The Favourite: Blu Ray Review

The Favourite: Blu Ray Review

Building on the comic unease that's helped Yorgos Lanthimos carve a career and saw him hit a more mainstream audience with The Lobster, The Favourite emerges late in the year as both a potential award winner and best of the year, thanks to its delicious and devilish nastiness.

Set in the court of Queen Anne (Colman, delivering on multiple fronts and without ever missing a beat) in 18th Century England, it's a story of rivalry and a period piece that's clothed in black humour.
Anne is frail, and Lady Sarah (a curt and crisp Weisz) rules the country in her stead; but when her cousin Abigail (Stone) enters the court looking for work, Lady Sarah finds her world unsettled and the power dynamics changed forever.

The Favourite is a combination of a triptych of actors at their absolute pinnacle, dealing with material that's superlative.

Boiling down a microcosm of social interaction over a two hour period, filtering it through a prism of cutting dialogue and dynamics and then playing it out with gusto, The Favourite's acerbic touches make for greatly rewarding times in the cinema.

Lanthimos' use of fisheye lenses and whip-pan shots within the court are dizzying and exciting, a call to arms for how period movies could be presented.

But it's his actors who make this film what it is. From the fact all of the men within the film are varying degrees of buffoons to Olivia Colman's utterly compelling turn from the start, The Favourite is a delicacy worth devouring.

Balanced with off-kilter humour, and moments that drip with double meaning, Lanthimos builds an atmosphere of uncertainty from the frailties of humanity, picking at insecurities like scabs, and exposing the wounds below.

The central trio are more than worthy of praise, with the cameras lingering on moments that offer glimpses into what's bubbling deep below. This is more than a film that delights in the details, it's one which sees Stone, Weisz and Colman utterly deliver on their characters by offering so much with so little.

Colman in particular delivers a powerhouse performance of pain and conflict, as gout debilitates her and leaves her at the whims of those around her. But she has a fire too when provoked, and Lanthimos' desire to showcase it adds to the power. Stone and Weisz make for delicious sparring partners as the power dynamics shift, and the claws come out.

But The Favourite is more than a film exposing female insecurities and weaknesses; it's a portrait of strength under fire, and a towering movie that is commanding from beginning to end. 

Win a double pass to see LONG SHOT

Win a double pass to see LONG SHOT

To celebrate the release of Long Shot, in cinemas May 2, you can win a double pass, thanks to StudioCanal NZ.

About LONG SHOT

Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) is one of the most influential women in the world.  Smart, sophisticated, and accomplished, she’s a powerhouse diplomat with a talent for…well, mostly everything.

Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a gifted and free spirited journalist with an affinity for trouble. The two have nothing in common, except that she was his babysitter and first crush. When Fred unexpectedly reconnects with Charlotte, he charms her with his self-deprecating humor and his memories of her youthful idealism.

As she prepares to make a run for the Presidency, Charlotte hires Fred as her speechwriter, much to the dismay of her trusted advisors.

A fish out of water on Charlotte’s elite team, Fred is unprepared for her glamourous lifestyle in the limelight. However, sparks fly as their unmistakable chemistry leads to a round-the-world romance and a series of unexpected and dangerous incidents.

From the celebrated team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, creators of outrageous comedy hits including This Is The End and Neighbors, LONG SHOT also features O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Den of Thieves, Straight Outta Compton), Andy Serkis (Black Panther, Planet of the Apes), June Diane Raphael (The Disaster Artist, Grace & Frankie), Ravi Patel (TV’s Master of None) and Alexander Skarsgård (TV’s Big Little Lies and The Legend of Tarzan).  The film was directed by Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies).

Long Shot, In cinemas May 2 Rating: M

Thanks to StudioCanal, you can win a double pass to see LONG SHOT 

To win all you have to do is email your details and the word LONG SHOT to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW  

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Breaking Habits: Film Review

Breaking Habits: Film Review

Director: Rob Ryan

Starting off with a killer hook and a great pre-titles sequence does little for what follows in Rob Ryan's Breaking Habits.

The idea of nuns dealing drugs is neatly encapsulated in the opening, where star of the piece Sister Kate reveals how an alcoholic woman came up to her begging for help, and how she in turn offered her the idea of marijuana.

But in truth, what follows in Breaking Habits meanders greatly, delivering little on its kooky premise other than a formulaic look at Sister Kate and her Sisters of the valley who grow medicinal cannabis Stateside, much to the chagrin of the local law.

The film offers up some kind of great confrontation between law enforcement and ideologies as America starts to struggle with the use of medicinal cannabis, and the country begins to feel over-run.

Combined with the ease of access to guns, and the desire to defend their crops, there's a real feeling that something is brewing here.

But what Ryan presents is nothing of the high promised in the pre-titles.

And disappointingly, conflict resolves itself in the kind of way that feels like a child resolving a story of their own writing.

Breaking Habits is an amiable enough look at the Sisters, along with evocations of how marijuana saved some of their own, but it never really delves deep enough below the surface to provide anything of depth.

Early reveals show tragedy in Sister Kate's past, and there's a current problem holding court over them, but Ryan's so keen to flit about that the film never fully grabs you as it proceeds.

