Dirty Grandpa: DVD Review

Dirty Grandpa: DVD Review

Released by eOne

Have you ever wanted to see Academy Award winner and much revered actor Robert De Niro declare with deep gusto that he "just wants to f**k until my d**k falls off"?

Because if so, viagra comedy Dirty Grandpa will fulfill your dreams.

Ali G and Borat director Dan Mazer brings an energy and an eye for vulgarity to the fore in this raunchy Spring Break comedy starring Zac Efron as Jason, an uptight lawyer who's about to be married to his shrill fiancee, Meredith (Julianne Hough). But when Jason's grandma dies, he decides to try and reconnect with his estranged grandpa Dick (Robert De Niro) and the duo end up on a road trip in an attempt to recapture the bond they used to share.

However, Dick is after finding his second wind in life, claiming his former wife urged him to go live while on her death - bed and Jason is tricked into heading into Florida's Spring Break.

For all of its shortcomings and the feeling of repetition toward the end, coupled with a few saggy sentimental moments which really slow things down, there's something amusing about this energetic and at times, capable comedy that aims low, hits every target and then heads to pick even more low-hanging fruit.

Though that comes with the proviso that you must be into puerile material and of a disposition that finds copious swearing, genitals and prolonged jokes around sex and getting laid amusing.Efron proves game and is interested in humiliating himself where necessary, (including showing off his physique once again) and De Niro goes for the shock factor by debasing his acting legacy as much as he can. Parks and Rec star Aubrey Plaza and Sleeping With Other People's Jason Mantzoukas are the real stars though, intially putting their trademark patter into full effect before starting to grate; Plaza's horny girl wanting to sleep with an old man gathers some laughs to start with and then starts to feel a little creepy.

Mistaken paedophilia, gay stereotyping, crude and crass all form parts of Dirty Grandpa, and while there's no denying there are moments which are laugh out loud funny, most of this film starts to grate and become repetitive very quickly.

Granted, it's the perfect antidote to the Oscar films which are out there now, but it's no long term comedy solution and while it will find its audience, the laughs aren't quite enough to see it push the envelope

Phoenix: DVD Review

Phoenix: DVD Review

From the director of the critically acclaimed Barbara, Phoenix is a tale that aims for powerful and gets there - for the most part.

Hoss plays Nelly, a survivor of the concentration camps, who's badly disfigured and needs reconstruction surgery after the war to start to rebuild her life. Choosing to ignore surgeons' advice and seeking her own face be restored, Nelly's determined to find her husband Johnny, who was arrested the same time she was and the thought of whom kept her going in the camps. However, Johnny didn't sustain that hope and believed she was dead, killed at the hands of the Nazis.

But when Nelly discovers Johnny's working in a local cabaret club as a busboy, and despite the advice from long term friend Lene, she ingratiates her way back into his life as he concocts a scheme to get her inheritance, believing Nelly to be the spitting image of his wife...

With its weighty subject matter and universal concerns, Phoenix could so easily gone for overblown sentiment and mawkishness,

But what Petzold does is strive for subtlety and for a more intimate drama that really becomes more about Johnny and Nelly than it does its global implications, which is where the suspension and suspense start to diverge.

By scattering elements through the story of a post World War II life and of Jews trying to deal with their PTSD and of a nation trying to rebuild, but by concentrating on the struggle between the duo, Petzold creates a film that's as much Hitchcock as it is post-Holocaust tale.

Evocatively lit and carefully choreographed, this is a film that relies on its cinematography for its atmosphere and one which demonstrates a proliferation of victims by concentrating on a singular one. But it's also a story which requires a leap of faith that Johnny wouldn't become suspicious of Nelly and the incredible coincidence that the tale pivots on.

Granted, it's the stuff of film noir, but Phoenix doesn't quite convince on that front and the eventual denouement of the piece lacks the real shock factor that it should have. And nowhere is this more evident than in Lene's ultimate fate, coming as it does like a shot out of the blue and with no resonance.

If anything, Phoenix is more of a film of survivors, of trying to find one's way again and of a nation trying to find a new face, as well as an individual. It's here that the power of Phoenix lies and it's here that the story is perhaps more desperate to be told.

As it is, Phoenix is beautifully and masterfully executed, but one can't help but feel its vision should have been better placed. 

Newstalk ZB Review - Talking Chasing Great and David Brent

Newstalk ZB Review - Talking Chasing Great and David Brent

This week, I caught up with Jack Tame to discuss the Richie McCaw doco and the David Brent mockumentary.

Thankfully, I didn't get them mixed up.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-chasing-great-david-brent/

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Premiere revealed

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Premiere revealed

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Premieres This November   Third Full Season in Critically-Acclaimed Series Premieres This November

Fellow Survivors, During our panel at PAX West today, Telltale took the stage to deliver some additional details surrounding the highly-anticipated third season of The Walking Dead. Since its unveiling at E3 in June, the title and release window for the next season of the series have been tightly under wraps. Today, we can announce that 'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' will be premiering this November on consoles, PC/Mac, and mobile platforms. The series will also be available for purchase on a special 'Season Pass Disc' for consoles, which will include the premiere episode for the third season, as well as access to all subsequent episodes in the five episode season for download as they become available. "This third new season will serve as both a continuation of what's come before in our story, as well as an all-new beginning set nearly four years after the outbreak events of Season One," said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. "As a harrowing and horrific drama, 'A New Frontier' will explore beyond what it means to survive in a world ravaged by the undead, and will see our characters confronting the new rules of order and justice in a land being brutally reclaimed and rediscovered by what's left of humanity itself." Players will take control of series newcomer Javier, a man struggling to keep his family together in the new world, while also playing as Clementine, now a teenage survivor holding secrets of her past while fighting to protect family of her own. "When we began this series, we explored what it meant to protect a character like Clementine at all costs," said Kevin Boyle, Executive Producer on the series. "Years later, meeting her for the first time, Javier will begin to unravel the mystery of who Clementine has become, as her story intersects with his - both of them still driven by the things they value most long after society's collapse." 'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' will be premiering this November. For more news and information on the third season, stay tuned totelltale.com, follow @telltalegames on twitter, and on follow our page on Facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadGame.

Pete's Dragon: Film Review

Pete's Dragon: Film Review

Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Karl Urban, Oakes Fegley, Oona Lawrence, Wes Bentley
Director: David Lowery

Disney continues its predilection for bringing live action versions of its cartoon back catalogue with this New Zealand shot version of 1977 cute fable, Pete's Dragon.

This time around, Oakes Fegley stars as Pete, the little kid who's orphaned this time around when a car crash in the woods kills his parents. As he's about to be set on by wolves, a kindly dragon scares them off...

Moving forward six years, and the town of Millhaven's grown up with tales of a dragon in the woods. Chief among the tall-tale-teller is Robert Redford's Meacham who claims to have seen the beast, but his daughter Grace (a pleasant Bryce Dallas Howard) who works as a park ranger. refutes his claims.

But one day, when she finds the feral Pete, a chain of events is set in motion that will change all their lives forever.

Perfectly pleasant but ultimately pedestrian, Pete's Dragon is a curious update.

With its furry dragon now resembling more a hybrid between snaggle-toothed dog, Scooby Doo and dragon, it's clear the CGI is the star of the film with plenty of earlier proceedings devoted to showcasing the beast soaring through the skies and in one bravura CGI piece that reeks of simplicity of complex execution, splashing through water.

Refreshingly old school in its execution and teetering closely on potentially being a little bland for current cinema tastes, Pete's Dragon takes about 70 minutes of its 100 minutes for anything seriously substantial to happen, relying on magic, darker moments and old school feels to get it through.

It's genial to be sure, but its veiled story about a damaged child and subsequent reintegration into society is the only thread that keeps things on the straight and narrow - even though a sideline about deforestation bubbles away in the background, never to be preached or discussed as the film progresses.

3D for the film proves pointless with the only moments that it works best being when the dragon disappears from sight on screen as its cloaking device kicks in - but otherwise, the 3D muddies and darkens proceedings more than it needs, denying the movie the lighter edges it so clearly embraces.

As the scrambling feral Pete, there's a distinctly Mowgli vibe about Oakes Fegley's scraggy kid and the sweetness of those around him makes proceedings saccharine enough but never boiling over into grating territory.

And while Redford and Dallas Howard are perfectly affable, Karl Urban's turn as a troublemaker feels a little stunted and comes up wanting in the final wash. It's an unfortunate touch given the whole family friendly proceedings need a degree of villainy to give it an edge.

Ultimately, Pete's Dragon is winningly old school with its simplicity of execution, but it takes a little too long for anything significant to happen - and whether impatient audiences will embrace that lax pace remains to be seen.

Where to Invade Next: DVD Review

Where to Invade Next: DVD Review

Once polemic director Michael Moore returns with a documentary that sees him mellowing with age and ultimately presenting a film that ends up lauding an America that's currently smarting, even though he has their ideology square in his sights.

Presented as a travelogue and beginning with Moore addressing a line up of the American establishment after being imagined being summoned to Pentagon, Where to Invade Next posits the theory that America's in trouble and there are no solutions.

