T2: Trainspotting: Film Review

T2: Trainspotting: Film Review

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly MacDonald
Director: Danny Boyle

"Nostalgia - that's why you're here."

A pertinently meta-line uttered in a casual fashion but, with a degree of bile from Jonny Lee Miller's Sick Boy to Ewan McGregor's Mark Renton, underpins a lot of T2: Trainspotting and runs through its narrative veins as strongly as the heroin injected by the gang way back in the 1990s.

If Trainspotting was the adrenaline-fuelled, high octane trip way back then, T2: Trainspotting is the comedown after the high, the joke that no-one's laughing at - a tacit admission that 20 years on, not everything is better and that regret is the only drug we all collectively share.

20 years later, after ripping off his friends Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie to the tune of 16 grand, Mark Renton returns to Edinburgh for reasons that are initially unclear.

With every one of the group's lives in tatters to varying degrees of acknowledgment (Spud's lost his family and is still on drugs, SickBoy's resorting to blackmailing sexual deviants in a brothel while being high on copious amounts of cocaine, and Begbie's been residing at Her Majesty's pleasure for 2 decades), Renton's return stirs up a simmering cauldron of regret, bitterness and perhaps most surprisingly, redemption.

But as the group's paths collectively collide once again, the sins of the past could overwhelm them all.

It's always going to be hard re-capturing the zeitgeist that the original Trainspotting encapsulated.

With the times of Blur, Oasis, Iggy Pop's Lust for Life and cool Britannia still ringing in your collective ears, Trainspotting was itself a defining cinematic experience, celebrating anti-heroes and presenting a truth about Britannia's underclasses that was scarcely seen.

Presenting drug-addled skeletal scum like Renton and making them look cool, and effortless as anti-heroes as well, the first film's despicable joie de vivre was unassailable and following it up was always going to be a hard task, no matter who was involved.

However, it's more than fair to say with a smattering of elements of Irvine Welsh's Porno, this emotionally inspired sequel hits a lot of the marks needed to ensure the trip is worth it again. T2: Trainspotting is a heady, stylistic romp into regret, friendship, betrayal, remorse and guilt.

It's also a mercilessly more mature and restrained piece of film-making from director Danny Boyle.

Robbed of the drug culture that so defined the group and the fact it's some 20 years later, there's a different dynamic at play here. Flashes of nostalgia and moments from the first film flit in between the bitterness that fuels this latest. Single notes of the tunes from the first film (Underworld's Born Slippy, that drum from Iggy Pop's Lust For Life) float in and out of the movie, seamlessly interweaving the film with the first.

And in some bravura touches, that shot of Renton mercilessly off his face and laughing after he hits the bonnet of a car is cleverly rendered again but in a less than salubrious sequence.

Flashes of the first film threaten, at times, to overwhelm Boyle's movie; almost as if you're being relentlessly teased with what made the first film so iconic and so memorable. But Boyle's smart enough to make these touches almost cameo-like and never once lets them swamp proceedings. Complete with freeze frames and a more reflexive and reflective take on proceedings, T2: Trainspotting is about the betrayal of youth and the failure of promise.

And all of his actors rise to the occasion as this reunion fires into life among the Edinburgh landmarks.

Notably though, it's Ewen Bremner's goggle-eyed tragedy-laced almost-idiot-savant Spud who rises from the ashes in the sequel as the film's surprising MVP.

His suicide attempt at the start and the subsequent imagery employed by Boyle to signify how far he's falling is as eye-popping as it is heart-breaking. But fear not, much like the worst toilet in Edinburgh and the dead baby in the first film, T2 doesn't scrimp away from the grim realities of desperate and disparate choices coming together.

In among the drug hints and past transgressions, there's another world that's come to the fore - the world of the Millennials, which is brutally skewered in an unnecessary (and dangerously close to pale imitation) update of Renton's original and oft-quoted Choose Life rant.

However, all up, T2: Trainspotting has an undeniable cinematic quality, an intoxicating mix and while the narrative doesn't, thankfully, have the frenetic pace of the first film (after all, nobody really wants a pale re-hash of what made the first so iconic), its rhythms and muted story say more than any sequel ever could.

Effortless dynamics between the quartet reflect real life friendships and with more than a casual hint of truisms in the dialogue, the film's spin on regret, squandered promises and past discrepancies comes vibrantly to life as the black humour bubbles away quietly in the background.
It may side-step criticisms that it doesn't find its own voice and lives distinctively in the shadow of the first film, but this companion piece movie cum sequel is much more than just the sum of its parts.

