Birthdays the Beginning comes to PS4

Birthdays the Beginning comes to PS4

BIRTHDAYS THE BEGINNING COMES TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND IN EARLY 2017 FOR PS4!

NIS America is happy to officially announce that Birthdays the Beginning will be coming to North America and Europe in early 2017 for PlayStation®4 and Steam (Windows) as a physical and digital release! The game will contain in-game text in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

About the game:

From the creator of Harvest Moon, Mr. Yasuhiro Wada (TOYBOX Inc.), comes Birthdays the Beginning: a new sandbox game in which players create cube-shaped worlds that give rise to diverse and unique lifeforms. With careful experimentation, players can shape the geography and alter the temperature of each world to create the conditions for life and witness the birth of an entire ecosystem!

Key Features:

A World All Your Own – Create any world you can imagine! From staggering mountains and sprawling forests to a deep sea dotted with islands, there’s no limit to your creations.

Life from the Beginning – Discover the history of everything as you foster life of all shapes and sizes – from single-celled organisms to complex multicellular life, including plants, mammals, dinosaurs, and more!

Cultivate Your Imagination – Imagine, Experiment, Create! Shape your planet and decide how plant and animal life evolves. No two planets will ever be truly alike.

God Wars Future Past coming to PS4

God Wars Future Past coming to PS4

GOD WARS FUTURE PAST TO HIT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND IN EARLY 2017 FOR PS4™ AND PS VITA!

NIS America is excited to announce that the tactical RPG GOD WARS Future Past will be coming to North America and Europe in early 2017 on PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita as a physical and digital release!

GOD WARS Future Past is a tactical RPG that explores the untold history of Japan through folklore and tactical combat. Gamers will experience the traditional stories of Japan’s origin through the lens of three warring nations, with a massive expanse of tactical options to develop their strategies from including a myriad of character classes and equipment within innovative and challenging stages.

About the story:

A long time ago, there was a beautiful land made up of three nations: Fuji, Izumo, and Hyuga. This land was called Mizuho. The people of Mizuho disliked conflict, honored their ancestral spirits, and lived in harmony with nature. However, over time, they began cultivating crops, forging and using metal, fighting wars, destroying nature, and neglecting to honor their ancestral spirits.

In the meantime, various locations in Mizuho suffered from natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. In order to stop a destructive eruption, the Queen of Mizuho, Tsukuyomi, sacrificed her beloved daughter Sakuya to the mountain, confined her other daughter Kaguya within a bamboo seal in case of future disasters, and then disappeared. 13 years later, Princess Kaguya has grown into a beautiful woman and her childhood friend, Kintaro, saves her during a riot. She rises against her "fate to be a sacrifice," and in order to follow her own path, they both escape from Fuji and journey across Mizuho to discover the truth behind Tsukuyomi's decision.

Key Features:

A tale steeped in Japanese tradition – Step into Japan as you have never before seen it, and discover the wonder has that captivated orators, storytellers, and generations of people. Discover their stories, and meet the Myriad gods.

A wealth of customization and tactics – Customize 14 playable characters from more than 30 classes with 400+ skills and more than 250 unique pieces of equipment as you mold your party to face each new challenge.

Visuals from another age – Inspired by traditional Japanese ink painting and wood carving art, the artwork of GOD WARS will transport players to an age filled with mythology and wonder.

Look out for more information on God Wars Fture Past shortly!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Beta announced for PlayStation 4

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Beta announced for PlayStation 4

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Beta announced for PlayStation 4

We have great news for all the Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 fans: you will be able to play the game before its release on PS4!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 will have two Beta phases:

• A closed beta from October 8^th to October 10^th
• An open beta from October 14^th to October 17^th

How will you be able to access the Closed Beta?

All players who preordered Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 digitally (on the PS Store) will be able to access the Closed and Open Beta.

Some codes will also be distributed in various ways, so keep an eye out!

How will you be able to access the Open Beta?

All players on PlayStation 4 will be able to play in the Open Beta, just be sure to have a PSN Account ready!

What will be the exact opening times of the betas?

The closed beta will open at 9 am UK Time/10am CEST on October 8^th and will close on October 10^th at 9 am UK Time/10am CEST. The beta will be downloadable one day in advance on October 7^th at 9 am UK Time/10am CEST.

The open beta will open at 9 am UK Time/10am CEST on October 14^th and will close on October 17^th at 9 am UK Time/10am CEST. The beta will be downloadable one day in advance on October 13^th at 9 am UK time/10am CEST.

Be ready to take part in the tournaments to show the world that you are the best Time Patroller! All players who participate in the Beta will also receive a small gift when the game is released!

Sniper Elite 4 | First Gameplay Trailer & Target Führer Teaser

Sniper Elite 4 | First Gameplay Trailer & Target Führer Teaser

Sniper Elite 4

GDE and Rebellion are pleased to announce the Sniper Elite 4 pre-order bonus’ TARGET FÜHRER and CAMOFLAUGE RIFLES SKIN PACK.  This will be included in any pre-order box of Sniper Elite 4.

The debut gameplay trailer for SNIPER ELITE 4 is here and its ending has a twist in the tail – a teaser for TARGET FÜHRER, an extra campaign mission FREE to players who pre-order on any format!

With a brutal mix of stealth and bullet-pumping action set against gorgeous Italian backdrops, the first SNIPER ELITE 4 gameplay trailer showcases just some of the many additions and improvements coming to the most anticipated WW2 shooter of this gaming generation.

In TARGET FÜHRER, players will once again set their sights on history’s most notorious tyrant in a forgotten corner of the Mediterranean where a secret Nazi U-boat facility threatens Allied shipping. When agent Karl Fairburne attempts to assassinate the base’s Commander, he finds his target already dead, executed in person by a shadowy visitor. Karl’s mission has changed: TARGET FÜHRER! Players must destroy the imposing U-boat base and take down Hitler in as many ways as they can in this replayable campaign mission for 1-2 players. SNIPER ELITE 4 is now available for order at retail on PlayStation 4, and Xbox One All pre-orders will receive the TARGET FÜHRER campaign mission and CAMO RIFLES SKIN PACK which includes detailed camouflaged sleeves for the game’s seven iconic WW2 rifles.

 

Kung Fu Panda 3: DVD Review

Kung Fu Panda 3: DVD Review

Battling both demons external and internal, Po's return in Kung Fu Panda 3 is a frenetic family filled blast of pure cinematic animated joy.

This time around, the Jack Black voiced cuddly panda is on a quest to answer the age old question of "Who am I?" when he is appointed teacher by master Che Fu.

However, his existential crisis is threatened with being derailed when two events occur - the return of his father, voiced with warmth by Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, and the arrival of JK Simmons' baddie Kai, a Kratos-like double blade wielding creature from the spirit world who's chi- stealing ways are a remnant of a 500 year old fight with master Ugwe.

So with Po's universe literally and figuratively about to be torn apart, the fight is on - but in true dumb skull panda fashion.

There's a heart and warmth to Kung Fu Panda 3 that's there from the start and leaps out from the screen as it mixes the story with some truly astounding animation, that blends its Eastern influences with ease.

Coupled with Po's trademark loveable dim-wittedness, the film makes great fist of its animation and its mystical trappings to weave together a story that wraps up all the threads and feels as rounded as the bear's belly, filled with dumplings.

While the original gang is sidelined a little by the threat of Kai and Po's heading out on his own, the frenzied pace of the film never stops. In fact, its unrelenting pace at the start grows near wearisome but will be adored by ADHD kids fed on a continual diet of quick cut zaniness as the story moves breakneck speed to where it needs to.

After about 40 minutes,King Fu Panda 3 slows and the result of doing so is welcome (even if some of the emotional heft of a reunion with pops  is lacking) as well as visually resounding.

With its message of two fathers being pertinent in this day and age of broken families and its resolve of we can make the difference together, Kung Fu Panda 3 delivers the requisite learnings to its family friendly audience without too much of a lecturing.

