vallee reveals much of Strayed's past through elliptical flashbacks, slicing and dicing the onion of time and peeling back multi-layers to her story in a way that draws you in and immerses you in Strayed's mental turmoil.

But, it's easily Witherspoon's film by far.

With her small frame eclipsed by a massive tramping pack that lightens as the journey goes on (the allegory and allusion of emotional baggage isn't subtly hammered home but is patently obvious), you clearly wonder how she's going to survive the ordeal as she heads out on her own with only her thoughts and demons for company. (Not even a few animals like Mia Wasikowska managed in Tracks last year).

But the inner resilience of Strayed is brought to life by a subtle Witherspoon and a side of her acting that we've not really seen before - a human vulnerability and complex emotional pull that's really quite affecting as the movie plays out. She's really grabbed something out of the bag to distract the naysayers who believe she's only fit for light and frothy material.

Masterfully weaving flashbacks and some timely moments of the era (a Jerry Garcia memorial setting the scene at one point to remind you of the chronology), Vallee's constructed a journey that is, in many ways, timeless and one that we've seen time and time again. Grief, temptations, familial relationships - all of these fall under the microscope and all have potential to elicit groans from a cynical audience bombarded with these tropes many times before.

Thankfully, the pairing of Vallee and Witherspoon proves to be a powerful concoction that's eminently watchable. Acting solo for the most part (aside from the odd occasional interactions), Witherspoon's already generating Oscar buzz as she straddles Strayed's quest to conquer the elements, her crippling past and her debilitating demons - it's a dazzling, heady watch that captures the essence of the appeal of being alone and yet also explores the uncertainty and doubt that nags at one's spiritual being when so alone.

Rating:

Foxcatcher: Movie Review

Foxcatcher: Film Review

Cast: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum, Vanessa Redgrave
Director: Bennett Miller

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.

And in Foxcatcher, the simple fact is that the true crime explored within is nothing more than intensely disturbing.

It's the story of Channing Tatum's Olympic gold winning athlete Mark Schultz, a veritable gorilla of  a man with a jutting jaw, and an increasing feeling of alienation and lack of self-worth. Having won the gold with his brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), Mark finds himself living alone, feasting on two-minute noodles and giving hollow speeches to school assemblies about what it takes to win a gold.

With his brother settled into wrestling coaching, Mark's listless and is contacted by John Du Pont (an unrecognisable Steve Carell, complete with prosthetic nose, stooped poise and swerving gaze) to come and coach a group of wrestlers with the aim of winning an Olympic gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Mark accepts, finding something of a kindred spirit in du Pont's apparent benevolence and patriotism and moves into the estate. But, when Du Pont insists on bringing his brother to work in the gym, the quest and its subsequent journey is a mere catalyst for what comes next.

Foxcatcher is a deeply unsettling, an aloof and disturbed movie that's likely to haunt you for days to come.

Miller (who directed Capote and Moneyball) has constructed something minimalist and almost aloof that challenges as much as it chills and creeps. By refusing to delve too deeply into the background of Dupont or the Schulz brothers (we never fully know whether Mark's so resentful of his brother or if there was a bust up) and by using a controlled and measured method, Miller's made it that you have to work to get the reward out of the intense, slow-burning fear of dread that gnaws away at you as this claustrophobic drama plays out. Scenes of wrestling, lingering looks and silence (both spoken and from the soundtrack) say more than reams of on-screen exposition ever would.

At its centre is a career-U-turn of the highest order from Steve Carell, whose pallid exterior and prosthetic nose demeanour seek to disguise the actor from everything you've ever experienced from him - a la Charlize Theron in Monster. Every scene that he's in moves a little closer to making you feel uncomfortable as this fascinating story plays out and as Dupont insinuates his way into Mark's life. But, there are moments when Dupont transcends the creepy weird benefactor who never blinks once in a scene tag; a moment when he explains to his mother what he's doing and her visit to the gym ache with a subtext that's sublime - and one scene where he frees horses is the closest to a release the character gets (though even that drips with a dread that's ever present).

Equally, Tatum channels desperation, frustration and an inability to externalise Mark's opinions with an expert touch. Hunched and ape-like, Mark's vulnerability, grunting and aching desire to find something to desperately cling to are brilliantly realised because of both his acting and Miller's camera hanging on him awkwardly. Likewise, Ruffalo's brother says more with a few looks than any words could do; scenes where his concern for his brother are evident but can't be expressed are excellently committed to the screen - all of the players in this bizarre piece bring their A game.

While Miller plays a little fast and loose with some of the facts of the case (the denouement wisely omits a siege and trial), the slow-burning tension actually produces a richer character tapestry as a result. The subsequent histrionics of such an ending would only provide a deeper understanding of why DuPont was how he was - but by withholding those, there's more a cinematic sense of unease which is commendable.

Restrained, tragic and minimal, Foxcatcher is easily the most uncomfortable film of the year. But it's also the most impressive thanks to two career-redefining turns from Carell and Tatum, which drip with poignancy.

Rating:

Unbroken: Film Review

Unbroken: Film Review

Cast: Jack O'Connell, Domnhall Gleeson, Miyavi
Director: Angelina Jolie

The fact that after a gruelling 2 hours and 20 minutes director Angelina Jolie chose to end Unbroken with a Coldplay song (Miracles) speaks volumes to what she's trying (and just failing) to strive for here with this passion project.

Unbroken is the remarkably powerful (in parts) true story of Louis "Louie" Zamperini (Starred Up's Jack O'Connell) an immigrant whose fortunes changed for the worst when he was shot down during a 1943 bombing raid. With only two fellow survivors, the former Olympic athlete Zamperini survived 47 days lost at sea only to be rescued by the Japanese and thrown into a Prisoner of War camp and consequently brutalised by the guard's sneering commandant (Miyavi).

Aiming for inspirational but thanks to the over-use of bon mots such as "Forgive the sin, smile on the sinner" and "If I can take it, I can make it" (a couple of many sayings espoused rather thickly at the beginning), Unbroken is a curious beast, preferring to go for cliche and many war film tropes rather than demonstrate directorial flair.

The first half is unwisely consumed with Zamperini's running (something akin to Chariots of Fire as he pounds the track and trounces both the opposition and timings) and talking philosophy, cooking and religion while being lost at sea in a surreal spin on Life Of Pi. It's a move which nearly fatally derails the film; while the intention is clearly to demonstrate how Zamperini is a true survivor and was at his lowest when he was subjected to even more in the camps.

However, if Jolie had perhaps restrained that hour and peppered it more with flashbacks, it may have worked; particularly given how powerful and horrific some of the imagery she commands in the second half is, showing her eye for the gruesome detail.

It's ironic because the second half of Unbroken which focuses on Zamperini's internment is actually where the power of the film lies but the confines of the genre and the cliches come to the fore.

The real issue is the focus of the film - it's so squarely on Zamperini that nobody else gets a look in; the camp leader known as the Bird (played by Miyavi) is your dyed-in-the-wool bad guy and all those around Zamperini (colleagues, crew-members) are so lightly written and sketched that they barely register on the dramatic scale.

Thankfully, O'Connell continues to show why he's a fast rising star by giving Zamperini the pluck, resilience and humanity needed while enduring what he's had to. There's no denying that Louie suffered greatly and was denied the closure he needed as his war experiences accrued; and there's also no denying that O'Connell imbues his character with a much needed in point to help endure the occasionally over-wrought and lumpen drama.

I had wanted to leave Unbroken with a sense of inspiration; what I left feeling is that it was more a conventional war film that I had to endure in parts rather than salute the spirit of a man who suffered more than any human ever should.

Rating: