LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailers and screens arrive

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailers and screens arrive

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer Reveals New Adventures!

In honour of Star Wars Day yesterday, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released the latest LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens trailer revealing exclusive new levels exploring adventures set in the time leading up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

The LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens New Adventures Trailer delves into untold tales within the Star Wars galaxy all with a LEGO twist, including Han and Chewie’s voyage to capture the ravenous Rathtars, how the mysterious Crimson Corsair foiled the plans of the First Order, secrets behind Lor San Tekka’s journey to the Jakku Village, Poe Dameron’s daring rescue of Admiral Ackbar and more!

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will also feature original voice work from key members of the theatrical cast: Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and other top stars from the film.

The six (6) New Adventures featured in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

·        Rathtar Hunting – Follows Han Solo and Chewbacca’s voyage to capture the ravenous Rathtars.

·        Lor San Tekka’s Return – Uncovers secrets behind Lor San Tekka’s journey to the Jakku Village.

·        Poe to the Rescue – Details Poe Dameron’s daring rescue mission to save Admiral Ackbar.

·        Crimson Corsair– Explores how the notorious Outer Rim pirate, the Crimson Corsair, foiled the plans of the First Order.

·        Trouble Over Taul– Follows the events leading up C-3PO’s acquisition of his new red arm.

·        Ottegan Assault– Reveals a puzzle piece to how the Resistance and the First Order find Lor San Tekka on Jakku.

Featuring original dialogue from key members of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens theatrical cast, including:

·        Adam Driver (Kylo Ren)

·        Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)

·        Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa)

·        Daisy Ridley (Rey)

·        Domhall Gleeson (General Hux)

·        Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma)

·        Harrison Ford (Han Solo)

·        John Boyega (Finn)

·        Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata)

·        Max von Sydow (Lor San Tekka)

·        Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron)

As part of the Star Wars Day festivities, we are giving away exclusive May the 4th inspired artwork to fans starting today! To download this free desktop image, visit: flickr.com/wbgames.

New assets can also be found on the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, as well as the WBIE Press Site. To access, please visit the following link and click the “Register Now” button: http://www.wbie-press.com/. If you have any trouble accessing, don’t hesitate to let us know.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens marks the triumphant return of the No. 1 LEGO videogame franchise and immerses fans in the new Star Wars adventure like never before. Players can relive the epic action from the blockbuster film in a way that only LEGO can offer, featuring all of the storylines from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, retold through the clever and witty LEGO lens. The game will also feature exclusive playable content exploring untold adventures set in the time leading up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, providing further insight about the new movie and its characters.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on the 29^th of June, 2016 on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U™, Nintendo 3DS™ and Steam (PC).

Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse: DVD Review

Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

The fact there are four writers on this film and it's still not on par should tell you all you need to know about Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse, an occasionally gore-filled comedy that's more miss than hit.

Aimed purely at teenage boys who are on the cusp of obsessing about breasts, its three protagonists are members of a scout troop, headed up by Anchorman star David Koechner's Dolly Parton obsessed leader Scout Leader Rodgers.

This trio consists of level-headed Ben (Mud star Tye Sheridan), the crass sex-obsessed and party wannabe Carter (Miller) and chubby lisper and long term scout Augie (Morgan). Heading out on their final camping trip together, they find a zombie apocalypse on their doorstep. Their only initial guide to surviving the hordes of the undead and the bitey brigade is cocktail waitress Denise (Dumont, who's bedecked in a tank top and cut off jeans throughout) but soon, the trio has to rely on their scouting skills to try and save the day.

To say that Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse aims for low-hanging fruit is an obvious understatement.

It's not setting out to change the world, merely to try and offer some laughs, but to be frank, it fails to deliver a lot of that for the majority of the time. It's only in the last 20 minutes that the film finally embraces the silliness of its premise and gorges on the energy it's been so lacking in throughout.

There's a vein of obvious raunchiness throughout that Landon has tried to throw in with the bro-bonding and friends dynamic - and that element will certainly appeal to the tittering teens whose comic bones will be amused by (to give an example, the strip club in town is called Lawrence of Alabia). But there's far too little of anything in Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse to give it a real edge or stand out above fare of a similar nature. And it's no Shaun of The Dead either, lacking any level of sophistication - despite how much Sheridan delivers on a cliched character trope.

The film has some reasonably amusing moments - the promise of zombie cats delivers, another of the undead wears a YOLO shirt, a half smashed glass driven into a head delivers a pouring spout of blood and an escape sequence involving a trampoline finds the lowest common denominator - but Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse is an entirely forgettable film the moment it's over.

Solid camaraderie and a Three Amigos bond give Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse the heart the undead are missing, but frankly, due to missing laughs and an uncertainty to dive in and be as stupid as it clearly wants to be,this adolescent fantasy piece that objectifies women throughout never really comes to life until the end - and it's too late by then.

Lord Baden Powell would turn in his grave.

Rating:

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/