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.
To celebrate the release of In Your Eyes, starring Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahl-David, you've got the chance to win yourself a copy of this festival film that did well in Tribeca. About In Your Eyes “In the frozen East Coast winter, Rebecca is withering away in a life of cocktail parties and lonely nights as the sheltered, soft-spoken wife of a successful doctor. \ Across the country in sun-drenched, arid New Mexico, charismatic ex-con Dylan is struggling to find his footing and a fresh start. When these polar opposites realise they share an inexplicable connection, a unique metaphysical romance begins.” The film is rated M and is on home retail now
To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com and in the subject line put EYES. Please include your name and address and good luck! Competition closes July 28th and is exclusive to New Zealand only!
Newstalk ZB Review - Ghostbusters, Weiner and Embrace
This week at the Newstalk ZB reviewing coalface, I took a look at the Ghostbusters reboot and two films from the New Zealand International Film Festival, Embrace and Weiner
The NZIFF's first blistering and searing film has arrived in the form of a dramatic look at corruption in Italy that's soaked in style and oozes character.
Based on the novel by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo of the same name, it's an intricately lurid crime story that seizes you by the throat midway through and never lets go.
A politician, prostitutes, drugs, land grabs, power-plays, bribery, blackmail, turf wars, a government in crisis and the priesthood.
These are all familiar tenets of the Italian drama world and the fact Suburra embraces them to create an initially disparate web of threads shouldn't be the reason to dismiss it outright. As the story plays out against a backdrop of 7 days before the "apocalypse" arrives, the film's intricacies are brought together by a commanding cinematographer and a sense of sickening dread.
From the politician whose Icarus like hubris demands punishment to the son saddled with his father's uncontrollable debts, every frame reeks with someone fighting against the tide and the fact they could lose their soul at any moment.
There are real consequences for all in this film, and while the women ultimately feel like objects more than people, the film's all the better for embracing the tropes under the helmship of Gomorrah TV series director Stefano Sollima.
While the spiritual crisis alluded to is a thread that falls flat despite its portentous introduction and book-ending scene, what plays out in between with the Mafia and the interlaced narrative is nothing short of stunning.
Sprawling corruption, bathed in a synthesiser OST and filmed against an unending backdrop of rain are a potent concoction that deliver on flair after initially looking like it'd flounder under its own self-imposed epic feeling.
Ultimately though, the compelling Suburra grips intensely and delivers cinema that shows everyone involved fighting for their very existence, both literally and morally.
The Sopranos it ain't, and in 2 and a quarter hours it delivers bravura cinema that is as tense and exciting as it is delivered with flair. It's a desperate scrabble for all, whether they're jostling to get to the table and be an equal player or plotting their next step up the ladder.
Suburra is relentless in its execution, and as the web pulls tighter and the story becomes more taut it's difficult not to get sucked into this world that never once loses focus on the singular players, their motivations and the increasingly sickening feeling that misdeeds will deliver disastrous consequences on them but results that prove emotionally rewarding for the audience.
My film is Apple Pie and it's about: Apple Pie is a new experimental feature-length art film shot on super 16mm celluloid film over 3 years in Aotearoa NZ, Samoa and USA featuring Samoan dance artist Ioane Papali’i and twenty other performers, artists and friends. A constellation of ten meditative, poetic and tenderly political cinematic evocations that chart their way through a series of relational correlations to objects of our solar system. Drawing together an ecology of influences, Apple Pie weaves its way through a audio visual tapestry of relationalist meditations, political mythologies, photonic sculptures, atomic choreographies and ceremonial homages to the world, and what it means to be a part of it, to engage with it, to listen to it, to embody it and be embodied by it.
The reason I made this film is: It is the by-product of a process. Like taking a walk in a garden. It’s the shell of existential agency. What's the one moment that stands out in your film and why? Mmm. I feel like this film consists of nothing but moments that have been teased out of their isolation to form slabs of light and sound. If you think of these elements as the architectural materials of a cinematic building, the only moment that matters is after you - as significant other of the film - have walked through its door, walked up to the window and stand there and just stare into space. What was the hardest thing about completing your film? Physically it would be spending a week sitting atop a mountain out in the Oregon high plain desert filming throughout the freezing nights and then being cooked alive during in the shadeless desert days while trying to catch some sleep. Punishing, but fun. What’s the most satisfying thing about your film? Only the audience can know this. What’s been the one piece of feedback from either peers or audiences that has struck you the most and why? I have had a lot of people offer me very kind and loving feedback about the work, but I think the one that really means something to me is the feedback about the one rather long shot where "nothing" happens, and how painfully boring it is, until you break through something invisible, and suddenly it's purely ecstatic, then again it's boring, and then you break through yet another invisible boundary into pure ecstatic overwhelming sensorialism, even though nothing has actually happened. You have brought these things into being yourself. What’s next on the cards for you? Dancing. Eating. Laughing.
Get details on Apple Pie here.
