At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
To celebrate the release of Outlander series 4, and thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.
About Outlander series 4
Available on Blu-ray™& DVD June 12
Includes Four All-New “Outlander Untold” Bonus Scenes
Featuring Fan-Favourite Characters
Finally reunited, Claire and Jamie’s epic time-traveling love story continues when OUTLANDER: SEASON FOUR debuts on Blu-ray™ and DVD on June 12 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Based upon Drums of Autumn, the fourth of eight books in Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling Outlanderliterary series, OUTLANDER: SEASON FOUR sees Claire (Caitriona Balfe in her Golden Globe®-nominated role) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) trying to make a home for themselves in Colonial America on the cusp of the American Revolution after being shipwrecked on their way back to Scotland.
Cyberpunk 2077 — release date, pre-orders, new trailer revealed!
Cyberpunk 2077 — release date, pre-orders, new trailer revealed!
CD PROJEKT RED reveals brand new details regarding the studio’s upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077. Starting today, the title is also available for pre-order.
Cyberpunk 2077, the upcoming open-world, action-adventure story from the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will release April 16th, 2020 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The game’s Collector’s Edition is also available for pre-order and comes packed with a number of high-quality collectibles. These include a 25 cm / 10 inch statue depicting the game’s protagonist — V — in action, a steelbook case, a hardcover art book, and more. The Collector’s Edition comes in an impressive box made to look like one of the megabuildings towering over Night City.
Accompanying the release date and pre-order news is a cinematic trailer, which offers a deeper look into the game’s story. The trailer reveals one of the key characters of Cyberpunk 2077, Johnny Silverhand. The legendary rockerboy is played by Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves (The Matrix trilogy, John Wick series, Johnny Mnemonic). In addition to his appearance and voice, Reeves is also providing full-body motion capture for the character.
More Cyberpunk 2077 news is set to be revealed at E3, which will be taking place from June 11th to June 13th in Los Angeles. The game’s trade show presence includes behind-closed-doors gameplay presentations for media and business representatives in West Exhibit Hall, as well as presentations for all E3 attendees held at the Cyberpunk 2077 booth in South Exhibit Hall.
For more information regarding Cyberpunk 2077 and the game’s E3 presence, make sure to follow the title’s official website, Facebook, and Twitter.
Paling in comparison to 2014's black comedic masterpiece In Order Of Disappearance, but still offering enough light to shine on its own, Cold Pursuit marks Liam Neeson's apparent action movie swansong.
Neeson plays man of the community Nels Coxman. Rewarded for his efforts to keep the snowy regions of the tourist town clear in his plow, Coxman's world is turned upside down when his son turns up dead of an apparent heroin overdose.
And while his wife (Dern, in a handful of scenes and utterly wasted) turns to grief, Nels turns to disbelief and finds his fears confirmed when he's told his son was killed.
Intent on claiming revenge, Coxman ends up on a collision course with Tom Bateman's Viking, the local gangster behind the death.
Cold Pursuit has a muted feel, and if anything, Neeson's restrained gruffness lend it enough gravitas that it needs. But a tendency to overplay the black humour means that what it delivers is more a film that provokes laughter when the original's darker edges shone through.
An over-reliance on title boards delivering funeral notices is supposed to be wry and amusing, but after an initial use, comes across as a crutch rather than a construct. Bateman veers a little too OTT at times, infusing his Viking with a feeling of the Joker rather than laying on the menace - it's part of Cold Pursuit's MO that overkill is better than restraint (something which the original managed to encapsulate perfectly).
But there are offhand moments that work and add a level of aloofness that sits well with the audience.
However, there are parts of the script that could have been excised or boosted, rather than feeling undernourished.
Chiefly among those is the inclusion of the Native Americans and their resentment of a local ski resort that is on land where their reservations used to be. Granted, it's a common theme rich for the plucking, but it feels included as an afterthought.
