The Falling: DVD Review

The Falling: DVD Review

Rating:R16
Released by Vendetta Films

Ethereal, bizarre, ambiguous, filled with subtext, trees and to be endlessly debated in film school.

All of these can be levelled against the dreamlike film The Falling, from the director of the truly sad documentary Dreams of A Life.

It's 1969 Britain at an all girls school and Abbie (Pugh) and Lydia (Williams) are intense BFFs at a time when sexuality and an awareness of the world around them are blossoming. However, when a tragedy occurs involving Abbie, Lydia's life is turned upside down by mysterious rhapsodic fainting fits.  Things get worse when other members of the school are similarly affected by the fits and soon there's an epidemic....Hazy echoes of Sofia Coppolla's The Virgin Suicides riddle parts of The Falling, garnering it with a touch of the mysterious and occasionally, the aloof. Themes of alienation and awakening are peppered through Morley's, at times slow, piece. It even borders on the fine line between enigmatic and deliberately opaque as it plays out. At one point, one character even intones "It's not simple, it's all about perception", a knowingly self-aware line that appears to tip its hat to the hauntingly oblique story within.

Game of Thrones' Arya Stark is self-assured throughout, imbuing her Lydia with a preternatural presence that's unsettling, leading you to question what's true and what's not. Equally, Pugh engenders her Abi with enough charisma to make you understand Lydia's loss. Peake makes a good fist out of the agoraphobic mum, Scacchi plays against type as a teacher and Dolan is suitably prissy as the school head.

But the real star of The Falling is the tone; granted there will be frustrations for some over lack of answers, but thanks to it being evocatively and disturbingly moody throughout with directorial use of subliminal flashes spliced in head-scratching moments, there's enough to ride you through the lulls and into the idea that a collective mania / strong bond could cause such ripples.

The one moment that feels out of place is the culmination of an incest story thread that worked better as a troubling portent rather than an outright exploration.

Ultimately arty, occasionally oblique and destined for debate, The Falling shows Brit cinema is in rude health and talents are rising to the top, even if the answers are short on coming.

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The Martian: Film Review

The Martian: Film Review

Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Eijofor
Director: Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott's latest film, The Martian, is a heartfelt paean to the time when NASA missions and the space race held the world in its thrall.

Based on Andy Weir's novel, Matt Damon stars as NASA astronaut Mark Watney, who's part of an ARES mission on Mars. When a storm hits the base, the crew's forced to flee the planet - but just before they leave, Watney's struck and believed dead. With a split-second decision to make, the commander of the team (Chastain) decides they must leave....

When Watney comes around on the red planet, he realises that he's on a foreign alien world, abandoned, with limited rations and with no way to contact NASA....

The Martian is, for the most part, really the Matt Damon show.

Channeling once again his affable everyman appeal to great dramatic effect, Damon manages to do much with little to interact with. Thanks to a narrative trick of having to record logs for back on Earth, Damon finds his Wilson and we, the audience, find some kind of semblance and route into what he's actually thinking, why he's doing it and how he's doing it as well (it's not hard to think of this film as Ridley Scott's audition for a NASA recruitment video).

Though one suspects there may be issues with some of the science (I'm not 100% sure that duct tape can fully seal a cracked spacesuit, or congealed blood), the fact that The Martian becomes a problem solving film is inherently one of its pluses, as it swings back and forth between Earth-bound efforts to save him and Watney's (occasionally convenient) efforts to survive on the surface of Mars.

It's back on earth that the ensemble cast really opens up to dramatic effect as the usual tropes of time and supplies threaten to run out and tough decisions have to be made. Daniels deserves mention for his relatively impassive head of NASA, the kind of guy you want to have make the tough decisions - and his stoic approach is counter-balanced by Bean's humane touch as the head of the crews of NASA. Equally, the politics of the situation are calmly thrown into the mix, rather than used as dramatic sounding posts.

It's fair to say The Martian lacks the urgency of the likes of Gravity, the hard science of Interstellar and channels more of Apollo 13's collaborative approach to humans being human and tackling problems. Wisely shorn of the hysterics that ramped up Gravity's stress-levels and avoiding any kind of mention of whether Watney has family waiting for him  (a bold dramatic move), Scott's insistence on getting on with the job, celebrating humanity's approach to dealing with problems and general resilience when the chips are down serve the story well. By bringing in bouts of unexpectedly humour on Watney's behalf, Scott and Damon make him a character to easily identify with even if his plight will be alien to many.

