At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
GTA Online: Further Adventures in Finance and Felony Coming June 7th
GTA Online: Further Adventures in Finance and Felony Coming June 7th
In Further Adventures in Finance and Felony, become a proper boss – and climb to the top of the GTA Online criminal hierarchy with your own Organization HQ.
Further Adventures in Finance and Felony continues a player’s mission to become the ultimate criminal kingpin of Los Santos and Blaine County in one of GTA Online’s biggest and deepest updates yet.
A giant leap up the corporate ladder following the VIP experience of Executives and Other Criminals, the Finance and Felony update gives players the opportunity to expand their organization and become CEO of their own Criminal Enterprise.
The Pegassi Reaper, one of the new vehicles befitting your elite status.
Acquire a high-rise office and special warehouse properties to begin buying and selling a range of contraband across the city, all the while fighting the LSPD and the rest of the southern San Andreas criminal underworld for access to the rarest items and the biggest profits.
Further Adventures in Finance and Felony combines all new gameplay with a host of special new vehicles, exciting new features and much more.
Associates recover Special Cargo in Buy missions arranged by the CEO.
Look out for more details along with the official trailer coming next week.
F1™ 2016 TO FEATURE IMMERSIVE TEN YEAR CAREER MODE
SAFETY CAR, VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR AND NEW BAKU CIRCUIT ALSO ANNOUNCED
SYDNEY, 30TH May 2016 - Codemasters® have announced that F1™ 2016, the official videogame of the 2016 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, will include the most immersive career mode ever featured in the franchise. F1 2016 will release onto PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC (via Steam) this winter.
F1 2016’s new career mode will take gamers deeper into the world’s most glamorous, exciting and prestigious motorsport, both on and off the track. The life-like recreation of the sport will be further enhanced by the addition of the sport’s iconic Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car, as well as the introduction of the challenging new streetcircuit in Baku, Azerbaijan for the 2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE.
“F1 2016 is a massive step forward for the franchise”, said Lee Mather, Principal Games Designer at Codemasters. “The new career mode sits at the heart of the game and allows gamers to create their own legend over a career that can span for up to a massive ten seasons. Beyond improving upon the fastest and most thrilling on-track racing experience in gaming, F1 2016 uniquely offers the drama and vehicle development that goes on behind the scenes. A rich car upgrade system is fully integrated into a new and deep practice development programme which mirrors the tests carried out by the teams in real life.”
Mather continued: “The career mode, together with the re-introduction of the Safety Car, the first inclusion of the Virtual Safety Car and a number of other unannounced improvements means that F1 2016 will have more new features than any other year of the franchise.”
In the new career mode players select an avatar to represent them within the game world as well as choosing a number to take with them through their career. They are then free to choose from any of the FORMULA ONE teams, all with different goals and expectations. It may be more challenging to start further down the grid, but it will also be easier to exceed team expectations. Players can earn contracts and move from team to team, or choose to develop their favourite team into a championship contender.
To complement the on-track experience, and to expand the realism of the Career mode, F1 2016 includes stunning hospitality areas for each team that act as the player’s game hub. In this area they will work with their Research and Development Engineer and Player Agent to develop their progress both on and off the track. To further enhance the immersion, players will also be able to spot other key figures from the paddock within the hospitality areas.
In what is already a very exciting season, the 2016 season sees Azerbaijan become the latest addition to the FORMULA ONE calendar, with capital city Baku playing host to what could very well be the fastest street circuit of the season. Early screenshots show off the new time of day editor which allows players to dramatically customise the visuals of the race experience. The brand-new Haas F1 Team makes their debut in the 2016 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and in the process become the first all-American-led F1 team in three decades.
SYDNEY, 30TH May 2016 – In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the beloved DRAGON QUEST® series,Square Enix Ltd.,today announced that the latest entry in the series, DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™, will across Australia & New Zealand in October 2016. In this all-new building adventure, players will use their creativity to build a variety of unique tools from the materials they gather, and rebuild towns and cities to restore life to the shattered world of Alefgard– a human realm destroyed and plunged into darkness by the menacing ruler of the monsters, the Dragonlord.
In DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS, players are tasked to construct a wide variety of structures as they receive ever-more extravagant requests from expectant citizens eager to find a new home. Explore with the freedom of sandbox gameplay, combined with an immersive and charming DRAGON QUEST story – battling with iconic DRAGON QUEST monsters and interacting with gorgeously designed 3D characters along the way. With an intuitive control system, DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS will have you building the towers and castles of your dreams in no time!
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS will arrive across Australia & New Zealand in October 2016 for the PlayStation®4 Computer Entertainment System and PlayStation Vita (digital only). For more information visit: www.dragonquest-game.com
Story
Generations ago, the realm of Alefgard was plunged into darkness when the hero fated to slay the terrible and treacherous Dragonlord, the ruler of all monsters, was instead tricked into joining him. Through this vile villain's magical machinations, mankind was scattered to the winds and robbed of the power to build. With even the idea of creativity relegated to mere legend, the people of Alefgard wander the ruins of their former home, scrounging and scavenging in the dust to survive. But now, a legendary figure arises - a hero chosen by the Goddess herself - who sets out to return the power of creation to the people of Alefgard. Only when the wonder of imagination has been returned to the land will mankind be able to overthrow the evil Dragonlordonce and for all!
Rating:M Released by Sony Home Ent Based on renowned English writer Alan Bennett's play and reuniting the star with the director of the Olivier Award original play, it is, as the title card suggests, a mostly true story.
The one woman acting tornado that is Maggie Smith returns to the role she made famous in London's West End as Miss Mary Shepherd, a homeless woman who lived in a van in Camden around the 1970s when Bennett inhabited the region.
With all the neighbourhood turning their back on Mary and seeing her as an eyesore and a beggar, Bennett (an uncanny impression and nuanced performance by Alex Jennings) allows her to park her van in his driveway. However, rather than this sojourn being a brief one, and much to Bennett's endless chagrin, Mary ends up staying some 15 years - and despite all of Alan's desires, becomes a part of her life.
Simply put, those who don't know Alan Bennett and won't be able to appreciate Jennings' spot-on enunciation and diction of the playwright whose Talking Heads made him famous, Maggie Smith will be the star attraction.
With her sheer force of presence and quirkiness that's a softer Downton approach, this Dowager of the driveway is pretty much going to strike a chord with anyone who's got a soft spot for cheeky irascibility. She's not loved by the inhabitants of the road and doesn't fit in with their middle class aspirations and judgements (the neighbours are wonderfully headed up by the ever solid presence of Roger Allam and Frances De La Tour), but there's a parallel with Bennett's mother and his terribly English guilt at leaving her alone up north.
Hytner employs a steady hand with the direction and the gentle story, which is as parked as the van in the driveway. Splitting Jennings in two to show the conflict and the consciences is a nifty touch and Jennings brings an edge and an empathy to both sides of Bennett the conflicted do-gooder and Bennett the writer looking for inspiration.
But it's Smith whom the film favours, as the layers of reason for her condition gently peel back. And while the emotion of these reveals never quite hits a crescendo or catharsis worthy of the journey, there is plenty of humour on the whimsical way. (No wonder given she's reprising a role she's already made famous on the stage).
Nobody emerges as a fully formed character and there is an odd touch with the real life Bennett being inserted into the narrative towards the end, but you can't deny The Lady In The Van has an amiability and an affability that makes it a gently easy watch, guaranteed to do well with an older audience.
There's a special place in my heart for Danger Mouse, the cartoon that was part of my formative youth.
With its terrible line in puns, great voiceover work from the likes of David Jason as DM and the late Terry Scott as Penfold, along with some silly storylines, it was a cartoon about a secret agent that revelled in the silliness and farce of the late 70s vaudeville but updated it with 80s sensibilities.
So there's trepidation about the update of the Cosgrove Hall animation - and one that's not initially allayed by the awful update of the iconic theme tune.
But the show itself is actually nothing short of brilliant.
Updated with a fresher look that's more in line with the Nickleodeon sensibilities, the show's lost none of its sheen, preferring to stick to the overall hilarity and DNA that made the original such a hit.
With a voiceover from Come Dine With Me's Dave Lamb, great work from Kevin Eldon as Penfold and a brilliant turn by Alexander Armstrong as DM (who sounds like a younger David Jason) - not to mention Stephen Fry as Colonel K, the show's as nutty as it ever was. Concentrating on the puns and over the top silliness, Danger Mouse is great fun.
The only bum note is the update of Baron Greenback who is a little left behind due to a different take on the villain.
That said, overall, the 7 episodes in the updated DangerMouse are great yarns. Clocking in at only 11 minutes they zip by and with their meta touches, never outstay their welcome.
Released by 20th Century Fox The savagery of survival is just one of the elements explored in the adaptation of the 2002 novel by Michael Punke, The Revenant brought to the screen by Alejandro G Innaritu, the award-winning director of Birdman.