And while the police chasing the crimes add some commentary, the darkness isn't dark enough to need the Fargo-esque edges it pursues. Neeson is solid as Coxman, but there's little levels of emotional depth being plumbed in here, and there's a feeling of emotional aloofness.
Overall, Cold Pursuit itself is an intriguing port over of the original, but it does lack some of the sparkle of the first and a grasp of what made it work so well.
2017's Happy Death Day was a blast; a slasher that combined Groundhog Day with some genuine scares, and a character arc for its more than charismatic lead, you'd almost be surprised it was never done before.
But unlike the first, this latest sidelines the scares for a more loopy sci-fi spin on what's happening to Tree Gelbman (Rothe, easily the star of this show), who once again finds herself caught in a murderous day time and time again.
Happy Death Day 2U deserves some commendation for trying something different, and while the beginning wrong foots you - in a clever manner - Rothe soon commands front and centre of this mesh up of Groundhog Day, Scream, Quantum Leap, The Big Bang Theory, Happy Death Day and bizarrely frat movies where kids take on the dean.
The resultant mix is less a mess, more a showcase of Rothe's range as the silliness gets ramped up, pushing the slasher edges to the back (which is a real shame). Certainly, the last third of the film veers too far into dumb comedy territory as the multiverse mentality comes to the fore, and the Frat House shenanigans take precedence.
It's almost too slapstick to hit where it should - but Rothe holds it gamely together with a depth that helps elevate the material and the icky sentimentality. (Though a skydiving scene is brilliant in its execution.)
And yet, despite this, Happy Death Day 2U deserves some kudos for not repeating itself (ironically, given the nature of the first, and the premise of the latest).
It's inevitable there will be a third genre mesh-up (Happy D3ath Day, anyone?) and it's inherent on those behind it to maybe inject some of the scares back in - unless they completely go off book for the genres in the trilogy.
An uneven script, doused in a smattering of MeToo gags and some current pop culture references, does not help Taraji P Henson in the latest take of the Nancy Meyers Mel Gibson flick, What Women Want.
Henson is Ali, a ball-busting sports agent, who's stuck in a firm that's clearly a boys' club and bouncing from one one night stand to another. Rejected again to take partnership in the firm, Ali finds her world further complicated when at a bridal shower she meets a psychic (an unhinged Erykah Badu) who gives her the ability to read men's minds.
Faced with the possibility of using this to get ahead at work, Ali becomes re-energised and desperate to get a star client before her other compadres.
Clever references to Get Out and crowd-pleasing Black Panther moment aside, What Men Want seems to be lost in its own execution, an uncertain mess of where it wants to go and how it wants to get there.
Henson is uniformly excellent though, giving Ali a ball-busting bluster that's needed early on, and a life that shows that she's as good as the boys in the Boys Club sports agent company to get ahead. But saddled with material that's rote and formulaic does little to help Henson rise out of the mire, no matter how hard she tries - and no matter how hard the script tries to mix Jerry Maguire with Entourage.
It helps little that it aims for every low-hanging fruit it can, barely hitting some of them with the crass bat swinging in every direction.
There are obvious learnings here, and perhaps that's what hinders What Men Want - unless you're a gaggle of women, boozed up and after a girls' night out, the film's less than content to satiate many in the audience. It's shallow as you'd expect, giving the men thoughts about body image, promotion, social climbing and work insecurities, as well as the usual sex issues.
Ultimately, while a love story with Aldis Hodge is reasonably well handled, Tracy Morgan's involvement feels like a muted amount of bluster to be fired in the direction of the audience. Supposed to be a foil for Henson's Ali, Morgan's Joe Dollar feels weak and badly-timed for the necessary gags.
All in all, What Men Want is a weak attempt at a feminist bout of humour. Were it not for Henson's all-in approach, the film would be torture for nearly two hours.
As it stands now, it's still torture, but a little more endurable in parts.
