Bastille Day: Film Review

Bastille Day: Film Review

Cast: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon, Kelly Reilly
Director: James Watkins

Luther star Idris Elba continues his push to be the next action hero with this race against the clock cum mismatched buddy thriller about a terrorist plot in Paris.

When Charlotte Le Bon's Zoe decides at the last minute to pull out of a bombing she's been talked into, Richard Madden's pick-pocket Michael Mason lifts her bag, unknowingly making off with the bomb within.

Dumping the bag on a corner of a street in Paris, as he's walking away the bomb explodes, killing four people and setting in motion a chain of events that see him accidentally caught up in the ensuing manhunt.

Enter former CIA agent Sean Briar (Elba), a grizzled no BS kind of guy, a loose cannon of an ex-agent, who works beyond the law and bends it to his circumstance when it suits. Believing Madden's silky-haired Mason to be the chief suspect, he begins a desperate race to stop a terrorist network from unleashing more misery on Paris.

To say Bastille Day is a hoary old cliched film is to really undersell it. (And to say it felt uncomfortable viewing at times after the Paris bombings last year is a queasy understatement).

There's little on show here that's original or that builds on the clever premise and set-up that feels fresh.

While some of the action sequences are quite tautly put together and presented without frills (a roof-top chase is simply executed and an enclosed van smackdown being two of the highlights), the rest of the film feels awfully cliched and at times painful.

From risible dialogue to the fact that Elba's character sustains nary a cut despite taking several blows to the face, Bastille Day cuts a ludicrous cloth that it never fully embraces to achieve any kind of USP. From Elba barking lines like "You're a wanted terrorist, you killed 4 people. Put your seatbelt on" before a car chase, to a hashtag deus ex machina that's laughable rather than laudable, it never quite achieves greatness.

With underdeveloped and stereo-typed bad guys, a script that squanders the initially clever twist, and a weak performance from Madden trying to give his risible pick-pocket an edge that's not there, Bastille Day may be about bombs, but its unoriginal execution and hoary old tropes mark it out potentially as a bomb of the box office variety.

Newstalk ZB Review - Captain America: Civil War, Florence Foster Jenkins and Brooklyn

Newstalk ZB Review - Captain America: Civil War, Florence Foster Jenkins and Brooklyn

This week with Jack Tame on ZB, it was another Marvel movie - the 13th in fact from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And something more demure with Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins as well as Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn.

Take a listen to review of Captain America: Civil War, Florence Foster Jenkins and Brooklyn below.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-captain-america-civil-war-florence-foster-jenkins-brooklyn/

I Am Your Father: DVD Review

I Am Your Father: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Starting this doco with a Lucasfilm disclaimer saying they had no involvement is not perhaps the strongest beginning for this piece.

It's essentially a paean to the man behind the most iconic mask in the history of movies - Darth Vader.

But what director Marcos Cabota wants essentially to do is to give the man behind that mask in the actual film, Dave Prowse, his time in the spotlight.

Feeling like Prowse has been sidelined in the Star Wars World and denied his moment of fame when the mask was originally removed in Return of the Jedi, Cabota decides to meet Prowse and propose a reshoot.

This is the original premise of the doco, but it's somewhat thwarted by its ambitions and the ideas of the film-makers, who actually flip the idea around and begin an investigation into why Prowse has effectively been carved out of the legacy of Star Wars, banned from the official convention circuits and cut out, even though he's one of the most iconic figures of our time.

Talking heads like Lou Ferrigno, Kenny Baker, Jeremy Bulloch add to the feel of the movie celebration of those behind the mask.

While the director manages most of the time to keep his fanboy in check and Prowse seems very affable and honest, the picture that emerges is one of sadness and one which feels like it's building to a very public recantation from Lucasfilm over what's happened.

At its heart, I Am Your Father is a celebration of all actors behind a mask (as the credits show them), but the slightly mixed ambitions of the doco mean it's not quite a success if it's about either reshooting footage. While it rightly gives Prowse his time in the limelight, and follows the innate tragedy of what happened to him (he emerges as slightly miffed, but carries on in that very English way), it unfortunately never quite hits the heights it aspires to.

Battlefield 1 is here!

Battlefield 1 is here!

EA ANNOUNCES BATTLEFIELD 1

Experience the Dawn of All-Out War, with 64 Player Multiplayer, Across the Globe, Only in Battlefield 1.

SYDNEY, Australia– May 7, 2016 – Today DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) studio, announced Battlefield™ 1. Only in Battlefield 1 will you bring a horse to a tank fight and squad-up with your allies in epic multiplayer battles with up to 64 players. Through ever-changing environments at the dawn of all-out war, no battle is ever the same.  Battlefield 1 will launch on October 21st, 2016 Worldwide on Xbox One, Origin™ for PC and PlayStation®4.

