Win a double pass to Disney's Tomorrowland movie!

Win a double pass to Disney's Tomorrowland movie

Thanks to my good friends at Walt Disney Pictures, I'm giving you a chance to win a double pass to see Tomorrowland! I've got 3 to giveaway!

It launches in cinemas from May 28th - and all you have to do is email in with the subject Tomorrowland in the title and your name and address!

Email here darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Competition will close on May 30th - and editor's decision is final!

Good luck!

Tomorrowland:

Bound by a shared destiny, a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor jaded by disillusionment embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as "Tomorrowland."

Starring George Clooney and directed by Brad Bird, Tomorrowland is in cinemas May 28th.

The Interview: Blu Ray Review

The Interview: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Sony Home Ent

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"

Peter Finch in the movie Network and the hackers who threw Sony into disarray have a lot in common in The Interview, which has been the target of either a very smartly chaotic marketing plan or the embodiment of all that is evil in the cinema.

However, with all manner of pre-publicity and talk threatening the launch of The Interview, it's certainly gathered some momentum, with shades of the rather un-PC Team America and South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut thrown in for good measure.

James Franco once again over-acts as the sharp-suited, false-smiling Dave Skylark, the presenter of a news talk show that deals more in tittle tattle than hard news (witnessEminem coming out on the show and Rob Lowe revealing he wears a wig in obligatory self-deprecating cameos) but scores big in the ratings.

However, his behind-the-scenes guy Aaron Rappaport (Seth Rogen in usual laid-back stoner form) is rattled when at a celebration for 1,000 episodes, another news show producer rails at him for the cheap and tawdry nature of his show.

But the manchild boys are thrust into the limelight when they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un is a fan of the show and has granted them an interview. As they prep to head to Pyongyang, the CIA (lead by a largely sidelined Lizzy Caplan) demands they kill Jong-Un for the good of the world....

The Interview is as scabrous, puerile and as scatalogical as you'd expect from the team who brought youPineapple Express.

Ineptitude and goofiness, as well as all things anal consume the uneven script as Franco and Rogen continue their on-screen bromance to largely comic effect. Mixing in racism and a sly piece of satire on the state of the Buzzfeed and continuing celeb obsession of our culture, The Interview works as a piece of comedy that's designed to entertain, occasionally offend and nothing else.

Franco's over-acting initially grates, but proves to be the perfect antidote to the situation in Pyongyang as the star-struck Skylark falls under the spell of Randall Park's apparently insecure, margherita loving, Katy Perry Firework adoring, B-balling Jong-Un (sound familiar, Dennis Rodman?); his resistance to carry out the assassination plays nicely against Rogen's uptight caught-in-the-headlights stooge and gives the comedy the broadness and low-hanging fruit it panders to. Their continued eminent likeability helps you through the odd moment that feels crass and base as this frat-based relationship head abroad.

Caplan's horrendously sidelined in a film that throws out the line "This Is 2014, women are smart now", so perhaps that's a blessing; and Park deserves some credit as the Supreme Leader, channeling moments of Dr Evil-like insecurity, general madness and adding more of a dimension to a character that could have just been a broad parody. Even America and their domestic policy comes under scrutiny, so the writers have ensured that it's not just North Korea who's in the firing line.

With a third act that goes for as much violence and a slow-mo helicopter destruction shot that's clearly going to upset the North Korean leader and nation, The Interview has nowhere to go but up its own butt (an analogy I expect those involved in the film will delightfully relish) and into familiar OTT action territory.

And yet, it's unshakably funny, ribald and pointless to rail against The Interview.

Rogen, Franco and Goldberg have certainly got some cinematic balls to take this on given the furore that Sony's currently enduring; but they've got some even bigger balls to have produced something that manages to avoid the majority of its excesses and turn them into something that seems tame in comparison to outrage that's been levelled at it.