Already nominated in the Golden Globes for both its lead actor and director, the film’s about Leonardo Di Caprio’s Hugh Glass , an 1820s frontiersman in uncharted America. When the group he’s working with are attacked by Pawnee Indians, they’re forced to flee. And things get even worse when Glass is mauled by a bear and is left for dead by those charged with his care….
While The Revenant is essentially a spiritual piece about rebirth and revenge, Innaritu’s created a film that’s visually rich. Working with his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, Innaritu’s made a great fist of the backgrounds on offer in the wilds as well as ensuring the fight for survival is intensely personally shot. A final shot is surprising and ensures The Revenant is burned into your brain as it leaves.
The story’s not exactly original, given the themes of vengeance and the rape of the land from Native Indians and while it’s adapted from a book, it’s not entirely successful in making the transition.
Narratively, the Indians provide the impetus at the start only to disappear as the story progresses and then re-appear when it suits (a thread about a chief’s abducted daughter seems to dawdle and lose steam as it circles the main thread) before re-appearing on the scene at the end. Equally, the French elements in the hills who seem so instrumental in Glass' group's demise are tossed casually to one side.
But perhaps in many ways, this is the way to structure the at times viscerally raw story of this fur trapper because it's Leo's film through and through.
After the intensity of the savage CGI bear attack (a sequence which only shows a few animated cracks as the bear protects its cubs in the most vicious way possible), Glass is left physically shattered and with a slashed throat and therefore our actor without a mouthpiece.
But Di Caprio manages to seethe and struggle through, with a physical performance that is both commanding and watchable. It's helped by a few surprising moments of breaking the fourth wall - notably in the very last shot - but not in the way we've become accustomed to. Fuelled by revenge and a desire to survive instilled in him by his slaughtered wife, Glass's journey, both spiritual and physical is a compelling one. By depriving him of a background and injecting him with a raw primordial push to live, Inarritu almost makes him mythical like Clint Eastwood's Man with No name (even if Di Caprio's throaty whisper is Dirty Harry like towards the end)
Poulter, Gleeson and Hardy deserve mention too as supporting players in this wilderness tale. Perhaps Hardy as the antagonist of the piece Fitzgerald is the one who emerges with a bit more of a rounded character as he expands on his own past and his scalping at the hands of the Pawnee Indians is a subtle tale, showing the horrors of colonialism and the anger of the natives. But his nagging self-preservation starts to strike a chord and make a lot of sense as he compels others to leave Glass behind.
While this odyssey could have done with an expeditious trim of some 20 minutes, there's no denying the power of the visual execution of The Revenant. Doused in spiritual edges and executed with visual precision by Inarritu, this tale of man vs nature with lashings of personal vengeance sprinkled liberally throughout becomes a story of resilience and a film of bravado.
Newstalk ZB Review - Tickled, The Nice Guys and Alice Through The Looking Glass
This morning on Newstalk ZB, I took a look at Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe's buddy comedy The Nice Guys, as well as David Farrier and Dylan Reeve's doco Tickled. And Johnny Depp in Alice Through The Looking Glass.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands E3 material revealed
UBISOFT® HEADING TO E3 2016
WITH A BRAND NEW TRAILER
FOR TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON® WILDLANDS
Collector’s Editions Available for Pre-Order
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA– May 26, 2016 – Ubisoft has kicked off its E3 festivities with a brand new trailer for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands, the latest in the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise, and unveiled pre order details on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.
To view the trailer click the image below
Developed by Ubisoft Paris, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is the first military shooter set in a massive and responsive open world, entirely playable in single-player or up to four-player co-op. Players will discover Bolivia a few years from now, a country turned by the vicious Santa Blanca drug cartel into a narco-state.
Sent behind enemy lines, Ghosts will have to cripple the Santa Blanca cartel’s operation, breaking alliances between the drug lords and the corrupt government, and saving the Bolivian population from the cruelty of El Sueño, Santa Blanca’s ruthless leader. To do so, players will have a total freedom of choice to accomplish their missions how they want and watch as the world reacts to their actions.
“As a part of the Tom Clancy franchise, authenticity is one of our pillars. Our goal has been to build the Ghosts as credible Spec Ops that can face the roughness of the Bolivian multifaceted landscape,” said Eric Couzian, Creative Director on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. “Ghosts are survivors and hunters, they can blend in all sorts of environments, leaving no trace except in the heads of their terrified enemies. We want players to feel this power.”
Furthermore, Ubisoft has also announced that the following premium editions are available for pre-order now, in addition to the standard game:
·The Deluxe Edition available for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands in retail and digital stores contains the Standard Edition and the digital Deluxe Pack which includes: the Huntsman rifle and motorbike, 3 emblems, 3 weapon camos, 3 character customization items and an XP booster. The physical version of this edition will also include 2 extra physical items: an in-game map of Bolivia and the original soundtrack of the game.
·The Gold Edition available in retail and digital stores which includes the Season Pass, giving players access to two major expansions as well as exclusive digital content featuring equipment packs, an exclusive vehicle and epic weapons, and the digital Deluxe Pack.
·The Calavera Collector’s Case, exclusive to Uplay Shop,comes with all the equipment to operate as a Ghost plunged deep dive into Bolivia to take down the vicious Santa Blanca cartel. This includes the Gold Edition alongside the Ghost’s Audio Headset replica, a fully functional headset for PlayStation 4, Xbox One* and PC. Last but not least, this Collector’s Case also contains a Santa Blanca Cartel Skull, an in-game map of Bolivia, the original soundtrack of the game, a Bolivian carrying pouch and 3 postcards of Bolivia.
·The Fallen Angel Edition, includes the game, Fallen Angel figurine, the official soundtrack, game map of Bolivia and Season Pass giving you access to two major expansions as well as all the deluxe pack in game content.
·The Limited Edition, includes the game, an exclusive steelbook and The Peruvian Connection mission set.
Additionally, fans who pre-order the game will also receive a bonus mission, “The Peruvian Connection”, in which they will embark on a perilous mission among the high mountains of Bolivia to break the alliance between the Santa Blanca and Peruvian Cartels.
Rating: M Released by Universal Home Ent It seems like the housing crisis and crash is Hollywood's topic du jour.
With the searing 99 Homes not far behind in the cinematic window, the director of Anchorman brings us the true story of what happened when four outsiders predicted the housing bubble bursting in the mid-2000s and used it to their advantage and to expose the banks' stupidity.
The first to see the flaw is Dr Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a Mastodon loving, bare-footed analyst who works for Scion Capital; but his plan to bet against the banks provides a few ripples thanks to a wrong number call to Steve Carell's Mark Baum. His group begin to make some enquiries and start to see Burry's idea has some legs and decide to buy in as well.
Based on The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis, Adam McKay's film isn't afraid to engross you in the technical babble and the small print of the credit default swaps that precipitated the downfall.
It's also not afraid to realise that it's quite a dry and serious subject and so has its director use various conventions to shatter through the tedium. Chief among these is Ryan Gosling's character Jared Vennett whose breaking of the fourth wall invites an audience in and plays to the film's cocking a snook MO at the stuffiness of its material. Equally, when the story's about to get to some crucially excruciating techno-babble, McKay isn't afraid to cut away to the likes of Selena Gomez and Margot Robbie in a bubble-bath to provide the necessary explanations. It's a clever narrative touch that veers on being a little too smart early on and borders on treating its subject with irreverence, but McKay is fully aware that these moves ensure an audience pays attention to an ongoing issue that's still a problem.
Of the main cast, it's really only Carell as Mark Baum (who's based on Steve Eisman) who feels like they have an emotional connection for you to latch on to. Troubled by the suicide of his brother, and wrapped tighter than a coil in his anger and arrogance, Baum is the only one who feels like a real character and the only one to express an unease at the implications of their benefiting from the banks.
It's a fascinating edge that could have done with a little more exploration, given that the others are essentially anti-heroes who are truly more one dimensional cut-outs populating the picture.
There's an irony in the ever-so-slightly-overlong The Big Short over the way these guys rorted the system that was up for exposure and there are lessons to be learned, but perhaps the biggest message from this almost flashy stylish docu-drama is how much Adam McKay's underplayed his directorial hand. His execution of this film and its ensemble cast will ensure the message of concern over the banks and the housing bubble will get through to the masses - even if it occasionally teeters into didactic but well-needed territory.
SYDNEY, 27TH May 2016 - The third Sarajevo Six target will be available with HITMAN Episode 3: Marrakesh.
Your target is Walter Menard, a veteran of the paramilitary SIGMA UNIT active during the Yugoslav War of the 90s. Your target has currently been tasked with handling the evacuation of rogue banker Claus Strandberg in Marrakesh.
PS4 players get exclusive access to The Sarajevo Six. These are six bonus contracts that tell a self-contained side-story revolving around former members of a paramilitary unit called CICADA. Agent 47 will travel the world in pursuit of his targets, with one bonus contract available in each location from the game.
The launch date for HITMAN Episode 3: Marrakesh will be on May 31, 2016. Visit hitman.com for more information.