Complete with some truly impressive animation that blends greens, yellows and other hues from its palette to its Eastern mythological trappings, Kung Fu Panda 3 shows the franchise is in rude health, and is showing no sign of losing any of the creative resolve or charm of its central character as time goes on.

Rating:

HITMAN Bangkok 360 Trailer

HITMAN Bangkok 360 Trailer

HITMAN Episode 4: Bangkok – 360 Trailer

Take a virtual tour around the Himmapan luxury hotel and resort, the location for the “Club 27” mission in HITMAN.  

Travel through the halls and rooms and learn about Episode 4 with a fully 360 degree trailer.

Keep your eyes open for some lesser known clues for how to take out your targets as well - anyone fancy a coconut…?

Watch the HITMAN: A 360 degree visit to Bangkok 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2: DVD Review

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2: DVD Review

Released by Universal Home Ent

It's not easy being Greek, as a paraphrased amphibian might once have intoned.

And it's certainly not easy following up a sleeper hit from nearly a decade and a half ago (just askZoolander 2 about that same problem).

This time around, Nia Vardalos' Toula is suffering from feeling like she is in a rut, is smothering her own daughter Paris and is struggling with a lack of spark within her marriage to John Corbett's Ian as she tries to juggle the incessant chirping entourage of her family.

But, she barely has time to herself, when it is revealed her parents Gus and Maria weren't actually married properly a half century ago.

So, when Maria decides to enjoy some freedom and Gus decides to pursue the route to arrogance, it is up to Toula to work on the old adage of family and that "just when she thought she was out, they pulled her back in again". 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is a Greek tragedy by all accounts, a retro movie that is of its time and that fails in its quest to achieve its former glories.

Sure, the old messages and time honoured tropes of finding time for yourselves later in life, of letting your siblings free to live their own lives and of loving family for all their foibles are all there on show. There are even lines like "We Greeks see no difference between hugging and strangulation" to give insights into the over-bearing nature of family and Toula's in particular.

But they are whipped together and put through the tiresome microscope of attempts to reflect Greek cultures that feels particularly strained and weak this time around. The biggest problem is a script that appears over-stuffed yet bizarrely enough, under developed. Also it's the weak humour that relies on punch line of extended family appearing to embarrass and it soon becomes increasingly tiresome. It really is a case of "Abandon all Opa ye who enter".

If anything, even Vardalos looks tired and weary in parts of the film that increasingly relies on the older end of the family to drive any semblance of a paper-thin plot and they flounder, delivering growing elements of an entirely weak and utterly predictable sentimental plot that fails to hit any of the right notes. The world has moved on and in many ways, this film feels like it's been left behind.

I'm willing to concede that perhaps an older audience looking to be mildly engaged by the likes of this retro film will find something in it to enjoy.

But the escalating squabbling and over-bearing nature of the whole family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 helps it shake off the earnestness and charm of the first film, and leaves you with a feeling that this is one Greek feast you don't want to repeat on you. 

Coming Soon to GTA Online: BIKERS and More

Coming Soon to GTA Online: BIKERS and More

Coming Soon to GTA Online: BIKERS and More

Bikers, the next big addition to GTA Online, brings the eagerly-anticipated ability to form and lead your very own Motorcycle Club for up to 8 players. Bikers will introduce new roles to play from fresh Prospects to club Presidents with a massive slate of new competitive and co-op gameplay, along with a range of new motorcycles, properties that include MC Clubhouses with a special custom Biker mechanic, and venues for seedy business ventures. 

MC work is dangerous, sometimes requiring a helping hand from your full Chapter.

Beyond a range of opportunities to climb the ranks within a gang and build lucrative businesses as a formidable MC, Bikers also includes a selection of appropriately-themed new modes for bikers of all kinds, along with new weapons, styles, tattoos and features to make this a huge addition to the world of GTA Online.

Seize vertically integrated growth opportunities across a range of sectors with Businesses.

And while loyal MCs will fight to expand their foothold alongside black-collar CEOs and Organizations, there’s always another opportunity to make your mark just around the corner. Keep an eye out for high-level, high-risk vehicle based business ventures to spring up across Los Santos and Blaine County soon.

It’s already been an exciting year for GTA Online. Further Adventures in Finance and Felony brought new, challenging work opportunities and high-rise office spaces for CEOs willing to risk everything to keep climbing the criminal ranks. New Adversary Modes like Power Play and Trading Places added an exciting new dimension to team-based games. Cunning Stunts took stunt racing to a new level with a radical new set of Races and vehicles, alongside Creator tools that allow the infinitely creative community to build and share their own Stunt Races well into the future. 

And ongoing weekly GTA Online bonuses highlight the enormous breadth of available undertakings. Be on the lookout for more of these throughout the fall as well, including continued opportunities for bonus GTA$ and RP in select activities, valuable discounts and new weekly Premium Stunt Races.

The Boss: DVD Review

The Boss: DVD Review

Re-teaming with her director husband andTammy cohort, and reviving a character from 15 years ago in comedy troupe The Groundlings, Melissa McCarthy stars as the brash businesswoman Michelle Darnell.

Abandoned repeatedly when she was but a nipper, and thrown into various foster carers before being rejected time and time again, Darnell's grown up to be America's 47th Wealthiest woman but isn't much loved by her staff, chiefly Kristen Bell's long suffering single mom and assistant Claire.

When Darnell's incarcerated for insider trading, she emerges from prison determined to get back to the top - and finding only Claire's begrudgingly willing to let her stay, she insinuates her way into her life.

The Boss ain't exactly top dog.

Granted, if you've seen Melissa McCarthy's previous fare (and specifically Tammy) you will know what to expect - a pinch of raunchy (aka foul language) mixed in with some sweet saccharine fare to help you invest in the character's arc.

Clad in high neck turtleneck jumpers and clearly a spoof of Martha Stewart via Donald Trump, McCarthy invests fully into this character and it feels like a second skin to her without a shadow of a doubt as she inhabits the monstrous caricature.

With her push to create a brownie empire via Girl Guides named the Darnell Darlings (vaguely resembling a female troop of Black Power candidates, clothed in red berets), there are certainly moments when McCarthy sells what she's offering with ease and gusto.

But that mix of potty-mouth below par script and physical comedy soon provides a meal of diminishing returns.

There's only so often the apparently improvised and under-written script can fall back on a lazy dick joke to hit the highs it's aiming for. Granted, it ain't anything other than low-hanging fruit, but it soon becomes tiresome. And when the humour runs out, a third act over-dollop of sentiment as saccharine and as sickly as the brownies Darnell's Darlings are selling really thrusts things over the edge.

Bell proves fair game and gives a great straight performance as the frustrated mother of a kid and a monster (Darnell) but her sweet-natured turn goes to prove the diamond to Darnell's rough. That said, it's clear McCarthy has lived the character of the self-made millionaire before and there are moments when the monstrous and unexpected gives way to some funny laughs.

Dinklage is one-note Blue Steel and wasted, but then no-one in The Boss acquits themselves well and the whole thing suffers when compared to more amusing fare like Spy.

Fudging the final act and abandoning the crass proves very much to be The Boss' tonal Achilles heel, as it feels like extended sketches have been padded with very little idea of what to do and where to go.

Melissa McCarthy may get some modest returns for The Boss, as she clearly strikes a chord with the audience at times, but the film's insistence on following an oddly uneven journey and a woefully weak script does nothing to get this boss out of the cinematic boardroom and back to the floor.

In fact, quite simply, this Boss deserves to be fired.

The Divergent Series: Allegiant: DVD Review

The Divergent Series: Allegiant: DVD Review

Released by Universal Home Ent

The latest young adult cum dystopian cum split finale in two a la Hunger Games / Harry Potterfilm has nary a hiss nor a roar as it beats onward to the end.

In Allegiant, Shailene Woodley's rather bland Tris Pryor sleepwalks her way through the story as she and pouty love interest Four (the always pursed lipped Theo James) make a break for freedom.

At the end of the lacklustre Insurgent, the gang found out that everything they had been told was a lie and there was life outside the ruins of Chicago. 

