The Clan: Film Review

The Clan: Film Review

Cast: Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani, Steffania Koessel
Director: Pablo Trapero

Fresh from wowing the crowds at the New Zealand International Film Festival, Argentina's darkly polished crime drama The Clan finds its place into NZ Cinemas.

With its true crime edges and sheen, the slick - and sick - tale of the Puccio Clan case that rocked the country back in 1985 is worthy of entry into the pantheon of crim-flicks.

For those uninitiated with the work done by the Puccio and their notoriety, they were famed for kidnapping, holding hostages in their basement, waiting for ransoms to be paid and then executing their victims regardless. Our guide into this glossy story, complete with soundtrack gems from the likes of the Kinks is floppy haired son Alejandro (Lanzani), a rugby player, son and bait for the lures of many.

It's the usual kind of story of its ilk and Trapero doesn't shatter the boundaries with the delivery - a naive innocent gradually becomes aware of what is happening and the extent of it all. But in a slight twist, Alejandro is conflicted by his involvement and the growing insidious nature of what is happening.

If Trapero delivers something which is stylish and slickly executed, it's in his Secret In Their Eyes leading man Francella that the film soars. His calm exterior and delicious delivery of deviousness sets the tone for what's in - there's not been a family head this loveable since Tony Soprano graced our screens. Mixing domestic issues while screams erupt from scenes in the basement provide a bleakly black background to proceedings and give The Clan an edge that's hard to shake.

It may be provocative in parts with the extent of what's going on gradually revealed, and it's as stylishly executed as any Netflix true crime offering, but The Clan manages to continue to shock even up to its very final sequence and scenes, as the credits roll.

The Walking Dead: Season 6: Blu Ray Review

The Walking Dead: Season 6: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

The sixth season of The Walking Dead is about one thing - Negan.

The arrival of the biggest threat Rick and his gang of survivors has ever faced hangs heavily over most of the episodes of this season and bizarrely also represents some of the most negativity the show's faced.

But let's back up first; season 6 sees Rick and the group trying to divert a mass horde of Walkers away from Alexandria. However, this plan all goes to hell when a group of others attack (known as the Wolves, with W carved in their heads and teased repeatedly in season 5). As the group tries to protect Alexandria and its inhabitants, distant threats edge ever closer.

Season 6 is a great season for action sequences, but a frustrating one for treatment of some of its characters.

An apparent death of Glenn at the hands of Walkers is perhaps the biggest surprise, but becomes the show's biggest albatross as his fate isn't revealed. A second further non death later in the season for Glenn doesn't help - and ultimately, the writers came under fire for messing with a fan favourite who has a set path in the comics to follow.

But while there are moments that irritate in Season 6 of The Walking Dead, the exploration of some themes such as the nature of consequence and whether Rick's right to do what he does makes for fascinating viewing. With the return of Lennie James' peace-loving Morgan, the juxtaposition of contradictory viewpoints makes for compelling banter between Rick and Morgan, as well as the show's ethos of what it would be like to survive in this world and how far you'd go

However, the real thrill comes in the final episode with the arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan. Simply put, Morgan owns the screen from the second he's on, and it's no wonder the writers refused to show who dies at Lucille's hands - any death would have taken from Negan's arrival and would detract from the sterling work done by all the cast at the end of the run.

Season 7 of The Walking Dead starts soon, and while there are a few mis-fires in season 6, the game's changed - and it's with feverish anticipation that we see what's next.

Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie: Film Review

Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie: Film Review

Cast: Louis Theroux, Marty Rathbun, The Church of Scientology
Director: John Dower

It's easy to see why Louis Theroux was pulled into the world of Scientology.

His career's been built on the quirky, with the MO of giving those enough rope with which to hang themselves. Theroux's entire back catalogue of interviews show him as non-confrontational, naive to the point of annoying and simply content to let the subjects do the talking with the occasional prodding.

His technique belies his intelligence, but often demonstrates his adroitness at shedding more light on things than a traditional interview would do.

