One Thousand Ropes: Film Review

One Thousand Ropes: Film Review

Cast: Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Beulah Koale
Director: Tusi Tamasese

Tradition, spirituality, family ties, ghosts of the past long forgotten and haunting melancholia mixes together in Samoan director Tusi Tamasese's latest film, One Thousand Ropes.

Blending together a slow-burning concoction of humanity and redemption proves to be a fertile narrative ground for this tale of Maea (Uelese Petaia, quiet and dignified, with hints of more bubbling dangerously under).

Living in a simple life in a run-down empty house in Wellington, and working daily at dawn in a bakery before providing Samoan traditional massage to pregnant women, Maea finds himself trapped in a modern world that appears to be turning its back on his old ways.

From old ways of kneading dough to old midwifery, Maea is stuck dealing with the consequences of how he's handled life - and haunted by a warrior-like spirit lurking in the corner of his house that he believes he freed during a massage session.

Things further reach breaking point, when the bakery he toils at brings in a machine to keep up the pace and Maea continues to lose business to the local church and their midwifery ways.

When his pregnant daughter (Shortland Street's Frankie Adams) returns home, beaten and battered by her partner, Maea finds his quest for redemption inadvertently renewed - but will the sins of his past ruin what's left of his future?

One Thousand Ropes is gloomy, bleak and slow-moving - and all the more powerful because of it.

It also has something of a commanding presence in among the darkness as Tamasese weaves intricately and carefully laid out details into the fabric of this Samoan story that the audience will have to work with to get the most out of. He did something similar with 2011's The Orator, which delivered an emotional punch of some considerable heft.

While One Thousand Ropes occasionally teeters on leading a little too slowly towards its denouement, its stripped back paucity and ominous foreboding build a terrifically-laced atmosphere that washes over those willing to spend a little patience in the cinema. It's already had good reviews out of Sundance and also the Berlinale Film Festival, and it's easy to see why.

Themes of redemption and reconciliation co-exist and coagulate in the mix, as the a-lot-said-but-little-spoken forlorn film plays out. The pay-off is tangible too, and while Tamasese leaves a lot for the audience to connect the dots, the selective way the emotional moments land and the truths are revealed deliver maximum impact as well.

Predominantly, this is due to Petaia's dignified turn, one which is understated and subtle. Etched on his face, the man once known as The Lion and who's encouraged to smash the perpetrator of his wife's beating lumbers with the guilt of the past and teeters with fragility on the brink of giving in. This is a turn that delivers so much by doing so little.

There's some terrific imagery too - from the succubus-like Seipua haunting Maea and strangling him to Maea's incessant kneading of the dough demonstrating his volcano-like emotions bubbling under, Tamasese does a lot with lingering slow shots, filling the frames of the film and providing more than screeds of dialogue ever could.

If you succumb to the rhythms and the slow-creeping power pace of One Thousand Ropes, the end result is quite unsettling and powerful. Weaving together both myth and personal tragedy are a potent mix for Tamasese, and despite the sedentary pace potentially putting some people off, it actually works in ways you could never expect.

Evocative, haunting and hard to shake, One Thousand Ropes is a timely reminder, once again, that small-scale intimacy works infinitely better than big screen bluster.

The Innocents: Film Review

The Innocents: Film Review

Cast: Lou de Laage, Agata Buzek
Director: Anne Fontaine

The fact The Innocents (Les Innocentes) is based on a true story makes its harrowing nature, at times, a little harder to bear.

Set in post World War II Poland, the film concerns itself with the jaw-dropping horrifying events at a convent. Our heroine is young female French doctor Mathilde (de Laage), who's working with the Red Cross.

Asked to enter a nearby convent, she finds a young girl in labour - and from there, the situation starts to unfold in as much gripping as terrifying ways as it plays out.

With some striking imagery, the director of Coco avant Chanel, hides some of the horrific darkness on offer here; scenes of white crisp snow at the convent mask the true nature of what lies within. And from dawn prayers and hymns, the sound of a woman's cries is utterly shocking.

The sound in The Innocents is utterly mesmerising; from the sound of cloister bells ringing clearly out, to quiet moments within, the atmospherics are completely entrancing.

It's fair to say that what unspools in Les Innocentes is not the easiest of watches, but Fontaine sensitively handles the mix of sexual violence and unspeakable horrors in such a way, that what actually transpires is as powerful as it is difficult to view. If many question their faith in the film, undoubtedly others will question theirs with what plays out

This tightly written and prestigely-acted piece knows never to revel in its horrors, both that men do and the life post a war inflicts on others, but it also knows that the silent power comes from within.

So, with a respectful score, and a lack of overbearing bluster to push home its message, The Innocents emerges as something quite unusual - a film about a rare set of horrors that ends up being more moving than you'd expect given its deeply troubling and real subject matter.

The Tickle King: Film Review

The Tickle King: Film Review

Funded as a Kickstarter in 2014, and released to equal parts critical acclaim and "WTF??" reactions, David Farrier and Dylan Reeve's Tickled, about the darker side of the internet, has now got a short film follow up.

With the original documentary ending with a few threads dangling and clearly implications of more to come, The Tickle King goes some way to giving both some closure for those with further questions, and Farrier and Reeve whose lives have already been swept up in the fall-out of the film.

With law-suits threatening them and screenings invaded by people trying to sabotage the film (and as a result, inadvertently giving more credence to the doco-makers), it's fair to perhaps suggest that Tickled was a film which would dog both Farrier and Reeve in future.

But the 20 minute short film / companion piece, The Tickle King doesn't seek to kick the hornet's nest any further - merely is a record of what exactly happened next.
And it's equally as fascinating and as bizarre as the original film that took New Zealand shores by storm in 2016, and the rest of the world shortly after.

Premiering after a screening of Tickled on the Rialto Channel on March 29th at about 8.05pm, The Tickle King brings more footage to light of what happened next.
From capturing the initial thrill of being at Sundance and getting the buzz the doco so rightly deserves to showing Farrier genuinely unsettled when it's revealed people in the audience appear to be taking notes or, in a move worthy of the first film itself, taping it from equipment inside a coffee cup, this bite-size extra travels further down the hole of weirdness for our enjoyment.

With the accolades come the legal threats and the shadowy tail-gating of Farrier as he goes about his business of promoting the film and dealing with the fall-out.
All expertly captured on film (and beautifully done so once again), The Tickle King simply shows the maelstrom hitting both Farrier and Reeve as they deal with the implications of coming across David D'Amato.

Essentially, it falls into 2 parts - one taking place in Sundance, and the other taking place at a now infamous screening in Los Angeles.

From the fake sites and attempts to discredit the pair by Kevin Clarke who appeared in the first film, the doco sheds more light on the incident where D'Amato confronted Reeve at the LA Screening of the movie at Nuart Theatre on June 18, 2016.

With extra footage from inside the Q&A where Reeve rationally tries to ask D'Amato to take part in the Q&A and even hushes the audience from booing him, this is once again an implicit representation of the duo's rationality and smarts in the face of what appears to be extremely irrational behaviour. The ability to step away from the situation and let it play out rather than prod at it is a credit to the duo. And there won't be anyone who silently seethes at D'Amato's implicit, yet somehow veiled, threats to Reeve about his being "a family man".

Certainly, these moments with D'Amato were missing from the first film, and not due to anything the duo had done, but simply because of the shadowy and slippery nature of their subject.
There's a truly fascinating and disturbing feeling here as it plays out, yet you can't help but admire Reeve for his calm, sensible composure in the face of it all.

It may look like the publicity's given the film an extra longevity after its initial release, but what the Tickle King shows about everyone's state of mind in the aftermath, is quite revealing.

And that's the thing with The Tickle King - it may give the fans more of D'Amato, but it still worryingly shows the story shows no sign of dying away as the film's released - and the madness and mania of the subjects exposed once again. With a subsequent screening on HBO, it's to be hoped all is quiet on that front, but when the extra ends, there's definitely a chill down your spine, thanks to the revelations of the credits.

Ultimately, if you've followed a lot of the post-Tickled fallout and subsequent media coverage, much of this will not be new to you. (Though it's still truly gob-smacking to see it all unfold on film).

But given there's a new audience who've come to the film, and there was a general desire to hear from the man involved, Farrier and Reeve are once again smart enough to know in the edit to step away from the camera and let the subjects do the talking.

This detachment serves them well, and gives a general feeling they're not pushing an agenda; once again, The Tickle King is simultaneously smart documentary-making and yet somehow, at its most ghoulish.


The Tickle King will premiere on the Rialto Channel on March 29th at 8.05pm after Tickled airs at 6.30pm.

Under The Shadow: DVD Review

Under The Shadow: DVD Review

Released by Rialto

Tapping into both childhood fears and mining a rich social setting proves to be fertile ground inBabak Anvari's psychological terror Under the Shadow.

Set in the Iran /Iraq war and using the genre conventions of a haunted house /superstitious myth, it's the story of Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). Shideh has been fighting against the patriarchal society to get back to her studies as a doctor, but losing the fight, she's forced to take control of the household when her doctor husband is posted at a facility near the front line on military service.

But as the shadow of the war creeps closer to Shideh's Tehran apartment and the bombings come closer, she refuses to move out. And things get worse when her young daughter starts to believe they're being haunted by a Djinn....

As a first foray into the horror genre, writer / director Babak Anvari's Under The Shadow both simultaneously embraces the tropes of the genre and gives them a new spin, creating something that feels fresh and exciting. The slow burn of the set up allows you to really engage with Shideh's struggle, and then when Dorsa starts to feel threatened, the atmospherics are simply ramped up another notch. (Granted the idea of a kid under threat is perhaps where the film's creepiness really begins to kick in).

Anvari's embracing of autobiographical elements has clearly enhanced the look and feel of the film, but it's Rashidi as the feminist hero and first time child actor Manshadi who really propel proceedings into the stratosphere. Their interaction and the sneaking feeling that Shideh is losing it are nicely set up and in the initial part of the film the seesawing between who is right and who is wrong veers so clearly back and forth that you're never quite sure if the Djinn concept is anything other than in both of their heads.

Mining the rich vein of paranoia and foreboding with the war in the background and the shredding of nerves works wonders for the audience participation and engagement with Under The Shadow.

This is not a CGI driven shock fest, but an introduction of a new take on the genre that feels fresh, exciting and could potentially have legs for others to take over; it feels like even by saying so little, the mythology is deeply set up in this film - and the ending offers up the potential for more. The fact its societal setting says much gives a disquiet and insight that adds much to proceedings.

Original, slow burning and psychologically deft, the unsettling Under the Shadow is a clever take on its genre and it's one not to be missed.

Hacksaw Ridge: DVD Review

Hacksaw Ridge: DVD Review

It's perhaps easy to see why Mel Gibson would be drawn to the true story of conscientious objector Desmond Doss, a man whose unconventional ways saw him save 75 of his colleagues during the battle of Okinawa in May 1945.

Once on the outside of Hollywood, director Gibson's had a bit of a comeback, with a recent starring role in B movie Blood Father and now with Oscar talk for a war film about the attack on Hacksaw Ridge during the height of the campaign.

But opting to take more of a cheesy biopic route for Hacksaw Ridge lends the film more to a feeling of Christian Forrest Gump goes to war, rather than a war film destined for the ages.

Garfield plays Doss, an almost simpleton hick of a man whose pacifism and world view was shaped by accidentally nearly bashing his brother to death in a play fight. With a fragile father suffering from PTSD from the Great War (an excellently nuanced turn from Weaving who pitches it perfectly between pathos and faltering abuse), Doss decides he wants to go to war - but to save lives rather than take them.

Despite his father's refusal to endorse this route for either of his sons, and with the army resolutely against Doss' denial of weapons, the fight between values and principles forms the large part of this film, complete with corny dialogue and cliched moments of imposed conflict with fellow trainees.

Facing a court martial, Doss is saved at the last moment unexpectedly from spending the war in prison and ships out to Okinawa to face the Japanese, swarming like locusts from underground and into direct conflict with Doss' ideologies and comrades.

It's perhaps during a ferocious 15 minute fight sequence atop Hacksaw Ridge that Gibson's film comes to life, spinning multiple brutal attacks and displaying the true horrors of war (and comes at a welcome relief from the onslaught of over-wrought and slow-mo shots of burned and battered bodies - subtlety is not Gibson's strong point here).

But in the final third of the film, Gibson's content to over-saturate proceedings with Christian elements, complete with overtly religious iconography (no worse than Doss' messianic final shot as he ascends in a stretcher from atop the Ridge with a Bible clutched in one hand and another hanging over the edge as the score rouses higher and higher) that feels as brutally obvious as some of the earlier elements of this relatively rote war film.

Doss' story is supposed to inspire and while Garfield gives good hick and earnestness to the man, he's not well served by the screenplay which wrings as much pathos as it can from an over-use and over-reliance on an unsubtle approach. Perhaps the final nail in the coffin is the inclusion of documentary footage and interviews from the real-life Doss to hammer home the point of it all - an unnecessary touch that removes any remaining power from what's already transpired.

Ultimately, Hacksaw Ridge eviscerates the heart of its own story by heading down a cliched route that's well trodden by others before it; its heavy-handed direction cripples its ultimate goal and what should be an inspiring true story depicting the horrors of war and the heroism of some is ham-fisted and hackneyed.

Embrace of the Serpent: DVD Review

Embrace of the Serpent: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Ent

Ciro Guerra's Embrace of The Serpent, shot lusciously in black and white, centres around two timelines and two explorers and a shaman as they make their way through the Amazonian jungle. The first sees the young Shaman Karmakate alone in the jungle, the last of his race approached by a European explorer and his local charge. Imploring them to help locate the mythical yakruna plant to cure the ailing explorer Karmakate agrees to go with them in their search.

So, deep into the jungle the trio goes, and at the same time Guerra employs a narrative trick that sees us flitting to later in Karmakate's life where he's searching for the plant with another traveller. To reveal more would be to spoil the film, but even that implies there's some major twists and plot shockers ahead - there's simply not, more that revealing deeper information about Guerra's film is to rob it of its richness which transpires on the screen.

Occasional humour pervades the piece and watching one of the Europeans plead with a tribe leader to return his compass flips normal reasoning on its head, a solid reminder that cultures and customs remain wiped clean by history.

Based on actual trips by ethnographers Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes, the film serves as a document to the times, to tribes lost to history and stands as a testament to the brutality man wroughts under the umbrella of civilisation.

