Zoe Bell at The Hateful Eight: NZ Premiere

Zoe Bell at The Hateful Eight: NZ Premiere

Here are some shots from The Hateful Eight: NZ Premiere with Zoe Bell meeting and greeting fans and talking to the press

The Hateful Eight: NZ Premiere

The Hateful Eight: NZ Premiere

Here are some shots from The Hateful Eight NZ Premiere attended by Quentin Tarantino and Zoe Bell.

Doctor Who Series 9 Part 2: Blu Ray Review

Doctor Who Series 9 Part 2: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

The second part of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman's tour de force Doctor Who year is one of highs and lows.

Among the lows are Sleep No More, which despite the inclusion of Reece Shearsmith never quite pulls together its found footage promise and essentially ends with the Doctor and Clara running off; and the slightly muddled extended finale, which totally ruins the ending of two episodes prior.

But the highs are brilliant - The Zygon two parter shows both Coleman and Capaldi at the peak of their powers and Clara's exit in Face The Raven is nothing short of a dramatic high for the show (which is then promptly derailed in the last episode).

And equally, while the stories are a good strong solid bunch, there's nothing stronger than Capaldi and Coleman who gel perfectly here, give every moment a palpable sense of expectation and deliver a series that needed some chutzpah after the last few years. With Doctor Who, change is the only constant and if this year proves to be the middle year for Peter Capaldi with rumours he is leaving the 12th Doctor next year, then he can be comfortable in the knowledge that this was one of the show's more creatively strong years and one which presented surprises as a regular MO.

Anomalisa: Film Review

Anomalisa: Film Review

Cast: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Director: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

Both a eureka moment for stop motion animation and a musing and discourse on life, Anomalisa is a disturbing piece of cinema, that's now been recognised by the Academy and the awards season in general.

David Thewlis voices Michael Stone, a customer service whiz whose motivational speeches have seen him check into a hotel prior to giving a keynote speech in Cincinnati the next day.

With only the night to keep him company, Stone meets a couple of women who've travelled to attend his seminar and strikes up a friendship with Lisa (Jason Leigh) who suffers from low self-esteem.

Anomalisa is an exercise in bleakness, an allegory of loneliness and a tragedy of a film.

Kaufman's casual mixing of a Barton Fink atmos with a sprinkling of Lost In Translation, along with a miserabilist look at a life on the edge of a mental precipice, gives Anomalisa something of a slightly depressing vibe, all wrapped up in a swathe of melancholia.

But as in any business trip, Kaufman's managed to capture an atmosphere of crippling loneliness and apply it to a man whose outlook is directly contrasted to his perception within the world. Granted, it's not a new idea or story, but it is heartbreakingly transposed to the screen with a stop-motion look that's both a mesh of crash test dummies and Tintin-esque rendering.

Guaranteed to provoke debate and stir divisiveness, Anomalisa strengths lie in its execution.

Haunting and rhapsodic, its perverseness and its starters for conversations over its symbolism will be its appeal to some - and there won't be many who won't fail to be moved in some way by the events within. Or at the very least, recognise something in its melancholy tale. Its progression from a one time only theatre piece to the small screen is a debt owed to its Kickstarter nature and its head-scratching-once-you-dig-below-the-surface premise.

Thewlis uses his voice brilliantly to convey the frailty within this long dark night of the soul but his ultimate unravelling is psychologically distressing. There's an innate sadness and a frustration to Stone, a man whose introspection is a fertile and frequently familiar ground given the way the modern world is going. Wrapping alienation with loneliness is not a unique proposition, and both Kaufman and Johnson know the right tics to expand and expound their viewpoints. And Jennifer Jason Leigh brings an arc to Lisa, the woman with whom Stone connects (or grooms, depending on your take on it all) but whose ultimate destination gives the film the emotional edge it needs.

There's so much to discuss in Anomalisa (is the hotel Fregoli a major clue?) and to do so is to enter spoiler territory, but by throwing in moments of deeply wry humour among an examination and discourse of the human condition, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind scribe Charlie Kaufman has brought to life a reflection and a gradually disquieting essay that's both bizarrely distressing and weirdly enlightening.

Rating:

Win Jemaine Clement's film People, Places, Things on DVD

Win Jemaine Clement's film People, Places, Things on DVD

Thanks to Madman Home Ent, I'm giving you the chance to win Flight of The Conchords star Jemaine Clement's film People Places Things!

Will (Jemaine Clement) is a graphic novelist, a professor at the School of Visual Arts and the father of beautiful twin girls. 

His seemingly picture-perfect Brooklyn life is turned upside down when he walks in on the mother of his children and long-time girlfriend, Charlie, with another man at their daughters' over-the-top fifth birthday party. 

Flash forward one year later, Will is a single father, living alone, trying to put his life back together with the help of his student, Kat (Jessica Williams), and her mother (Regina Hall). 

In this thoughtful comedy, Will is forced to navigate the unknown landscape of single fatherhood and dating in New York City, while coming to terms with himself both as a father and artist

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  and in the subject line put JEMAINE. Please include your name and address and good luck!

Win Girlhood

Win Girlhood

Thanks to the lovely peeps at Madman Home Ent, I've got a copy of one of the best French films of last year to give away - GIRLHOOD

About Girlhood:

Mariame is a shy 16-year-old who lives with her mostly absent mother, a domineering older brother, and two younger sisters of whom she largely takes responsibility for caring. 

Left behind at high school where she's told her grades are too poor to continue, Mariame is soon lured out of her shell by three vivacious neighborhood teens. Enthralled by their bravado and brash energy, Mariame quickly adopts their flashier look and adapts to their bolder and often reckless behaviour, making both foolish and brave choices as she struggles towards independence. 

Critically acclaimed and emotionally affecting, GIRLHOOD is an empowering story of female friendship. 

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  and in the subject line put GIRLHOOD. 

Please include your name and address and good luck!

Oscars 2016: Full nominations list

Oscars 2016: Full nominations list

The full list of Oscar nominations for 2016 has been unveiled this morning.

The Revenant and The Big Short lead the way with 12 and 10 nominations each

Here is a full list of nominations for the 2016 Academy Awards, to be held in Los Angeles on 28 February.

Best picture

The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Best actor

Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Best actress

Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

Best supporting actor

Christian Bale - The Big Short
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Best supporting actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Best director

Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Alejandro G Inarritu - The Revenant
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
Adam McKay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

Best adapted screenplay

The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room

Best original screenplay

Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

Best animated film

Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

Best foreign language film

Embrace of the Serpent - Colombia
Mustang - France
Son of Saul - Hungary
Theeb - Jordan
A War - Denmark

Best animated short

Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

Best cinematography

Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

Best costume design

Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

Best documentary feature

Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Best documentary short

Body Team 12
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom

Best editing

The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best live action short

Ave Maria
Day One
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
Shok
Stutterer

Best make-up and hair

Mad Max: Fury Road
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant

Best original score

Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best original song

Earned It, The Weeknd - Fifty Shades of Grey
Manta Ray, J Ralph & Antony - Racing Extinction
Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo - Youth
Til It Happens To You, Lady Gaga - The Hunting Ground
Writing's On the Wall, Sam Smith - Spectre

Best production design

Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Best sound editing

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best sound mixing

Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best visual effects

Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens