The Age Of Adaline: Blu Ray Review

The Age Of Adaline: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

It feels like a Nicholas Sparks mash up with A Curious Case Of Benjamin Button elements thrown in, but yet portions of The Age of Adaline manage to transcend the syrupy conventions of romantic fantasy.

One time Gossip Girl star Blake Lively is Adaline, a woman who was born at the turn of the century and who has not aged a day; she's seen San Francisco come and go, its major landmarks ravaged by time and earthquakes but yet she's weathered them all.

Fearing that she's become isolated from all around her and with her chance for a normal life and love fading as every year springs eternal, a meeting with a philanthropist Ellis (Huisman) on the stroke of midnight at a New Year's Eve party sets Adaline on a course she could never have predicted.

The Age Of Adaline is a sumptuous feast for the eyes - but not really for the brain unless you like romantic tosh.

It's thanks in no part to Blake Lively who revels in the chance to tout some beautiful costumes and cut a swathe through period locations.

Revelling in its Nicholas Sparks' style trappings, this romantic fantasy has a portentous voiceover that spouts aphorism and pomposity with ease, leading the film down a holier-than-thou approach and lending the supernatural trappings a self-referential feeling as it struggles through its exposition heavy opening.

The elegaic piece packs a twist halfway through proceedings which will be polarising, as the film of coincidence heads to its final denouement and phrases like "You've lived, but never had a life" peppering the at times corny dialogue.

But it's exquisitely shot, with the ruminations on life beautifully sign-posted throughout.

The film's never better than when it lets Lively take the stage; her radiance shines through and enlivens proceedings, stopping them from becoming a wallowing piece of pulpy romantic trash.Game of Thrones star Huisman barely registers a pulse as the love interest, and even Harrison Ford who crops up midway through seems a little lost in parts as he navigates the conventions of the genre under the guidance of Celeste and Jesse Forever's director Krieger.

Ultimately, despite the romantic trappings and despite a strong pathos filled turn from Lively, The Age of Adaline is a movie of two halves; its divisive twist proves the tipping point into absurdity for me personally, and its final scenes creak with ridicule due to a lack of actual resolution rather than a glow that the sombre piece elicits early on.

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The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Blu Ray Review

The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Madman Home Ent

There is just something about Ray Harryhausen's old films.

In this world of CGI, where soulless flicks roam with nary a heart but a plethora of special effects, there's something incredible that a world of stop motion can still thrill.

Harryhausen was the master of his domain and this four movie collection (Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger) still demonstrates his power (Though I will confess to being surprised that Clash of the Titans is not on this set).

Remastered on Blu Ray, the stories look as good as they ever will but maybe don't quite hold up as much as you'd hope but were still way ahead of their time in the 1970s. Documentaries and insights into the films add much - even with Leonard Nimoy beaming in to narrate one of them) but it's the timeless fantastical element which still thrills to this day.

Perhaps, sadly, some will never marvel at the power of imagination and creation given the FX heavy world we live in, but true cinephiles will adore this set and the endless creativity of Harryhausen.

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The Jinx: DVD Review

The Jinx: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

The Robert Durst story may be familiar to some, but not others.

However, back in March, the conclusion of this documentary mini-series blew the internet apart.

And rightly so, as the shock factor was incredible.

To the uninitiated, it's the story of Robert Durst, the heir to a New York empire who was accused of the murder of his former neighbour and his wife who disappeared 30 years ago. He was also suspected in the death of a close friend who had Mafia connections and appeared to have been executed on the eve of talking to the police.

Filmmakers Marc Smerling and Andrew Jarecki were drawn into this story when a fictional film version of the murders was released; and to their surprise, the accused Durst got in touch, wanting to set the record straight.

So, over six 45 minute episodes, the film-makers lay out the story, the accusations and intersperse it with interviews from Durst about his side of events.

To say more about The Jinx would be to rob you of the power of the doco series that revels in its true crime origins and is a superbly polished production. It's also phenomenally gripping too, with the subject matter like a Hollywood film and the twists so astounding. But not once do Smerling and Jarecki lay it on thick - straight story-telling, investigative journalism and a calm, measured presentation impress - and lead to a final episode shocker that throws everything on its head.

