Hereditary: Film Review

Hereditary: Film Review

Cast: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Mille Shapiro, Ann Dowd
Director: Ari Aster

Blending psychological terror, a portrait of grief and some bravura directorial touches from a debuting Aster, Hereditary is currently being acclaimed as the scariest film since The Exorcist.

It's a claim which detracts from the film and which piles expectation unfairly onto the indie release - but it is pleasing to note that over the course of an extremely unsettling 2 hours, Ari Aster's debut is as exciting as it is enticing.

A tautly wound Collette plays Annie, a grieving mother who's just lost her apparently monstrous mother. As the film begins, the family is recovering post funeral, with her daughter Charlie (newcomer Shapiro) claiming to see the grandmother, and with son Peter (an utterly terrific turn from Wolff) becoming more distant. Barely supported by her husband Steve (an understated Byrne), Annie begins to experience visions and see things that shouldn't be there.

Steeped in tragedy, and with some genuinely gut-wrenching moments, Hereditary works best on the angle of whether Annie's imagining it as her grip on anything begins to unravel.

Drenching everything in dread, and employing some of the usual tropes of the horror genre (long, slow pans, a rising soundtrack), Hereditary feels compulsively fresh and equally sickening. While the ending, complete with its dumped exposition and reminiscent of moments of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity's devilish cult denouement, feels a little rushed and almost laughable, the great majority of Hereditary is genuinely chilling stuff. Especially when the cards are stacked in favour of a possession tale rather than a supernatural explanation for everything.

Hereditary works best in large swathes when considered as a treatise on grief, and most of the cast play this as their raison d'etre throughout. Certainly Collette and Wolff are terrific, delivering performances which captivate as the cameras linger on them and their growing and increasingly weird predicaments.

Aster's the main star here though - whether it's a clever opening shot that takes us inside a dollhouse fashioned by Annie's meticulous eye or the transition between night and day that feels like a switch flicking on, Aster's aesthetics and eye for precision demand - and command - respect.

Ultimately, while Hereditary's end will prove rightfully polarising to much of the audience, the film's overall grip and commitment to its destination demonstrate its reason to be viewed - it's genuinely the most uncomfortable you will feel in the cinema since The Babadook and is in touches, one of the unnerving experiences of the year.

Win a copy of Black Panther

Win a copy of Black Panther

You can win a copy of Black Panther on DVD!

Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” the highly celebrated story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), a young African prince who takes on the mantle of King and Super Hero, has thrilled and inspired generations of moviegoers around the globe. Now, fans can bring home the phenomenon, packed with light-hearted fun, pulse-pounding action and a powerful message, and watch it over and over again, on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, DVD and 3D Blu-ray™ May 30.  

With both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos immersive sound, 4k Ultra HD offers consumers a transformative viewing experience.

Through the 4K Cinematic Universe Edition of “Black Panther,” fans will experience the exhilarating adventure in stunning 4K Ultra HD with next-generation high dynamic range (HDR) visuals and Dolby Atmos immersive audio. 

Never-before-seen extras feature commentary from director Ryan Coogler; deleted scenes; outtakes; and several making-of featurettes, which detail the Black Panther’s evolution, the remarkable women of Wakanda, the history of T’Challa’s proud nation, and the cosmic origin and technological applications of vibranium. 

Also included are a roundtable discussion with “Black Panther” filmmakers and writers; a featurette tracing the countless connections between heroes, characters and storylines within the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and an exclusive sneak peek at “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
To win a copy, all you have to do is email  your details to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Please label your entry PANTHER

Competition closes June 21st

Death Wish: DVD Review

Death Wish: DVD Review

It's hard to imagine a worse time to release a film about a guy righting wrongs with the power of a gun.

Certainly in the US, where thanks to the Parklands School shooting, the issue of gun control and the debate around it has never been stronger or more pertinent.

But horror wunderkind Eli Roth has taken on the mantle of the remake of the Charles Bronson 1974 vigilante revenge flick.

Willis stars as ER doctor Paul Kersey, who lives in a Chicago beset by gun crime (we know this because Roth hammers home the message repeatedly using cuts of DJs and talkback to emphasise the horror of gun chaos run amok).

