Destiny 2: Forsaken - The Last Wish Raid goes live on Friday, September 15 at 5AM NZST

Destiny 2: Forsaken - The Last Wish Raid goes live on Friday, September 15 at 5AM NZST

Assemble a team… Send them into the heart of the City. Kill that creature and extract its heart.

The Last Wish Raid goes live on Friday, September 15 at 5AM NZST. The riches of the Dreaming City await those who are victorious.

Watch the trailer here.

Upgrade: DVD Review

Upgrade: DVD Review

The fact that Upgrade is so woefully unoriginal in its narrative is almost inexorably and perversely beside the point.

It robs cliches and genre tropes from every which way, stealing from Robocop, via Cronenbergian body horror and even riffs on late 80s buddy cop /tech shows like Automan and Knight Rider.

Yet it does it with such glee and b-movie abandon that it's almost compulsive and adrenaline fuelled in that way Blumhouse productions churn out low budget films and makes almost diamonds from cinematic coal.

In a world supposedly just five minutes from now, where autonomous cars roam the roads and tech is close to taking over, the Tom Hardy-cum Jamie Dornan Marshall-Green is Grey Trace, a veritable Luddite who prefers to listen to vinyl, while out in his garage, repairing his old Pontiac Firebird. His wife, Asha (Winners and Losers Melanie Vallejo) is a little less stubborn in her tech approach, working for a computer company and embracing the future.

However, their world is changed when their autonomous car goes nuts, leads them to the wrong part of town, and leaves Asha dead and Grey a quadriplegic after a mugging gone wrong. Approached by a tech genius and offered the chance to take part in a risky surgery to input a computer chip into his spine, Grey's triggered by the thought of avenging his dead wife.

So with the STEM system inside, he begins his quest... despite every moral fibre being conflicted within.

Upgrade is the kind of B-movie schlock that plays predictably to its low level budget, but brings some inventiveness to the visual table.

In a cast where acting is sometimes secondary to the screen (with the exception of Marshall-Green and Vallejo), the film's scuzzy sheen is sometimes marred by its less-than-hitting-the-roof ambitions. But there is no denying the film's look and feel is like a dirty Blade Runner with 80s revenge movie intentions. Drones hover in the sky in this day-after-tomorrow world, and Saw scribe Whannell deserves some praise for his execution, old school or otherwise.

In among some nifty fight sequences that don't skimp on the gore or the style (thanks to Whannell's camera following Marshall-Green at his level), the film's plot and various holes and issues are easily skated across. It gives Upgrade the feeling of something pertaining to be a little more sophisticated than it actually achieves (an overall feeling is one of mistrust at where technology is going, the conflict between old school and new world mentioned but never fully narratively leaned on).

But there's no denying for a night out, and for a sci-fi B-movie the likes of which is so rarely seen these days, Upgrade is a serious contender for guilty pleasure movie of the year - it knows what it wants to do, strives to build on its high concept premise and isn't afraid to fail - and is more than happy to have you along for the adrenaline-fuelled revenge ride. 

Searching: Film Review

Searching: Film Review

Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michelle La
Director: Aneesh Chaganty

Searching taps into the digital world we live in and the price we pay for living online.

A solid and empathetic Cho stars as David Kim, whose life is changed when his daughter goes missing. As he tries desperately to track her down, with the help of a detective (Will and Grace star Debra Messing). he discovers he knows little to nothing about who his daughter really is...

Searching has a gimmick - it's a smart digital film thriller played out with everything unfolding via a computer screen. Admittedly, the contrivances come piled high in the back third of the film, threatening to topple the house of cards that's piled high, but there's a lot to digest beforehand.

Chaganty opens with a clever digital montage of the family, a reminder of how much we catalogue online these days, and how computers are so much about our memories as well as the RAM within. In many ways, it's a digitised version of the opening of Up, but for the Facebook generation.

If the gimmick is smartly executed by digital native Chaganty, it's also humanised by Cho's performance. Anchored with a turn that's both empathetic and gripping, Cho's desperation feels real as he plays off a screen and Face time conversations. The anguish etched on his face is never over-played, and he holds the story strongly.

Chaganty spins the thread as far as he can, but the back stages of the film feel like they have piled up the coincidences a little too highly, and while the smarter technical edges have reminiscences of Kristen Stewart's Personal Shopper, Searching always constantly feels gripping when it needs to.