Utterly unmissable and an unlikely hit, The Jinx is simply a series you need to own and see to witness the capturing of a zeitgeist.

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Pixels: Film Review

Pixels: Film Review

Cast: Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan, Brian Cox, Kevin James
Director: Chris Columbus

When it comes to Adam Sandler comedies, the bar is not exactly very high.

But to say Sandler looks incredibly bored and lifeless throughout this is a damning expression of disappointment given the fact that Pixels could have been very good.

Instead, this story flops along.

It's the tale of Sandler's former arcade gamer Sam who's thrust into saving the world by his buddy, the President, played by Kevin James (yep, folks it's the movies - where it appears anything is possible) when aliens attack based on a time capsule sent into space in the 1980s.

Along for the ride is Josh Gad, channeling his very best Jack Black, as fellow arcade geek and former King of Kong style nemesis, pint-sized Eddie (Game of Thrones star and Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, who hams it up as much as he can along with the swagger) - but none of them, bar Dinklage, bring any real heft to the proceedings.

Which is a shame, because Pixels is swathed in a kind of 80s nostalgia that's as comforting as it is familiar to many - the idea that the naive innocence of games way back when could see our ultimate destruction is one which appeals to me as a gamer.

Based on the short film Pixels by Patrick Jean, the production values and the 3D ethos certainly work in this blocky execution to brilliant effect - certainly by the final act where the Earth's overrun by gaming creatures from the past, there will be elements of the audience that will bathe in the reminscence while the younger end will not recognise anything other than Pac-Man at a push.

All in all, Pixels isn't as bad as perhaps it could have been - it's perfectly fine family fodder that lives in a universe of its own making - but if anything it suffers from an apathy from its lead that's contagious. Not once does Sandler's character seem to remotely care what's happening and unfortunately, as a result, most of the audience feel the same. And while the computer elements are brilliantly visualised, the human characters - aside from Dinklage - are sketchily outlined and barely filled in.

Carve Pixels up to a wasted opportunity; another Hollywood idea that fell by the wayside and file it under "great idea, poorly executed".

Game over.

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The Intern: Film Review

The Intern: Film Review

Cast: Robert DeNiro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Adam Devine
Director: Nancy Meyers

Director Nancy Meyers (It's Complicated, Something's Gotta Give) is back in familiar territory in The Intern.

70-year old widower Ben (played by Robert De Niro) has lived in Brooklyn all his life, and worked there all his life. So without a wife, and in retirement, he's found it all a bit of a shock. On a whim he decides to apply for a senior internship at Anne Hathaway's Jules Ostin's online fashion business. Accepted into the programme, and allocated to Jules, Ben tries to settle back into the groove - but the hyper-controlling Jules isn't willing to accept him without a fight - and matters get more complicated when Ben's made Jules' intern...

Generation gap comedy The Intern is a veritable fluffy jumper of a movie, a flick that revels in its cosiness as it espouses tritely veiled bon mots about experience being more vital in this day and age but oft overlooked.

Following a meta-thread that seems to hint at the once ferocious De Niro's place in the acting world and throws to the notion the man must take a succession of comedic roles that call on him to produce a series of gurning moments, its vanilla sensibilities threaten to over-season this gentle dish, best served to an audience seeking easy and predictably recognisable laughs.

Going from The Devil Wears Prada's put-upon assistant to now top dog, Hathaway's self-aggrandisement begins to falter as the script calls upon her to crumble, destroying the earlier set out notion that career women can have it all in this modern day world. Clearly according to Meyer's film, that's not actually the case when push comes to shove. 

And yet with a degree of affability on the parts of both leads, this soufflé of a film begins to rise in parts above its conceit and belief that hey an older person in the workplace can have its benefits. But only once they master turning on a computer or the vagueries of joining the Facebook. Be still, my compromised and patronised sides.