On his birthday eve, he's called to work, and forced to leave his vivacious wife (Shue, whose brief time on screen lights up the grubby sheen) and soon-to-depart-for-college daughter (Morrone) behind.

Things take a turn for the worse when criminals break in, leaving both victims of gunshots - and they're transported to the local ER.....

As the police investigate the crime, and murder, Kersey finds he has no choice but to take justice into his own hands.

Eli Roth's Death Wish is a tame, somnambulant take on the revenge thriller.

Its main problem is that it's generic, watered down and blessed with a lead who barely offers a level of emotion that engages throughout. Even though it wants to clear be a pro-NRA film that promotes the message of one man making a difference with his gun.

It also doesn't help that it squanders any chance of moral discussion, preferring briefly to flirt with the morality of whether it's wrong or right (largely through the aforementioned DJs and a line that asks whether it's good a white man is on the streets shooting black people).

Preferring to tick the boxes of a training montage, some shots of laughable violence and extreme blood splatters from close up, this 2018 version of Death Wish, from writer Joe Carnahan, appears to squander the grubbiness of the 80s revenge flicks that continued to offer vicarious thrills thanks to varying levels of violence.

While Death Wish can be commended for not putting its hoodie clad Grim Reaper into a series of shoot-outs that glamourises gun crime, its desire to avoid any of the intellectual moments that could have made it more contemporary is a major disappointment.

And with the house break-in sequences have some of the elements of horror with their long drawn out sequences, dark lighting and angling, there's little else to recommend the remake of Death Wish.

Police action and inaction is laughable, and while Norris' biggest sense of debate comes over a low fat diet rather than conflict over when his suspicions fall into place. The lack of moral turpitude in the film stands out like a sore thumb, especially in times of Trumpian inaction, enraging gun debate and woefully inadequate policy.

The biggest disappointment is Willis - there's only one scene toward the end which shows him remotely engaging with the material, rather than sleep-walking throughout. It's a shocking reminder of what's missing during the rest of the film - a hero whose conflict is articulated by himself rather than others around him.

Ultimately, the non-exploitation 2018 version of Death Wish is a muddled, mistaken, and misshapen attempt at a remake - lacking any contemporary feel and any directorial flair, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

But for all the wrong reasons. 

Ocean's 8: Film Review

Ocean's 8: Film Review

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Richard Armitage
Director: Gary Ross

"A him gets noticed, a her gets ignored."

Uttered by Sandra Bullock's Debbie Ocean midway through this female-fronted heist, it's hard not to ignore a single line of dialogue which points to the dilemma new blockbuster Ocean's 8 faces.

On the one hand, it's faced with being released in a post Me Too world, and coming nearly two decades after the Steven Soderbergh led remake of the 1960s film. And on the other, the fact it's an all female cast will depressingly be viewed by some as a cynical film that's hardly warranted - a rebuttal to a societal issue of under-representation that's dogged Hollywood for the past 18 months or so.

Leaving all that aside, Gary Ross' Ocean's 8 is roughly on a similar trajectory to 2001's Ocean's Eleven.

This time, Bullock is Debbie Ocean, sister to George Clooney's Danny (who's apparently dead, a point repeatedly and unnecessarily replayed throughout the film, a statement perhaps on those hating the idea of this new spinoff). After being paroled from a 5 year stretch (the details of which become more apparent later on), Debbie meets up with former colleague Lou (the ultra cool Cate Blanchett) to propose a heist.

This proposition is to swoop on the Met Gala and steal a $150 million Cartier necklace from host Daphne Kluger (Hathway, in an occasionally preening and mickey-taking role) - so the duo begin to assemble a crew and hatch a plan to pull it off and get away with it.

So far, so similar to the original Ocean's series.

And yet, in its own way, Ocean's 8 becomes its own thing, and bizarrely, never quite does enough to make it its own thing as well.