Much like a medicinal high, the rush is palpable - but the comedown as this documentary drags on is severe, and disappointingly, a bit dull.

Days Gone: PS4 Review

Days Gone: PS4 Review

Developed by Bend Studio
Platform: PS4

Days Gone is the big hope for new IP for 2019.

But in truth, a lot of what the game does has been done before, and what emerges in the final wash, is a game that somehow lacks its own USP, despite looking mightily impressive and using a dynamic weather system to gaming advantage.

However, there are moments of open world survival game Days Gone where the mash up of Last Of Us survival and stealth, Walking Dead style zombies and camp complications, Sons of Anarchy bromance of the lead and his best mate and Far Cry series of camps and missions actually feels like it gels into something cohesive - even if it does fully lack some of the emotional heft of the great singleplayer PlayStation titles.

Beginning with the protagonist, Deacon St John, the game starts two years before you begin, showing how society began to crumble as a mysterious infection swept through America.

St John's beau, Sarah, is stabbed by accident, and his co-gang rider Boozer is seriously injured, leaving Deeks to make an awful choice - and one that haunts him in the two years when we rejoin the game. Most of the game is about finding a reason, a reason to survive, a reason to continue and a reason to hope.

Still riding around the wilds of the Northwest, this outlaw is a loner, spending days scavenging scrap avoiding the Freakers (a zombie-style nasty) and what's left of the dregs of humanity (the human animalistic Rippers, roaming marauders and those in charge of running various safe houses).

But Deacon finds himself smack bang in the middle of humanity's best and worst again as he discovers not everything he thought he knew was true.

While Days Gone stumbles through its opening chapters, with some truly awful dialogue (chiefly between Deacon and his biker buddy Boozer and sounding like Kiefer Sutherland rejected them from episodes of 24) and interactions, some implausibly long loading screens, there are moments when the game manages to rise above its shakier edges, long loading screens and the repetitive nature of the fetch and retrieve missions.

Aside from the weapons and crafting, the Red Dead Redemption style need to ensure your bike's always in top notch form and fuelled up, the Last Of Us options to customise melee weapons and your own bike, and the back and forth between camps, the game's internal logic cannot be faulted.

Amid the all-too-familiar conspiracy which emerges, and the inevitable tropes of the research facilities which lie scattered around the world, the Freakers are a truly terrifying enemy, something akin to perhaps some of the greatest zombies committed to a game.

Singularly, they can be dispatched with melee combat - but as a group, they're nigh on undefeatable.

Several missions see you needing to infiltrate research facilities to access various health benefits - but as these have lain dormant and unpowered for the 730-plus days since the outbreak, it's up to you to find the resources to get into them.

But giving them power fires up the automated messages which blare out from speakers and across the countryside, attracting more creatures and limiting your chances of survival. In one such mission, I neglected to turn off a speaker and thinking nothing of it, having got what I needed, I ran. But driving through later on, the sound had attracted an utterly insurmountable horde that could not be defeated - this is a world that carries on even if you're nowhere around.

With the Mad Max style Ripper gang waiting to pick you off, there's a great deal of uncertainty in the countryside, and with a soundtrack that ripples with unease, the mood created by Bend Studio is palpable.

The game looks great, and the handling of the biking is solid too, which is a plus, given how much time you spend on the road.

Littered with flashbacks, Days Gone finds its emotional core, but to be frank, it's weaker when compared to the litany of what's already passed in terms of gaming narratives. Occasionally, the review build stuttered with the scope of what the open world was trying to present, and has frozen, but hopefully early patches should remove the niggles here and there.

Ultimately, Days Gone is a solid PlayStation exclusive, that sadly, despite all of its efforts and outside of the biker element, struggles to find its own voice.

It's not the best the platform's ever had, but it's not the worst either. It does recall large swathes of The Last Of Us, and it is perhaps a pity that it never fully emerges with a strong independent voice of its own - no matter how beautiful it looks.

It does, however, muddy the waters of survivalist games a little, making every side you encounter feeling like they have something to hide - and if the familiarity comes because of a genre which is crowded, Days Gone is a worthy contribution to the pantheon.

However good it looks, you can't help but wish it had a stronger voice to shout above the crowded genre marketplace it's been launched into.

Crackdown 3: XBox One Review

Crackdown 3: XBox One Review

Developed by
Platform: XBox One

Quite frankly, Crackdown 3 looks out of place on the XBox One platform.

Cartoony in extremis, with hardly any lyricism gone into its execution, visual or otherwise, the game feels out of place in this current generation.

A long time in development, the game's simple MO is a case of shooting, collecting orbs and jumping higher than you ever have before. It's not exactly taxing, nor in many ways does it remotely purport to be.

You get to play an agent in New Providence, a city that looks like it's a cartoon Blade Runner, complete with refugees circling around. Gaining powers from collecting orbs, and various agility points, you get to take out a series of bosses and unlock the world around, while fulfilling the high points of a fairly generic story that feels like it's ripped from the 1980s.

And in many ways, the gameplay mechanics all feel ripped from the 1980s too - you have to collect ammo by clicking a button, rather than running over it, and you can lift and hurtle objects in the most rudimental of ways.

