Paper Planes: Film Review

Paper Planes: Film Review

Cast: Ed Oxenbould, Sam Worthington, Deborah Mailman, David Wenham
Director: Robert Connolly

The director of Balibo has gone in completely the opposite direction with this family friendly movie that's refreshingly retro in many ways.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day star Ed Oxenbould is Dylan, a young kid living in Western Australia, whose dad's mired in grief following the death of his mother five months ago.

With his father (played with Aussie outback blokiness by Sam Worthington) refuses to move off the couch or show any interest in life around him, Dylan finds his interest piqued in a paper planes championship. When he makes it through to the national finals, Dylan discovers he faces threats and friendships in equal measures from those around him.

Paper Planes wears its heart on its sleeve with a gently refreshing naivety that some will find endearing, and others will find frankly infuriating.

Reminiscent of the gentle Children's Foundation dramas which used to play back in the UK on a Friday afternoon, its retro charm has certain limited and likeable appeal if you're willing to forego some of the lulls and some of the faintly sketched out characters.

Messages of competing for fun, not just for winning and the bonding of fathers and sons are likely to cause as much a ripple in some emotions as the frankly gravity defying CGI planes cutting through the air provoke incredulity.

Skewing young with its overt messages and earnestness, the piece is carried by the almost everyman behaviour of Dylan - as personified by Oxenbould's lispy, heavily cow-licked haircut kid. There's a certain charm to his turn as we celebrate the traditional kid in the Aussie outback (one early scene sees him playing Snake on an analogue phone while all his classmates turn in their latest iDevices to the teacher) and his underdog status.

But if Paper Planes stops from soaring, it's due to moments which demand the audience draw the dots and overlook the gaps in character development; Worthington spends most of the movie moping, Dylan's friendship with a chubby classmate barely progresses along the "let's put our differences aside and be mates" level, and the villain of the piece is more cardboard and stiff than the paper the planes are fashioned out of.

Ultimately, with its heart-on-its-sleeve earnestness and with a target of youngsters purely in mind, Paper Planes will hit its demo square on. It could have done with an expeditious trim here and there though, and some parents may feel the nostalgia of the past isn't quite enough to see them through - but you can guarantee that most of the kids watching this will be planning their own papyrus based miracles of aviation after the credits have rolled.

Rating:

The Congress: DVD Review

The Congress: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Sci-fi and satire are the order of the day of The Congress, from the director of Waltz with Bashir, Ari Folman.

Starring Robin Wright, and inspired by Stanislaw Lem's novel The Futurlogical Congress, it's the story of the actress Robin Wright, considered washed up by the Miramount studio. Unable to secure work for years, due to demands and concerns over looking after her son, Robin's offered one last contract by the studios to hand over her digital image so they can do what they want with her.

The only condition is she can never act again...

The Congress is a surrealist piece of cinema, that dances the line between head-scratching and reality with ease. But in among the animated weirdness, there's also a satire that hits at Hollywood and current pre-occupations with digital rights and intellectual property. Half animated, the film waltzes a line between Yellow Submarine with some truly gorgeous animation that is psychedelic and intoxicating to look at, as it mixes the line between sending up characters you know from Hollywood via classic WB animation with a dash of Ren and Stimpy.  It's the visual style which soars here initially before you immediately become accustomed to it.

And once you do, you realise that The Congress is quite a sad piece and potentially a warning to Hollywood over where it's going - there's no way that Folman's not constructed a piece which fires a shot over their bows telling them that the extremes they've painted in this picture could signal an interesting debate somewhere down the line. Pre-occupations with Hollywood fads, women in movies, ownership of properties - it's all up here for the discussion. There's a lot to debate and think on after this film - and that's no bad thing.

Serena: Blu Ray Review

Serena: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Ent

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence re-team after the success of American Hustle andThe Silver Linings Playbook in this Depression-era set tale, taken from the book by Ron Rash.

Cooper is George Pemberton, the owner of a timber empire, who's dealing with the possibility that his empire is being threatened by plans for a national park. However, there's a ray of light when he meets Serena (Lawrence) and decides they will be married.

Once the daughter of a tree empire owner, Serena proves to be very much Pemberton's equal in business and in love - but her arrival into the Smoky Mountains proves to be polarising, particularly when a former lover of Pemberton's and their illegitimate child comes back into the spotlight.

Serena aims for melodrama among the mountains, but ends up feeling like a melodrama with a muddled Mills and Boon pastiche thrown in for good measure.

The film's sat languishing on the shelf for a couple of years (it was shot before American Hustle) and while Cooper and Lawrence have that trademark chemistry, the adaptation of the book just fails to ignite any cinematic spark or drama that would have been inherent.

The whole feel of Serena is one of a mournful tale, from a long opening sequence of smoke hanging around the misty mountains to the simmering tensions and jealousies within, there's clearly enough material to make this work, yet it never quite takes off and soars into the drama that it clearly wants to be.

Part of the problem is that the revelations and actions of the third act feel forced in and don't resonate as perhaps they should; character motivation is simply shoe-horned in and never really feels plausible as the ideal passion-filled marriage apparently disintegrates.

Equally, the leads fail to really hit the notes needed for their characters; Lawrence feels oddly miscast and while she looks the part (all porcelain white face and crimped blonde bob), she lacks the usual subtlety needed to reach some of the emotional and psychological depths needed as she goes from sweetheart to Lady MacBeth. And Cooper reaches for dramatic but seems to be more sleep-walking than anything in this. Even an unrecognisable Rhys Ifans as a vengeful Golem-type character fails to hit anything other than a dirge.