But in the case of Scientology (a cult so marvellously indicted by Alex Gibney's wonderful Going Clear doco), Theroux finds himself thwarted from the start and given no access to anyone within the church, leading him to the quandary of how you build a doco with no subject matter?

Despite throwing a genuine request online to see if any Scientologists would get in touch, Theroux is told to prepare for the loonies and to batten down the hatches. His goal is altruistic - to see the Church in a more positive light as opposed to the increasing lunatic fringe front that's portrayed in general media.

Recruiting former Scientologist Marty Rathbun to the cause, Theroux decides the way to illustrate the Church's edges is to get actors to play the roles of Tom Cruise and church leader David Miscavige and sets about auditioning them. It's a clever touch rather than simply relying on archive footage, and when it appears one of the actors must be in league with the church, Theroux begins to feel the tendrils of the Church tracking him (equally, with a humorous visit from actress Paz De La Huerta, whom Theroux labels a "honey trap").

It's in these moments that Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie starts to come to life; with a defter lighter touch to proceedings and the trademark Theroux wit adding a great deal. Because at the end of the day, Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie is a very unfulfilling piece, due simply to the fact he has no real access to those in the upper echelons of the Church - and the film very much suffers because of a lack of them.

More interesting though is the relationship that Theroux and Rathbun cultivate; it's one of unease and in this way, Theroux has gained his greatest insight into the church's machinations and workings.

But there's never a real sense of a killer blow against the Church or its methodology.

This is a doco that feels like it wants to poke and provoke the fires of outrage and runs away when anything greater than a spark grows. It's a frivolous frippery of a film that wants to rattle the Church's leader but ends up feeling more like a Miscavage of Justice rather than a damnation of what goes on behind the walls.

Supersonic: Film Review

Supersonic: Film Review

Directed by Mat Whitecross

For some, the Oasis boys were the be all and end all of 90s music culture.

The boorish Gallagher brothers, along with their bandmates, defined a lot of the 90s music scene and set the style for their raucous behaviour and top tunes.

But it was always Liam and Noel whose attitudes set the scene, and their clashes caused plenty of tabloid headlines and were the stuff of copy-writers' dreams. They were the yin and yang to each other, or as Noel puts it in the doco, he's a cat, Liam's a dog and never the twain shall meet. In fact, one early piece of footage talks of them as Cain and Abel, a comparison that speaks to their arrogance and belief in more ways than one.

So, this doco with its rather succinct use of voiceovers looks to explore the mythos and the inevitable car crash that Oasis were after they burned so bright and ultimately, imploded under the weight of their own legends.

Assembling pictures, footage and soundbites (that tend to favour Noel Gallagher, perhaps one of the perks of being an executive producer), Whitecross does a perfectly good job of capturing their rise from the council estates of Manchester to the echelons of performing at Knebworth. Injecting the whole proceedings with the lads' laconic humour proves to be a big boon here and gives the piece a pace that's matched only by the band's blistering performances which are scattered throughout.

From unsigned act to where they jumped on with Creation Records and their charts takeover, the doco's strengths lie in the music that's so iconic of the time and so evocative of the Manchester scene that will be so familiar to so many.

Following family spats is par for the course with the Gallaghers, though outside of the Liam / Noel fracas, there's little here that Oasis afficionados won't already know - there's no Amy style smoking gun. Though, perhaps interestingly, the revelations that Noel refused to let the Gallaghers' abusive father define either their music or their perception speaks volumes to where their swagger came from and why their defiant attitude was so successful.

As Liam so succinctly puts it at one point, Oasis were "Like a Ferrari, great to look at, great to drive and would spin outta fucking control", and this doco captures some of the anarchy of the group and the resultant ripples their music caused.

At its heart, Supersonic is about nostalgia for the band - any true fan will already know most of their history - and Whitecross and team assemble the pieces in a perfectly perfunctory and viewable manner. With the music speaking volumes and the doco making you feel like one of the lads as the hedonism and heated rows hit, it's a doco that speaks more to fans as well as anyone with a passing ear for their tunes.

Win a double pass to see Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Win a double pass to see Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

To celebrate the release of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, there's double passes to win!