Mixing in disco songs and a prepping montage to David Bowie's Starman bring a level of cheesiness to the ever-so slightly overlong proceedings too, but not once does it truly threaten to derail Ridley Scott's latest space opus. His opening sequence continues his ethos that space is all well and good but can go to hell in a handcart in but seconds; and there are little signs of Watney losing the plot after so much time alone and being forced to "science the shit" out of his predicament. (Though Damon's facials when faced with the tantalising prospect of rescue say more than any dialogue could)

However, ultimately, The Martian is a heartfelt ode to NASA, a salutation to its dreams and dreamers among the stars and a rising chorus of support for humanity's place in the universe, both literally and metaphorically; it's sci-fi at its most stripped down and simplistic, but it's a film that is as aspirational as it is entertaining.

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A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night: DVD Review

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Ultra-stylish, sleek, sonorous and sensuous, A Girl Walks Home At Night is a definite must after its appearance at this year's New Zealand International Film Festival.

Set in the mythical Iranian ghost town of Bad City, this film sets out its store with its very first few shots. A James Dean-esque character lounges by a shed, as if modelling for a catalogue, before swooping in and stealing a cat and driving off in his car.

But this character is Arash, and his world is conflicted; his father is addicted to drugs, his debt to a dealer is close to being cashed in with the ultimate price to pay if the money is not forthcoming. However, Arash's world is changed when he meets up with a victim of the vamp in a veil (Sheila Vandi) who stalks the street at night - to say more would be to spoil it.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is from first-time director Lily Amirpour and her cinematic concoction is an intoxicating one.

Pristine monochrome visuals, affected with ease and afflicted with visually expressive shots are striking, leaving the viewer feeling like they're witnessing something iconic being born. The Blancanieves style aesthetic mixes with Jarmuschian sensibilities, and the whole thing's swathed in a Tom Waits glow, as the soundtrack crackles with hipsterish intent and sonorous simplicity. (In fact at times, with careful and considered direction and precisely choreographed moments, it feels like a music video, swathed in romance and cool)

Described by Amirpour as a cross between Sergio Leone and David Lynch, A Girl Walks Home At Night is like a Wild West of yore, but struck with louche expectations, rather than continual showdowns. A languid pace helps the shocks which come few and far between but renders them exceptionally effective. However, the director never loses her flair for visuals and comedy - where else can you expect to see a veiled vamp skateboarding down an empty street?

Simply put, this rich vein of vamp bursts with ingenuity and charisma; it's a film that aches and deserves to be loved, it's a dreamy dance with the devil and it's spell-binding viewing.
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Michael Brinker, lead designer for Rise of the Tomb Raider interview

Michael Brinker, lead designer for Rise of the Tomb Raider interview

During XONZ in Auckland, I was fortunate enough to get some time with Michael Brinker, lead designer of Crystal Dynamics for Rise of the Tomb Raider - we talked about what to expect of the game - and Lara Croft's Future.

Take a listen below:

XONZ Inter view - talking Forza Motorsport 6 with Chris Bishop

XONZ Interview - talking Forza Motorsport 6 with Chris Bishop

During Saturday's XONZ, I got to spend some time with Chris Bishop, global marketing manager for the Forza Franchise.

Take a listen to the interview talking Forza's future here.

XONZ 2015 hits town

XONZ 2015 hits town

Auckland got a first look at some of the big games coming to the XBox One very soon this weekend.

The inaugural XONZ hit town - and with it, some of the developers of the biggest games coming to the gaming console.

Devs from Forza Motorsport 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, the local Bethesda gang to talk Fallout 4 and 343 Industries of Halo were around to hang with 400 lucky fans who won a draw.

Below are some of the sights of XONZ for those who couldn't make it to play demos of the likes of

Halo 5: Guardians

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

Forza Motorsport 6

Rock Band 4

LEGO Dimensions

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

FIFA 16

Cuphead

Plague Inc.

Wasteland 2: The Director’s Cut

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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