Everybody's Golf: PS4 Review

Everybody's Golf: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Developed by ClapHanz

This title is now 20 years old.

But it's still fiendishly addictive and simply enjoyable to pick up and play.

The last iteration of the game to hand was the PS Vita version that looked and played slickly in its smaller format. Equally, the PS4 version of the game is still utterly enjoyable to spend a few hours in and more than just a little fun if you fancy taking on the world for some global golfing.

Essentially a spit and polish of the title, the game's still the same - you have to hit balls into a tiny hole and do it better than anyone else. Colourful and Japanese influenced in its quirks and cutes, the game play is ferociously simple and easy to lose hours in.

The more you play with the clubs and improve your game, the better your handling of them is and the more powerful the set becomes and the better you become. Unlocking XP brings rewards and challengers - there's nothing more easy to execute than this game itself; it's not challenging to get in to, but it is challenging to put down and move on.

There's a heavy emphasis on multiplayer this time around, and while it's easy to dive in, the 20 year old title does graphically look a little silly at times as hordes of people scamper around the course and fade in and out as you play. It's the one bum note of the title which is still great fun.

The multiplayer elements work fine too and the idea of playing online with a raft of others is certainly a welcome one. Games are easy to join and simple to be involved with - simplicity is really Everybody's Golf's MO and reason for success.

While parts of the game show their age, Everybody's Golf is still tremendous pick up and play fun. It's not exactly a hole in one in parts, but it is very much ahead of the par for the course.

Doctor Who Series 10 Part 1: DVD Review

Doctor Who Series 10 Part 1: DVD Review

The Doctor's back for his final series in the Peter Capaldi form with this latest Doctor Who series.

With a brand new companion in tow, Bill (played excellently by Pearl Mackie) this latest split batch of episodes shows the show in its strengths and in its weaknesses.

As usual, it's elements of the story-telling which hold Who back, but then given such an equal footing of actors in the first half of the episodes, including the return of Matt Lucas as Nardole, there's a great reason to engage with the show.

Mackie impresses as Bill, a naturally curious companion, but no slouch in the emotional and intellectual fronts either. Mackie certainly owns the screen within moments and Steven Moffat's writing helps solidify it all very early on.

But it's Capaldi's work which also helps the latest run - a genuine vein of sadness persists in the Doctor's being grounded on Earth and charging with looking after a vault with a mysterious entity housed within.

While it's better to have the entire run released in one go, there's no denial that the solid work done by the cast all round makes Doctor Who Series 10 Part 1 worthy of your time.

Free Fire: Blu Ray Review

Free Fire: Blu Ray Review

Released by Sony Home Ent

Ben Wheatley's Free Fire is a film best described as an HR issue that gets out of control.

With an all star cast, a 70s setting and a single location, Wheatley essentially sets up a shoot-out that runs the course of 90 minutes.

Centring on a gun deal that goes awry, Wheatley's trademark black humour and one-liners are once again present and correct as the genre-nodding film hits all the expected moments.

From the likes of Brie Larson to Michael Smiley, there's plenty of character moments here but at times, it feels little more than a dress up party with guns to shoot. But there are some very funny and unexpected moments as the story of betrayal plays out.

Wheatley has a cinematic eye for what's needed and uses some clever trickery to pad out the use of the sole location. It may not always hit the target in terms of a deeper connection, but at 90 minutes, Free Fire just about manages not to over-stay its welcome.

It's not Wheatley at its best, but with a stellar cast and a boys-own mentality here and there, it's a solid enough film to entertain a night at home.

6 Days: Film Review

6 Days: Film Review

Cast: Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell
Director: Toa Fraser

"Aggression's good, but control's the key"

It's a line uttered to an SAS trooper getting ready to storm the Iranian Embassy, but it could equally be applied to New Zealand director Toa Fraser's new thriller, 6 Days, the second offering of his out this week.

Billed by producer Matthew Metcalfe as our take on a world event, Dead Lands director Toa Fraser delivers an assured and steady re-telling of the events of the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980.

For those unfamiliar with the events, (most likely many outside of England itself, where it was a defining televisual and news moment), six Iranians stormed the Embassy, barricading themselves in and took 26 people hostage.

In the ensuing six days of the siege, police, negotiators and camera crews followed the tension and tried to resolve the situation, set as it was against a backdrop of increasing terrorist threats and governments caving to various demands.

Toa Fraser's calm and steady portrayal of the build up to the inevitable break down of negotiations and subsequent storming of the building proves to be relatively fuss-free.

It begins with the six casually walking in and taking over - there's no discussion of who they are, what their backgrounds are etc, it's simply a case of the execution of a job being done.