Doc Edge NZ Festival Preview - In The Game, Be Here Now, Sugar Coated and Driving with Selvi

Doc Edge NZ Festival Preview - In The Game, Be Here Now, Sugar Coated and Driving with Selvi

As the Doc Edge NZ Festival continues in Wellington, Auckland's getting ready for the launch with anticipation.

After the farrago of Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami initially being denied entry into New Zealand has subsided, the films are taking centre place now.

And it seems a lot of the central theme this year is one of inspiration, certainly from the hand picked titles here.

Be Here Now already had a gala premiere in Wellington at the Roxy, with both director and "star" Vashti Whitfield being in attendance. 

I use the quotation marks around star, because it's a doco about the untimely death of Spartacus star Andy Whitfield after being diagnosed with cancer. I've already written a longer piece about both the admiration and honesty of the doco and the journey that Andy's wife Vashti goes on, but needless to say this is a carefully crafted, yet devastatingly honest look at the journey any cancer patient goes on and those around them. Its frank honesty and its humility is what won me over given its core subject matter, and I wholeheartedly recommend you take a look.

Read the Be Here Now review.

Elsewhere, the inspiring is never far from the screen.

Peabody Award winner Maria Finitzo's In The Game takes a look at a girls' soccer team in an urban public school in Chicago. With its uncomplicated and unfussy lens, this film is all about struggle against perception and adversity, but never in a preachy manner. Hardly Bend It Like Beckham, Finitzo's lens captures the team at work, training and playing, facing break up as others graduate within. It captures the exuberance of training and playing, the lows of losing and also the camaraderie of a team under an inspirational coach, Stan. Training teams for some 30 years Stan's approach is more of a mentor than someone running pack drills, and the genuine warmth he has for his team and they have for him is humbling. 

Finitzo helps matters by never once appearing intrusive or judgemental. Kelly High School where they filmed and the girls play is one of those hit by a raft of cutbacks (even students are facing the prospect of bringing their own toilet paper in) - but rather than condemning the local boards and the senior levels, Finitzo manages to bring a level playing field and shows how the team rises above such adversities as having no field to train on.

In The Game is a small film about small struggles that are massive to those involved - it's quietly crafted and is more a focus on life, rather than a film simply about soccer. In that respect, it's a documentary that emerges as a worthy winner during the season.

Elsewhere, the sugar debate continues to grow.

What with Damon Gameau's That Sugar Film ruffling a few feathers, but ultimately not seeing millions of us ditch the soda, the debate is gathering voice and strength about the continuing white danger we all face.

In Michele Hozer's factual and rather matter-of-fact piece, Sugar Coated examines the fact the obesity rates have doubled in the past 30 years and the diabetes factor has tripled. It's not exactly anything new in terms of what it's telling and presenting, but in unravelling some of the conspiracies around policy issues and how dieticians were bought off to essentially peddle the message that a little sugar is good for you, it shows how insidious the white disease is - and from a long time back in America.

As ever with these films, the companies targeted and mentioned choose not to give interviews and while there's always a danger that the evidence presented could be one-sided, Hozer's dedication to presenting a clear and concise view of where we've ended up is an interesting watch. It adds to the debate, rather than detracts, as it exposes systemic and wilful ignorance from experts and those higher up. Inspiration comes from the rather nanny state adopted by Japan who impose health nurse visits after a sharp spiral in obesity rates and one can't help but feel that in days of soda costing less at supermarkets than water or healthier alternatives, it's no bad thing.

Ultimately Sugar Coated is sadly another voice to the growing cacophony on the issue. That's not to detract from what Hozer's done, more a reflection that this is an increasing concern that goes untapped for too long - you may well be tempted to ditch the popcorn and drinks for this viewing, to ease your own discomfort.

Finally, Driving With Selvi is more a film to be admired than engaged fully with.

It's the story of Selvi, a former child bride, trapped in a violent marriage and nearly lost to suicide. Instead of jumping under the bus approaching, she decided to jump on it and out of town. Setting up herself as South India's first female taxi driver, this is a 10 year journey and exploration of a woman blossoming under her own steam and finding her inner strength. 

From meeting her when she's younger, all timid and terrified to the lady joking about fast driving, it's a story that never revels in the horror of what has transpired, but never fully embraces what it wants to be. Very much a documentary of two halves, this is a film that seldom wanders from Selvi and her arc, but feels a little unfocussed as it hits the road. There's a core message of strength and a key message here, but it's Selvi who emerges as the true heroine of the piece, more out of admiration rather than out of the way the story is told.

The Doc Edge festival runs now in Wellington until May 15th and kicks off in Auckland from 18th May.
Get all the details on their official site - http://docedge.nz/festival/

Carol: DVD Review

Carol: DVD Review

Based on The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, the prestige practically drips from the screen in Carol.

