A Simple Favor: DVD Review

A Simple Favor: DVD Review

Better known for his comedies like Ghostbusters, Paul Feig turns his directing eye to an adaptation of the 2017 novel from Darcey Bell.

Attempting to make it film-noir, but still imbuing it with comedic sensibilities and campy touches, A Simple Favor is the story of vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick, by far and away the best thing in this film) a nerdy widower and mother-of-one who strikes up an unlikely friendship with upmarket fellow Emily Nelson (Lively, suitably bitchy when needed, but unable to fulfill some of the film's requirements).

Entranced by Nelson's drink-during-the-day mentality, Smothers and Nelson become BFFs. One day, however, when Smothers is left to pick up Nelson's child, she doesn't return, prompting fears she's gone AWOL in the most sinister of fashions....

As Stephanie investigates, she begins to discover something sinister...

A Simple Favor works on some levels, and fails on some others.

The aforementioned comedy touches don't quite gel with the desire to go a bit darker here and there, and Kendrick's Nancy Drew type digging is sometimes foiled by an unevenness of tone, which, while not fatal to proceedings, can occasionally deliver a whiplash which is hard to shake.

Thankfully, Kendrick holds a lot of this together, going the full gamut from nerdish outsider caught up in the bitchiness of small-town school-gate gossip to empowered crusader, inspired by Emily's laissez-faire dismissal and attitude to life. Kendrick more than delivers, peppering her preppiness with the kind of touches employed in Pitch Perfect.

Lively isn't quite as strong, and while Emily's boozy detachment is a hard one to play, she doesn't quite hit the convictions needed late in the piece. Equally, Crazy Rich Asians' star Henry Golding delivers a too-nice-to-be-true turn that complements, but doesn't elevate what's going on.

Ultimately, the outlandish twists of the noir and the comedy slightly foil some of the final suspense, and there's a little too much garbled exposition at the end delivered without breath or pause.

These are minor niggles though, and there's much to be said for the stylish execution and the sassy French OST.

A Simple Favor is a smart watch in places, but the tonal mixes, while never fatal, do make the overall effect less powerful than it could have been - and it's saved solely by an exceptional Anna Kendrick. 

Crazy Rich Asians: DVD Review

Crazy Rich Asians: DVD Review

In truth, Crazy Rich Asians is a masterpiece of staging and hollow spectacle.

It's a tale as old as time itself, one which dabbles in fairy tales, and enigmatically weaves some very familiar threads in among opulent gaudiness. It's almost satirical in ways, if it wasn't such a blatant  and shallow piece at heart.

It's your classic girl (Wu) meets boy (Golding), girl dates boy for a year, blissfully unaware that said boy is part of a mega-rich family and who tries to introduce girl to her snooty mother (Yeoh), who's dismissive of the differences between the two.

Along the way, throw in some very familiar and very obvious cultural issues and jealousies, stir it all up et voila, Crazy Rich Asians.

And yet, if the tale is an all too hoary rote one, the rom com greatly benefits from some truly globally impressive cinematography (it's like a tourism board advert for Singapore at times) and some directorial flourishes from Chu himself.

Whether it's showing off the excess, drowning the screen in swathes of local culture (hello, extended street vendors montage) or thrusting to prominence the Asian way of life and actors, it's clear why Crazy Rich Asians is having a moment to shine.

Like the subject matter, it's a little indulgent and overlong, and certainly, some of the sequences feel like they could have been excised from the 2 hour run time, and in parts, it has to be said that some of the narrative feels weaker than it ought to be, an excuse to join together the dots of its paper thin characters, and kill some time prior to the next luxurious sequence.

But Wu shines, as does Yeoh, with what little they have; and Humans star Gemma Chan brings more than enough to the table as the subject of potential sequels.

In this obvious tale of family clashes and of tradition, Crazy Rich Asians rightly deserves the applause it's getting for bringing the culture to a wider audience, and by telling a very familiar story complete with broad brush strokes in what will be to many, unfamiliar surroundings. It's the very essence of representation and is also somehow the epitome of where 2018 has marked the turning point.

But for cinema purists, looking for a little more perhaps, Crazy Rich Asians could do with an expeditious trim, a plumping of some of the elements of its Jane Austen edges and a bit more of a killer hook. Here's hoping the sequels manage this - and more.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2019 is upon us, and here's wishing you all a 2019 that's practically perfect in every way possible!

Happy New Year, and all the best to you and yours for 2019!

Thanks for your support in 2018

Thanks for your support in 2018

As we hurtle toward the end of 2018, it's time to reflect.

So, thanks everyone, distributors of film, games and home entertainment for all your support in 2018.

Here's hoping 2019 is as great too!

Bird Box: Film Review

Bird Box: Netflix Film Review

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Tom Hollander, BD Wong
Director: Susanne Bier

Netflix's latest, the post apocalyptic Bird Box, based on Josh Malerman's book, triumphs greatly early on in terms of unease and atmosphere.

However, as the story of the epidemic goes on, and regardless of how it's supposed to be a parable for motherhood, it begins to lose its way with logic falling quickly by the way side.

Bullock delivers a strong performance of survival as Malorie, a mother-to-be, whose life is changed when the first signs of an unseen epidemic land. This epidemic is so terrifying those who see it commit suicide, but as Malorie tries to survive and find a path to a safe house down a river, she finds the terrors within are as bad as those on the outside.

Flashing between timelines, Bird Box makes great fist of its premise, bringing chaos and terror in its opening gripping 20 minutes. Bier wonderfully realises the chaos and the horror of the unknown and unnamed unseen threat. Plausible, hysterical and genuinely unsettling the fear is palpable and Bullock's Malorie's sense of survival as a heroine is admirable.

But as the film goes on, the slipping between narratives starts to expose some of the cracks in logic of the events around as inconsistencies begin to cripple the narrative. And an underwhelming finale doesn't help matters either. Add in the fact the future timelines more or less reveal what has happened to everyone doesn't help do anything unfortunately but rob the film of its tension.

However, Bullock's resilience as an actress comes to the fore, and she impresses throughout, imbing Malorie with a strength that's obvious from the beginning. Rhodes and Malkovich also deliver strong performances, and Hollander's unctuous turn is stunning in its calm and execution.

Ultimately, Bird Box is a claustrophobic dystopian mixed bag; it delivers on atmosphere, falls on its own sword with logic and world-building, but delivers a thrill ride that is both up and down, rather than a consistent tone throughout.

The House With a Clock in Its Walls: DVD Review

The House With a Clock in Its Walls: DVD Review

From horror and torture-porn-meister Eli Roth comes a family horror film, produced within the stable of Amblin Entertainment, and based on the 1973 book by John Bellairs.

Vaccaro is newly-orphaned Lewis, who goes to live with his uncle Jonathan (Black, in usual OTT mode, and perhaps one of the film's little disappointments) after a car accident claimed his parents.

Upon discovering his uncle is a warlock, and struggling to fit in at school, Lewis turns his attention to the world of sorcery and magic. But when Lewis raises a former wizard from the dead, hell threatens to break loose - and it's further exacerbated by Jonathan's desire to find an endlessly clicking clock within the walls of his house.

In truth, The House With a Clock in Its Walls feels like a mesh of Goosebumps and a carnival haunted house rollercoaster ride.

There are some genuinely unsettling sequences set to celluloid from Roth, with the dread of the atmosphere cranked up for maximum effect. But like all of the biggest scares at a fairground, this is only material for show in a time and tested formula of good versus evil.

Partially ignoring the deeper thread of the post-traumatic stress syndrome of war (a wonderfully evocative piece hints at the turmoil facing one character, but is unexplored) in favour of more kiddy-friendly fare, The House With a Clock in Its Walls is content to avoid the issues of dealing with loss, and grief within 1950s America.

But that's no bad thing - and for a large part, the film is surprisingly entertaining, thanks to a wonderfully tart and emotionally nuanced turn from Blanchett as a witch with a tragic past. Black delivers his usual goggling eyes routine, which in truth becomes tiring midway through, and the script chooses to layer on some fart gags for puerile pleasure, which detracts from the wondrousness of what's to pass.

However, moments such as a pumpkin attack, and an evocation of the light of the universe are truly exciting to behold, and show that Roth, as a child film director, has enough smarts to deliver as much heart as the horrors needed to keep the tension ratcheted up.

All in all, The House With a Clock in Its Walls is a pleasantly surprising piece of family fare, that offers a tautly delivered set of purpose within its 100 minutes' run time. There's more it could have explored, and some deeper themes merely hinted at rather than fully fleshed out, but the fun parlour tricks it deploys manage to distract from the moments and themes that could have given more than just chills, thrills and silliness. 

Land of The Giants: Complete Collection: DVD Review

Land of The Giants: Complete Collection: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Entertainment

There's just something about Irwin Allen's early 1960s TV series that appeals.

From Lost In Space to The Time Tunnel, Allen had a way of capturing the world of fantasy with imagination, never letting FX budget constraints hold him back and ensuring the shows' key push was their narratives.

So it is with Land Of the Giants, a show that essentially has all the elements of an Allen serial and that very occasionally looks dated, in the way that old episodes of Doctor Who have lost a little of their sheen.

In this 14 disc set, over 51 remastered episodes, we follow the crew of the commercial spaceship The Spindrift, after it crashes on a remote planet similar to Earth, but where everything is 12 times larger.

Cue the over-sized props, and menacing animals that are insignificant in this day and age.

Escapism is what Land of The Giants is about as the crew are separated, captured and have to survive in this series that ran from 1968. The remastering is solid, but the special features are exceptional on this with things ranging from unaired pilot to interviews with the actors, through to stills galleries; It's as complete as it can be - though a longer documentary would be nice.

A blast of 60s nostalgia and imagination, Land of The Giants: Complete Collection is for fantasy fans only really - but that audience will be satiated by this nice complete collection.