An outlandish twist seals the deal for Searching, but that aside, the film's desire to provide an emotional rollercoaster for the large part works - it may not be perfect, but it's a thrilling tale of the lengths parents will go to and the cautionary fact we're all slowly becoming disconnected in a digital world. 

The Predator: Film Review

The Predator: Film Review

Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Yvonne Strahovski, Jacob Tremblay, Sterling K Brown, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevante Rhodes
Director: Shane Black

It's clear early on that Shane Black's Predator film is not going to be a serious one.

Despite opening with some sci-fi trappings as a Predator-piloted spacecraft plummets down to earth, within minutes, we're back in Black's trademark comedy way of life. A satellite is smashed as the Predator's ship tumbles to the ground, and this brash, in-your-face opening is really all the 2018 Predator is about.

After being picked off by Boyd Holbrook's sniper Quinn McKenna, the Predator's gear is shipped off to his autistic son (Tremblay) for safe-keeping and to protect Quinn from the authorities. But as the scientists pick at the Predator, he re-awakens, bringing a desperate fight for survival to life.

It's hard to exactly pinpoint why The Predator doesn't quite fully work.

Perhaps it's the abandoning until the end of why the films have worked previously - ie man vs something bigger than itself and slowly losing; perhaps it's the injection of comedy that tips over into the downright unfunny and unnecessary - step forward, a soldier with Tourette's for nothing more than gags or a line about a "retarded" kid that's woefully out of place with 2018 - or perhaps it's the fact that the film lacks any defining set pieces or visual moments of flair.

But all combined, The Predator is perhaps the biggest disappointment of the year when all its parts come together.

Kudos must go to Olivia Munn whose scientist kicks as much ass as the boys, and whose support is more about her skills than anything else; and even Holbrook manages a sort of soldier grunt edge that's hard to beat, even if the human edge is lacking.

There's a climate change message thrown in as well, as Black tries to re-start the franchise with some cunning ideas and reasons why the Predators have been coming here for years, but the threads are so weakly constructed that pulled narratively tighter they simply unravel and make you bemoan the fact more could be on the way.

In the jungle's final sequence, Black reminds us why The Predator has worked, with some smartly and tautly executed kills which fill the quota. It's easy to see why he went for a band of misfits taking on the bad guy, as it's suited to his writing style, but mostly, thanks to misplaced comedy that's out of step with the zeitgeist, this flags badly when it should zag wildly.

If this was an attempt at a reboot of the film, the seventh in the series, and one that was meant to evoke the 80s trappings of the originals, Black has failed The Predator miserably. If it was an attempt to produce something scrappy, something unenticing that lacks a warmth and empathy for its characters, then it's succeeded wildly.

Either way, the set up for the sequels feels like a missed moment, a killer film without a killer edge and a film that in parts leaves a distinctly unsavoury taste in your mouth.

50 top short films announced in 2018 Show Me Shorts Film Festival

50 top short films announced in 2018 Show Me Shorts Film Festival

50 TOP FILMS ANNOUNCED FOR SHOW ME SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL 2018

Opening at cinemas across Aotearoa from 6 October

The fifty top short films selected to be in the 2018 Show Me Shorts Film Festival, New Zealand’s premier international short film festival, have been unveiled today.

The 13th annual Show Me Shorts brings together the very best short films from across the globe, made by some of the world’s most talented filmmakers. The countries represented in this year’s programme includes Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

Four Kiwi films will make their world premiere during the festival: One Day by Nicky Cameron, Twenty One Points by Pete Circuitt, Toilet by Simeon Duncombe and Delivery by Stephen Kang. Chinese film 牛奶 (Milk) and South Korean film 단팥죽 (The Red Bean Soup) will also make their world premieres during the festival. More than 30 international films in the programme will have their New Zealand debut.

South Korean filmmakers are in the spotlight this year, with a special Korean Focus section in the programme. Two guest filmmakers will attend the festival from South Korea, Jinju Oh and Sung Yoon Kim, thanks to a collaboration with the Korean Embassy of New Zealand. The Korean Focus programme includes seven South Korean films, including a comedy about a family having dinner on the eve of Korean reunification and a delightful coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who finds himself in danger of demotion from the choir due to his breaking voice.

