Spotlight:DVD Review

Spotlight:DVD Review

Already showered in award nominations and wins, Tom McCarthy's powerhouse Spotlight is both an ode to the journalism of the past and a commentary on the present.

Against a backdrop of change, when a new editor Marty Baron (a relatively muted but engaging Liev Schreiber) enters the world of the Boston Globe newspaper, a small journalistic unit called the Spotlight team is given the job of investigating allegations of abuse from Catholic priests. But the further the team looks, the bigger the problem appears to be...

Meshing both procedural and montages of journalists at work, Spotlight is not a new story in many ways and both its subject material and execution are nothing new either - but it's gripping and masterfully acted by all involved, proving once and for all that a combination of perfectly paced story-telling and a gentle crafting of story are the keys to build any foundation on.

It's hard to single out any member of the ensemble for praise in this because they all deliver in many different textured ways; from Schreiber's quietly driven editor brought in to bring change and whose impetus propels the Spotlight team along to Tucci's nigh on impressive lawyer, this is a cast that are on the top of their game.

It helps largely that McCarthy's working off such a strong script, one that never stoops to preach its sins of the fathers storyline but one which also never sermonizes and talks down to its audience as well. It's a good solid film of good solid performances where less is more and where montages take the strain of a lot of the transitions.Dashed through with moments of wry humour, the film does little to build its reporters and their backgrounds, but proffers tantalising hints of their lives outside the investigation. For some, that may be a mis-step but this film is more about the investigation and the politics thereof than the histrionics of personal lives and melodrama.

Spotlight works as it keeps a singular focus on story and narrative; it never deviates from that and becomes a film that quietly and mightily impresses from beginning to end.

Rating:

Bastille Day - Idris Elba Q&A

Bastille Day - Idris Elba Q&A

BASTILLE DAY

IDRIS ELBA (Actor: ‘Sean Briar’) Q&A

Golden Globe and SAG winner Idris Elba (Thor, The Wire, Luther) stars in James Watkins’ pulsating new thriller, Bastille Day. Set in Paris, Elba plays Sean Briar, an American CIA agent who joins forces with a young pickpocket (Richard Madden) in pursuit of a terrorism group.

QUESTION: What drew you to Bastille Day?

IDRIS ELBA: James Watkins. Specifically because James said he wanted to make a homage to the Seventies action films, where there was less green screen and more actuality. And also the plot red herrings the audience. You walk into what you think might be a ‘terrorism’ film about terrorists in the big city and then it takes you on a different journey, where it’s good over evil – bad guys trying to get some money. And I liked that journey. I like action films and I think audiences that do appreciate an action film will say, ‘This one takes me on journey, and gives me all the bits I like in real time, and I’m reading subtitles because I’m in Paris, and not everybody speaks English.’ It just a real, grounded approach to a buddy action flick and I thought that was interesting.

QUESTION: Given recent real world events, is it a difficult time for a film like this? Will people be afraid to watch it even?

IDRIS ELBA: I think that there is no control, as far as filmmakers are concerned, with what happens in the real world. I suspect that we shouldn’t as filmmakers veer away from making subjects close to what happens in the real world. That’s the liberty of being an artist, to make what you feel like, but absolutely – yeah – I think the filmmakers, StudioCanal, were very cognitive of what’s happened in life and sensitive about how we put this film out. The truth of the matter is, the film has no real correlation with what’s going on. It just happens to be Paris. This script is four years old and we shot it almost two years ago.

QUESTION: Still, the attacks in Paris must’ve been a shock for you…

IDRIS ELBA: It broke our hearts, without a doubt. You’re like, ‘What?’ But more from the point of view that we were just there and we were in a city that we loved. They embraced us as filmmakers and this was happening to them – it was heartbreaking.

QUESTION: How did you cope with these stunt scenes?

IDRIS ELBA: Hot baths! It was full on. Part of the structure of the film, the fabric of the film, was that James wanted to see us doing the stunts. A lot of CGI now dominates filmmaking and James wanted to step away from that. And so for six weeks prior to filming, we were in the mix, training. I did a lot of fighting. I like to fight! I also have a bit of a martial arts background. So I got completely involved in that way.

QUESTION: James said he advised you to watch Lee Marvin in Point Blank. Had you never seen it before?

IDRIS ELBA: I hadn’t, no.

QUESTION: Was Marvin’s performance influential on you?

IDRIS ELBA: Completely. A formidable character. [My idea was to] Watch that character, watch the stoicism of him, and try and bring that energy to my character.

QUESTION: What else can you bring to this kind of character?

IDRIS ELBA: With a character like that…he’s a civil servant. He makes his money doing these weird, covert operations. In real life, there aren’t any screeches of tyres. There’s no music in the background. It’s a hard job and if you have to chase someone, in a very dangerous situation, it’s not as sexy as you might think on film. But in real life, what I try to bring is that realism. I try and bring that tension, that feeling that this is his job and this is what he does for a living, and try and implement that into the character. It’s not written down in the script, and that’s what I try to bring as much as I could.

QUESTION: How did you find working with Richard Madden? Did you mentor him?

IDRIS ELBA: The truth is, Richard is a phenomenal actor. There was no mentorship. More than anything, we approached this work with a similar ethic. I can talk about character work and the mental work that you have to put in to making these ordinary scenes seem real. And for some actors that’s just tedious. And Richard and I are both accomplished, but I learnt stuff from him. Also, I don’t think either of us had made a film like this before. We plunged into it together and it was good.

QUESTION: Do you think it’s an exciting time for homegrown talent right now?

IDRIS ELBA: There are a lot of really good British actors that are working. There are a lot of good Australian actors, a lot of good American actors…I think it’s just a good time for good actors. The character actor, the leading man, or the funny guy actor, that’s going out. Now we’re finding actors that can play different types of characters leading the way. And if you’re a good actor, dedicated to your profession, then it’s a good time for you – wherever you’re from.

QUESTION: How did you find doing the American accent. Did your co-star Kelly Reilly help at all?

IDRIS ELBA: She’s flawless. She lives there and her [American] accent is flawless.

QUESTION: You’ve worked there so much, you must know your American accent now?

IDRIS ELBA: Yeah, I think I do. It’s an evolving muscle. It doesn’t always stay perfect if you don’t use it. For this film, I went for an accent that was flat. I tried to think about the civil servant of it all, the history of being in the army and what tends to flatten out American accents. They tend to sound similar, the cadence…that’s what I went for.

QUESTION: It’s you singing at the end, right?

IDRIS ELBA: ‘Spinging’ – speak singing!

QUESTION: It sounded like Right Said Fred!

IDRIS ELBA: They did sell a lot of records! They did sell a lot of records! Right Said Id!

QUESTION: So is it a new song?

IDRIS ELBA: Yeah, it’s a new song. A new ‘spingle’! ‘Spung’ by myself! No, actually James and I talked about the music. I was a producer on certain aspects of this film, and the soundtrack was important to James. He wanted to figure out how to make that as good as the film, and so I went to Fat Boy Slim, who has a real love for film, and he and I wanted to work together. I said, ‘Here’s an opportunity to make something interesting.’ He encouraged me to ‘sping’ on it! It’s a cool word!

QUESTION: You’re voicing Shere Khan in The Jungle Book. How was the experience of doing that?

IDRIS ELBA: It was great. It was great working with Jon Favreau. He’s an actor’s director, without a doubt. But also a genius filmmaker, a visionary actually. Consider that he brought Iron Man to life and now is about to bring The Jungle Book remake to life. I was so excited to have the opportunity to work with him. I learnt a lot. I’ve done some animation work before but this was quite a big, unique experience, and his vision for it was really incredible.

QUESTION: How involved with that vision can you be when you’re the voice?

IDRIS ELBA: I think you can be very influential to it. The animators live and die by what you bring, the expression to your voice. I go up at the end of my sentence and they figure out a facial expression that works, and what they do is they film you and see how your face moves. They don’t mirror that…Shere Khan and I don’t look alike at all, but they mirror what my mouth might be doing, where my eyes might be and so on.

QUESTION: How much was The Wire a turning point in your life?

IDRIS ELBA: Stringer Bell was a massive changing point in my life. As an actor, I’d been working in the game ten years, and then I was not working in New York for four years, and then suddenly Stringer Bell landed in my lap and it changed my life. It was very much a defining moment.

QUESTION: Have you found more and more people discovering the show?

IDRIS ELBA: Interestingly enough, the influx of new fans has been always Europe – outside of America. Even in America, at the time of its airing, The Wire wasn’t the popular show. We were dwarfed by The Sopranos immensely. But the global fanbase has just grown continuously. I was in Romania, with my girlfriend, hanging out, and we’re sitting at this café. And then there are ten lads on the other table and they look like the Gypsy Kings! Scary looking! I’m like, ‘Babe, we’re in Romania, those guys over there are going to jump us.’ She’s like, ‘You idiot! They’re not going to jump us. Don’t be fucking stupid.’ Then when this guy stood up, I grabbed a bottle and he went ‘Stringer Bell! Stringer Bell! Take a picture! I told you it’s Stringer Bell!’ And I put the bottle down…

QUESTION: How was your time in the Marvel universe?

IDRIS ELBA: I had a great time making those films, and they’re really successful. I think out of the Marvel films, they are very ambitious. Hey guys, there’s a man with long hair, a beautiful guy with a hammer that flies – suspend your belief!’ It could be taken as a bit silly. But I think the Marvel team have done a really good job with that.

QUESTION: Did you always want to be an actor?

IDRIS ELBA: No. I made that decision consciously when I was around 14, 15, in secondary school. I was very much a mimic when I was younger. My Dad and Mum – they’d love me to tell a story of what happened, and I’d play all the characters. My uncle would come round, and I could mimic him all day long. So that was about the extent of my acting abilities.

QUESTION: Did you have professional teachers that took you on?

IDRIS ELBA: Yeah. I had a very good drama teacher – who I also had a crush on! Ha-ha! But she was so influential and instrumental in having me structure a plan. At 14, she recognised I was good at drama. By 16 years-old, she had already helped me figure out what the next stages were for taking it seriously, which included going to college and doing a drama course and then perhaps going to drama school. She gave me a lot. Honestly, she encouraged me to be an actor – and I don’t think I’d be doing it if I didn’t have that encouragement from her.

QUESTION: Were your parents against the idea of being an actor?

IDRIS ELBA: Yeah, they sure did. My Mum and Dad were not like, ‘You want to be an actor? Great!’ They were like, ‘Oh, yeah. Why don’t you go and work with your Dad at Ford’s for a year and then you can save up some money!’ And that was exactly what happened

Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness dated

Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness dated

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PSYCHO-PASS: MANDATORY HAPPINESS COMING TO EUROPE

THIS SEPTEMBER ON PS4, PS VITA, AND STEAM!

NIS America is very excited to announce that PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness is coming to Europe on 16 September 2016 as a physical and digital release on PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita! We will also be bringing the game to Windows OS via Steam, and will have more information on that at a later date.

About the Story:

In the near future, advanced technological developments have allowed one’s mental state and disposition to be quantified and profiled.

For the public’s welfare, all emotions and thoughts are documented and managed by the Sibyl System. This system measures the quality of each person’s life by what is known as the Psycho-Pass, a reading of an individual’s mind. Broken down into two main components, the Psycho-Pass is the system’s omniscient eyes of justice. One of these components is the Hue, which is a visual representation of the Psycho-Pass that conveys a person’s stress level. The other is the Crime Coefficient, which is a numerical value that represents a person’s criminal capacity. This number determines whether an individual requires enforcement by the detectives of the Public Safety Bureau. Detectives are divided into two groups: Enforcers, who are tasked with the investigation of crimes and the apprehension of criminals, and Inspectors, who are charged with managing the Enforcers.

About the Game:

The player can choose between two new detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department’s Division 1; Nadeshiko Kugatachi, a calm and serious Inspector whose memories were wiped, and Takuma Tsurugi, a hot-headed Enforcer who is searching for his missing childhood friend. 

You must decide the best course of action for each given situation, but regardless of the hierarchy that separates Inspector from Enforcer, players must be mindful that every decision has its own repercussions. With an intricate decision-making system, PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness offers a twisted plot and compelling cases, providing a number of different endings.

Ultimately, depending on the choices made, Hues may deteriorate beyond recovery, cases may be left unsolved, and the game may end quicker than expected.

DOOM: PS4 Review

DOOM: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Bethesda and developed by iD Software

There's just something hellishly good about DOOM.

And yet, at the same time, with a racing heartbeat in its multiplayer zone, there's also something that's likely to push people right to the edge.

The first person shooter can't be unknown to many and this update is certainly on the money.

Set on Mars, you play someone who's caught up in a hellish conspiracy in a research facility on the red planet. Awaking to find yourself strapped down and with demons nipping at your toes, you break out of your sarcophagus and start shooting your way to safety while you fight through the hordes of bad guys heading your way. With a portal open and the hellhounds unleashed by a cult head determined to wreak havoc, there's little for you to do except blast your way to survival.

Fast-paced, perfectly crisply graphically executed and eminently playable, DOOM really is a heartbeating, pulse pounding blast that is as engrossing as it is gory. It really is a case of no guts, no gory, because the simple MO of the game's original DNA has been transplanted into a new century update.

The soundscape created is also terrifying too - with the hordes of hell gurgling as the world swirls around you. Redolent of the atmosphere of Alien, DOOM works on many primordial levels.

Chiefly though, it's about the gore and the dispatching of the bad guys. From chainsaws to the newly minted glory kills (where you can stun the bad guys, and then rip them apart for more health and power ups), the game never loses sight of its single MO - to pander to the bloodlust of the shooter.

It's not all about the shooting though - you have to negotiate the base's mazes and the external caverns of Mars too to get where you need to. You actually need a degree of strategy, because while there is plenty of health power ups and weapons refills stashed around, there's skill needed to ensure you're not caught short.

The game's rendering is totally fluid too, meaning that in the HD format, its hyper-real look is never anything less than terrifying. It's a game that wreaks of atmosphere and old school nostalgia and uses both of these to great effect.

While the single player campaign is exactly what you'd expect, the wealth of online multiplayer content is more than you'd expect.

Racing around as part of a team in the Deathmatch has pre-occupied my time in the early stages of the game - but it's been never anything less than fun, even if the skill level matching is occasionally skewed too far one way. Facing up against players of level 30 when you're on level 7 is difficult at best, given the opposition's access to upgrades, but to be fair to the 10 min games, you usually end up with someone of a higher calibre on your team also. Equally, upgrading and gaining XP is quickly done and in a few matches, my customisable character had hit the highs necessary. The levels aren't exactly complex in terms of mapping, but occasionally, I've actually lost players in the myriad of blood-spattered walls - despite their size, it's easy to lose the action.

Along with Soul Harvest (where you collect the souls of those you've sent back to hell) and community made maps, customisable characters and mods, there's more than enough in the multiplayer to keep you away from the solo game - and with more to come, it's certainly something to get lost in.

While it's still early days for the great multiplayer (more on that to come in a future piece), the signs are that this DOOM has it all correct.

It embraces the core DNA of the original and updates it very nicely.

DOOM won't win awards for subtlety but for its brutality and ultra-violent edges, this reboot for the 21st century is likely to plague your gaming nightmares for a long time to come; simply put, DOOM is bloody fun.

Battleborn: PS4 Review

Battleborn: PS4 Review

Developed by Gearbox Software
Released by 2K Games
Platform: PS4

The latest FPS from Gearbox is a mish-mash of the multi-player ethos of Gauntlet and the visual sensibilities of the Borderlands games.

Wrapped in the studio's trademark humour, the game's space setting and convergence of the end of the universe vibes in the Solus System means the pressure is on from the beginning. As bad guys the Varelsi consume stars, threatening everyone's very existence, it's up to the usual rag tag group of mercenaries to try and save the day.

The game's cartoony aesthetics and colourful overload at the start could be close to a visual meltdown for many, but it showcases what Gearbox has achieved with this title - a sense of meshing so many different sensibilities and genres into the somewhat traditional FPS.

It's simple to shoot and it's not quite as simple to power up (though it is easy to come across power ups) so it's a slightly confused message on that front. Augmenting gives you a chance to build your powers into something a little more ferocious and when played in tandem with other characters online, it's really where the game delivers.

You can play through the story solo or co-op and either way, it's a chance to get to know the colourful characters a bit more. Playing through as some of them (there are 25 in total for the unlocking) gives you an idea of some of their nuances - one, a heavy machine gun toting lunk head comes complete with stereotyped lunk head dialogue that amuses, but ultimately starts to grate; others are a little more effective such as the Butler-esque character, Marquis, who gives a level of class to the affair.

But that's the thing with Battleborn - it embraces the absurdities of the genres it is sending up and bundles them into a package that's both colourful and playable.

Online activity's been fun as well - with a 5v5 Player ethos worth exploring in its different forms. From incursion (a defence game) to meltdown and arena, there's more than enough to get into - and it's here that the game comes to life, particularly with your ability to augment your powers in tandem with others.

Overall, Battleborn is a tremendous amount of disposable fun; it allows you to immerse yourself as far as you want to go in it all - with aesthetics that will either see you fully on board or will take you a few moments to adjust.  Its lunatic MO and its ease of play are a great boon for it, and while some will dismiss it because of its overall feel, it has the potential to be one of the first truly pick up and play FPS for a very long time.

Hitman: Episode 2: Sapienza: PS4 Review

Hitman: Episode 2: Sapienza: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Square Enix and IO Interactive

The Hitman episodic release schedule may have irritated some, but given the depth and breadth of episode 1 and the scope of the Italian Job in episode 2, it's an irritation that is unfounded.

This time around, Agent 47 is hitting the streets of Sapienza, and its gorgeous vistas to take out target Silvio Caruso, a brilliant bio-engineer who's been working on a DNA-specific virus that could signal bad things for everyone around the world.

Sounds simple? And in true Hitman style, once again it is - as long as you have all the right pieces in place for the execution.

Sapienza is a location that is dressed in beauty.

From its wider map and its beach side shops and other settings, it's a level that encourages exploration before you uncover extinction of your target.

As ever the Opportunities system which randomly presents itself to you while passers-by lurk help provide you with clues as to what to do or what you could do, but it's all about the information-gathering before the hit is executed.

In terms of the gameplay, not much changes with episode 2 but what does emerge is that the episodic structure is really working out for Hitman.

In any other game, the zipping through levels that have clearly been designed with time in mind wouldn't serve to benefit this game - these are areas that crave exploration and duly reward you for doing so in the long run. Plus, with something that looks as gorgeous as Sapienza, the pressure's on to take it all in, rather than race to complete it within a certain time level.

From the high profile of the Paris hit to the more relaxed vibe of Sapienza's seaside locale, it's clear the game's shaping up to be something quite special and varied, which is more than a bonus.

As this game rolls out, it's clear Agent 47 is bang on target.

Win a double pass to see X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Win a double pass to see X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

SYNOPSIS:
Following the critically acclaimed global smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer returns with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.

Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible.

Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign.

As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

ONLY IN CINEMAS From May 19th

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

Please include your name and address and good luck! NB Competition closes 24 May - editor's decision final!