In fact, the lightly once over script may just win over some people - even with a moment shoehorned in that sees Ben and the other interns forced to break into Jules' mom's house to retrieve a wrongly sent email. Meyers knows when to mix the farce into the frothy niceness on show and does so with reasonable aplomb, even if the element of the story feels bolted on and at odds with Ben's insistence on guiding Jules through life.

Ultimately, The Intern is no place for cynicism, no place for thinly veiled  sarcasm - it's one of those films which is pleasantly made, wholly predictable and utterly the sum of its parts. It does exactly what it says on the tin, celebrates the nice guy mentality of Ben and perfectly services an audience not wanting to be challenged on a night out.

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Pitch Perfect 2: Blu Ray Review

Pitch Perfect 2: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent


The pitches are back in the sequel to the phenomenally popular Pitch Perfect.

After a humiliating command performance at Lincoln Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.

But Anna Kendrick's Beca's mind is on other things as she looks to move on from the Bellas, graduate from college and get a life.

Pitch Perfect 2 rarely hits the harmonious highs of the first flick, which perfectly mixed sentiment, warm fuzzies, accapella musical goodness and a deft sprinkling of characterisation as well as some damn funny laughs.

The problem is that this time around as the movie negotiates that difficult second album, the group's already known and so it's more left to the newbie Hailee Steinfeld (whose mum was once a Bella and whose desire is to follow in her shoes) to provide some of the life and vitality as the next generation of the Bellas to come to the ball.

But, it's not quite handled as well, with Steinfeld's Emily feeling very much one-note rather than the whole aria, with not the slightest hint of character coming through for most of the time she's on screen.

Equally, Anna Kendrick's Beca, the slightly acerbic yet eminently likeable character from the first, is forced to the sidelines a little, despite having the only real chance to develop away from the group, thanks to an internship at a music producer's company providing her a lifeline after the Barden Bellas.

Predictably, Aussie comedy behemoth Rebel Wilson gets her fair share of the awkward and offbeat funny lines, from her opening Wrecking Ball turn offending a certain Commander in Chief and precipitating the Bellas' fall from grace. But she's also saddled with a romantic subplot with the first flick's Bumper that really goes nowhere aside from one perfectly executed sequence that wraps it all up, leaving you feeling the movie has wasted too many opportunities.

The problem is this difficult second album doesn't feel like it has that much to the story, as it lurches from one musical number to the next with the flimsiest of threads, with each set piece energetically directed by Elizabeth Banks, delivering the frenzy and high energy you'd expect from music videos. Banks has an astute eye for the comic moments though, and the musical scenes fizzle where the rest of the film fails to crackle.

However, that's not enough to stop the energy levels sagging when the movie heads away and back into the rather underwritten Bellas' quest to regain their position at the top. There's no ebb and flow between these moments and it cripples the feel-good factor as it bounces between yet another excuse to launch into more singing.

There are two sequences in the film that remind you of the glory of the first; the opening dance for the president has the amusement factor of both the Bellas and Banks and her erstwhile co-commentator (and occasionally racist and bigoted) John Michael Higgins delivering the slightly bizarre laughs for maximum effect. The second collects all the girls together at a campfire as they try to re-discover their mojo, with a version of that Cups song and a slapstick punchline that mixes both the sweetness of the relationships and the broader laughs that the first Pitch Perfect captured so perfectly.

By not keeping the gang together, reducing most of the Bellas to stereotypes or punchlines of their own gags or ignoring them completely, this frothy over-long, over-stuffed feels like an excuse to launch Now That's What I Call Pitch Perfect - The Album, whereas in fact the second Pitch Perfect hits too many bum notes throughout.

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New Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer drops

New Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer drops

In “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” Lara Croft embarks on her first great tomb raiding expedition to uncover an ancient mystery that places her in the cross-hairs of a ruthless organization known as Trinity. 

This new trailer – entitled “Descent Into Legend” – features never-before-seen gameplay footage as Lara explores vast, awe-inspiring ancient tombs filled with traps and puzzles, and battles the harsh elements and landscapes in her search for the Lost City of Kitezh.

Fans will set out on their own great tomb raiding adventure when the game launches on Xbox One and Xbox 360 on November 10.