Bullock's muted and introspective throughout, a counter to Blanchett's spikier and effortlessly energetic turn as Lou. It's an odd choice as a lead and while there's nothing missing from Bullock's turn, the film certainly misses a je ne sais quoi and enigma from its lead that's noticeable throughout.
Bonham-Carter's fashion designer, first glimpsed slumped behind a counter supping from a jar of Nutella after a failed show, has a spark of edginess that's underplayed; and the rest of the cast are barely given enough time to shine throughout - a criminal touch given how strong they potentially all could be.

Repeated mentions of Danny Ocean, and even a framed shot of Clooney's smiling mug on a table, give the feeling Ocean's 8 is struggling to escape the former's shadow.

But as with the usual Ocean's films, there's a slickness to the execution.

Jazzy soundtracks, split screens and stylish touches give it the spit and polish which is needed but also render it more as a sheen and once over than a strong DNA that seeps through the screen. It's all perfectly well-executed, yet it's an extended build-up to the laying of the plans and then a brief heist at the gala that surprises in a bait and switch.

The Gala itself seems to be a weak excuse to allow some of the fashion world's Glitterati to shine, with footage clearly shot at this year's event, and with some celebs given more time than is strictly necessary.

It's at this point that James Corden comes in, imbuing the film once again with an energy that's needed and while the end has more loose threads than a tapestry being picked apart, there is a general feeling that the jump-out-of-your-seat-and-punch-the-air moment is sorely missing.

The emotional investment for the heist is severely under-cooked, and while there are some twists at the end, the resolution feels piecemeal, the reward unearned and the oh-so-familiar touches to the narrative disappointing.

Ultimately, the film needs, and deserves, to be judged on its own merits, rather than as a piece of feminist sisterhood cinema, launched in a post-Weinstein world.

On that front, and sadly,  Ocean's 8 lacks the sparkle the likes of which has been given to its targetted diamond. Sure, it's polished, accomplished and blessed with some truly talented actresses, but it can't help feel muted and subdued, with the twists falling flat.

Its low-key understatement may help it in some perverse ways, but it certainly doesn't have the zing and bling which it's clearly trying to pursue. It plays a little too loose with its detachedness and relaxed approach.

And in any heist movie, that lack of sizzle is, sadly and fatally, nothing short of utterly criminal.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part trailer

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part trailer



The much-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, global box office phenomenon that started it all, “The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part,” reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action-packed adventure to save their beloved city. It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. The battle to defeat them and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds, including a strange galaxy where everything is a musical. It will test their courage, creativity and Master Building skills, and reveal just how special they really are. Reprising their starring roles from the first film are Chris Pratt as Emmet, Elizabeth Banks as Lucy (aka Wyldstyle), Will Arnett as LEGO BatmanTM, Nick Offerman as Metal Beard, and Alison Brie as Unikitty. They are joined by Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, and Arturo Castro as, respectively, new characters Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, Sweet Mayhem and Ice Cream Cone. “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” is directed by Mike Mitchell (“Shrek Ever After,” “Trolls,” “Sky High”). It is produced by Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Roy Lee, the team behind the LEGO film franchise since “The LEGO Movie” debuted in 2014. “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” opens nationwide in 2D and 3D on Friday, February 8, 2019.

Mortal Engines trailer is here

Mortal Engines trailer is here

Ahead of its December release the new Mortal Engines trailer's dropped.

CAST & CREW

Directed by: Christian Rivers

Written by: Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Philippa Boyens (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)

Produced by: Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)

Cast: Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Hera Hilmar (An Ordinary Man), Robert Sheehan (Misfits), Jihae (Mars), Ronan Raftery (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Patrick Malahide (Game of Thrones)

Synopsis: Thousands of years after civilisation was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. Tom Natsworthy – who hails from a Lower Tier of the great traction city of London – finds himself fighting for his own survival after he encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw. Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future. 

Bumblebee trailer drops

Bumblebee trailer drops

The brand new trailer for BUMBLEBEE is here!

On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.  When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

This Transformers spinoff revolves around the fan-favourite Autobot, stars Hailee Steinfeld & John Cena and is directed by Travis Knight of “Kubo and The Two Strings/Coraline” fame.

Bumblebee will be releasing in NZ cinemas this December 20 for your Christmas viewing pleasure.