Blanchett plays Carol Aird, who meets Rooney Mara's shop assistant Therese Belivet when out shopping for Christmas in 1952 New York. When Carol accidentally leaves her gloves on a counter, Therese returns them and the pair strike up a deep friendship.

But Carol's undergoing a difficult and messy separation from her husband Harge (Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler) after a tryst discovered between Carol and her friend Abby (American Horror Story star Sarah Paulson). The enmity between Harge and Carol boils over when the friendship with Therese is uncovered and soon the pair's lives are changed forever.


Swathed in large clumps of elegance and beautiful costumes, Carol is a love story that's richly orchestrated on to the screen and subtly portrayed by its two leads.

Mara does meek well as Therese, a woman whose world appears to be mapped out but whose desires and dreams are thwarted in parts. So when she meets with Cate Blanchett's Carol, Mara uses subtlety to bring her to life, slowly blossoming on the screen from her earlier appearances where she seems lost in her world and unsure of her ultimate destination.

Equally, Blanchett, draped in the finest haute couture of the time and slathered in femme fatale gear, brings a softness and a sadness to a woman trapped in a downward spiralling situation. It's the inflections in her voice and the subtle movements on her face that convey more than words can and get to the heart of this story.

Haynes also deserves praise for the execution of Carol; its lack of overtness, its framing of parts of its leads rather than all of them at key moments may seem to be perverse, but makes for a stylish experience, which is already rightly picking up awards buzz. The film is not in a rush to get where it needs to, and at times, luxuriates in the journey; but it's highly effective because one shocking moment in the middle of the film lands with resonance though in hindsight is painfully obvious.

Carol is a film that commands your attention from start to finish - thanks to its leads above all; from its polished veneer, its sumptuous costuming and its pacing, it's a film to languish in - even if it's hard to fully grab on to emotionally in parts and seems occasionally aloof.

At its heart, Carol is a love story that's rich in resonance and high in subtlety. It's already an awards darling and it's hard to not see that continuing as it weaves its mesmerising spell over audiences in 2016.

Rating:

Be Here Now: Film Review

Be Here Now: Film Review

Cast: Andy Whitfield, Vashti Whitfield
Director: Lilibet Foster


There can't be anyone who's not been touched by cancer in some form or another.

And there have been countless stories and films about the perils of cancer and the insidious nature of the disease and the way it destroys and inspires lives of those around them.

Yet, Oscar nominated director Lilibet Foster has created something more intimate and more devastating than the usual fare.

With unprecedented access to former Spartacus actor Andy Whitfield, his wife Vashti, and their children over an 18 month period, this warts and all video diary is equal parts inspiring, equal parts maddeningly upsetting and heartbreaking.

Whitfield was a model turned actor, whose star was severely in the ascent when he signed up for Starz drama Spartacus, filmed in New Zealand. At the end of the first season, his life changed completely when a routine check up for a pain revealed he had Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Suddenly facing a life-changing disease and nothing more than sheer bad bloody luck, the doco follows the highs and extreme lows of living day to day with a disease. From Andy's mantra of living in the moment and turning the negatives into the positive, it's clear this doco wants to be inspirational. And it'll be the hardest of hearts and the most cynical of human beings that's not moved by his sheer positivity in the face of such an incredible wave of bad news, flying the Whitfields way.

This is perhaps one of the most intimate docos on the subject of cancer; at times, it's a hard watch as the cruel blows keep raining down on them.

However, Foster's omni-present yet never intrusive camera gets to the rub of the matter and presents in a heart-breakingly honest way that's never mawkish.

Witnessing wife Vashti's arc is going to be nothing more than a positive for many as well. Initially fearing she can't support her husband because she doesn't  fully buy into his positivity before ultimately holding her husband up and supporting him when the final diagnosis drops and no other options remain, she's a portrait of honesty, anger, support and love.

Equally, Andy Whitfield's portrayal of a family man, a man for whom fighting the disease was a blessing in disguise because he can spend time with the kids, is something aspirational.

This is a warts and all documentary, that's sensitively executed, carefully probing yet never intrusive and with a stark, emotional honesty that many will recognise. It's film-making that captures a series of moments that show humans at their lowest and also at their most elated - there's no denying that Foster's film will anger you. But not because of the way the situation is milked, but because the way it's presented is nothing short of a compelling, conflicting, maddening and emotional ride.

At its heart, Be Here Now is a love story and a testament to a deeply loving relationship.

Sure, it may not have the happy ending that you ultimately expect, but the phoenix that rises from this tragedy is nothing short of inspiring, a sign of something to aspire to and a journey that's as humbling as it is heartfelt.

Be Here Now plays as part of the DocEdge festival in Wellington now and in Auckland from May 18th.