Older audiences, well versed in the first may get more than a nostalgic tinge from the past evocations, but T2: Trainspotting is a ride well worth boarding. Along with Boyle's eye for editing detail and the cast's easy-going chemistry that papers over some of the narrative weaknesses, it positively crackles and sizzles like any sequel worth its salt should do.

Win a double pass to see T2 - Trainspotting

Win a double pass to see T2 - Trainspotting

First there was an opportunity......then there was a betrayal.

Twenty years have gone by.

Much has changed but just as much remains the same.

Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the only place he can ever call home.

They are waiting for him: Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle).

Other old friends are waiting too: sorrow, loss, joy, vengeance, hatred, friendship, love, longing, fear, regret, diamorphine, self-destruction and mortal danger, they are all lined up to welcome him, ready to join the dance.

T2 - Trainspotting hits cinemas February 23rd

We're giving away double passes to the movie - To enter simply email T2 to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Please ensure you include your name and address - competition closes February 24th 

Keeping up with the Joneses: DVD Review

Keeping up with the Joneses: DVD Review

Channeling suburban paranoia and envy to a tee, Keeping Up With The Joneses pushes for broad comedy and somehow manages to come up short.

A thinned down Galifianakis and Fisher are the Gaffneys, a suburban couple whose life has hit a rut. Packing their two kids off to camp for the summer, the pair realise their lives are empty; Jeff has his HR job at a defence company where everyone rides roughshod over him as he's the only one with internet access, and Karen is a frustrated stay at home mum whose summer job is sizing up urinals for their bathroom makeover.

When new neighbours move in in the form of Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot's superglamourous couple The Joneses, she channels her Rear Window tendencies into trying to find fault, believing that under this perfect veneer, Tim and Natalie are hiding something.

It's not long before this paranoia comes to fruition , but Jeff refuses to listen believing he's finally found a friend who wants to share the thrill of going indoor skydiving. However, it soon becomes clear that the Joneses are not what they seem and the Gaffneys are caught up in the whirlwind of international espionage...

Keeping Up With the Joneses purports to riff on the fear that the grass is always greener and the new neighbours lead more exciting lives than you do. And to a degree, the justified paranoia works well for the start of Mottola's film, but it soon becomes clear this is all there is going for it.

Weakly written material soon gives way to chase sequences and a large helping of slapstick as well as shots of Gal Gadot flaunting her perfect physique in lingerie, while delivering wooden dialogue. While the way the suburban awkwardness subsides into genuine suspicions is as broad as it comes, it soon becomes obvious that the comedy chops of Hamm and Galifianakis are being wasted in this under-written flaccid romp that lacks any brains.

As Galifianakis ramps up his panic-based schtick, and Hamm plays up the fact his spy is unhappy with his lot, Fisher goes overboard with her brand of paranoid hysteria writ large. It's a mess that isn't strong enough for farce and is too weak to endure its 100 minutes running time. While the elements of spy comedy are rightly channeled by a soundtrack that feels big band and brassy enough to get the vibe right, little else lands.

You may feel a desire to go Keeping up with the Joneses, but the simple truth is, it's really not worth the effort.

Hell or High Water: Blu Ray Review

Hell or High Water: Blu Ray Review

Released by Madman Home Ent

There's plenty of soul in the mournful Hell Or High Water.

Managing to cram in a hefty dose of socio-economic commentary in the ruins of towns riddled by foreclosure and debts, Hell Or High Water is the West Texas set tale of two brothers, Toby and Tanner (Pine and Foster) hell-bent on robbing banks for their own reasons.

Enter two Texas Rangers, one Alberto an Indian (Birmingham) whose rueful regret at the banks stealing their heritage and the other Marcus (Bridges), who's on the cusp of retirement, but not about to go lightly or willingly into the long night.

As the laconic game of cat and mouse plays out, there's a very real sense of roads colliding and personal stakes rising, but there's also a deep familial connection that makes itself known.

Depression rears its head all throughout Hell or High Water; from the cutaway shots of roads that are riddled with foreclosure or debt signs or to the long shots of fields dotted with oil wells pumping futilely away, this is a film that's got its condemnation of the financial crisis and the banks hard-wired into its execution.

Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan manages shots of dry humour and Fargo-esque idiosyncratic trappings of character within his taut screenplay that examines the relationships between the two brothers and the two rangers, and works best when it concentrates on those elements. Both have bits of brotherhood scattered through; from Marcus' continual plaguing of put-upon Alberto with racial slurs or being annoying, to Toby and Tanner's reunion after Tanner's time in jail and his black sheep status within the family.

But it's in the subtleties that this film works - the quieter moments, led by a hang-dog Pine who underplays to great effect, are infinitely more worthwhile than the continual quirks of some of the residents of West Texas. Sheridan captures the frailties of familial bonds with ease. And accentuated by a Warren Ellis / Nick Cave score, the whole thing bathes in a kind of timeless dread.

Equally worthy of recognition is a resigned but resilient Bridges as Marcus, a cantankerous man whose loneliness beckons in his twilight years. Bridges brings a gruffness and simplicity of execution to the film and gives it an edge that's as timeless as any cops and robbers chase film you've seen.

Ultimately, Hell or High Water is a wee ripper of a film; an eclectic and at times, eccentric old school Western that works on many levels. Swathed in contemplative elements and blessed with a stonking script and execution, it's proof there's life in the old dog yet and that when done properly, dialogue is king.

The Accountant: DVD Review

The Accountant: DVD Review

In an attempt to make accountants seem like more than just numbers guys, director Gavin O'Connor's movie with a dour faced Ben Affleck as the titular accountant aims for thrills, but on most occasions misses.

Affleck is Christian Wolff the accountant, a maths genius who is afflicted with high-functioning autism and whose social interactions are awkward at best. Called into a robotics company to try and work out where $70 million has gone AWOL, Christian solves the case overnight but his resolution causes a chain of events to unfold.

With a series of killers on his back and the Treasury Department closing in on Wolff after his links to cleaning dodgy books, Wolff's on the back foot - and with a nerdy fellow accountant from the robotics company in tow (Kendrick in usual preppy and perky mode), the chase is on.

Skipping some of the emotional beats needed to make this land proves fatal for The Accountant, which in parts feels perfunctory, drab and dour.
While a frowny Affleck manages to imbue Wolff with the social awkwardness needed, which allows for some comic interludes between him and Kendrick's Dayna, he's pretty much rendered relatively mute. And outside of action sequences, Affleck's got little to do except revel in the vulnerability and physicality- though admittedly, he does it well.

If anything's wrong with The Accountant, it's more a case of the threads not quite tying as tightly together as perhaps they should without characters indulging in serious amounts of exposition to help you through. Worst offender is JK Simmons' Treasury head, who's (cliche alert) determined to crack Wolff's identity before he retires - in one scene alone, he literally espouses the whole story in an attempt to get people up to speed. Thankfully, he's such a great actor that he just manages to lift the material higher than it deserves.

While there's something to be said for having an autism heavy hero on the screen (according to one character 1 in 68 US kids suffer) and there's a feeling that this is the launch of a Littlest Hobo style assassin franchise, The Accountant never quite fires on all cylinders as it trudges through its 2 hour run time, thanks largely to flashbacks that jolt proceedings and disparate multi-threads that aren't particularly engaging or original.

The final fight sequence is precise in its execution and brings a punch that's been lacking, but it's hard to fully invest in proceedings as they play out prior to this point, with some of the threads feeling not quite as well sketched out as they could be.

While relatively solid overall, thanks mainly to Affleck's performance, The Accountant ultimately and unfortunately doesn't quite add up.

Rating:

Nioh: PS4 Review

Nioh: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Koei Tecmo

Based on original material by Akira Kurosawa, Team Ninja's latest has elements of Japanese samurai, dastardly mixed up with the bastard hard playability of Bloodborne and Dark Souls.

It's the story of William Adams, a western samurai who finds himself entangled in the Japanese civil war. As the war grows in stature, supernatural elements are inveigling their way into proceedings, adding further elements of chaos...

Nioh may have the aforementioned elements of Dark Souls with it, and it's very much a similar MO to these games.

From light to heavy attacks, dodging to picking up health and using inventories, this is something you've seen many times before. But once again, concentration and patience are needed to ensure that you get through what's going on in the combat front and come off relatively in tact.

Though in fairness, every attack is going to leave you gasping for life and hoping no surprise foes are waiting around the corner to pick you off. Readying yourself to combat and choosing the right stance also helps you deal with the combat, though to be frank that takes a little while to ready yourself for and to get into.

Cameras can be locked on to help dispatch the bad guys - it's all very familiar.

And yet the developers of Ninja Gaiden and the Dead or Alive series know exactly what players of this genre want - from simple combat that rewards learning to powering up and collection of loot, Nioh ticks all the relevant boxes.

From shrines to pay respect to and health to collect that looks like Jak and Daxter's way of powering up, the game's got what it needs in place to ensure that it plays well. There are epic elements within the sprawling world as well, and there's clearly an homage to the times settling in as the game carries on.