Equally, Fraser and script writer Glenn Standring's fuss-free approach to re-telling it all means this really does stick to the facts and quite simply gets on with the job. By powering through the days, taking in differing perspectives from the SAS training and running through scenarios, to the pomposity of Cabinet ministers coolly debating what needs to happen, 6 Days isn't really interested in providing either a glorified take on things or a gung-ho guns blazing approach to it all.

Using a stalwart Mark Strong as the hostage negotiator proves to be Fraser's winning moment, as Max Vernon's fragility and desperation to solve it all are clearly etched on his face. Abbie Cornish delivers a clipped English approach to the veteran BBC correspondent Kate Adie, and Jamie Bell brings a workmanlike pace to Rusty the SAS squad head honcho.

By stripping the film back and cutting off the soundtrack to showcase the sounds of the situation, Fraser brings a tension to bear throughout that's palpable, if not riveting. Characters are given the briefest of once overs, and end up feeling like cut-outs in context (though anything more than the slightest edges would have given this almost documentary-like pace an unnecessary edge).

With a smattering of humour and some nice touches (such as the SAS all geared up and bathed in green light as they ready themselves repeatedly), 6 Days is a solid film which delivers a solid recounting of events.

It may rightfully lack some of the edges of the usual of its fare, but that's a good thing here and if anything, the devil's in the detail, from the period trimmings to the atmosphere of the Sword of Damocles hanging over them all. By choosing not to morally apply judgements to all those involved, Fraser's multi-faceted approach to Standring's sensible script makes 6 Days a solid film that's worthy of showcasing his versatility as a director. 

The Free Man: Film Review

The Free Man: Film Review

Director: Toa Fraser

Starting with a Sartre quote that "Man is condemned to be free", director Toa Fraser's latest doco is perhaps incorrectly being sold as a look at Jossi Wells, the NZ free-skier and his interest in the sport.

But what it actually is, is more of a meditation on what inspires people to be involved in extreme sports, and is more of a look at the Flying Frenchies, a pair of French guys who started a company of base-jumping and high-lining. Added into the mix is the inclusion of Jossi Wells, who starts training with the Frenchies to be able to cross a zipline in the French Alps.

Fraser creates a typical documentary set up in the start, detailing a bit more about Jossi and how he got into sport before switching the film's focus away from this and more into the psychology of extreme sports and whether it's man's desire to push the edges and visit the void.

That's potentially some of the problem with The Free Man, in that it doesn't quite seem to know what exactly it wants to be as it unspools. Loaded with slightly po-faced questioning and voiceover that equates the director to those walking a high-wire, The Free Man's philosophical edges may be enough to put some people off.

However, what helps it, is the incredible footage of extreme sports and also the camaraderies that emerge from between the Frenchies and Wells.

Using a locked off camera and some truly vertigo-inducing shots, Fraser manages to spin out some magnificently existential moments as you end up questioning why people are doing this. It doesn't quite get into the psyche as well as perhaps it intends to do, but The Free Man reminds once again of the adrenaline thrill that people get from being involved in such pursuits.

Perhaps if The Free Man had had a slightly tighter focus on perhaps just one angle and one group, it may have been a more precisely delivered documentary; as it is currently, its thoughtful edges and desire to create metaphors mean it feels a little tonally jerky, almost as if it's caught on its own high wire of being. 

Win a double pass to see Flatliners

Win a double pass to see Flatliners

In Flatliners, five medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring and dangerous experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods of time, each triggers a near-death experience – giving them a first hand account of the afterlife.

But as their experiments become increasingly dangerous, they are each haunted by the sins of their pasts, brought on by the paranormal consequences of trespassing to the other side.

Starring Ellen Page and Diego Luna.

Flatliners hits cinemas September 28th

To win the double pass thanks to Sony Pictures, all you have to do is email  your details to this  address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Include your name and address and title your email FLATLINERS!
Competition closes Sept 28th

Good luck!

Win a double pass to see Blade Runner 2049

Win a double pass to see Blade Runner 2049

To celebrate the release of Blade Runner 2049 on October 5th, you can win a double pass to see the film!

About Blade Runner 2049

From the brilliant mind of Ridley Scott and the director of Arrival comes the long awaited follow up to the groundbreaking 1982 film.

Blade Runner 2049 is a stunningly gorgeous, futuristic action event film. A profound and dangerous discovery threatens to forever blur the line separating humans and non-humans.

Discover the secret this October.

To win a double pass of 10 thanks to Sony Pictures, all you have to do is email  your details to this  address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Include your name and address and title your email BLADE!
Competition closes October 4th

Good luck!