Rubber plantations scatter the Amazon; the scars within the trees remind us that civilisation cuts deep and also hints at the terror the natives must have felt under the rubber barons. Equally, the Christian centre the trio stumble on presents a religion that terrorises as its MO rather than helping propagate a world of love. Both show the outside world to be nothing more than a curse on the Amazon and you'd be hard-pressed to leave with thoughts to the contrary.

Beautifully and evocatively shot, Embrace of the Serpent is a haunting film, a reminder that the home viewing can serve up a treat under the most auspicious of disguises.

Gary Of the Pacific: Film Review

Gary Of the Pacific: Film Review

Cast: Josh Thomson, Megan Stevenson, Matt Whelan, Dave Fane, Taofi Mose-Tuiloma
Director: Jarrod Holt, Ryan Hutchings

Gary Of the Pacific is rarely better than its opening audacious moments, where a stranded dolphin, a Pacific island beach and a subversive gag make for a shocking - albeit blackly comedic and bravura - opening.

However, the new comedy from the authors of the phenomenally popular 7 Days and the cult audience-led TV comedy Hounds, the downlow project, somehow manages to squander a large portion of the promise it proffered up for the rest of its duration.

Timaru's greatest export, Josh Thompson, plays the titular Gary, a veritable schlubby loser of a guy, who, in his younger years, was dispatched from his Pacific island by his family to go to university overseas in New Zealand and bring accolades and honour to those who'd patronized him.

With the weight of belief on his shoulders from his family and the island as a whole, Gary somehow manages to dodge expectations and ends up taking a series of dead-end jobs that propel him to no glory whatsoever.

Ending up as the chief seller at an estate agent's where the employees number both himself and his clearly-not-right-for-him girlfriend Chloe (Megan Stevenson whose American shrill simply wants a Princess Di or Monica from Friends style wedding), Gary's delusions of grandeur stretch as far as believing he will take the top award at a real estate do, held at a local curry house.

With a marriage proposal gone awry, and with debt threatening to drown him, Gary is called back to his homeland in the Pacific after the news his father and the island's chief (Laughing Samoan star Dave Fane) is dying. Reluctantly, Gary returns home, the prodigal son with promise unfulfilled, but finds that his father's bestowed the honour of chief upon him on his death.

Can Gary do what's necessary to save his sinking homeland, his failing relationship and himself?

With a weak script and not enough gags to fill the relatively short run time, Gary Of The Pacific struggles by, garnering only enough good-will, in parts, because of its lead, Josh Thomson.

Whether it's baring his saggy backside within moments or gamely sorting his junk into the most uncomfortable pair of Spanx you've ever seen, Thomson's low-key wit and deadpan and desperate delivery helps keep large swathes of Gary of the Pacific afloat, but it's slim pickings, thanks to a weakly written script, populated largely by characters who are relatively unlikeable and who remain so from start to finish.

Much like Sione's Wedding and its wretched sequel, a lot's centred on both the family angle within the Pacific community, but simply put, Gary of the Pacific does little to build on this premise.
Chief offender is Dave Fane's father figure who appears ghost-like to Gary after his demise. But rather than offering sage advice, or helping Gary along the way on his journey, Fane's father exists to simply guffaw, laugh and cackle at his charge, a move that soon becomes irritating.

Go Girls star Matt Whelan is a weak fiancee, and foil to the relatively human Lani (first timer Taofi Mose-Tuiloma). Gary's wearied sister who's ended up at home, tending to an ill father and who's become a surrogate to the sinking isle's community.

Hers is perhaps the role that feels that most under-written though, with tensions between Gary and herself manifesting purely as sibling squabbles. There was a strong vein of comedy and emotional resonance to be mined here, but what's actually happened is the writers have gone for the lowest level and stayed there, not realising that the sibling rivalry would have yielded its best results.

Much like Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa's Three Wise Cousins achieved massively last year, the film's got the potential to resonate with its audience but it does nothing to boost its chances in the ways the prestige of those involved would hint at.

Despite Thomson's amiability and inherent desire to debase himself as the butt of the jokes wherever possible, all in all, Gary Of The Pacific is woefully inadequate; just relying on lazyish characters, poor writing and lacklustre attempts at laughs aren't nearly enough to get it through to the finish line.

It's a downright shame, to be frank, that this script wasn't even tightened up before the cameras began rolling, as banking on a few sight gags, odd one-liners here and there and under-playing the familial elements just isn't enough to do anyone in this the justice they and their talents clearly deserve.

Loving: Film Review

Loving: Film Review

Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga
Director: Jeff Nichols

Nominated for Golden Globes and Oscars, Loving's true life tale of the divisions faced by an inter-racial couple, should be a home run.

When construction worker Richard Loving (a simple relatively silent turn by Joel Edgerton) decides to marry Mildred (Negga of Preacher fame) out of state, his rush to matrimonial bliss sparks a degree of a witch-hunt as authorities berate them for breaking anti-miscegenation laws in 1967 Virginia.