Missions are dictated through the map and take you through the history of Japan - it's a nice reverence that plays well as the game takes hold.

Occasionally, though, some glitches in the camera slow things down. From missing walls to circling cameras, sometimes, it's hard to focus the game onto the actual screen and to see what's going on.

And a lack of an idea of where you're going sometimes means you can spend a lot of time going back and forth down corridors you've already been down but only realised late in the day that that is what's happening.

Ultimately, from meleeing to simple combat, Nioh is a game to sink time into. It rewards long term investment and isn't for a simple 10 minute play. It's a solid, occasionally glitchy, RPG that surprises early on in the year.

New Resident Evil Biohazard DLC drops

Hi family,

Resident Evil 7 biohazard DLC Banned Footage Vol. 2 is available today on PlayStation 4  and will also be readily available for anyone who has purchased either the Deluxe Edition or Season Pass. This Vol. 2 pack includes "Daughters", which features a deeper look at the Baker family’s life before the tragic events of Resident Evil 7 biohazard. Also included is "21", where players will need to gamble with their own life in a deadly game with Lucas Baker. An extra gameplay mode titled "Jack's 55th Birthday" provides a race against the clock as players serve up the Daddy of the family, Jack Baker, with tons of treats for his special celebration. (Please note that PSVR is not supported in "Jack's 55th Birthday.")

Banned Footage Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 will be available to purchase for all other platforms on February 21st. Deluxe Edition and Season Pass owners will get the Banned Footage contents as they release per above and an additional story episode with more details to come. Finally, in winter 2017, all players will have access to the free "Not a Hero" content, introducing players to a new separate storyline away from Ethan’s saga in the main game.

The Great Wall: Film Review

The Great Wall: Film Review

Cast: Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Pedro Pascal
Director: Yimou Zhang

On paper, it's easy to see why The Great Wall exists.

A Chinese director (famed for The House of Flying Daggers and Hero), a Western star (Matt Damon) and a chance to concoct a Chinese - US co-production to rake in some of the take of a Chinese box office.

After all, xXx - The Return of Xander Cage tried to negotiate similar waters.

But on screen, the CGI creature-feature feels more like a gloriously costumed B-movie that never scales the emotional heights it could have easily achieved.

Damon is William, a mercenary who's part of a band of men after the black powder for its magic properties to turn air into fire. As the group's wittled slowly down, William and his fellow conspirator Tovar (Game of Thrones' Pedro Pascal, the film's comic relief) find themselves attacked by a mystical creature and captured by the armies on the Great Wall.

Led by the Nameless Order, the duo is let into confidences when they produce the slaughtered creature and discover an endless eternal war is being fought between the marauding relentless Tao Tei and the protectors of the Wall....

An emotionless bedraggled Damon as William, complete with mumbling bizarre Irish brogue, initially does little to dispel the feeling that The Great Wall is a a CGI fest that plays up its legends element and the fantastical edges.

Characters within the film aren't exactly well developed, and certainly William's behaviour sits at odds with any decisions he makes further on in the film (largely, due to a lack of back-grounding) that propel portions of the narrative.

While the white-wash debate has dogged the film, it's perhaps pertinent to note that most of the Western behaviour is that of rapscallions and skull-duggery. From Defoe's Mad Monk-esque wannabe thief to Tovar's plunder-them-and-run ethos, only William changes his MO due to exposure to the Chinese traits of honour and trust. Sure, there are moments when the white man saves the day, but largely it's due to a shift in mind-set and needs to be viewed as such.

However, despite some truly impressive costuming and eye to detail from WETA's props to the sumptuous colourful costumes to differentiate the wall-based fighters (though reminiscent of the Power Rangers' colourings), the Nameless Order is eye-poppingly gorgeous. And shonky CGI aside, the initial attack on the Wall and the subsequent holding off of the Tao Tei is solidly executed, a visual symphony of a Cirque du Soleil themed attack that benefits more from the human touch than the endless rows of creatures surging towards it.

It's just a shame that The Great Wall doesn't embrace enough of its lunacy and premise of aliens invading the Wall of China and the end effect is an undeniably B-movie film that's soulless on the human front.

With weaker Chinese characters propping up parts of proceedings (Jing's Commander Lin starts off promisingly before being confined to the ramparts' sidelines and sharing glances with Damon's William), the film needed either a stronger script and interactions to pull it through or less reliance on the slow-mo CGI critters flying through the air approach to keep the 100 minutes alive.

With its video game ethos, wannabe epic and questionable CGI, The Great Wall hides a kernel of an intriguing and entertaining film. It's just unfortunate that the severe under-cooking of many of the elements within mean this is one wall that's actually not really worth scaling.