While the film's beautifully shot, with the community at logger-heads over the foresting issue, there's a feeling that the haze in the mountains has also settled on the director and her cast in this over-cooked adaptation, which dulls more than dazzles thanks to a distinct lack of sympathy for the leads.

Rating:

What We Did On Our Holiday: DVD Review

What We Did On Our Holiday: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Trasnmission Pictures

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.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Movie Review - The Avengers, Boychoir and The Gunman

Newstalk ZB Movie Review - The Avengers, Boychoir and The Gunman

Jack was back this week after an ANZAC day break

This week, I talked The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Boychoir and The Gunman

Take a listen below!

ZB Movie Review

Annie: DVD Review

Annie: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

It's a hard knock life indeed.

Not just for the foster kids of Annie, but for anyone heading to see this relatively bland musical movie this coming festive season.

Gone is the renowned ginger kid (aside from an opening scene quirk of writing, aimed at cocking a snook at what used to be) and in is Beasts of the Southern Wild star Quvenzhane Wallis as the foster kid, who's full of pluck, smart-aleck charm and a propensity to burst out into song.

When Annie's rescued from being run down by mobile entrepreneur and mayoral hopeful, Will Stacks (Foxx) she's thrust into the limelight thanks to Stacks' approval ratings being boosted by his selfless act. But as Annie starts to become a part of  the germophobic Stacks' life, he starts to realise there is more to life than what he'd thought - but will he lose Annie forever?

Yes, the sun will indeed come out tomorrow.
If only to show those involved in this goofily energetic piece so imbued with a rap music /street vibe musicality that there is fresh hope of any semblance of life after Annie.

Granted, if you're on a sugar high or on some kind of medication, this unshakably perky take on the musical (complete with final act car chase and auto-tuning thrown in!) may well appeal thanks largely in part to Wallis' sincere take on the lil orphan Annie. Playing it remarkably seriously all the way through (with the odd exception of overt irritation), Wallis manages to convince you of the orphan's quest to find her parents when all around her seem to have stumbled in from some kind of pantomime.

Worst offender is Cameron Diaz's Hannigan, who "looks after" the foster kids for cash. Kicked out of C&C Music Factory (yes, really) just before they made it big, she's a booze-swilling panto dame whose bitterness at losing her big break is as evident as her flat singing during her big number "Little Girls".

Equally, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavalle seem to have issues reaching the right notes as the show goes on, with both their big scenes being let down by their vocal talents. As the Daddy Warbucks figure, Foxx is earnest enough to try and pull the sentimental Annie out of the mire, but it's the mix of tones that doesn't quite fit to the big screen. Granted, the comedy of Annie is part of the appeal of the stage show, but the emotion here doesn't translate as well in this formulaic attempt at family feel-good for the holidays.

Dished up with a big side of cheese, Annie is only worth seeing for Wallis, who manages to rise above with her reputation relatively intact.
Rating:

Ascendance has descended

Ascendance has descended

Ascendance, the second epic DLC pack for Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare is live on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC. Ascendance features four new action-packed maps, the formidable OHM weapon (a 2-in-1 directed energy light machine gun/shotgun), the OHM Werewolf custom variant, and Infection, the highly-anticipated next entry in Exo Zombies. In addition, the DLC pack also includes the all-new Exo Grapple ability playlist, which delivers a faster way to reach strategic vantage points, and also doubles as a brutal secondary weapon to take down the competition.

• Perplex: Get vertical in Sydney as you fight to dominate this five-story modular apartment complex. Take the high ground or blast through the close-quarters interior in this small to medium sized map. Adapt your strategy mid-match when construction drones shift apartment modules, creating new routes and cover positions.
• Site 244: A spacecraft has crash landed, spilling its mysterious cargo under the shadow of Mt. Rushmore, USA. This medium to large three-lane map allows for any style of gameplay, focusing combat through the space ship's fuselage and around the debris-littered landscape. Use the map-based scorestreak to crack open an alien spore and instantly enhance your perks and exo abilities.
• Climate: Fight your way through a futuristic man-made utopia in this lush, climate-controlled enclosure. In this small to medium sized circular map, land and water routes channel frenetic combat around the central island structure. Watch your step when the river water changes from an asset into a deadly bubbling obstacle.
• Chop Shop: Think fast as you make your way through the black market exoskeleton industrial complex and engage in fast-paced shootouts in this medium sized, symmetrical map. Activate the map-based scorestreak to take control of an Advanced Repulsion Turret that radiates a deadly microwave EMP to help lock down key areas.

The Exo Zombies saga continues in the all-new episode, Infection, as the four Atlas employees, portrayed by the returning celebrity cast of John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire, RED, Burn After Reading), Bill Paxton (Aliens, Titanic, Edge of Tomorrow), Rose McGowan (Planet Terror, Scream), and Jon Bernthal (Fury, The Wolf of Wall Street) fight tooth and nail through undead zombie hordes. Located on the outskirts of an Atlas facility, the new Exo Zombies episode introduces a slew of never-before-seen undead masses, a robust arsenal of new traps and armaments and everyone's favorite fast food joint, Burgertown.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Ascendance is also included in the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass*, where fans can get all four epic DLC Packs planned for the year, as part of the discounted bundle**. The Ascendance DLC Pack also includes the OHM 2-in-1 directed energy light machine gun/shotgun and the OHM Werewolf custom variant.