Bad Ink: Season 1 Review

Bad Ink: Season 1 Review

Rating: M
Released by GDE and A&E

Who hasn't had a tattoo and regretted it?

Well, that's pretty much the raison d'etre for this A&E reality series focussing on tattoo artist Dirk Vermin and his mate Ruckus (both of whom are fairly seriously inked).

Set in Las Vegas, the boys meet stories of regret and bizarre tattoo moments and offer to help the victims of some Bad Ink. From the cringe-worthy to the truly stupid, this series takes a fly on the wall, car crash approach to the victims and the sideshow antics of Dirk and Ruckus.

And yet, it's eminently watchable because just when you think somebody else couldn't have a more bizarre story of how and where they got inked, they come along and surprise you.

14 episodes of disposable fun Bad Ink may be - but it's nicely pieced together, works well because of the central duo's dynamic and impresses for its frivolous but fair nature to its inked masses.

Rating:

Into The Woods: Blu Ray Review

Into The Woods: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Disney DVD

A veritable Venn diagram of fairy-tales collide on the big screen in this version of the Stephen Sondheim /  James Lapine Tony Award-winning musical, starring Meryl Streep as a blue-haired witch.

Centring on James Corden and Emily Blunt's baker and their wife, the story tells of how the pair try to reverse a witch's curse that has left them childless. Given the quest of collecting four items to revoke the spell, the duo heads off into the woods, encountering famous fairy-tale characters like Cinderella, Jack, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood on the way.

Into The Woods is a film of two halves. (Much like the musical in many ways)

The first hour is an irreverent, amusingly self-mocking look at the various stories and one which comes out of the stables firing on all cylinders, providing laughs, creepiness (Johnny Depp's cameo as the Big Bad Wolf is deeply unsettling) and setting the tone for the movie as it builds up to Happily Ever After aka the Disney norm - and what comes after.

Corden and Blunt have an affability that's endearing from the get go to the moment the shock-haired witch blows their bakery door down and reveals the deception within their world. Streep's compelling enough in the first hour, and commands most of the time she's on screen. Equally, Pine amuses in his OTT turn as the Prince, a blackguard whose hamminess is matched only by his poster boy poses and riffing on the perception of the Prince in fairy tales as a dishy dreamboat whose bravery is superseded by his ego.

But it's the second half of Into The Woods which really lets itself down - possibly due to the slavish debt to its source material. Characters we've been asked to care for in the build up are casually tossed to one side or dismissed as the Giant's widow attacks. And the glut really starts to kick in too, with the energy levels falling quickly as we lurch toward the finish line. However, the holes really show as emotional exits fail to hit any such note and blink-and-you'll-miss-them endings are wasted as the blandness of some of the characters comes through. Costuming and music impress though, with Streep's impressive charisma and relative presence being the main takeaway of Into The Woods.

Unfortunately though, when the pace drops, the paper-thin nature of the characters and the relative blandness of their actors seeps uncomfortably to the fore leaving you lamenting the fact the film feels overlong and unnecessarily stuffed to the gills with moments that miss the mark rather than seizing them.

If you go Into The Woods today, you may be in for a mixed ride.

Rating:

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead: Blu Ray Review

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Ent

Zombies.

They're everywhere in popular culture now, but this Aussie mash of the zombies and Mad Max visuals actually feels a lot fresher than perhaps you'd expect.

(And certainly fresher than the putrid corpses within).

Set in the Aussie outback, it's the story of Barry and his family who become the victims of the onset of a zombie plague and who battle for survival. Things aren't much better for Barry's sister, Brooke, an artist whose subjects turn on her and who finds herself in a government experiment as the situation gets worse.

Wyrmwood certainly shows no elements of its budgetary constraints (rumoured cost around $160K) and is gory in the extreme in parts.

It's also inventive as well, with meshes of the different genres clearly in play throughout. But the writers don't lose touch with the emotional side of events with one particular sequence oozing with desperation and tragedy (to say more would be to spoil it).

With Mad Max: Fury Road heading to cinemas soon, it's inevitable there will be some visual comparisons, but adding touches like having the zombies ooze a green gas emitted from their mouths is a nice visual that sets these undead slightly away from the rest of the hordes.

Fans of the genres will adore it and it's easy to see why it's lauded. Granted, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea given the central story, but any film which can breathe life into the undead who continue to be flogged deserves kudos.

Rating:

ZB Review - Mad Max et al

ZB Review - Mad Max et al

This week, it's all about Mad Max -

Take a listen to the Mad Max Movie Review with Jack Tame, as well as a Royal Night Out and Serena.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/darren-bevan-madcap-mad-max/

Wild Card: Blu Ray Review

Wild Card: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

The Stath returns with yet another action escapade that showcases what the British Van Damme is shaping up to be.

From the director of Con Air, Simon West, Statham is Nick Wild, a security expert and gambling addict working in Las Vegas. Wild finds a friend's beaten and abused by three unknown men - and he sets out to avenge her. But, Wild's dipping into this world has greater ramifications than he realises.

Wild Card is more drama than action thriller, with really only two fight sequences punctuating the scenes; it's a frustration if you're going for a Statham smackdown and to be honest, the dialogue is not perhaps the best or strongest.

Milo Ventimiglia makes a weak bad guy and that doesn't help matters as the story progresses. It may aim for brooding with Statham as Wild but it doesn't cut the mustard.

This Wild Card just ain't worth a gamble. Unless you're a real die hard Statham fan.

Rating:

Rainbow Six Siege dated

Rainbow Six Siege dated

TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX^® SIEGE

AVAILABLE ON OCTOBER 13th

Ubisoft Reveals Game Launch Date and Full Catalogue of Editions

Sydney, Australia – May 15, 2015 – Today, Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, the latest in the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six franchise, will be available worldwide on October 13th 2015 on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is inspired by real world counter-terrorist organisations, and puts players in the middle of lethal close-quarters confrontations. For the first time in a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six game, players will engage in sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position.

To watch video click image below – Release Date Trailer

The following editions will be available in the EMEA territories (Europe, Middle-East and Asia) with NCSA (North, Central and South America) details to be revealed at a later date:

·         The Art of Siege Edition, available for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege, includes the full game, a collector’s box, a Gold Skins Pack for all in-game weapons and an exclusive 120 page Tactical Guide. This high quality guide includes every single key element of the game – detailing each Counter Terrorist Unit, Operators, weapons, and maps with the highest level of detail and statistics. All this content has been created with the developer team and core gamers’ advice, giving you the most effective results in the field.

·          The Gold Edition which includes the Standard Edition and the Season Pass. 

·         The Tactical Elite Edition, a very limited edition available exclusively on the Uplay Shop that will include both Art of Siege Edition and Season Pass.

Players who pre-order the game will get guaranteed access to the Closed Beta which will begin at a later date this year. Those pre-ordering the physical version of the game at the Uplay Shop will receive not only their guaranteed Closed Beta access, but also an exclusive numbered steel book when the game is released. These editions can be pre-ordered at Uplay Shop by visiting http://shop.ubi.com/RainbowSixUplayShop

Additional details on the Season Pass will be revealed at a later time.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, visit: rainbow6.ubi.com. 

Destiny: House of Wolves trailer launch

Destiny: House of Wolves trailer launch

 

Expand your Destiny adventure with House of Wolves. Only the bravest Guardians will hunt down the rising Fallen threat and lay claim to the mysterious treasures of The Reef.                                   

To celebrate the upcoming Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves, which releases on Tuesday May 19^th, Bungie and Activision have released a brand new launch trailer