NieR: Automata 'Glory To Mankind' Trailer

NieR: Automata 'Glory To Mankind' Trailer

GLORY TO MANKIND!

NEW TRAILER EXPLORING THE STORY OF

NIER: AUTOMATA AVAILABLE NOW

SYDNEY, 14^TH February 2017 – Square Enix Ltd., today unveiled a brand new story-driven trailer to introduce fans to 2B, 9S and A2, the assembled army of androids enlisted to help reclaim mankind’s disturbing dystopia in the upcoming action-RPG, NieR: Automata™.

In NieR: Automata, Humanity has been driven from the Earth by mechanical beings from another world. In a final effort to take back the planet, the human resistance sends in 2B, 9S and A2 in a hope to destroy the invaders. A war between machines and androids rages on... A war that could soon unveil a long-forgotten truth of the world.

The new “Glory to Mankind 119450310” trailer is available on YouTube or below

NieR: Automata is developed by SQUARE ENIX and PlatinumGames Inc. and will be available on 10^th March 2017 for the PlayStation®4. A free playable demo is also available to download now from: http://bit.ly/2k9txbV.

Silence: Film Review

Silence: Film Review

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, Yosuke Kubozuka,
Director: Martin Scorsese

Rounding off Scorsese's religious trilogy (Kundun, The Last Temptation of Christ), the occasionally bum-numbing Silence, with its 162 minute run time, is very much a story of endurance.

Garfield and Driver play missionaries Rodrigues and Garupe, whose faith is severely tested when one of their own, Father Ferrera (Neeson) disappears bringing the word of the Bible and spreading faith in Japan in 1633.

With authorities determined to root out Catholicism before it even gained groundswell support, Rodrigues and Garupe are forced to scrabble around in darkness, hiding in hillside huts and administering to those seeking absolution by night.

But when the pair split up after learning authorities are on their tail, Rodrigues faces the deepest darkest night of his soul after he's betrayed.

Silence is Scorsese's cry out to a deity that so often many believe works through silence and offers little by way of absolution when great suffering is visited on so many.

It's a reflective and reflexive suffering piece about the purity of faith in the darkest of times and certainly in large parts of its second half, it becomes an internal piece rather than an action filled denouement to all that's passed.

It's distinctly blessed with some fairly visceral and extremely powerful imagery - from the opening scenes of Neeson's Ferrera watching fellow priests tortured by boiling water as the mists of Japan waft mythically through proceedings to striking shots of those convicted of Catholicism strung up on crosses and left on the sea's edge to be broken by the continual flow of waves, this is a film that doesn't shy away from the realities of what the authorities would do.

And yet in among the philosophical edges, and the increasing likeness that a bearded, long haired and bedraggled Garfield bears to the allegory made real of a 1633 Jesus undergoing trials, there's an emotional devastation that's hard to shake. It helps that there's a lack of soundtrack ( a crushing nod to the silence that bedevils our protagonists) and few of Scorsese's trademark zooming shots - this is a stripped back version of the meister's behind the camera work)

Garfield delivers a powerful and haunted performance as the wise Rodrigues (standing in juxtaposition to Driver's brash and impetuous Garcia whose patience is in short shrift);  and he manages to convey the internal struggle with heartbreaking ease and nuance. From the continual requests of confession from the Judas-like Kimichi (Kubozuka) whose family was killed because he was Catholic that test his patience and his resolve to the desire to find Ferrara, Garfield shoulders a large portion of this film and more than suitably delivers.

Neeson also delivers strong scenes as Ferrera as the price of martyrdom weighs heavily down (and to say more is to offer spoilers) and as the adaptation of the 1966 novel by Japanese Catholic author Shūsaku Endō resolves.

Silence is a demanding film in many ways; and while the reward is certainly not in the on-screen pay-off, it's perhaps more Scorsese's intention that this soul-searching film stays with you and nudges you to question it and yourself in the days after viewing.

The Light Between Oceans: DVD Review

The Light Between Oceans: DVD Review

Making great fist of the desolate New Zealand coast and aiming for emotional devastation but landing somewhere nearer trying experience, Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance's The Light Between Oceans aims big in its period affectations.

Beautifully shot and framed, The Light Between Oceans is the film adaptation of ML Steadman's post war story. Fassbender stars as Tom, a World War I veteran who simply wants to recover from the horrors of the Great War (or as he understates he's "just looking to get away from things"). Ending up in the Lighthouse service and asking for a posting on Janus Rock which overlooks the oceans, Tom meets Vikander's Isabel on the mainland and despite his withdrawn nature, an instant attraction blossoms.

The pair's marital bliss is hit by double tragedy with miscarriages and when a boat washes up with a dead man on board and a crying baby, Isabel pleads with Tom to raise the child as their own. Reluctantly, he agrees and the pair settle into a familial life, blissfully happy.

But years later, on the mainland, Tom meets the widow and grieving mother (a dignified and gravitas-filled Weisz) and a chain of events is guiltily set in motion.

The Light Between Oceans benefits from a great solemn first half, that hits all the emotional beats required.

In among some stunning cinematography and some melancholy moments that border on the darkness, Cianfrance draws the best from Vikander with some truly heartbreaking and devastating sequences playing out as Isabel loses two children (the first in the most harrowing of circumstances). But the film hits a stumbling block as it saunters towards the end (which no doubt is in large part the fault of source material) and negotiates both time jumps and desperation for closure, sacrificing the emotional heft that's needed to allow the choices to feel quite so cataclysmic for all involved.

Of the two actors, Vikander's the strongest and most adept at translating her arc to the screen, and while Fassbender's stoic outlook on Tom is nigh on aloof, he's helped by some choice morsels of dialogue that provide insight where characterisation on screen can not.

His ethos of "I just try to keep the light burning for whoever needs it" is laden with tragedy and selflessness but the implications of this lightkeeper doing more than his duty unfortunately never feel fully fleshed out on screen as the film slips into melodrama and divergent endings.

With Cianfrance using cutaways to the rolling oceans and the cruelty of nature a little too often to segue between it all, The Light Between Oceans struggles to really find its own voice in its back half. Granted, the emotion is there initially and it's hard not to get swept up in the bleak unfolding tragedy of Tom and Isabel; but the final strait and its long dawdling route to get there mean its emotional effectiveness is muted and stilted, despite some of the finest efforts of its central cast.

Never as devastating or as provocative as it should be, this effective translation of Steadman's source material may look rich on the exterior, but its core is flawed when others come into the picture and its attempts at emotional resonance are thwarted.

Rating:

Ouija Origin Of Evil: DVD Review

Ouija Origin Of Evil: DVD Review

There's just something about creepy kids that the horror genre has to keep mining  (just ask The Omen) - and Ouija: Origin of Evil has managed to add another one to the pantheon, thanks to this film, based on a board game (one of the wildest conceits the horror world has perhaps seen).

After a wildly financially successful but critically mauled first outing, the sequel, acting as a prequel heads to 1965 Los Angeles and to a widowed mother Alice (Reaser) struggling to make ends meet after the death of the patriarch. Equally struggling are daughters Paulina (Basso) and youngest Doris (Wilson, looking like a blonde CGI'd younger version of Reese Witherspoon).

Mum Alice is a medium, scamming people who visit but justifying it by offering them comfort for their pain. However, when business isn't powerful enough to keep the foreclosure ghosts away from their door, on Paulina's advice, she gets a Ouija board to use as a prop for her seances. But when youngest Doris claims to have been contacted by her father, something starts to go awry....

Ouija Origin Of Evil is at best a carbon copy horror film, filled with enough references to the past to stop it from being its own thing.

From the start with its usage of the old Universal logo to its vintage setting, use of significant moments from the era in the space age and execution (complete with the circles on the film used in the past to tell projectionists to change reels), this is a flick that's derivative of the genre and that squanders its genuine unease and unsettling set up for something rather familiar.

The deal's sealed when the priest played Henry "Elliott from ET" Thomas shows up outside the house, complete with suitcase and shadow in a blatant rip off from The Exorcist.

It's a shame because aside from the schlock standard jump scares, there's something relatively uneasy about the rather claustrophobic proceedings. From a soundtrack that exudes quiet rather than the traditional blast of a scraping OST to get the requisite jump moments to the evocative period setting, the beginning of Ouija Origin Of Evil is deeply unsettling thanks to tight camera angles and spooky goings on within the tightknit family.

However after Doris is possessed and her mouth starts apeing Munch's The Scream, the film starts to falter and the tropes and inherent illogical silliness that plagues some horror films infects the narrative, and it falls into a trapping of usual stock scares as the back half plays out and the malevolent moppet gets her grips into the family.

While it scores for being a bit more dour and downbeat than the usual fare trotted out for Hallowe'en, there's a feeling that Ouija: Origin Of Evil's more subtly written moments (grief of family, post-traumatic coping) are more successful in hitting the emotional beats than its schlockier edges.

But it still feels like this sequel is possessed by a rogue force rather than a benevolent one intent on ensuring the experience is a smoother ride - it's likely to be as successful as the first, but its derivative edges and reliance on illogical missteps mean it's creatively trapped in the past. 

Win The Great Wall

Win The Great Wall

Directed by Zhang Yimou, The Great Wall tells the story of an elite force making a last stand for humanity on the world’s most iconic structure. 

Starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Lu Han and Andy Lau

Academy Award® winner MATT DAMON leads humanity’s greatest fight for survival in The Great Wall, from Legendary and Universal Pictures. 

When a mercenary warrior (Damon) is imprisoned within The Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of our world. 

As wave after wave of marauding beasts, intent on devouring the world, besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront this unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

In Cinemas February 16

Rated M: Violence

We're giving away double passes to the movie - To enter simply email MATT DAMONNNNNNNN to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Please ensure you include your name and address - competition closes February 16th 

'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Arrives at Retail Feb 28th; Ep 3 Out Next Month

'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier' Arrives at Retail Feb 28th; Ep 3 Out Next Month

Critically Acclaimed  'The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier'  Available at Retail Starting February 28th Series Continues with Episode 3: 'Above the Law' Arriving Next Month

Fellow Survivors, Today we can share the release date for the critically acclaimed The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier on a special season pass disc at retail, and announce the release window for the upcoming Episode 3: 'Above the Law'.   Beginning February 28th at North American retailers, and March 3rd at European retailers, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier will be available for purchase on a special Season Pass Disc for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. The season pass disc includes the critically acclaimed two-part premiere episodes, and grants access to all subsequent episodes in the five episode season for download as they become available.  The two-part premiere of The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier launched to widespread critical acclaim. In their review of the premiere, IGN.com said that, "Smart characterization and writing for Javi and his family, plus the return of Clementine, add weight to a largely unfamiliar but already engaging new frontier that I can't wait to continue to explore," adding that its "uncharted territory feels familiar and, excitingly, fresh." GamesRadar said that A New Frontier, "demonstrates the resonant power of interactive storytelling," and that it, "finds the right balance between rewarding longtime players who've shaped their own version of the story and welcoming those who might be hopping aboard this grim adventure for the first time." Game Informer said the two-part premiere has, "shocking deaths, intense betrayals, and split-second decisions to second-guess," claiming that "Everything leads up to a hell of a cliffhanger, making me intrigued to see what happens next."  In further news, today we can also confirm that the much-anticipated Episode 3: 'Above the Law' is set to debut later next month. Look for more details on the episode in the coming weeks.  When family is all you have left... how far will you go to protect it? Years after society was ripped apart by undead hands, pockets of civilization emerge from the chaos. But at what cost? Can the living be trusted on this new frontier? As Javier, a young man determined to protect his family, you meet a young girl who has experienced her own unimaginable loss. Her name is Clementine, and your fates are bound together in a story where every choice you make could be your last.   The Walking Dead: A New Frontier acts as both a new beginning for players fresh to the series and unfamiliar with Clementine, as well as a continuation for players who have experienced Seasons One and Two. Players new to the series are able to start a story that is tailored to this new beginning. Players continuing onward from prior seasons have multiple options for quickly configuring their tailored backstory, or importing past save files from various platforms.   The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier Episode One: 'Ties That Bind' Part I is rated 'M' (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, and Use of Drugs by the ESRB. Episode Two: 'Ties That Bind' Part II is rated 'M' (Mature) for Violence, Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, and Strong Language by the ESRB. Future content in the season is yet to be rated.   To date, The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series has sold more than 50 million episodes worldwide, earning more than 100 Game of the Year awards from outlets including Metacritic, USA Today, Wired, Spike TV VGAs, Yahoo!, The Telegraph, Mashable, Polygon, Destructoid and GamesRadar, and was also the recipient of two BAFTA Video Games Awards for Best Story and Best Mobile Game.    The Walking Dead is set in the world of Robert Kirkman's award-winning comic book series and offers an emotionally-charged, tailored game experience where a player's actions and choices affect how their story plays out across the entire series.

GTA hits XBox Backwards compatability

GTA hits XBox Backwards compatability

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV AND EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY NOW PLAYABLE ON XBOX ONE WITH BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY

Hi all,

Today we’re happy to announce that the intersecting sagas of Niko Bellic, Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez in Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City are now all playable on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility.