   

               

Festival Director Gina Dellabarca says, “The 2018 programme is a mix of edgy, entertaining, impressive and charming. We hope this year’s line-up will take audiences on a ride through a range of emotions as they empathise with characters both similar to and different from themselves. That’s the beauty of short films – viewers so often learn something new, feel something deeply or are genuinely inspired.”

Show Me Shorts is an Oscar-accredited film festival, meaning the winners of the top two awards, Department of Post Best New Zealand Film andSAE Best International Film, will become qualified to enter the Academy Awards. Ten prizes will be given out at the launch of the festival onSaturday 6 October at Auckland’s The Civic. Wellington Opening Night will follow on Friday 12 October at The Roxy.

With more than 25 cinema locations across the country, from Kaitaia to Stewart Island, there are ample opportunities to get friends and family together and enjoy the range of films and events on offer. Full dates, locations and booking information is available here. 

Walking Out: DVD Review

Walking Out: DVD Review

Walking Out may be a survival tale, but its sparse presentation may also leave some feeling frustration.

Josh Wiggins is David, a teen obsessed with games on his phone rather than the desire to spend time in the snowy Montana mountains with his estranged father, Cal (Bomer).

Things don't get off to a great start when Cal is late collecting his son and the bond is further strained when it becomes clear David's annual outing is more a tradition for his father than the father and son.

But Cal is determined to pass down the family gun heirloom and knowledge from his own father (Bill Pullman, barely on screen and in flashbacks only) and help his son nab his first moose.

So far, so cliched for hunting films.

But when a young bear cub attacks David and an accident befalls Cal, Walking Out becomes more a survival tale of the low-key nature.

That's the thing with this film- its commitment to low key and character mark it out from the usual fare, but also highlights some of its flaws.

Bomer and Wiggins portray the strain with ease and underlying heart of the family well, but the film's run time stretches the goodwill as far as it can go.

Beautiful mountains and backdrops add much, particularly a shot of a river bubbling through the snow-capped ice, and contribute to some wondrous visuals to cut between scenes.

Ultimately, Walking Out's commitment to a father-son bond is both its strength and its weakness. Much of the early talk signposts what lies ahead and points at the foibles of each, leaving the story feeling deflated despite the insights.

Small character pieces can be great, but Walking Out just falls short, making this trip to the chilly wilderness a bit frosty as a cinema going experience - and despite the character interplay and insights into relationships, it freezes viewers out more than it ought to.

New “How to Hitman” Video Shows Players How to Think Like an Assassin in HITMAN 2

New “How to Hitman” Video Shows Players How to Think Like an Assassin in HITMAN 2

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and IO Interactive released the second installment in the HITMAN 2 – How to Hitman video series, Assassin’s Mindset. This latest video shows players how to think like an assassin by mastering the art of stealth and avoiding detection in HITMAN 2. By utilizing the mini-map and the new Picture-in-Picture feature, gamers can track victims in real-time, keep a close eye on potential threats when being hunted by security forces and gain crucial information to help plan the next important move.

HITMAN 2 is the follow-up to the internationally acclaimed video game, HITMAN. Featuring entirely new hyper-detailed sandbox locations full of living, breathing environments to explore, HITMAN 2 offers players the freedom to plan the ultimate assassination utilizing an assortment of tools, weapons, disguises and a variety of stealth techniques to creatively trigger their own unique chain of events.

HITMAN 2 also introduces new ways to play with the Sniper Assassin mode, a standalone feature that brings a co-op experience to the Hitman series for the first time, allowing two players to work together online to take down their targets. Sniper Assassin is available to play now as an early access bonus for consumers who pre-order the HITMAN 2. Players can also enter the HITMAN: Sniper Assassin Competition and put their marksman skills to the ultimate test for a chance to win the grand prize of getting their name and likeness included in future HITMAN 2 content. For more information, visit: https://hitman.com/competition.

HITMAN 2 will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and PC beginning November 13, 2018.

To learn more about the HITMAN 2, please visit www.hitman.com or join the HITMAN conversation on Twitter (@Hitman), Facebook (@Hitman.US), Instagram (@Hitman_Official), YouTube (Hitman) and Twitch (Hitman)