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.
Rating: M Released by Roadshow Home Ent Creating an atmospheric horror that's more a parable about the creeping darkness of depression is the MO of David Sandberg's expansion of his Lights Out short film.
In the James Wan produced flick, the monster haunting a family is Diana, a creature who disappears when the lights go on, but when the lights go out, it's full tilt terror. But at its heart, it's an effectively taut parable about depression that keeps an eye on jump scares as well.
Essentially, Teresa Palmer's Rebecca, a rocker who left home after her father walked out becomes concerned when her younger brother Martin (Bateman) starts displaying symptoms of sleeplessness and claiming that an entity is haunting his mother Sophie (Maria Bello). The reason she's so worried? Because these were exactly the fears she faced when younger....
So, taking Martin under her wing, Rebecca starts to face up to old fears once again....
Relatively taut (though occasionally bogged down with parts of backstory) first time director Sandberg's Lights Out is quite effective at dealing out chills and the obligatory jump scares. The strength in Lights Out comes from the casually dropping in elements of back story to illuminate the characters and expand on the familial straining of the ties and relationships.
But the whole piece works more effectively as a film about depression, as well as an occasionally dig your nails into the cinema chair fright fest. (That said, its ending and ultimate denouement is perhaps controversial in some aspects).
Palmer turns in a performance that's eminently watchable as the rocker daughter who thought life had moved on, but whose return home sees her having to face her fears, both literally and figuratively. As the kid in terror, Bateman fares well in parts, while in others, he succumbs to the trappings of the genre and becomes a screaming sibling; admittedly though, his selling of the creeping fear and dread early on is more than impressive as the house comes under greater siege from the unseen horror. (Equally stirring and note worthy is the soundscape of the film which works effectively to build an atmosphere of eerie unease.)
However, it's Bello's turn as Sophie, the mother under pressure from demons both within and without that really stands out as this allegory for the creeping black dog is brought to life. Tapping into her own real life fight against bipolar disorder clearly helps her, and the subtleties brought to the fore by Bello's simple facials and odd looks of terror work wonders to underscore the inherent fear within.
Ultimately, Lights Out is an effective and short chiller that does occasionally lapse into dumb horror movie territory, but seen as a wider cautionary tale about depression, it presents a more thoughtful allegorical piece to keep the horror genre fresh.
First trailer: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Here's the very first look at the first trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
Starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevigne and from Luc Besson, the sci fi drama is due next year.
Rooted in the classic graphic novel series, Valerian and Laureline, visionary writer/director Luc Besson advances this iconic source material into a contemporary, unique and epic science fiction saga.
Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are special operatives for the government of the human territories, charged with maintaining order throughout the universe. Valerian has more in mind than a professional relationship with his partner – blatantly chasing after her with propositions of romance.
But his extensive history with women, and her traditional values, drive Laureline to continuously rebuff him.
Under a directive from their Commander (Clive Owen), Valerian and Laureline embark on a mission to the breathtaking intergalactic city of Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis comprised of thousands of different species from all over the universe. Alpha’s seventeen million inhabitants have converged over time, uniting their talents, technology and resources for the betterment of all. Unfortunately, not everyone on Alpha shares in these objectives; in fact, unseen forces are at work, placing our race in great danger.
Rating: M Released by Madman Home Ent "People don't like other people's farts".
It's this line which will sum up the polarising but utterly beautiful Swiss Army Man, the story of Paul Dano's Hank, a man who's stranded on an island with no hope. Setting up a noose to relieve him of his own life, Hank's life changes when he spots another person washed up on the beach.
This is Manny (Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe) - but the problem is Manny is a corpse.
Well, a farting corpse - that Hank saddles up and rides off the island like a jetski. But the pair end up lost in the woods and Hank struggles to freedom, while reflecting on his life.
Mixing the profound and the puerile, Swiss Army Man is like nothing else at the movies at the moment. (And is potentially why people walked out at screenings at Sundance).
A meditation on life and love that's occasionally punctuated by flatulence at the start, Swiss Army Man is actually an incredibly moving piece that may or may not be told by an unreliable narrator. Whether it is a descent into madness and sanity or a realistic story remains deeply in question once the film's ended, but what's clear is that the directors have crafted a flick that's as visually engaging and crammed with original visual ideas as anything from Michel Gondry.
Surreal in parts, and laugh out loud humorous, with an ethereal soundtrack that builds on loops and riffs on meditations of love, as well as human connections, both Dano and Radcliffe are incredible in a kind of Pinteresque Godot type survival story that crosses Castaway and Wilson.
It could do to lose some of the more bottom obsessed moments, but equally some of the earlier scenes with the farting bizarrely add to a level of humour that transcends the childish. And there's a profundity throughout that's ultimately quite moving.
Mixing spirituality, existentialism and life, the fresh and utterly original Swiss Army Man is a hallucinatory and melancholy trip that's worth taking. It's an affecting and tragic film that speaks to loneliness and reeks of the sincerity of co-dependancy of the human condition.
The brand new trailer for the launch of the highly anticipated Watch Dogs 2 has dropped.
It arrives ahead of its November 15th release date After being wrongly profiled as a criminal risk by a citywide operating system, Marcus Holloway investigates to find rampant corporate corruption and manipulation of the public. Marcus and his group of hackers, DedSec, wage a war to take down the system and return power to the people.
Dishonored 2 | Launch Trailer Released | Early Access Launches Today
To celebrate today’s Early Access* launch for Dishonored 2 in Australia and New Zealand, we’ve just released the official launch trailer
Reprise your role as a supernatural assassin in Dishonored 2, the next chapter in the award-winning Dishonored saga by Arkane Studios. As either Emily Kaldwin or Corvo Attano, travel beyond the legendary streets of Dunwall to Karnaca – a once-dazzling coastal city that holds the key to restoring Emily to power. Armed with the mark of the Outsider and powerful new supernatural abilities, hunt down your enemies and forever alter the fate of the Empire.
Dishonored 2 officially launches worldwide on Friday, November 11 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more information about the game please visit dishonored.bethesda.net.
*Anyone who pre-orders Dishonored 2Limited Edition will be able to play the game a day early before the official worldwide release in addition to receiving a free digital copy of Dishonored: Definitive Edition -the original critically-acclaimed game in the series, which won more than 100 ‘Game of the Year’ Awards, plus all of its add-on content.
2K and Hangar 13 just released a Mafia III patch that adds the ability for players to pick from 11 outfits for Lincoln Clay to wear while taking on Sal Marcano and the Italian mob in New Bordeaux. The patch also includes a series of performance updates and hotfixes for PS4, Xbox One and PC. For complete details on the new free outfits and patch, visit the Mafia III blog: https://mafiagame.com/en/news/view/update-mafia-3-free-outfit-dlc-and-new-patch-available-today