It all seems so familiar and yet also so depressingly unoriginal.

A mix of Saints Row silliness and cartoon edges, Crackdown 3 has potential. There's some joy to be had in the bounding around, shooting and collecting, but it's a fairly hollow pleasure to be frank.

You won't sink hundreds of hours into Crackdown 3 - in truth, you may only just cobble together a few of fun before tedium sets in. Free on the GamePass service, it's probably at a reasonable price, because as a standalone release, it's got the feel of something that's sorely out of touch and ever so slightly three decades too late.

Win The Avengers collection on 4K Blu Ray

Win The Avengers collection on 4K Blu Ray

To celebrate the release of Avengers: Endgame, in cinemas now, you have the chance to win The Avengers collection on 4K Blu Ray.

It's all thanks to the great people at Sony Home Entertainment.

Relive how it all began with The Avengers, then take in the chaos the gang faces in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

And finally, get up to speed for Avengers: Endgame, with Avengers: Infinity War, as Thanos unleashes his deadly plan to cull the universe!

But, there's more - you can also take home the Captain America series on 4K too - from Captain America, to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, before concluding with Captain America: Civil War.

All of these titles include thrills, spills and Marvel action, ensuring that all fans of the series won't be left disappointed!

And if you don't win, all of these titles are available to buy in shops now!

All you have to do is email your details and the word AVENGERS, and tell me your fave Avenger and why!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW  

Good luck!

Avengers: Endgame: Film Review

Avengers: Endgame: Film Review

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson,Karen Gillan, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, 
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo

It's finally here.

The end of the road for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's current phase, and the conclusion of events after Thanos snapped his fingers, and wiped out half of the world in Avengers: Infinity War.

Avengers: Endgame arrives with such a weight of expectation one year after the tease of the end that it's hard to live upto what fans - and cinemagoers - want.

But simply put, if you're a fan of the MCU, Endgame delivers in spades - and as a casual cinema-goer there's also a lot to gain from a film that has dalliances with the epic, but never once forgets the intimate.

Avengers:Endgame is not a film the creators want spoiling.

The plot has been briefly hinted at in trailers but outside of the upcoming release, little is truly known of if Thanos is defeated, or how any attempts are made.

The interesting thing about the occasionally sprawling 181 minutes that unfolds is how much a lot of the payoffs from previous films are delivered and how all the threads of the other 20 plus films join together.

While it’s no condemnation to say Endgame contains an overload of fan service and crowd-pleasing moments, what it also contains is an emotional depth and exploration of sacrifice that’s confined to the core of original characters, that cinemagoers have spent a decade with.

There’s an elegiac feeling of its opening, the meditations on loss and if second chances are worth losing are heartbreakingly laid out; there’s a reaction to trauma that leaves you finally feeling Thanos’ actions in Infinity War had real consequences. Doubt, regret and angst are in order, and are deftly delivered by the human cast.

It's something the MCU has previously until now been somewhat flippant about, but this time around, there's a sense the remaining Avengers are truly broken and vulnerable.

Yet, there’s also scope and depth here which is more than alluded to - old grievances are raised again and the culmination of years of foundation laying has an emotionally resonant payoff that’s mostly worthy of the three hour run time for fans of the franchise.

Brolin once again brings greater depth to his bad guy Thanos and makes you feel like everyone has collateral and damage after he pursued his utopia. His nuanced bad guy has been a real boon for the franchise, and certainly delivers the heft needed in this chapter capper. 

This film is predominantly about the relationship between Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man. But more than that, it's about Steve Rogers and Tony Stark - something which rewards when it needs to.

In among the pleasing set pieces and odd touches of humour, there are one or two stumbles, which were perhaps inevitable during the three hour run time, and with a farewell mentality in mind.

A final battle is a depressing return to the usual CGI throw-it-all-at-the-wall fare (though, in all honesty, it's hard to see what else there is that could be done). Coupled with one or two moments of excess (and one overblown statement of intent to address ongoing criticism), it's the denouement fans will want, but one that critics of the superhero genre will dismiss as once again, overcrowded and overdone. 

When it's confined within to just a few single actors, it's fair to say the denouement soars in its singular quieter moments. Even if foreshadowing robs some of the emotion from landing as it should. In truth, the moments are more about your familiarity with these characters, rather than what exactly the narrative of Avengers: Endgame delivers.

Equally, despite all the promise and fanfare of the previous Marvel outing, it's troubling that one character is effectively reduced solely to a deus ex machina device in proceedings. 

There are also a few emotional moments that feel a little rushed, and didn't quite hit the mark that perhaps should have been expected.

But there are plenty of character complexities and moments that ground this superhero film in the realm of the human and our various foibles.

Ultimately, this film belongs to the original Avengers - it may be the end of Phase 3, and the farewell they've been anticipating after some 20 plus films over a decade, but it's not hindered the Russo Brothers from delivering a movie that is crowd-pleasing in extremis, one that walks a tightrope between nostalgia (thanks to plot devices) and closing a chapter from a studio that's always had its eyes on its vision.