Setting out to scale the wall and break free into the beyond, Tris and her troupe encounter a group of geneticists and a shadowy cabal who reveal she is the key to the future... and that only Tris can save the world from factions and the fractures within. Can they be trusted?

Allegiant feels like a reboot of the series and once again packs some pretty impressive space age visuals and some great visualisations of a world just beyond our own. (A building that houses the geneticists is a DNA helix)  But this futuristic sheen comes at a price - and that cost is the caring about any of the characters or giving them enough to do.

While the action is ramped up in parts with Schwentke giving life to clear-cut sequences, the continual muddling and muddying of obtuse concepts like The Damaged, The Pure, The Fringe and eugenics themselves in po-faced dialogue spouted by the cast does little to breathe life into proceedings.

In fact, it does the opposite.

The dramatic cypher Tris seems devoid of any punch this time around, and Woodley works with what she has on offer, but it's scant pickings. She's not well served by symbolism either with her purity seeing her clothed in white while everyone else has varying degrees of washed out pastels.  While James gets to run around a little and bust out some gung-ho action sequences, these choreographed pieces are more a momentary indulgence, rather than a full narrative necessity.

Unfortunately, opening up the world has ironically robbed The Divergent Series of any real life - the conflicts between Octavia Spencer and Naomi Watts' warring factions is touched on only too briefly and any tension there feels manufactured and under-explored.

Daniels makes a reasonable fist of ambiguity with the presence of a benevolent leader, but there's little for him to really do as the film heads to a much underwhelming ending. Perhaps the desire to split the film has robbed it of any kind of urgency from the book and undercut the drama that was due to unfurl. 

When compared to the work done by The Hunger Games franchise, Woodley's Tris is a heroine that's found wanting and whose very definition is weaker. Considering both series explore similar themes, they couldn't really be much farther apart with their executions and central characters.

Ultimately, The Divergent Series will end with Ascendant - but whether it will garner a place in the pantheon of YA films is very much up for debate.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Review - discussing Blair Witch, Pete's Dragon and The Secret Life Of Pets

Newstalk ZB Review - discussing Blair Witch, Pete's Dragon and The Secret Life Of Pets

This week, it was the frightening Blair Witch, the updated Pete's Dragon and the zany Secret Life Of Pets.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-blair-witch-petes-dragon/

Don't Breathe: Film Review

Don't Breathe: Film Review

Cast: Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Stephen Lang, Daniel Zovatto
Director: Fede Alvarez

"There is nothing a man cannot do once he accepts the fact there is no God."

After splattering up the woods with blood in the Evil Dead remake, Fede Alvarez turns his twisted attention to a siege thriller, that's more about suspense than outright horror.

Desperation haunts Don't Breathe's characters in more ways than one.

Minnette, Levy and Zovatto play a trio of teens casually robbing houses and searching for a pay-off. Determined that one last raid will help them out of the Detroit hell-hole they inhabit, the trio of Rocky, Alex and Money decide to hit the house of a Gulf War vet (Lang), who is apparently sitting on a fortune in his house after a pay-out from the death of his daughter.

But the trio finds the break-in is far from what's expected - and soon, the tables are turned on the crims...

To say Don't Breathe is a taut thriller that grabs you by the throat and sends you to the edge of your seat is perhaps an understatement. (As Marge Gunderson once said "All this for a little bit of money" - it's quite appropriate in this case).

Best viewed fresh and without any of the twists spoiled, the film subverts your expectations and turns it on its head - while Minnette  spends a lot of the film wide-eyed and looking shocked, it's Levy and Lang's underplaying of their roles that speak volumes.

Coupled with Alvarez's smart directorial touches (low camera shots and swooping cameras add to the sense of claustrophobia and tension), there's plenty to dive into in this film. A bravura basement sequence early on is fiendishly unfurled and smartly executed and perhaps one of the high points of this suspense thriller.

Using the briefest touches of character (Levy's Alex is afforded the most hints of a life outside of the house) proves to be wise, giving a sparing yet simple reason to sympathise with the gang. But, Alvarez is also clever enough to use some brief moments to make you re-think your loyalties with Stephen Lang's dweller. (Though one final sequence may seem a tad too far).

Ultimately visceral and quite suspenseful, Don't Breathe is a thrill-ride worth strapping in for.

Taut and lean, its 90 minutes run time seems just about right, and with a slightly warped viewpoint, the genre flick is insidiously clever in its growing ever tighter grip of suspense.

25 April: DVD Review

25 April: DVD Review

Rating: M

Released in the 101st year of the ANZAC Commemorations and to all intents and purposes feeling like a learning tool rather than a cinematic experience, 25 April is a World War One curio.

Using the style of animation reserved for the pages of graphic novels or Telltale Games' style of console gaming, 25 April is a documentary aimed at bringing the story of the NZ experiences at Gallipoli vividly to life.

There's no disputing these six people's real-life tales are vividly realised and transposed to the big screen. From a soldier to a nurse, these are stories we've heard time and time before but which lose none of the power as the true horror of war is unveiled.

The problem with 25 April though is that it sticks so rigidly to the point of view of the ANZACs that it makes the rest of the campaign look like no-one else was involved. With a once over lightly approach to proceedings, and the ANZAC experience, it was very much a day in the life of and gives the ultimate result that the over-arching campaign itself was rather extraneous to proceedings. 

There is an argument that because it was being done from the diaries of those involved, the over-arching aim wouldn't have been there for them to see, but the narrow focus actually causes the scope to feel very much from a tunnel vision.

Thankfully the animation is nothing short of astounding.

Vivid reds swamp the screen as the theatre of war is expunged.

And one sequence where the reds turn into poppies is heart-breakingly well done and stirring. Equally, a scene where a soldier is shot and the wound appears on him, turning into a poppy as it bleeds out is tremendously haunting and equally inventive.

With some excellent voice-work and some richly tragic and evocative source material to work from, 25 April certainly has its moments where it hits home. 

As a piece of a wider puzzle and a deeper conflict, these stories are neither new and are extremely commonplace, leaving the nagging feel the reason for 25 April may be a little too late - it would have been well served in the 100th commemorations and would have reached a level that would have transcended need.

One can't help but shake the feeling this is not a film that actually needs to exist in a cinema; it's a tale to be told, granted, but it's more suited to a centre piece of a wider discussion, best housed in a museum  and ANZAC context.

Midnight Special: DVD Review

Midnight Special: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Michael Shannon and director Jeff Nichols were responsible for a formative film festival experience when Take Shelter aired in 2011.

This time around, after more earthly concerns with Tye Sheridan in Mud, Nichols and Shannon re-team for what's essentially a sci-fi Spielbergian earth set chase story.

Shannon is Roy, who, as the film begins, is on the run, sparking a manhunt when he takes his supposedly-blessed-with-super-powers young son Alton (Jaeden Liberher) from a cult compound. Aided by childhood friend Lucas (Animal Kingdom's Joel Edgerton), the search for the pair is frantic, especially when the FBI and National Security team up after some disturbing anomalies are brought to light...

There's an all pervading sense of mystery to Midnight Special that sustains large chunks of the proceedings.

Much like the brilliant Take Shelter, Midnight Special revels in ambiguity for the large part, teasing out moments and dripping out answers when least expected. But it's the human element of this chase flick that ground it so sensibly in a reality and these are excellently executed by the triumvirate of Shannon, Liberher and Nicholls.

However, the suspense is always evident and while the ultimate resolution may prove to be polarising, the relationship between father and son proves central to proceedings. Shannon is never less than watchable throughout and his love for son and reasons for doing what he does are never hard to understand.

Nicholls is also the star here, ratcheting up tension and playing with the sci-fi tropes and teases with remarkable ease. He's also got an incredible way of yanking the rug from under you, with a couple of moments smacking you upside the solar plexus.

While it's perhaps fair to say Nicholls is still chasing the high of the giddiness of Take Shelter'sbravura edges, it's also fair to say that Midnight Special lacks some of the prowess of that film.

But in terms of furthering Nicholls' reputation and taking the M Night Shyamalan touches of the story and making them his own, Midnight Special is nothing short of a singular cinematic experience that revels in its tautness and never loses sight of its human edges. 

Nocturnal Animals - Official Trailer

Nocturnal Animals - Official Trailer

From writer/director Tom Ford comes a haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension that explores the thin lines between love and cruelty, and revenge and redemption. Academy Award nominees Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal star as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves in “Nocturnal Animals.”

Susan Morrow, a Los Angeles art dealer (portrayed by Ms. Adams), lives an incredibly privileged yet unfulfilled life with her husband Hutton Morrow (Armie Hammer). One weekend, as Hutton departs on one of his too-frequent business trips, Susan receives an unsolicited package that has been left in her mailbox. It is a novel, Nocturnal Animals, written by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal), with whom she has had no contact for years. Edward’s note accompanying the manuscript encourages Susan to read the work and then to contact him during his visit to the city. Alone at night, in bed, Susan begins reading. The novel is dedicated to her…

…but its content is violent and devastating. While Susan reads, she is deeply moved by Edward’s writing and cannot help but reminisce over the most private moments from her own love story with the author. Trying to look within herself and beyond the glossy surface of the life and career that she has made, Susan increasingly interprets the book as a tale of revenge, a tale that forces her to re-evaluate the choices that she has made, and re-awakens a love that she feared was lost – as the story builds to a reckoning that will define both the novel’s hero and her own.  

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week: Film Review

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week: Film Review

Cast: John, Paul, George, Ringo, The screaming masses
Director: Ron Howard

Beatlemania lives on some 50 years after the Fab Four hung up their touring boots with the one week only release of this documentary from former Happy Days actor Ron Howard.

Covering the period between 1963 and 1966, Howard's affectionate documentary about the life on the road may not prove much of a surprise to those who already know their Beatles lore, but he gets great cinematic truck out of displaying the lads' Liverpudlian cheeky charm to full comic effect as well as concert footage and screaming masses to relive the Beatlemania and its resultant euphoria.

With the ethos that they embodied the idea of how it would be to hang out with your mates, The Beatles' rise to fame is fairly reasonably charted with commentary from the boys themselves, as well as a few choice people from their inner circle - though tales of life on the road from those who accompanied them are limited only to journalist Larry Kane who offers a peek at life in the inner sanctum.

The thing is the documentary itself doesn't really provide any new ground and some of its choices of talking heads are perhaps bizarre and tenuous at best.

While Sigourney Weaver's attendance at the Beatles' Hollywood Bowl and companion footage give her credence, and Whooopi Goldberg's love for the mop-tops and attendance of their Shea Stadium show how inter-racial their appeal was, Eddie Izzard and Red Dwarf composer Howard Goodall are included for scant reason.

Using archival interviews for Harrison and Lennon are inevitable, but even interviews with McCartney and Starr add little to proceedings to be honest, given there's already so much out there about the group. It's all here again though - the screaming kids, the Bigger than Jesus controversy; almost as if another rote greatest hits package has been rolled out for a newer generation.

However, where Howard's more successful in breaking out of the workmanlike trappings of the genre is in the subtler touches. Whether it's painting a racial and more global picture of life when the Beatles hit America to demonstrate why their fame was so surprising abroad to animating cigarette smoke on stills, there are moments that impress greatly, even if the racial edges slow the verve of the film considerably down.

But there's no denying the blistering joy of some of their songs - it's hard to defy tapping along to the likes of I Saw Her Standing There and Help! as the live footage kicks in. With a fully restored 4K version of their Shea Stadium concert being presented after the film as a companion piece, there's no question that the Beatles phenomenon continues to live on in great style - and the film ends on an artistic high with some glimpses into the making of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Ultimately, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years is a greatest hits of the band and a compilation of their finest moments. It may not speak more to fans who are already immersed in their world and is as such a fanboy piece rather than a probing documentary.- it's more a brief Hello, Goodbye rather than an in depth Day in the Life Of.