From a late-night raid, the duo is split up and imprisoned, but it's only Richard who's freed on bail. And things are further complicated when the duo's banned from returning to the state together for 25 years....

Loving starts with a declaration of pregnancy and then spends the rest of the film avoiding the typical route of a civil rights story, while struggling with how to negotiate some of the tropes of the genre.

By doing so, it eschews the conventional trappings of what essentially could be a court-set series of encounters as the fight for freedom plays out in the 1960s disapproving America.

But it's also a film that takes a long time to get anywhere; and with very little drama happening due to Nicholls' somewhat muted approach to the story, it's a bit of a hard ask for the audience at times.
Complete with perma-scowl and confused looks, Edgerton proffers little emotion under his bleach-blond taciturn approach, but manages to convey a lot with looks and hints of what's going on below the surface.

Equally, Negga's quite sidelined in the first half of the film, but as the arguments rage within her and the injustice boils up, she finds a voice in the second half of the film, and as a result, her character begins to rise.

These are the complexities of Loving and potentially why, for some, it may not be the emotional powerhouse they're expecting, with the end result feeling like the telling of a story, rather than a cathartic response garnered by other films of their ilk.

This is not to cast any darkness on what the Lovings endured and the injustices thereof, but merely, there's a nagging feeling when the lights go up that the release just simply isn't as strong as could be as director Jeff Nichols' (Take Shelter, Mud and Midnight Special) vision of empowerment never truly soars above its own subtleties.

Win a double pass to see LIFE

Win a double pass to see LIFE

To celebrate the release of Life, in cinemas March 23rd, you can win a double pass to the film!

About Life

Life tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars.

As the crew begins to conduct research, their methods end up having unintended consequences and the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.

Directed by:
Daniel Espinosa

Written by:
Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick

Produced by:
David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn

Executive Producers:
Don Granger, Vicki Dee Rock

Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya

Life is in cinemas March 23rd
 
To enter simply email your details to this  address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Include your name and address and title your email LIFE!

Please ensure you include your name and address; title your entry LIFE! - competition closes March 23rd!

For Honor: PS4 Review

For Honor: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Ubisoft

A knight, a samurai and a viking all walk into a conflict.

Sounds like the start of a Monty Python sketch, right?
Well, it's actually the premise of Ubisoft's new multiplayer game, a clash of the titans as it were.

Real-time countering is a skill to master and is vital, no matter which faction you choose to play. 

Whether you're Viking, Knight or Samurai, if you can't defend then you're gone. It's a skill that takes a little time to get your head around but it's terribly important during the ongoing combat.

Talking of which, the plot loosely revolves around the world having been shattered by an earthquake and different factions fighting for resources afterwards. As ever, world-changing means that groups spring up - and allying yourself to one of these is the way forward.

The opening video is nothing short of spectacular. Fighting through the ages is demonstrated by the world changing around the characters and it's very wonderfully executed, a sort of age-old conflict given a graphical new spin.

Offering 1 v 1 duelling, 2 vs 2 or 4 v 4 and many others, the combat element is as mentioned the most important part of the game. And it's fluid, brutal and if you've not mastered what you need to, likely to signal an end to your time in the world before you've even realised what's going on.

The full on brawling where zones are captured are ones that will require tactics - gaining a zone collects you points, but losing that zone and then dying in said zone deducts them. It's a smart touch to ensure one side never romps home with the prizes but it does make the counting down clock a major enemy to your march to victory.

Hack and slash may be a major part of the conflict and contest, but it also needs a lot of skill to help you through and to ensure you don't become a cropper unnecessarily. With 12 heroes across the board and 3 different factions to ally yourself to, the game's scope is evident.

And there are plenty of online battling options as well to keep you in control and amused. From Dominion to Duel, there's more than enough to engage, even if the online system drops off from time to time.

It's the reactive combat which is the major thrust of For Honor and it's this which sets its lofty ambitions apart from everything else.

While the game's online world is really where it'll thrive and where your enthusiasm will go after an average Story mode - and it's here you'll lose hours playing For Your Own Honor and rewards.

As It Is In Heaven 2: DVD Review

As It Is In Heaven 2: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Ent


10 years ago, a Swedish film found itself in the unique position of resonating with audiences.

In New Zealand alone, the film spent 52 weeks in the box office charts thanks to both its feelgood factor and its word of mouth as the story of a conductor after both a second chance at life and love scored critical acclaim.

A decade on and a sequel to As It Is In Heaven has shown and with it, a collective feeling of what next for the story which felt resolved and unworthy of further exploration.

In that time, a lot has changed and quite possibly, some of the assumed character familiarity has faded. Needless to say Michael Nyqvist's conductor Daniel Dareus is no longer with us, having given up the ghost after his path to redemption was completed in the first film.

But the wild child student Lena from his choir who he slept with is about to give birth as the action picks up nine months later.

Ostracised by some for her relationship and saddled with a past, Lena decides to help drunk priest Stig to get more into his church as well as settling some old scores by showing she can put on a version of Handel's
Messiah for a grand re-opening.