Rating:

A Royal Night Out: Film Review

A Royal Night Out: Film Review

Cast: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powley, Emily Watson, Rupert Everett, Jack Reynor
Director: Julian Jarrold

Talk about your fortuitous timing.

Released a week after the 70th anniversary of VE Day and just days after the birth of a new royal Princess, A Royal Night Out couldn't be cresting more on the wave of national ex-pat pride if it tried hard enough.

It's the story of Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) and Margaret (Bel Powley), who, on the eve of VE Day being declared after years of uncertainty and war, are determined to break out from the palace and experience an evening outside the walls and with the common people. At Margaret's insistence and against a haughty Emily Watson's Queen Elizabeth's wishes, Elizabeth gets her father King George (Rupert Everett) to agree, playing on the insecurity about how his post-war speech will be received.

However, when the duo head out with army chaperones onto the town, they're split up by circumstance; Margaret, determined to embrace the party girl within, ends up on the seedier sides of London and it's up to the prissier and more serious Elizabeth to track her down before they break their curfew...

A Royal Night Out is a screwball farce that seems to attempt to ground the Royals as being like one of us (to paraphrase Joan Osborne)

Kinky Boots' director Jarrold has no desire to bring fully rounded characters to the screen, preferring to concentrate more on creating the atmosphere and euphoria sweeping through London during the evening flag-waving celebrations, which he does excellently thanks to the swinging 40s soundtrack and attention to period detail.

But the whole thing starts to feel like Carry On Princesses, thanks in part to Powley's crowd-pleasing antics and hijinks that teeter dangerously into parody with her toodle-pip plummy accent (Wizard being one of her cries to the masses at a party) and OTT shenanigans, falling in with a spiv (a wonderful turn from Roger Allam) and ending up in a knocking shop.

Equally, Elizabeth's friendship with an airman Jack (played with one dimensional lustre by Jack Reynor) is as wooden as they come, with no hint of any kind of sparks or connection at any point (perhaps a deliberately scripted intention aimed at not causing any offence to HRH) but which stretches credulity throughout.

Though, given this is all flight of fancy material, pitched against a background of patriotism and nostalgia, credulity is hardly high on anyone's agenda.

The one hint of something approaching a tinge of sadness as Elizabeth realises her role will see her torn between her own desires for life and the restrictions of the title is quickly brushed under the carpet; a dramatic conceit that's got no place in this upbeat generic crowd-pleaser.

It's said that The Queen is not amused by this speculation into her and her sister's apparent night out; but crowds are likely to be enamoured with this veritable cheesy souffle, concocted of cliche and pip-pip attitude which skews older; but at the end of the day, A Royal Night Out is as forgettable as they come, a kind of cinematic hangover after the night before.

Rating:

The Fall: Season 2 DVD Review

The Fall: Season 2 DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

The first season of this cat and mouse thriller with X Files star Gillian Anderson and Fifty Shades of Grey's Jamie Dornan was essential viewing.

As the final episode rolled round, it was clear that Anderson's cop Stella Gibson wasn't going to catch her serial killing nemesis Paul Spector (Dornan) and a sense of weariness that this game was going to go on for more episodes.

Series 2 carries a little of that malaise unfortunately, despite being superlatively shot, meticulously plotted and evenly paced (ie a little slow at times).  The action picks up 10 days after Gibson received the call from Spector and starts to ratchet up the tension, while stretching the credibility a little.

Both Anderson and Dornan are excellent though; with Anderson's cool cop being a blessing given today's insistence on wrapping things up with pace and speed. But it's the side stories which drag season 2 down a little into mediocrity having had the first season soar without limit.

It's still superior viewing, but there's no denying the claustrophobic thrill of the first season and the cold fear creeping down your neck just isn't there as it should be. And news there's a season 3 is something of a disappointment, despite the six episodes.

Sometimes, less is more.

Rating:

St Vincent: Blu Ray Review

St Vincent: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Bill Murray proves to be the big draw card in St Vincent, a story that's been done time and again.