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) returns with his particular brand of justice in the highly anticipated sequel JACK REACHER:  NEVER GO BACK.  

Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) is the Army Major who heads Reacher’s old investigative unit.

She is arrested for Treason and knowing that she is innocent, Reacher must break her out of prison and uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy in order to clear their names and save their lives. 

On the run as fugitives from the law, Reacher uncovers a potential secret from his past that could change his life forever. Based upon JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK, author Lee Child’s 18th novel in the best-selling Jack Reacher series, that has seen 100 million books sold worldwide.

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or click here  and in the subject line put REACHER. Please include your name and address and good luck!

 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back releases October 20, 2016

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Rated M: Violence

Win a double pass to see Ouija: Origin Of Evil

Win a double pass to see Ouija: Origin Of Evil

To celebrate the release of Ouija: Origin Of Evil on October 20th , we've got double passes to giveaway.


It was never just a game.  

Inviting audiences again into the lore of the spirit board, Ouija: Origin of Evil tells a terrifying new tale as the follow-up to 2014’s sleeper hit that opened at number one.  

In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home.  

When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.

Ouija: Origin of Evil is produced by Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Purge series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), 
Blumhouse Productions’ Jason Blum (The Purge and Insidious series), alongside Hasbro’s Brian Goldner (Transformers and G.I. Joe series) and Stephen Davis (Ouija).  Mike Flanagan directs from a screenplay he wrote with his Oculus and Before I Wake collaborator, Jeff Howard, and Universal will distribute the film worldwide. 

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Rated M: Violence and horror scenes. Content may disturb

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or click here  and in the subject line put OUIJA. Please include your name and address and good luck!

The Daughter: Film Review

The Daughter: Film Review

Cast: Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto, Anna Torv, Paul Schneider, Odessa Young
Director: Simon Stone

It’s appropriate the opening and one of the closing shots of The Daughter is that of the mist hanging around mountains, mingling among the tops of the peaks and sinking in low to the ground.

It’s hard not to dismiss the imagery as being some kind of augur of what lies ahead for this tangled family drama about small towns, secrets and family.

In fact, as Sam Neill’s rugged and ruffled character intones, “It’s not a new story”.

And to be honest, he’s not far off the mark.

But what marks out Simon Stone’s Aussie dramaThe Daughter is the journey, because the destination’s visible to anyone who has a smattering of ability to pick up the signs foreshadowed early on.

Loosely based on Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, it’s the story of Paul Schneider’s Christian (an irony of name given his less than charitable behaviour) who heads home to the wedding of his father (a sturdily dependable and haunted Geoffrey Rush) and his housekeeper Anna (Fringe’s Anna Torv).

Reconnecting with an old friend Oliver, Christian’s tendency toward self-destruction and desire for redemption is threatened by a secret from the past.

In the meantime, the community where Rush’s Henry has closed the sawmill is reeling, and hurting with an uncertain future ahead, leading to volatile times and fractures that may never heal…

With a great ensemble cast, including our very own Sam Neill, The Daughter is a lyrical drama that treads familiar paths but does so with tremendous ease and vision.

Visually, The Daughter’s strength lies in its imagery, which is haunting with long lingering shots building the atmosphere and heightening the sense of mood and evocation (all thanks to the photography of Andrew Commis).

Initially, the film’s more about what’s hinted at and what’s unsaid, but the audience doesn’t have long to wait to pull the pieces together, which is perhaps one of the film’s failings, albeit acknowledged within by Neill’s meta-line. Though admittedly in the final third, the emotional pull is never quite as strong as it could be, perhaps given the predictability of the story.

Thankfully though, it’s in the performances.

Notably that of Odessa Young’s vulnerable teen Hedvig.

Without going into spoilers, Young’s need to channel some of the deeper emotions needed is evident and easily met (even if the story opts for convenient narrative contrivances in its final act).

All in all, The Daughter may put the familial into familiar, but it’s a relatively classily executed affair that benefits slightly more from its visuals than the emotional edges the story purports to aim for.