Juggling motherhood as well as a potential new love interest, pressure grows on Lena to measure up to her own expectations and deal with her past. However, with the community and authorities turning against Stig, it looks like Lena may have bitten off more than she can chew.

As It Is In Heaven 2 is simply an off-key muddle when compared to the vastly superior first film.

Whereas the first had subtlety and nuance aplenty as well as warmth of character, this one jettisons all of that for a broad comedy opening, a birth in snow and a muddling priest that feels like Father Ted met with Sweden in a tonal road crash.

Once things settle, they don't get much better with the script preferring to fall into a rut that sees Lena consistently clashing with the priest Stig who then chastises her. It's a stuttering way to carry out the drama and ironically for a film about a community choir, a one note story throughout that drags the 130 minute run time to a halt.
To be fair, Frida Hallgren remains a beguiling presence as the movie plays out and is certainly worthy of stepping into the conductor's role of the film even if she has little to work with. And the script writers clearly haven't thought about how to conclude the film with a jarring character death that's supposed to hit emotionally failing to land - and the death ex machina event prematurely brings events to a close with threads left narratively unfed on the vine (closure of churches, a removal from the priesthood et al). Add to that some jarring religious imagery that borders on the blasphemous for some, and As It Is In Heaven 2 is a scathing cousin of a great film that once set so many hearts and souls alight.

Lightning very rarely strikes twice in the same place and As It Is In Heaven 2 is sadly a reminder of that fact - disappointing, difficult and out of tune, it's probably safe to say you'd be better off re-watching the original and bathing in that glory, rather than submitting yourself to this inferior and unwarranted sequel. 

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Reveals First Gameplay Video

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Reveals First Gameplay Video

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Reveals First Gameplay Video

Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment revealed the first gameplay footage of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the sequel to the critically acclaimed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

This Gameplay Walkthrough introduces viewers to the next generation of the innovative Nemesis System with the addition of Nemesis Fortresses, where players must utilize different strategies to conquer dynamic strongholds and forge their personalized Orc army. In this video, Talion and Celebrimbor, who return as the Bright Lord, must lead a fortress assault on the mountain valley of Seregost and take it from one of Sauron's Overlords. To succeed, they will use the power of the New Ring to recruit Followers during enemy encounters—a new mechanic allowing gamers to establish entirely new stories of loyalty, betrayal and revenge. This Gameplay Walkthrough is just one of the millions of possibilities that players will experience in Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

 Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is an open-world action RPG that continues the original narrative of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Players will be engrossed in a richer, more personal and expansive world full of epic heroes and villains, iconic locations, original enemy types, more personalities and a new cast of characters with untold stories.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be available for Xbox One, Project Scorpio, Windows 10 PC (Windows Store and Steam), PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro beginning August 23, 2017. 

DiRT 4 Day One Edition Announced + Your Stage Video Released

DiRT 4 Day One Edition Announced + Your Stage Video Released

 

DiRT® 4™ DAY ONE EDITION ANNOUNCED

LEARN ABOUT DiRT 4’S GAME CHANGING TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEW YOUR STAGE DEVELOPER DIARY

SYDNEY, 9^TH March 2017 – Codemasters & Bandai Namco Entertainment Australia today announced that there will be a Day One Edition of DiRT® 4™, which will feature an exclusive Hyundai R5 rally car as well as a unique event*, livery and Founder Icon.

Double FIA World Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg and rally driver Kris Meeke have both been involved in the development of DiRT 4 and they give their thoughts on Your Stage, a game changing stage creation system, in the game’s latest video

Your Stage allows you to produce a near infinite number of unique stages at the touch of a button in DiRT 4. Just select one of the five rally locations from within the game (Australia, Spain, Michigan, Sweden & Wales) and set the time of day and weather conditions. You adjust the route’s length and complexity using sliders before generating your own completely unique stage. If you are not happy with it, just press Generate again and create another. You can then race, share and challenge your friends to take on your bespoke stage.

Paul Coleman, DiRT 4’s Chief Game Designer, commented: “Your Stage is something that we have been working on since the launch of DiRT 3 in 2011. It allows players to generate an almost infinite variety of stages at all of the rally locations in DiRT 4. It’s a revelation as now our players will get the thrill of driving a new stage whenever they want.”

“It is extremely simple for you to create a stage but, behind the scenes, we have an extraordinarily complex series of rules and algorithms that put these routes together. Your Stage creates such a huge variety of routes, some that we would never have thought of crafting before, and they’re amazing to drive.”

DiRT 4 will fearlessly race to the PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Steam on the 9^th June 2017. DiRT 4 takes the passion and authenticity of off-road racing in both rally and rallycross to the next level, whilst also reintroducing gamers to Landrush, thrilling short-course racing in trucks and buggies.