A grouchy and grumpy Murray is Vincent, a hard-drinking, gambling, crank-pot of a man whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of new neighbours in the form of Melissa McCarthy's single mom Maggie and her son Oliver (Lieberher). When Oliver's bullied at school and has his stuff stolen, he ends up having to stay with Vincent while his mom finishes her shift - unamused but seeing there's a chance to make some cash from his neighbour, Vincent takes the kid under his wing - but under his own terms....

Soon, Oliver's learning street smarts and friendship from Vincent while visiting bars and the dog track. However, it's not long before reality comes crashing in.

St Vincent won't win any awards for its screenplay, given that it's not the most original of stories or character arcs. But it's a turn from Murray, who's clearly relishing playing it fast and loose as a cantankerous grouch that makes St Vincent rise above its clearly sentimental gloopy centre.

Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd and Naomi Watts have all minor roles orbiting Murray's Vietnam vet gone bad, but all turn in solid performances to round out the cast and give the piece some quiet heart and soul.

Equally, newcomer Lieberher holds his own against Murray and proves to be the spot-on foil he needs to offset some of the crankiness on display. But, director Melfi's wise enough not to overplay the sentiment of the part from his child actor when things head into truly predictable territory.

That's the thing with St Vincent - it's an entirely obvious movie (and slightly implausible ending) that proves to be a crowd-pleasing treat thanks in large part to Murray's performance. By charting a course from unlikeable to softening his edges, Murray will help blow out any of the funk you may feel - as well as distract you from any of the predictability you see on the screen.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB review - Pitch Perfect 2, The Ground We Won

Newstalk ZB review - Pitch Perfect 2, The Ground We Won

Reviewing the new Pitch Perfect and rugby based doco The Ground We Won with Jack Tame on NewsTalk ZB.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-pitch-perfect-2-the-ground-we-won/

Mr Turner: DVD Review

Mr Turner: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Transmission Films

Renowned directorial miserabilist Mike Leigh teams up once again with actor Timothy Spall to bring to life the final 25 years of the canvas of Brit painter JMW Turner.

In this biopic, we witness the life of Turner as he rambles from one moment to the next in this relatively plotless film that makes more of its garish characters than anything else.

As we join Turner in a truly gorgeous opening shot with windmills in the background, Leigh pans to reveal the silhouette of the relatively rotund artist delighting in his daubings. It's a moody yet whistfully evocative shot that sets the tone for the piece as it shows how far Turner will go for his art, how dismissive of his apparent family he was - other than his beloved father, his interactions with other artists at the Royal Academy of Arts and his trips away to another wife and another life.

Throughout all the swirling of life's great canvas and negotiating through this 150 minute journey is Leigh regular and Brit stalwart Spall. He's already collected accolades for this portrayal of the relatively unlikeable man, who grunts his way through interactions like some kind of superior pig, revelling in acrylic muck. But throughout the bottom-gruelling biopic, Spall is the guiding light within as Leigh's direction and script do little to pander to the cultural ignoramuses who may attend this.

Some of Spall's best scenes come when he lets Turner's guard down; a fumbling desperate sexual encounter with his housekeeper, a breakdown after his father's death while attempting to draw a prostitute and an interest in the invention of the camera towards the end of his life show a man creatively trapped and lacking the respect and the public admiration from his time. Spall does little to hide his Turner from the vile, and uses it to his advantage bringing the man vividly to life.

While Leigh's eye for the visual is never anything less than stunning, with seaside vistas and shots of Turner tied to a ship's mast to help his recreation for his art being just two of the moments which stand out.

But all in all, Mr Turner is a film about more than broad brush strokes; it's just a film that left me relatively cold in terms of emotion; granted, Spall's character work as the pot-bellied Turner is nothing short of awards-worthy - particularly in the sequence where his father dies., but the emotional pull is distinctly lacking and the relative repugnance of the man does more to drive you away than pull you in.

Rating: