Spider-Man: Into The SpiderVerse: Film Review

Spider-Man: Into The SpiderVerse: Film Review

Vocal cast: Shameik Moore, Chris Pine, Jake Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Hailee Steinfeld, Kathryn Hahn, Mahershala Ali, Liev Schreiber
Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Another Spider-Man origin movie, I hear you cry?

Well, let's be honest, you've not seen a Spider-Man story like this slice of animation excellence.
Centring on Miles Morales, a mixed-race, relatively normal 13-year-old kid (voiced with heart by Shameik Moore) from Brooklyn, this computer animated tale spins a story when Morales is bit by a radioactive spider while underground with his uncle Aaron (Ali).

Things are further complicated for Morales when he sees Spider-Man killed by Kingpin (Schreiber) as an out-of-control experiment threatens Manhattan. As if that wasn't bad enough, Morales finds himself landed with another group of Spider-Men from different universes pulled into the conflict by Kingpin's quest...

If the multi-verse aspect of this film looks confusing, it's not. And to be frank, it's the least enticing part of Spider-Man: Into The SpiderVerse, a film which smashes the visual medium to pieces with originality and flair.

Using 3D animation on 2D backgrounds takes a little to get used to, but to anyone who's played anything from the Telltale Games back catalogue, the format and concept is very familiar.

Except what the directors also do is use the visuals and the tenets of comic books to induce a kind of sensory overload throughout. Visually, this film has style, and really does much to redefine the comic book animated movie genre, much like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm did years ago.

It starts with a voiceover saying "Let's do this one last time," a tacit nod to how often we've heard this story, but with clever twists, that same voiceover is given a thrilling new spin.

With meta touches and cheeky nods, as well as a heartfelt ode to Stan Lee, Spider-Man: Into The SpiderVerse may lose some of its emotional way in the final run, and may be a little long, but it's a thrilling reinvigoration of a story told a multiple amount of times, and a positively dazzling reinvention of how comic book movies should be translated to the big screen.

Searching: DVD Review

Searching: DVD Review

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.  

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Film Review

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Film Review

Vocal Cast: John C Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Bill Hader, Taraji P Henson, Alan Tudyk
Directors: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore

Mashing elements of The Emoji Movie and a riff on friendship, Ralph Breaks The Internet's deep dive into internet nostalgia, in truth, seems more aimed at an adult audience than kids enamoured with the sugar rush of Wreck-It Ralph.

When someone breaks the controller of the Sugar Rush arcade machine, Ralph and Vanellope spring into action to try and secure the part from eBay via the Internet. But the clock's ticking and the machine faces being permanently turned off.

It's not that Ralph Breaks The Internet is a bad film - in truth, its ode to friendship and the central relationship between Ralph and Vanellope means that it keeps you engaged and makes you forget that it was six years since the last one.

But it does feel shallow and episodic throughout, with a great deal of Disney product placement within. And to be honest, it does feel like the idea of parodying the internet has already been done in many ways with The Emoji Movie - leading to a feeling that mocking viral videos, memes and internet fads feels more tired than it should do.

Central to Ralph Breaks The Internet, is a 10 minute section involving the Disney princesses which led this reviewer to feeling majorly conflicted.

The bastardising of the Disney canon is fair enough, but it seems unnecessarily cheap to mock the princesses who have helped the company make so much money, and have left them so ingrained in our culture. It's almost as if the meta-touches are not needed here, and some targets should be off-limits.

The messages come thick and fast at the end of Ralph Breaks The Internet, and with no subtlety whatsoever, but given one takes on the male toxicity of the internet before devolving into a Stay Puft marshmallow man / King Kong showdown, it's a nice, albeit sledgehammered, touch about bullying and the darker side of the world.

Ultimately, Ralph Breaks The Internet is a solid time at the cinema, albeit a forgettable one.

Its ode to friendship and letting go is commendable, but obvious from the beginning, but to be honest, Reilly and Silverman overcome such lazy tropes and obvious touches with performances that have warmth and emotional depth.

They're cool to hang out with thanks to the nostalgia and some of the gags, but the novelty may be wearing off a little quicker than expected.

Leave No Trace: DVD Review

Leave No Trace: DVD Review

A strong piece about deep connection, a symbiotism and subsequent disconnection, Granik's follow up to Winter's Bone is mesmerising in its minimalism.

McKenzie and Foster play father and daughter, Tom and Will. We first encounter them walking through the woods, and it soon becomes clear that this is where they live - to outsiders, it's less than idyllic, but for this pair, who seem unnaturally close, it's perfection.

Certainly for Tom, it appears to be all she's known - but all that changes when she's accidentally seen one day by a passer-by and authorities are alerted.

The pair are picked up by social services, and it's here problems develop for the father and daughter.

To say more about the adaptation of Peter Rock's 2009 book My Abandonment is to spoil what unfurls - and certainly, there's more of an air of mystery in this piece that eats away at you as the film goes on.

Hints are dropped both in moments of dialogue but also in actions - primarily via Foster's edginess, and the decision not to reveal everything immediately. It's this pervasive sense of mystery which soaks through Leave No Trace's DNA which makes such a rewarding watch.

What Granik achieves is a feeling of capturing the margins of society in hints rather than direct exposition and action. Coupled with two naturalistic turns from Foster and McKenzie, the film's power lies in its stillness and its sense of connection.

Initially, everything seems fine between the father and daughter - and the film's suspicions are raised by societal obsessions over motivations of why they live in the woods. It's notable that everything that goes wrong in this is due to external circumstances and intrusions - and certainly Foster's performance of internalised pain and struggle is deeply affecting.

Equally, McKenzie's turn as Tom is something else. She manages to affect great subtle change in Tom's arc, and her journey feels like the full gamut has been reached by the end. However, her confusion, occasional fiery burns, and her strength are key traits to Tom, never once overplayed and ultimately deeply empathetic.

While the film's suffused in mystery, the bond is resolutely human and co-dependant in many ways.

"How important are their judgments" is a line uttered early on, but it's one which forms the mantra of what Granik's trying to achieve here - everything is viewed from other's perspective, the inner sanctity of Tom and Will's bond subject to repeated scrutiny, and due to this, ultimately Tom's own scrutiny comes into play, setting in motion a chain of usually normal events that feel loaded with sadness.

Along with the reflection of an America split and marginalised (as briefly glimpsed throughout), Granik's pared back direction and wondrous cinematography helps Leave No Trace gain its growing atmospheric sense of dread.

But yet, Granik is also wise enough to present those from the outside world who interact with the duo as normal people, blessed with both empathy and a desire to help - making their discord and disconnect even more heart-wrenching to endure and watch.

It's compelling in extremis, and executed with such naturalistic edges, that it almost feels intrusive to watch. Very much the antithesis to Captain Fantastic, and although endowed with similar themes, Leave No Trace has a quiet power from beginning to end.

It's wondrous to behold, with much of the apparent coming-of-age tale leaving lots to unpack long after the lights have gone up and Foster and McKenzie's performances have been marvelled at.

Win a copy of Christopher Robin

Win a copy of Christopher Robin

To celebrate the release of Christopher Robin, thanks to Walt Disney Pictures, and Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.

About Christopher Robin

Beloved characters come out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into the city for this bighearted tale from Disney.

What to do when all-grown-up Christopher Robin loses his way? 

Winnie the Pooh and friends embark on a new adventure in which they remind him - and you - how to laugh again, for “sometimes doing nothing leads to the very best something.” 

Share the wonder and delight of this new film with your family.

Borderlands 2 VR out now on PlayStation VR

Borderlands 2 VR out now on PlayStation VR

Borderlands® 2 VR Out Now on PlayStation®VR

2K and Gearbox Software today announced that Borderlands® 2 VR is now available on PlayStation®VR, bringing the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining shooter-looter franchise to VR for the first time.

To view the trailer click the image below

Developed by Gearbox Software, Borderlands 2 VR brings the iconic world of Pandora to life like never before. Fans can virtually become a treasure-seeking Vault Hunter, grab 87 bazillion guns, and face off against the galaxy’s most charming psychopathic dictator, Handsome Jack, to free Pandora from the corrupt Hyperion Corporation.

Key features for Borderlands 2 VR on PS VR include:

• Virtually Step onto Pandora: Step into the boots of a treasure-seeking Vault Hunter armed with 87 bazillion possible guns on a quest to line your pockets with loot and free Pandora from Handsome Jack’s clutches. Blast bandits with real-world aiming, physically punch bullymongs in the mouth, find the perfect gun inside a life-sized treasure chest, and inspect your weapons from every angle. Catch-a-Ride and race across Pandora in first-person view, and experience the thrill of a psycho running toward you with grenade in-hand yelling, “Boom time!”

• Virtually Slow Time: Borderlands 2 VR includes new features unique to the VR experience to empower Vault Hunters in their fight against Handsome Jack. With Bad Ass Mega Fun Time (aka BAMF Time), players can use this new slow-mo ability to repel nearby enemies and literally slow the speed of the game temporarily to set up their next attack. In addition, with the option to Teleport, players can glide across Pandora as gracefully as Claptrap (if he had grace).

• Become a Virtual Vault Hunter: Take on the role of one of four playable classes – Siren, Commando, Gunzerker, and Assassin – each with unique combat styles and updated skills that leverage the new VR functionality, including the new BAMF Time ability. Whether crushing enemies with Maya’s Siren powers, calling in Sabre Turret reinforcements as Axton, feeling the heft of dual-wielded machine guns as Salvador, or swinging Zer0’s sword into an enemy’s back, Borderlands 2 VR immerses players like never before.

• Experience Virtual Improvements: For the first time ever, players can experience the sublime exhilaration of driving around Pandora in a first-person perspective – accelerating and steering with the joystick while aiming the vehicle’s weapons with the headset. With the use of the motion controllers and headset, players can interact with the menu systems in a new and intuitive way for the platform, easily navigating through the menus by pointing, clicking, dragging, and dropping. Players will also be able to choose their preferred movement style. Whether it’s the VR-popular pointed-teleportation approach or the classic direct movement style with joysticks, your experience should feel good for VR and true to form for classic Borderlands.

• Get Virtually Rich: Borderlands VR brings shoot-and-loot mechanics to VR with bazillions of procedurally-generated guns and gear, each with their own capabilities and modifiers. Procedurally-generated shields, grenades, relics, class mods, and more round out your Vault Hunter’s arsenal for maximum power and mayhem.

Borderlands 2 VR is rated MA 15+ and is single-player only. For more information, please visit the official Borderlands web site, follow Borderlands on Twitter and Instagram, and join the conversation using the hashtag #BL2VR. You can also become a fan ofBorderlands on Facebook, and subscribe to the Borderlands channel on YouTube.

Red Dead Online Beta Status Update

Red Dead Online Beta Status Update 

We'd once again like to acknowledge our incredible Red Dead Online community for their continued support, patience and detailed feedbackduring this beta period. Here are some new details on the latest updates to the Red Dead Online Beta, along with a few things to look forward to:

Title Update 1.05 has been released addressing general improvements to fix game stability, save data and to address exploits.

Gold Gift: As a thank you for your ongoing support, we are awarding everyone who has played from the Red Dead Online Beta launch through this Thursday, December 20^th with a gift of 15 additional gold bars. The awards will begin rolling out today and if you haven’t experienced the Red Dead Online Beta yet, play by Thursday, December 20^th for eligibility. All gold bar gifts should be delivered by Monday, December 24^th. Keep an eye out for an alert screen when entering the Red Dead Online Beta to confirm the gift.

Cash Gift: As an added thank you to players who pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption 2, and those who purchased either the Special or Ultimate Edition, we are awarding additional RDO$ gifts. These will be active starting Friday, December 21^st and are automatically added to your player’s balance the next time you play Red Dead Online during the Beta and permanently afterwards:

* Special Edition Owners: RDO$100
* Ultimate Edition Owners: RDO$1,000
* Everyone who pre-ordered: RDO$100 (in addition to Ultimate and Special Edition gifts)

Store: Is now accessible in-game. As always, if you experience any technical issues at all with any purchases, please head to http://support.rockstargames.com for help; and if you have any user experience issues or feedback to provide, please submit to thewww.reddeadonline.com/feedback website.

Upcoming Updates to the Red Dead Online Beta: We have been poring through incoming community input and suggestions and are working on updates for early 2019 to address many popular bits of feedback including some new anti-griefing measures in the works and other updates to improve gameplay balance. We are also working on lots of new features, modes and additional Red Dead Online gameplay content updates that we are very excited to share more about in the new year.

Thank you again to all Red Dead players worldwide for your amazing support and feedback contributions. Please stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks and months.