To celebrate the release of MIB: International, in cinemas June 13, you can win a double pass, thanks to Sony Pictures. About MIB: International The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, MIB: International hits cinemas June 13. All you have to do is email your details and the word MIB! Email now to darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com Or CLICK HERE NOW Competition closes 18th June.
Cast: Sophie Turner, James MacAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Tye Sheridan, Jodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, Jessica Chastain Director: Simon Kinberg Not every comic book movie works on the big screen. Not every X-Men film has been a success, but over the past 20 years, the mutants have been ever present in a series of films that have had a level amount of hits and misses.
In Dark Phoenix, the series comes to an end with a franchise capper that misses all its major moments, and delivers a movie that offers some thrills, but barely enough to sustain it. During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean Grey (Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner) is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet. In all honesty, elements of Captain Marvel's all powerful deus ex machina and how to suppress it come to the fore again, and while moments early on hint at Charles Xavier's morality falling apart in a MeToo kind of nod, the film's only interested in rushing headlong to its conclusion via way of an admittedly excellent train-set final showdown. But it's in the emotional beats where X- Men: Dark Phoenix falls apart. A major death doesn't land like it should, and the elements of conflict feel forced rather than natural. It's the emotional detachment that harms the film the most, and while a majority of it is a film we've seen before, the latest incarnation of Dark Phoenix does little to take wings and soar as it should. Elements of a MeToo control issue aside ("She's not your little girl anymore," one character intones at one point), the film has little to say except to try and transpose comic book panels to the big screen. By opening it up to a wider world midway through, the film loses any hope of intimacy as it looks to tick some character beats and fan hopes. Chastain, in her audition for an emotion-free Terminator, is saddled with little as the baddie of the piece, and barely hits any of the necessary strides before the script goes down the gurgler. Turner sells some of the conflict of the anger and resentment bubbling up, but in truth, little is required of her other than to look tortured in her close ups. The tragedy doesn't land as it should, and it's fatal at times. MacAvoy and Fassbender impress as ever, and Hoult manages competently with stronger material.
On the visual side, the FX are superbly executed, with early scenes within space brimming with visual flair and excellence; and in the final showdown on a train (before it descends into the usual rote CGI tedium), the film finds a life that's been lacking beforehand. Ultimately, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is an asinine blockbuster, one that fails in its MO as a franchise finale, and one that shows there was frustrating potential, if it had dared to do something different. As it stands, it's more an X marks the spot where something could have risen from the ashes of a consistently uneven series.
Cast: Tom Schilling, Paula Beer, Sebastian Koch Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Clocking in at over three hours, von Donnersmarck's epic, yet intimate, and sprawling piece about a young boy growing up in the Nazi period and subsequent life, isn't quite as gripping as you'd hope.
Schilling is Kurt Barnert, who from an impressionable young age is instilled with a love of art, thanks to his aunt Elisabeth. But when she's deemed unstable, she's taken away and wiped out as the Nazi regime begins to rise, and the quest to purify the blood line takes hold. Years later, Kurt finds himself lost for a voice as an artist, and meeting up with Ellie Seeband, the two fall in love. But Professor Seeband is unhappy at the tryst and moves to temper their union for reasons too spoilery to mention Never Look Away is frankly, in parts grim and harrowing.
The early scenes where Elisabeth falls apart, and discovers what the doctors have in mind for her are utterly horrific, steeped in tragedy and the gnawing sickening realisation of what the regime exacted. In many ways, von Donnersmarck doesn't shy away from the ghastly legacy and delivers an appalling piece of film-making early on that's the worst kind of gut punch you could witness. It helps matters greatly that Koch is chilling and cold, a walking nightmare of a man under a pristine suit and perfect hair, who uses his knowledge to pursue his own agenda. The film's first 90 minutes fly by, but as the second half kicks in and Schilling's Barnert heads to art college, the film begins to sag and bloat a little. The intertwined edges mingle and come to a head in a surprisingly different way to what you may feel you're owed after three hours of sitting and being haunted.
But what Never Look Away (with its clever duality of title in terms of what's happened in Germany's past, and what to do in the face of it) does is present an epic story in a different way. Whether it's a film about art and inspiration, a film about persecution and freedoms of speech or a film about never forgetting isn't fully clear; it embraces and blurs all these ideologies into one. One thing's for certain though, Never Look Away is a compelling and haunting viewing experience from beginning to end.
Tetris and Darius join an expanded SEGA Mega Drive Mini library
TETRIS®AND DARIUS JOIN AN EXPANDED SEGA MEGA DRIVE MINI LIBRARY
With 42 Games, Your World Will Never Be The Same
Wait, we originally said 40 games, right? Slight correction – the SEGA Mega Drive Mini will feature 42 games!
That includes one of the most popular arcade games released by SEGA. The iconic Tetris® will be dropping on to the SEGA Mega Drive Mini! Even better, if you plan on attending this year's E3, you'll be among the first in the world to play it.
The other will be—
WARNING! A huge shoot ‘em up masterpiece Darius is approaching fast. The beloved arcade classic is making its way to a brand-new platform, and you won’t need three monitors to enjoy all its legendary, aquatic-themed glory.
Another title leading the pack is one of the most iconic and intense motorcycle-racing experiences in Road Rash II. Grab your trusty chain or bat and compete in brutal street races alone or with a friend in 2-player split-screen action!
Finally, we have the game that made all your non-Mega Drive owning friends jealous, the one that was a cut above the rest, Strider. Take on mechanical beasts of all shapes and sizes as you flip and climb around futuristic Soviet Russia in a near-perfect arcade port.
But that’s certainly not all! Here are the rest of the amazing titles coming to the SEGA Mega Drive Mini:
The Final 12
Tetris®
Darius
Virtua Fighter 2
Alisia Dragoon
Monster World IV
Kid Chameleon
Road Rash II
Eternal Champions
Columns
Dynamite Headdy
Strider
Light Crusader
SEGA Mega Drive Mini, By the Numbers:
42 games, handled by M2, one of the foremost developers in porting and emulation of classic video games.
The best-of-the-best from SEGA and our partners at Konami, Capcom, EA, Disney, Interplay, and The Tetris Company.
For the first time on any miniature console, players will be able to enjoy games like Darius, Earthworm Jim, Alisia Dragoon, Monster World IV, Probotector, Castlevania: The New Generation, Mega Man®: The Wily Wars, and many more!
55% the size of the original Model 1, accurate replica.
SEGA Mega Drive Mini FAQ:
Q. When does it launch?
A. 19th September 2019
Q. How many games will be included?
A. 42 games.
Q. Which games will be included?
A. The full list of 42 titles included with the system are:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Ecco the Dolphin
Castlevania: The New Generation
Space Harrier 2
Shining Force
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
ToeJam & Earl
Comix Zone
Altered Beast
Gunstar Heroes
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
Thunder Force III
Super Fantasy Zone
Shinobi III
Streets of Rage 2
Earthworm Jim
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Probotector
Landstalker
Mega Man®: The Wily Wars
Street Fighter II’®: Special Champion Edition
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts®
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
The Story of Thor
Golden Axe
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
Vectorman
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Tetris®
Darius
Road Rash II
Strider
Virtua Fighter 2
Alisia Dragoon
Kid Chameleon
Monster World IV
Eternal Champions
Columns
Dynamite Headdy
Light Crusader
Q. Which version of the Mega Drive is the Mini based on?
A. It's based on the original Model 1 Mega Drive which launched in Oct. 1988 in Japan, Aug. 1989 in North America, and Nov. 1990 everywhere else.
Q. How big is it in comparison to the original console?
A. It's approximately 55% of the original Model 1 size.
Q. What do you get in the box?
A. The Mega Drive Mini comes complete with 42 games, Two replica three-button USB Mega Drive controllers, One USB to Micro-B power cable and One HDMI cable.
Q. Who handled the ports?
A. M2 is handling the porting process. They've previously worked on SEGA AGES and SEGA 3D Classics Collection, with a fantastic reputation based on the quality of their emulation projects and their faithfully recreated ports.
Q. Can I use original Mega Drive controllers with the Mini?
A. No, only the provided USB controllers or the Retro-Bit® SEGA Mega Drive 6-button controller.
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Col Meaney, Derek Jacobi
Director: Dome Karukoski
The Tolkien biopic is a quietly muted film about comradeship above all else.
It seems apt, given how Tolkien's most famous books are about fellowship, and Karukoski's at pains to repeatedly emphasise this point throughout.
Starting at a young age in J R R Tolkien's life, Hoult takes the mantle of the ultimately famous writer, whose early life is blighted by degrees of poverty and tragedy in equal measure.
When he gets into King Edwards College in Birmingham, he finds his outsider ways alienating him from others at the school, and thrusts him into fights. But gradually taken in under the wing of three fellow students, Tolkien forms a bond and group with fellow artists.
But their world is torn apart by the arrival of the war to end all wars.
Tolkien is a prestige pic, that's slightly hobbled by pacing and a degree of stiffness throughout.
Hoult isn't quite strong enough as the author, but he does convey an earnest turn, and his romance with Lily Collins' Edith Bratt appears to work better on the page than it does on the screen, imbued as it is with a sense of malaise throughout.
More successful is the fellowship that crops up between the college mates. It's here the pre-war bonds and tragedies emerge and flourish. Certainly when Derek Jacobi's linguistics professor shows up later in the piece, the film bursts vibrantly into life, instilling a degree of passion into proceedings that's been occasionally lacking throughout.
However, there are some truly impressive visual touches in the war sequences.
Clearly inspired by what's seen in the shadows and how the mind works, Karukoski brings menace to flames, giving them faces on the fields of war. Tendrils are added to smoke plumes that plague the trenches, delivering a real feeling of both menace and Tolkien's imagination at work.
It's here the film soars, lifted by by small flourishes aimed at providing plenty of insight into how Tolkien's mind has worked. It's just a shame that this relatively traditional biopic doesn't take more opportunities to soar, and grounds its fantastical author in a kind of stifling approach that's ultimately and sadly disengaging.
Employing some of the same irreverent touches as The Big Short did in its quest to explain the financial meltdown, Vice's Golden Globe nominated biopic purports to look at the rise to power of Dick Cheney.
"Or as true as it can be," as a title card shows early on.
Cutting back and forth early on, McKay chooses to start Cheney's life off as he's arrested for a DUI on a dirt road, before moving quickly to underground in the White House as the 9/11 terror attacks take place.
It's here that Cheney's rise to power as the silent man becomes clear - he knows when to take an opportunity when it's presented.
McKay constructs a biopic which loops back and forth through Cheney's life with a vim and vigour that's initially compulsive, but ultimately settles into a degree of whiplash that keeps you engaged, but follows the non-linear approach to the story.
Bale goes method as Cheney, and ultimately settles somewhere in between his usual drawl and a Batman style growl for Cheney; but while much of his performance will be commented on because of the physicality, there's a lot going on in the eyes which gives plenty of insight into Cheney.
It has to be said McKay may let some bias against Cheney show, and there are definitely parallels drawn between worries over constitutional changes made then and potential for the current incumbent to do much the same, but Vice never loses some of the fire and outrage it's got bubbling away.
A completely irreverent credits scene 50 minutes in shows how McKay is determined to unsettle audiences, before further damning Cheney and his career choices.
Carell is impressive as Donald Rumsfeld early on, but fades into insignificance once the narrative settles on a tone. Adams impresses as Cheney's wife, proving the adage behind every man to be true, but she also brings some welcome subtlety to proceedings which ultimately end up outraging more as the film progresses.
There's a seething anger in Vice, a sign of contempt for those who ride roughshod over US politics and abuse the system to their own advantage - it's a story whose themes have been told time and time again, but McKay definitely brings his own agenda to proceedings; that's not to minimise the outrage, but when there are more restrained touches, Vice soars, even if it is aiming for awards.
If Blood and Truth were a Hollywood blockbuster, it'd be laughed out of the building for hitting every genre cliche it employs.
However, in the VR world, what Blood and Truth does is second to none, redefining what's expected of a first party product, and making the VR world an action movie arena. It's in the transplanting of the tropes and seeing how the VR's moulded to the genre that makes it so thrilling.
It may sound like hyperbole, and granted, some of its Move capabilities are limited, but the scope and ambition of Blood And Truth makes it a VR game for the ages, a disposably fun and frenetic take on the Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Move controllers ideology.
You are Ryan Marks, who's called back from Iraq when his father's killed. Thrust back into the London underground world, with a takeover threatening the family business, it's up to Ryan to spring into action and reclaim what his family is owed.
The plot's fairly incidental, a love letter to both gang warfare films and an extension of the London Heist which kicked off the first VR craze.
But what Blood and Truth does is create a FPS experience that's as adrenaline-filled as it is addictive.
It may occasionally struggle with some VR components (tracking goes a bit wild, and climbing ladders and scaling through ducts is trickier with controllers) but largely, Blood And Truth's commitment to putting you in the environment is where it succeeds.
Movement's limited, in that you move from one allocated spot to another, but while it's a direct path in some ways, its idea of being a shooting gallery seems to build on the success of Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.
But by placing you in the right environments and giving you a gun, as well as tools to get about, it's akin to the old school arcade shooters where you'd inhabit a game for a few hours, until the machine robbed you of all your cash.
Sometimes, the cliche is a bit too much to bear in Blood And Truth - some voicework is repetitive, villains are cardboard cutouts and shooting occasionally misses the mark.
However, those moments are met by moments which allow you to jump slow-mo out of a window during a mission, giving you the chance to look around as you leap; and moments like carrying on a shoot out while mixing DJ tracks from a sounddesk.
There's a lot to love in Blood and Truth, and while the game's cliches are what begins to wear it down as the experience continues, Blood and Truth's action movie moves and knowing winks to the genre are what will keep you coming back for more.
Developed by Avalanche Studios
Released by Bethesda
Platform: PS4
Imagine a first person shooter mashed up with the likes of Doom's hyperviolence, Borderlands' cartoony visuals and Mad Max's post-apocalyptic world.
That, in a nutshell, is what you can expect with the ultimately disposable Rage2, which offers fun for a time, but feels like a pick-up-put-down kind of gaming experience for those with ADHD.
In the shooter, you play a ranger, called Walker, who's the last of their kind, forced on a quest for revenge when a very bad thing happens. In a post-power vacuum, a group called the Authority has emerged to take the lead, and reigns supreme. As usual, it's up to you to take on the shackles of the Authority and smash them down.
It's not that Rage 2 is a bad game, in fact, it's kind of the opposite - simply dumb, easy to get involved with in short bursts thanks to its punkish dayglo aesthetics and its absurdities and one that's a time-suck of fun.
But it's a hollow and repetitive experience that proffers little else than standard shooter fare.
Carnage is crazy, shooting is fluid, and gunplay is deft as you weave your way through bandit houses, blowing or bashing them out of the way. The mutants in the wasteland look like they've come straight from a Keith Flint cosplay meeting via Mad Max. Their AI isn't particularly well-adjusted either making killing easy unless you're overwhelmed with numbers.
The wasteland's fairly empty as well, with a lack of much life out there; and while you do head quickly from destination to destination, its wide barren world does show (even if it's after an apocalypse).
Rage 2 doesn't induce much player Rage in many ways; it's accessible and disposable enough to get you through some gaming afternoons - just don't look to it to do anything more than that.
It's perhaps pertinent that Reitman's film about Senator Gary Hart (Jackman, dialling down his usual dazzling charisma) deals a lot with the so-called intrusion of the press rather than the actual scandal which subsumed the man.