Key Features:

• OVER 50 OF THE MOST BREATH-TAKING OFF-ROAD CARS EVER BUILT – Including Ford Fiesta R5, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, Subaru WRX STI NR4 and Audi Sport quattro S1 E2
• 5 INCREDIBLE RALLY LOCATIONS WITH MILLIONS OF ROUTES – Australia, Spain, Michigan, Sweden & Wales
• THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THE FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP – Race at Montalegre, Lohéac Bretagne, Hell, Holjes & Lydden Hill in a multitude of different series
• LANDRUSH – Short-course dirt track racing in Pro Buggies, Pro-2 Trucks, Pro-4 Trucks and Crosskart vehicles in California, Nevada and Mexico
• JOYRIDE - Laptime challenges, smash challenges, free-play area and send challenges to friends
• DiRT ACADEMY – Taking place at the DirtFish Rally School in Washington, USA, learn the skills, techniques and practice to become the best!
• CAREER MODE – create your driver, compete across the disciplines, gain sponsors and build your team with clear goals and rewards
• COMPETITIVE GAMING – Daily, weekly and month-long challenges against fellow players from around the world
• NEXT GENERATION OF RACENET – Live ladder, leagues and tournaments, cross-platform leaderboards, enhanced CREST telemetry system
• TUNING – Tweak your set-up based on vehicle, track and weather conditions to best suit your racing style
• DAMAGE & REPAIRS – Wear and tear is faithfully recreated with an improved and realistic damage model. Damage can be repaired by hiring  Engineers to work in the team’s Service Area between stages but with a finite amount of time available.

* Event takes place only on 9th, 10th, 11th June 2017

Cunning Stunts: Special Vehicle Circuit.

Cunning Stunts: Special Vehicle Circuit

CUNNING STUNTS: SPECIAL VEHICLE CIRCUIT COMING MARCH 14

Speed through tunnels and parachute to the finish with the Ruiner 2000 in Damned, one of 20 new Stunt Races featuring Special Vehicles launching next week.

Next week, a different breed of high-flying vehicular competition hits GTA Online with 20 new Stunt Races custom built for the Rocket Voltic, Ruiner 2000 & Blazer Aqua in Cunning Stunts: Special Vehicle Circuit. Designed with each of these vehicles' unique characteristics and abilities in mind, this collection of Stunt Races comes to GTA Online on Tuesday, March 14. Also on Tuesday, Legendary Motorsport adds the classically-styled Progen GP1 to its formidable roster of supercars. 

The all-new Progen GP1

And to gear up for next week's Special Vehicle Races, we've also got a flight of new GTA Online bonuses kicking in this weekend and running through Monday, March 13th (on top of ongoing specials including Double GTA$ & RP Stunt Races). Aspiring kingpins can claim their own high-rise for 25% off Executive Offices and Office Garages before taking advantage of CEO bonuses all weekend long. To help satiate your thirst for carnage and gear up for Tuesday, Warstock is slashing the SecuroServ prices on Special Vehicles. Special Vehicle Missions will also dish out Double GTA$ & RP throughout the weekend, allowing you to earn big while getting acclimated with the Special Vehicle of your choosing. Bodyguards and Associates are also getting a Double GTA$ salary bump this weekend

Quake Champions | Arena First Look: ‘Blood Covenant’ Trailer Released

Quake Champions | Arena First Look: ‘Blood Covenant’ Trailer Released

Everybody remembers the amazing multiplayer maps from Quake games past. Deadly Arenas purpose-built for incredible mobility, brutal conflict, and intense, competitive gameplay. Today we’re excited to offer a first look at one of the Arenas from Quake Champions – the unholy Blood Covenant.

Based on one of the most beloved and played maps from Quake III Arena, The Camping Grounds (Q3DM6), Blood Covenant is a modern re-imagining of the legendary Arena. All the favorite sections remain, including the long Jump Pad to the Rocket Launcher, the Quad Damage spawn, the Railgun ledge, and the tightly spaced battles in the Pillars. However, new tricks and secrets await both veterans and new players alike, offering fresh ways to fight, move, and use Champions’ Active and Passive abilities.

As a reminder – Blood Covenant will be available for fans to try themselves this week at PAX East in the Bethesda booth (#18007 and 20007).

Below we’ve included a trailer showcasing Blood Covenant in action as well as a set of screenshots. For more information on Blood Covenant, including breakdowns on key areas of the Arena, you will find the Arena page updated at www.Quake.com.

RiME launch date is

RiME launch date is

GREY BOX, SIX FOOT AND TEQUILA WORKS’ RiME WILL LAUNCH ON PLAYSTATION^®4, XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS PC ON MAY 26

Captivating Puzzle Adventure Game Will Be Available on Nintendo Switch^TM Later this Winter

Sydney – March 10, 2017 – Grey Box, Six Foot and independent developer Tequila Works have announced that RiME, the highly-anticipated puzzle adventure game, has a confirmed release date of May 26 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, and Windows PC. It will arrive at Australian retail store shelves with a suggested retail price of $69.95 (PS4/XB1), and $59.95(PC).