PROJECT CARS - 'Inspired to Drive, The Nicholas Hamilton Story'
DISCOVER “INSPIRED TO DRIVE – THE NICOLAS HAMILTON STORY”
IN A NEW PROJECT CARS SHORT FILM
SYDNEY, 27TH May 2016 - Nicolas Hamilton – consultant at Slightly Mad Studios – today tells his story in a short film called “Inspired to Drive – The Nicolas Hamilton Story”. With his ability to mix sim game and real life experiences, Nicolas Hamilton worked on PROJECT CARS to help define the cars' handling and physics. Training for years on a simulator, he allowed nothing to stand in the way of achieving his dream. His remarkable success is why Nicolas Hamilton is driven to inspire us all.
NEW TRAILERS FOR STAR OCEAN: INTEGRITY AND FAITHLESSNESS
INTRODUCE NEW CHARACTERS AND SHOWCASE GAME SYSTEM
SYDNEY 26TH May 2016 – Square Enix Ltd., today revealed a selection a trailers to further introduce fans to the universe of STAR OCEAN®: Integrity and Faithlessness™. The new character spotlight videos feature all-new footage introducing the characters Anne and Emmerson, a pair of travellers who join Fidel on his quest to protect Relia, and the Kingdom of Trei’kur, a desolate wasteland country currently at war with Fidel’s home country of Resulia.
This week we are
delighted to reveal five music-themed films as part of our 2016 NZIFF
sneaks. The line-up celebrates the best in the world of music from an
R&B Queen, to the 60s’ most avant-garde rocker, to a soundstage in
Buenos Aires, travelling the world with Yo-Yo Ma, and on to an audition for
an outback choir.
If you're looking for something a little darker, our Incredibly Strange
sneaks are sure to pique your interest...
We’ll continue to bring you further sneaks in the coming weeks. The full
programme will be revealed at 7pm on Monday 20 June with tickets on sale
from Friday 24 June.
Miss Sharon Jones!
Academy
Award-winning documentary maker Barbara Kopple delivers definitive proof,
from show-stopping testimony in a small South Carolina church to
Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre, that nobody raises the roof like Sharon Jones.
“The narrative arc of the film is the diminutive (‘four foot 11 and a
quarter’) singer’s more than year-long battle with cancer – and her return
to performing. But by lavishing huge helpings of Jones’ music and explosive
performances on what is a very intimate portrait, the two-time
Oscar-winning [Barbara] Kopple keeps the doco from ever becoming maudlin,
or predictable, or from even slowing down.” — John Anderson, Indiewire
Eat That Question:
Frank Zappa in his Own Words
Director
Thorsten Schütte’s doco splices together performance and interview footage
of the ever-articulate rock star (and talk-show guest) Frank Zappa to recount the story of his
defiantly non-conformist musical journey.
“A compelling gateway documentary that should absorb both fans and novices
alike.” — Leslie Felperin, Hollywood
Reporter
Argentina
Carlos
Saura, the Spanish director of such classics as Flamenco, Tango and Blood Wedding, mounts a dazzling showcase
for the leading contemporary performers of traditional Argentinian music
and dance.
“Lyrical and moving, Argentina is
also a glorious reminder that every film should be a passion project.” —
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Music of
Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
On
a quest to uncover Leonard Bernstein’s ‘universal language of music’,
renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma travels the old ‘Silk Road’ with virtuoso
musicians from diverse instrumental traditions to collaborate on rousing new musical explorations.
“The intersection of cultures is where new things emerge.” — Yo-Yo Ma
Wide Open Sky
In
this charming documentary from Lisa Nicol,
gifted teacher and musician Michelle Leonard travels to under-resourced
outback NSW, auditioning children then schooling the chosen 130 to perform
in the annual Moorambilla Voices choir.
“This down-to-earth crowd pleaser is a terrific antidote to the
razzle-dazzle hype of TV talent shows.” — Richard Kuipers, Variety
Incredibly Strange
NZIFF Sneaks
From
the sleazily decadent clubs of 1980's Warsaw to the back room of a
backwoods bar in Orgeon, our Incredibly Strange sneaks are just a taste of
what's ahead in Ant Timpson's programme.
The Lure
(Córki dancingu)
Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska
This bizarre, sublimely surreal Polish vampire-mermaid musical about two
sibling sirens who lure their prey from the stage of a trashy nightclub is
a one of a kind cult movie.
Green Room
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier
Punk rockers and skinheads clash in this intense, darkly humorous game of
cat-and-mouse, from the director of bracing indie thriller Blue Ruin.