So, draped in an American flag and setting out across Europe, Moore visits countries like Italy, Germany, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia to see how their progressive politics are helping their natives.

On this mission to see what the USA can learn from the rest of the world, Moore's one man invasion is nothing short of a genial feel-good film that feels slighter when compared and contrasted to his earlier works.

There's no doubting this is the man who seethed with indignation in Bowling for Columbine andFahrenheit 9/11 but there's equally no doubting this is a film-maker who has mellowed with age. If anything this film feels slight and a little saggy in its 2 hour run time, but it's no less diminished thanks to Moore's quick wit and amusing quips.

There's something ribald about seeing Moore genially head into situations and examine the problems his country's facing and the apparently sensible approach European neighbours have taken. There's no doubting Moore's liberalism is on show here and there's no doubting he's ever anywhere but in Europe's favour (even though the end coda demonstrates he still has an extremely soft spot for his home land, despite all their ills - I'll leave aside the argument that his conclusion negates the need for the film and shows off a typically American approach to the world).

Half of the joy of Where To Invade Next comes from people's reactions to Moore - mostly, the majority of them are non-plussed with some of his revelations and his cheeky approach to problem-solving. But it's never anything less than serious with Where To Invade Next; there's never any real discussion over how the proposed solutions could work in the USA or why they would fail; this is a doco and global jaunt that's purely and squarely aimed at feel-good.

Occasionally, there are some disguised criticisms of European policy, wrapped up in sentimental music and an even more pronounced and soft spoken Moore voiceover.

It's hard not to feel like Moore is criticising Norway for their treatment of Anders Brevik and his incarceration post-shooting. Lingering on a victim's father and repeatedly asking if he wanted to kill Brevik seems a little insensitive by most measures and the argument gains no traction by the continual prodding.

Ultimately, Where To Invade Next is clearly a softer Moore piece, that's aimed more at crowd-pleasing than thought provoking. It's possible Moore's MO was solely to instill European attitudes in people and enlighten audiences to the fact there are better ways to do things. While he stops short of actual education and showing how that could be implemented, there's no denying he does entertain during his two-hour OE, which is aimed solely at boosting flagging American morale. 

BATMAN - The Telltale Series' Continues September 20th in Episode 2: Children of Arkham

BATMAN - The Telltale Series'  Continues September 20th in Episode 2: Children of Arkham

'BATMAN - The Telltale Series'  Continues September 20th in Episode 2: Children of Arkham     Pre-Release Crowd Play at PAX West on Saturday September 3rd

Today we can unveil the release date for BATMAN - The Telltale Series Episode 2: 'Children of Arkham'.   The second of five episodes in the season, Episode 2: 'Children of Arkham' will be available digitally worldwide starting Tuesday September 20th on PC from the Telltale Online Store, Steam, and other digital distribution services, on the PlayStation®Network for PlayStation 4, and on the Xbox Games Store for Xbox One®. Release dates for additional platforms will be announced later in September.  The series will also be available to purchase at retailers starting September 13th in North America as a special Season Pass Disc, which will include the first of five episodes in the season, and will grant access to the subsequent four episodes as they become available for download via online updates. The series will then be available to purchase at retailers across Europe on September 16th.  Episode 2: Children of Arkham will debut ahead of public launch at a special Crowd Play event at PAX West, Saturday September 3rd at 8:30 PM in the Wyvern Theatre at the Westin. This will be the very first event using the NEW in-game Crowd Play feature, where the audience will help direct the happenings on-screen using their own mobile devices. There will be giveaways for everyone in the audience, and the event will be hosted by BATMAN expert Dan Casey from Nerdist.com. Rendered to look like a living, breathing comic book, Telltale's vision of Batman features an award-winning cast of talent, including Troy Baker in the role of Bruce Wayne, Travis Willingham as Harvey Dent, Erin Yvette as Vicki Vale, Enn Reitel as Alfred Pennyworth, Murphy Guyer as Lieutenant James Gordon,Richard McGonagle as Carmine Falcone, Jason Spisak as Oswald Cobblepot,and Laura Bailey as Selina Kyle. Additional cast and characters will be revealed as the season progresses. BATMAN - The Telltale Series Episode 2: Children of Arkham is rated M (Mature) for Violence, Blood, and Drug References by the ESRB. Future content in the season is yet to be rated by the ESRB. The series is published by Telltale Games in partnership with Warner Bros.  For more information on Telltale Games, and more news surrounding the series, visit the official website, Facebook, and follow Telltale Games on Twitter@TelltaleGames.