All versions of the game, including Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition, are compatible on Xbox One. Digital game owners have instant access on Xbox One, so they can download Grand Theft Auto IV directly from the “Ready to Install” section of their Xbox One and play at will. Physical game owners can just insert the Xbox 360 game disc into their Xbox One and download the game. Your original game saves will also transfer if you have saved your game to the Cloud Saved Games feature on Xbox 360. 

Anyone who doesn't already have Grand Theft Auto IV can get it from the Xbox Store on Xbox One, along with The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

NBA And Take-Two To Launch NBA 2K eLeague

NBA And Take-Two To Launch NBA 2K eLeague

NBA AND TAKE-TWO TO LAUNCH NBA 2K eLeague

First Official eSports League Operated by U.S. Professional Sports League Set for 2018 Debut

Sydney, Australia Feb. 10, 2017 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced plans to launch the NBA 2K eLeague, a new, professional competitive gaming league that will bring together the best basketball gamers in the world.  This marks the first official eSports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. 

Set to debut in 2018, this ground-breaking competitive gaming league will consist of teams operated by actual NBA franchises.  The founding teams, each composed of five professional eSports players who will play the game as user-created avatars, will be announced in the coming months.  The NBA 2K eLeague will follow a professional sports league format: competing head-to-head throughout a regular season, participating in a bracketed playoff system, and concluding with a championship matchup.  

“We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.  “We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports team operators with Take-Two’s competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience.”

“We are proud to expand our strong relationship with the NBA and co-create the NBA 2K eLeague,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two.  “Through the NBA 2K series, which is renowned throughout the world for capturing the authenticity of the NBA and the passion of its fans, we have a proven track record of highly successful collaboration.  With this new venture, Take-Two and the NBA aim to fuel the accelerating growth of eSports and take the thrill of competition to exciting new heights.”

The relationship between NBA and Take-Two dates back to 1999, with the NBA 2K series selling over 68 million units worldwide.  The most recent release, NBA 2K17, is the highest-rated annual sports game of the current console generation and the highest-rated title in the history of the NBA 2K series.⁽¹⁾  To date, NBA 2K17 has sold-in nearly 7 million units, and is poised to become 2K’s highest-selling sports title ever.  

In December, 2K launched its second official eSports competition, NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament, which offers teams of gamers the chance to win a trip to NBA All-Star 2017.  The 5-on-5 tournament, featuring a $250,000 grand prize, will culminate on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.

Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands: PS4 Closed Beta Review

Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands: PS4 Closed Beta Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Ubisoft

The second of Ubisoft's closed BETAs in as many weeks is the massive open world Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands.

With two months to go until the latest iteration hits, the BETA puts you on the ground and into the action as part of a unit taking on cartels in Bolivia.

Multiplayer or solo are on offer, and to be frank, the solo campaign already opens up a world that takes so much of your time, that jumping in with mates is the last thing on your mind.

After customising your character, it's into the world you go, and into a squad of 3 others. A first mission sees you tasked with getting intel from a captive that begins to open up the wealth of objectives on offer and the reasons for doing them. The BETA offered six of the opening story missions to complete.

From using drones at your disposal to tag enemies or simply going in all guns blazing, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands is a game that will thrive on your choices and will be played many different ways. The guns blazing approach certainly quickly brings brutal combat to life and the fight can get quite difficult quite quickly. But being tactical can also pay off as well - there's nothing better than tagging an opponent and the joy of the stealth kill rather than the shoot and hope approach.

In many ways, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands feels like it's been more heavily influenced by the last iteration of the Just Cause game series. Sure, there's not the comic edges and over the top physics mentality within, but there are touches of it that remind you of Rico's exploits.

From gently hitting a car on the road and seeing it flip wildly in the air, to careering backwards down a mountain, the game hits a fun level early on. And while there are also elements of Far Cry and Just Cause's narratives within (free the checkpoints, take on a dictator etc), the game's made them all their own.

It's also a world of exploration too with there being plenty to see and do around the wildlands. From avoiding killing civilians (which abruptly ends your game) to getting revived once only by your colleagues once you fall, there's more than enough in the game mechanics to stop you from actually achieving the missions on offer.

But those missions themselves are worth getting involved with. Each one unlocks another and sees you zipping around the countryside to complete them. As you hurtle on the red barren tracks that double for roads, there's a wealth of life out there. If anything, Ubisoft's ensured that the NPCs are certainly in attendance (watch them cower when you order an attack by your squad from your car) and are reacting to what's around.

All in all, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands: PS4 Closed Beta showed the vast range of just part of the worlds out there. While the missions may be of a similar nature to what's encountered before, it's clear that the sheer scale of the open world and its secrets within will ensure this release in March will be a popular one.