​Shortly afterward, RiME will launch on Nintendo Switch™, allowing players to take the adventure with them anywhere on the go utilising the system’s portability, with a suggested retail price of $89.95.

RiME is a single-player puzzle adventure game about discovery, experienced through the eyes of a young boy who awakens on a mysterious island after shipwrecking off its coast. Players must navigate the island’s secrets by making use of light, sound, perspective and even time. Inspired by the rugged, sunbaked terrain of the Mediterranean coast, RiME paints its breathtaking world with a fusion of vibrant colours and moving musical undertones to set the stage for the deeply personal journey that awaits within.

Sunset Song: DVD Review

Sunset Song: DVD Review

Terence Davies' adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's 1932 novel about one woman's life in Scotland certainly looks the part.

Essentially a coming of age story, it's the tale of Agyness Deyn's Chris Guthrie, who toils under the yoke of an oppressive father (Peter Mullan) on their homestead. As time rolls on, Chris' life changes under the circumstances and in the distance, the rumblings of the First World War roll ever closer.

Sunset Song was a passion project for Davies (as evidenced by his introduction that he "made it with his heart, and I just ask you to watch it with yours") - and from the very yellow opening title card that fades into the corn of a field, it's fair to say the director's passion springs from the screen.

While focussing repeatedly on Deyn's face gazing wistfully into the distance (perhaps a little too often does he bathe her in light), Davies' careful framing, slow panning and scene building is clearly in evidence. His is a film that oozes class on the screen and that feels like a sublime telling of a tale he clearly holds true.

From the brutality of the father via beatings in the barn to the eventual drums of war being sounded, the film's desire to have its audience luxuriate in its trappings is obvious. And yet, with the narration of proceedings, and Deyn's graceful and committed performance, Sunset Song lacks a certain engagement within the audience. It commands your eyes and Davies' attention to detail pours from the screen.

In lighter moments, Chris' character comes through, and there's a playfulness with the language and it's delivered in a spry fashion. But this is a film that knows what it's doing and does so with relative ease of execution. The shine comes from some of the shots, as the familiar story plays on - Davies' lavishing of events with his directorial eye, coupled with Deyn's performance are the reasons to watch Sunset Song. It's a wistful piece that is perfect Saturday afternoon viewing of yesteryear, but at times, totally emotionless. 

Telltale Games and Marvel Entertainment Reveal World-First Look & Cast Details for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

Telltale Games and Marvel Entertainment

Reveal World-First Look & Cast Details for

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Mar. 9, 2017 - Award-winning developer and publisher of digital entertainment, Telltale Games, along with Marvel Entertainment, today shared the world-first screenshots and cast details for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, set to premiere digitally this Spring on consoles, PC, and mobile devices.    Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is a brand new story of the universe's unlikeliest heroes: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. In the wake of an epic battle, the Guardians discover an artifact of unspeakable power. Each of them has a reason to desire this relic, as does a ruthless enemy who is the last of her kind, and who will stop at nothing to tear it from their hands. From Earth to the Milano to Knowhere and beyond, and set to the beat of awesome music, you wear the rocket-powered boots of Star-Lord in an original Guardians adventure, where your decisions and actions drive the story you experience.   This week at PAX East in Boston, MA on March 10th at 6pm in the Albatross Theater, join the team from Telltale Games as well as Marvel Games Creative Director, Bill Rosemann, to hear more about the series as they discuss the creative process behind this stellar new adventure. The panel will also be streamed live on Twitch. For more information on the panel and PAX East, please visit http://east.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/telltale-games-interactive-storytelling-in-2017   One week later on March 17th at SXSW in Austin, TX, be the first audience in the world to Crowd Play an early version of the first episode at a one-of-a-kind premiere event at the Paramount Theater, with doors opening at 6:30pm. Audience members will be able to control the story from their seats using their mobile devices to help decide what happens on the big screen! The event will be open to all badge holders of SXSW or SXSW Gaming on a first-come, first-seated basis. For more information on SXSW Gaming and how to obtain badges, please visit https://www.sxsw.com/exhibitions/gaming-expo/   The series will feature a star-studded cast of voice talent, including Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series) as Star-Lord, Emily O'Brien (The Young and the Restless, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor) as Gamora, Nolan North (the Uncharted series, Pretty Little Liars) as Rocket, Brandon Paul Eells (Watch Dogs) as Drax, and Adam Harrington (The Wolf Among Us, League of Legends) as Groot.    Premiering this Spring, the series will also be coming to retail as a special season pass disc, which will include the first episode in the season, and will grant access to the subsequent four episodes as they become available for download via online updates. Specific platform details are yet to be announced.   Revealed in December on stage at The Game Awards 2016 in Los Angeles, you can watch the announcement teaser trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Koy_e_ipwng    For more information on Telltale Games, visit the official website, Facebook, and follow Telltale Games on Twitter @TelltaleGames.