NZIFF Q&A - Hayden J. Weal, director of Chronesthesia
My film is Chronesthesia and it's about love. There's stuff about time travel in it, and regret, and the fact everybody can be a positive force if they try. But mostly it's about love. Falling in it, harbouring it, being scared of it.
The reason I made this film is: I want to make feature films for the rest of my life, and I was sick of not doing it.
What's the one moment that stands out in your film and why?
I don't wanna ruin anything about the ending so I'll pick... no, that'll give something away to. I like the opening. It stands out because it's shocking.
What was the hardest thing about completing your film?
There was rarely anything easy or simple with this film. The hardest parts were knowing people were putting time and effort into something and not being paid, and finalising the cut. That was a lengthy process.
What's the most satisfying thing about your film?
Its third act. It's a biggie!
What's been the one piece of feedback from either peers or audiences that has struck you the most and why?
There's a moment in the film that made a friend of mine emotional, and it's a character being nice toward another character. That, and whenever anyone says I'm good in it.
What's next on the cards for you?
The Chronesthesia team are planning to work together again on another feature, hopefully with some financial backing. I am on the 3rd draft right now and it's really really good.
There's no denying the electricity of Poi E: The Story of Our Song.
At its world premiere at the start of the New Zealand International Film Festival, the Civic Theatre audience was clearly in the mood to enjoy a slice of Kiwiana.
And to all intents and purposes, Tearepa Kahi's simultaneous salute to a generation growing up and to the eminence of Dalvanius Prime achieves what it sets out to with exuberance and insight.
But as a non-Kiwi not versed in the 1980s trappings of beige stubbies, A&P shows, BYC and long hot summers, perhaps some of its intricacies and significance didn't land as they should and it may not travel as well internationally.
That's not to decry what Kahi's done and the hard work that's been put into the making of the film.
It's a documentary blast of nostalgia that is extremely well-crafted with interviews from the original Patea Maori Club as well as various people offering insight like The Topp Twins, the members of the club, Taika Waititi and Stan Walker et al.
There's plenty of humour and vitality around as well in the simplicity of the interviewees from the heartland of New Zealand and Patea itself. It's fair to say the film's a celebration and does much to set the scene for the birth of the Poi E song and the growth of the club which to some degree appears to rise stronger when the local freezing works closes.
And in the centre of it all, is Dalvanius Prime, a chihuahua loving, larger than life visionary who clearly blazed a trail for Patea but who didn't come to it willingly at the start. Using archive interviews, current day footage and super 8 film stock, Kahi's crafting of Prime's story and the subsequent ripples his influence had on the music scene are vibrant and entertaining.
Audio interviews and a very first ever recording of the inception of Poi E give the film an intimate authenticity that adds both to its veracity and its cinematic vitality. Coupled with Kiwis being Kiwis on screen and the natural characters of the heartland coming through, the film's portrait builds nicely both of Prime, his influence and his legacy.
But a quick brush over Dalvanius' death seems to deny the man the full implications and explanation of his story for those non-versed with him or who didn't grow up here. Though one can understand the desire to keep this upbeat and there's no denying that 30 years on, the song's still New Zealand's legacy.
But in many ways, Poi E: The Story of Our Song is more than just a documentary piece about a song and cultural icon that's lasted over 30 years - indeed a footnote adds the club meets every Monday, and Auntie Bib says you just need to bring a plate. (An example of the disarming and charming moments infused within this film by Kahi)
There are hints of politics within and contempt for Maori and small town New Zealand that shine an unhealthy light on New Zealand in the nicest possible way, as they bubble away in the background. It's never Kahi's MO to keep this anything other than feel-good and all the audience projection and feeling of the time will come simply from the authentic way it's all been laid out.
It's hard not to feel anger when Prime's attempts to attend a Royal Gala at the Queen's behest are greeted with a resounding No from all quarters, leading him to mortgage his home. Likewise, the closing of the freezing works is presented as a harsh community reality but Kahi's at pains to show how the community (like so many around Aotearoa) rallied to the call.
Cheekily ending with a claim that many know the chorus but not the words before presenting the song's lyrics via animation and a montage of performances, Poi E: The Story of Our Song leaves with a joyous earworm in your heart and a smile on your face, even if you may be less versed in some of the more nostalgic moments.
As well as the NZIFF screenings, Poi E: The Story of Our Song hits nationwide cinemas August 4th
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in Jason Bourne. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon for the next chapter of Universal Pictures Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA's most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
For Jason Bourne, Damon is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones, while Julia Stiles reprises her role in the series.
Frank Marshall again produces alongside Jeffrey Weiner for Captivate Entertainment, and Greengrass, Damon, Gregory Goodman and Ben Smith also produce.
Based on characters created by Robert Ludlum, the film is written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.
Jason Bourne hits cinemas July 28th To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com and in the subject line put BOURNE AGAIN. Please include your name and address and good luck! Competition closes July 28th and is exclusive to New Zealand only!
To celebrate the release of In Your Eyes, starring Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahl-David, you've got the chance to win yourself a copy of this festival film that did well in Tribeca.
