Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Film Review

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Film Review

Cast: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott, Billy Bob Thornton
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

That Tina Fey is the major revelation as an actor is perhaps the best takeaway of the slightly ramshackle Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Based on The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan, the war memoirs of Kim Baker, and from the directors of Crazy, Stupid Love, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is all about subverting the norms and expectations of the conventional war pic.

And it works to varying degrees.

Fey stars as Baker, a dissatisfied reporter stuck in a dead-end job and determined to turn things around. On a whim, she signs up to cover the conflict in Afghanistan in 2002, full of journalistic bluster and self-doubt.

However, when she gets to Afghanistan, she finds the Kabul atmosphere somewhat hedonistic as the embedded journalists there live life to the large, stuck in the mundanity of war time gallows humour and of a conflict that's already on the wane in the news cycle.

Initially awkward, Baker strikes up a friendship with fellow female reporter Tanya Vanderpoel (Robbie) and the pair work their way through the daily routine. But, as ever in wartime, there are casualties - both of the heart and of the human kind.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is an odd affair, a kind of dramedy that relies more on wry writing and a powerhouse delivery from Fey to see it through, rather than a stereotypical war movie with a comedy actress inserted in.

If your perception of Fey is solely as a comedic performer, the more restrained edges she brings to Kim Baker will be a welcome shock to your system, proving she has more than the dramatic chops needed to pull off the nuances necessary.

If Fey is impressive though, Girls' star Christopher Abbott eclipses what she does as Fahim, the native helper and guide to Baker. His is a turn of rare complexity, of understatement and one of the stand-outs of the film. And in an ensemble cast that numbers Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina and Margot Robbie, that is quite the feat.

By necessity, as the story has to cover several years worth of material, it jumps around a lot. Consequently though and unfortunately, it means some of the emotional heft of life within the self-coined "Kabubble" doesn't quite hit as perhaps it should or indeed could.

Some scenes hang together and then disappear, which is a shame because the rough and ready nature of how it's shot gives this unconventional wartime tale the sheen and grit it needs. This is no typical war story and it doesn't play out like you'd expect from the likes of Good Morning, Vietnam. You know a dramatic event is coming at some point, and unfortunately, in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, when it does show, the rushed conflict and sudden tonal whiplash of the final act jars a little (a rivalry, a kidnapping), leaving a feeling of contrivance rather than a deeper emotional immersing in events.

A bit more focus in some places and some slightly more fleshed out dramatic seeding would have greatly improved the at times satirical Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

All that said though, this is a film where both Fey and Abbott rise high above the material; they deliver human performances and elevate the slightly rougher edges of the jumpy story to leave you feeling that this is a tale whose complexities would have been better served with a more singular focus, but whose journey has delivered up two of the strongest acting surprises of the year.

Win Cartel Land!

Win Cartel Land!

Two vigilante groups. One war.

With unprecedented access, CARTEL LAND is a harrowing look at the journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy the murderous Mexican drug cartels.

In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico's drug wars from seeping across the US border.

With never before seen footage of the brutality of this seemingly unstoppable war, filmmaker Matthew Heineman gives us front-seat access to a real and shocking story about an inescapable web of violence, corruption and exploitation.

Thanks to Madman Home Ent, you can win Cartel Land!

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

Please include your name and address and good luck! 

Win 99 Homes

Win 99 Homes

Greed is the only game in town

In this timely thriller, hard-working single father Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) and his mother (Academy Award® nominee Laura Dern) are cruelly evicted from their home. 

Desperate to get his house back, Nash goes to work for the wealthy and ruthless businessman Rick Carver (Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon) the very man who repossessed Nash's home. 

It is a deal-with-the-devil that comes with an increasingly high cost on Carver's orders, Nash must evict families from their homes; in return, Nash is promised a lifestyle of wealth and glamour. 

As Nash falls deeper into Carver's web, he finds his situation grows more brutal and dangerous than he ever imagined....

Thanks to Madman Home Ent, you can win 99 Homes on Blu Ray.

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com and in the subject line put 99 HOMES. 

Please include your name and address and good luck! 
NB Competition closes 27 April - editor's decision final!

Born To Dance: Blu Ray Review

Born To Dance: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Vendetta Films

The dance film genre is not one that's blessed with story or emotion.

Its simple MO is to showcase a multitude of moves, a plethora of dancers and to inject an occasional bit of tension into the will-the-dancer-make-good-on-his-or-her-dream-of-making-it-big tropes.

So, Australasia's first dance movie comes blasting out of the gate not really willing to shake up those conventions but wanting to showcase what Kiwis can do on the screen.

Hip hop champion Tia Taharoa Maipi stars as Tu, a teen who's out of school but with little prospects - his best mate is off to uni and his future could be the NZ Army, if his dad has his way. By day, Tu's working at a recycling warehouse with bro Benjy (Stan Walker) - but he doesn't want Benjy's future which includes low level drug dealing.

When Tu submits a dance video to world champs K-Krew, he gets called to auditions - and begins to realise that his dream of being a world - class dancer could be reality. Throw in a frisson of sexual tension with K-Krew Dancer Sasha (Payne, of Fame) and things are looking up for Tu.... potentially.

As mentioned, Born To Dance is your stereotypical dance flick - there's conflict aplenty and a dancer whose desires are conflicted and torn between his own crew, his dad's ambitions for him and his own coming-of-age journey. It's even got a Fame costs and here's where you start paying speech courtesy of the K-Krew leader.

But what it also has, to make up for some of the acting quality on the screen (potentially, some weren't hired for their emoting range) is a warm earnestness that's both endearing and exciting.

The main star of the piece though remains largely off the screen (save for one fierce cameo performance) - and that is Parris Goebel's terrific choreography that really does enliven the dance sequences. Wisely shorn of the 3D gimmick that's all too common-place these days (largely due to funding one suspects), it's upto Goebels' imagination to set the dance pieces in motion as well as first time director Tammy Davis and Dance unit director Chris Graham to make them reality. And Davis and Graham make a good fist of it too, with sweeping camera shots taking you right into the centre of the action - it's here that the energy of the Step Up films is easily eclipsed, certainly in the final 20 minutes of all-dancing action.

Sure, the message of self-belief, empowerment and following your dreams, as well as a dose of reality for evil-doers is nothing new in the genre but it's commendable for young New Zealanders to get exposure to such idioms; and granted, bar one twist, you can see where it's all going, butBorn To Dance certainly punches well above its weight.

Admittedly with its North and South Auckland divide storyline and one misplaced and misjudged story thread over a gay dancer may see it struggle to find a truly international audience (which is a shame given how universal its themes are), but Born To Dance is a Step Up for New Zealand dance films.

Win Ratchet and Clank for PS4

Win Ratchet and Clank for PS4

Play the game, based on the movie, based on the game! Ratchet & Clank (PS4) marks the PlayStation 4 debut of PlayStation’s greatest intergalactic heroes, Ratchet and Clank, as they battle to save the Solana Galaxy from the evil Chairman Drek.  

The game and film were designed to complement each other – with the game experience relating the story from the perspective of Captain Copernicus L. Qwark. 

Ratchet & Clank (PS4) is a new game based on elements from the original Ratchet & Clank (PS2), featuring more than an hour of new cinematics, new locations, an entirely updated arsenal, bosses and more.  

Join Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark and new friends as they embark on an intergalactic adventure, and experience the start of an epic friendship (again) on PlayStation 4.

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

Please include your name and address and good luck! 
NB Competition closes 27 April - editor's decision final!

Where to Invade Next: Film Review

Where to Invade Next: Film Review

Director: Michael Moore

Once polemic director Michael Moore returns with a documentary that sees him mellowing with age and ultimately presenting a film that ends up lauding an America that's currently smarting, even though he has their ideology square in his sights.

Presented as a travelogue and beginning with Moore addressing a line up of the American establishment after being imagined being summoned to Pentagon, Where to Invade Next posits the theory that America's in trouble and there are no solutions.

So, draped in an American flag and setting out across Europe, Moore visits countries like Italy, Germany, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia to see how their progressive politics are helping their natives.

On this mission to see what the USA can learn from the rest of the world, Moore's one man invasion is nothing short of a genial feel-good film that feels slighter when compared and contrasted to his earlier works.

There's no doubting this is the man who seethed with indignation in Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 but there's equally no doubting this is a film-maker who has mellowed with age. If anything this film feels slight and a little saggy in its 2 hour run time, but it's no less diminished thanks to Moore's quick wit and amusing quips.

There's something ribald about seeing Moore genially head into situations and examine the problems his country's facing and the apparently sensible approach European neighbours have taken. There's no doubting Moore's liberalism is on show here and there's no doubting he's ever anywhere but in Europe's favour (even though the end coda demonstrates he still has an extremely soft spot for his home land, despite all their ills - I'll leave aside the argument that his conclusion negates the need for the film and shows off a typically American approach to the world).

Half of the joy of Where To Invade Next comes from people's reactions to Moore - mostly, the majority of them are non-plussed with some of his revelations and his cheeky approach to problem-solving. But it's never anything less than serious with Where To Invade Next; there's never any real discussion over how the proposed solutions could work in the USA or why they would fail; this is a doco and global jaunt that's purely and squarely aimed at feel-good.

Occasionally, there are some disguised criticisms of European policy, wrapped up in sentimental music and an even more pronounced and soft spoken Moore voiceover.

It's hard not to feel like Moore is criticising Norway for their treatment of Anders Brevik and his incarceration post-shooting. Lingering on a victim's father and repeatedly asking if he wanted to kill Brevik seems a little insensitive by most measures and the argument gains no traction by the continual prodding.

Ultimately, Where To Invade Next is clearly a softer Moore piece, that's aimed more at crowd-pleasing than thought provoking. It's possible Moore's MO was solely to instill European attitudes in people and enlighten audiences to the fact there are better ways to do things. While he stops short of actual education and showing how that could be implemented, there's no denying he does entertain during his two-hour OE, which is aimed solely at boosting flagging American morale.

The Witch: Film Review

The Witch: Film Review

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw
Director: Robert Eggers

More a lesson in psychological horror than abject terror first time director Robert Eggers' The Witch is a spiralling descent into madness in the 17th century.

Subtitled a New England Folk Tale, it's the story of a family excommunicated from a Christian Puritan plantation in 1630, because of an unexplained sin of their father. Despite being given the chance to repent, he leads the family out into the wilderness and near to a woods, choosing to reflect on their sins and seek internal and eternal forgiveness first.

But when Thomasin (Taylor Joy) is playing peek-a-boo with the family's baby Sam one day, she closes her eyes to find the baby snatched before her and with no clue over where he's gone. As the family's crops begin to fail and there's no return from Sam, the internal conflicts grow with the rumour that Thomasin is a witch being seeded and growing viciously, threatening the very fabric of their family unit.

The Witch is in some ways, the horrifying coming-of-age story of Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). Taylor-Joy is wonderful from the start as she looks down the barrel of the camera and begs for forgiveness while her expressive brown eyes poke out from wafts of blonde hair. Her conflict and struggle is inherent from the beginning and Taylor Joy's commitment to underplaying the role helps sell her own demons and those around her. There's a wonderful ambiguity to her performance that's as gripping as it is sickening.

Elsewhere, creepy is the order of the day, with psychological terror being the serving of Eggers' film rather than lazy jump scares and terrifying set pieces.

While this film is bathed in the language of the time and with time taken in prayer, and elements of religious fervour displayed, it's essentially the tried and tested story of the destructive power of rumour. Thanks to debut director Eggers' incredible set design and unswerving dedication to evocation, the long sweeping camera shots, an ominous soundscape and brooding soundtrack, The Witch is a classic case of unnerving.

All of the cast acquit themselves excellently; from Ineson's determined father to Dickie's gradually dismantling mother this is a family unit on the edge, a family one moment away from cracking and whose ultimate fate is partially of their own doing. Equally, the twins of the film are unsettling and creepiness personified.

While it could be argued the ambiguity which serves the majority of the film well is wrongfully discarded in the final moments of the end (leading to a feeling of a desire to satiate audiences who wanted more due to their own expectations), The Witch is a masterclass in brooding atmosphere and growing sinister dread.

But it's also a masterclass in humanity and human reaction, thanks to Taylor-Joy's relatably innocent performance; her Thomasin is a deer stuck in the headlights of superstition and spiralling doubts, and she delivers on every level in this cautionary tale whose universal themes will ring true long after the lights have gone up.