Jackman is Hart, who after a failed campaign in 1984, comes back to try again. Entering the Democratic Presidential Nomination race as the clear front runner, Hart looks like he could be the change that's needed.
But backstage, in the journalism world, accusations begin to swirl ever more strongly of the possibility he's having an affair - and emboldened by a tip off to a local paper, the desire to hold him to account begins to grow stronger as the debate over to whether to ask him divides newsrooms.
It's an interesting discussion about where scrutiny ends and where intrusion begins, and certainly drawing from the source material that covers such a debate, Reitman's film feels more weighted to ethics than the actual drama of what's transpired.
But in some ways, it's also emboldened by a dawdling journey that takes it away from the norm.
Questions over Hart are never clearly answered, even though they're defined, and Jackman's downplaying of the senator certainly helps to create a murkiness and uncertainty over who's right or what actually happened. Reitman's smart enough to only hint at what transpired - and certainly with Paxton's turn as the mistress thrown to the lions, there's always a feeling that the scales are tipped against Hart. But it doesn't quite lend the film to the concept of must-see drama; more overly long set up piece.
However, Jackman plays it well; snapping with intensity as the degrees of arrogance within unfurl - and thanks to an unfussy direction from Reitman, the film's strength lies in its relationships, not its extra-marital ones.
Ethics certainly provoke interest, and while the film's less dramatic than you'd expect, it's still a slow-burning engager at times. JK Simmons delivers strength in a part that becomes less and less as the film plays out - the weariness of his face tells more than a blustering soliloquy could.
There are moments when characters and events feel side-lined but the aforementioned unfussy approach to the story lend it a thoughtful credence and quality of debate over intrusion that plays on the mind after it's finished.
The 14th annual Documentary Edge International Film Festival(Doc Edge) officially opened last night with Assholes: A Theory at Q Theatre. The festival runs in Auckland until 9th June, before heading to Wellington (13th – 23rd June) with a fantastic selection of inspiring and poignant documentaries. This evening at The Civic’s stunning Wintergarden, Doc Edge celebrated documentary excellence alongside local and international filmmakers as they announced the 2019 award winners.
Doc Edge is an Oscar-qualifying film festival and the winner of the Best NZ Short, NZ Feature, International Short and International Feature all qualify for consideration for the 2020 Academy Awards.
Call Me Intern, by filmmakers Leo David Hyde and Nathalie Berger took out Best NZ Feature and Best NZ Editing. The documentary gives a voice to the growing movement for intern rights across the globe. Another kiwi film, Camino Skies by filmmakers Fergus Grady and Noel Smyth also received two awards, for Best NZ Director and Best NZ Emerging Filmmaker, with their inspiring documentary following six strangers from NZ and Australia as they hope to overcome personal and physical trauma by taking on the Camino de Santiago walk.
Taking out the award for Best International Feature is Midnight Traveler, with the judges calling it “an unwaveringly brave and intensely urgent film”. The director Hassan Fazili was both filmmaker and protagonist, sharing an intimate insight into the treacherous journey of his refugee family fleeing Afghanistan, capturing moments of familial love, tension and humour amidst the hardship.
Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang won the Best International Director award for their film Our Time Machine. The documentary tells the story of a father and son as they confront their mortality through a visually stunning and haunting time-travel adventure.
Full list of Doc Edge Awards 2019 Winners: Images for winning documentaries available here.
New Zealand Competition – Feature Documentary Best New Zealand Feature: Call Me Intern – Cash prize of $8,000 from NZ On Air Special Mention: Marks of Mana Best New Zealand Director: Fergus Grady & Noel Smyth – Camino Skies Best New Zealand Emerging Filmmaker: Fergus Grady & Noel Smyth – Camino Skies - Cash prize of $1,000 from Department of Post Best New Zealand Editing: Call Me Intern Best New Zealand Cinematography: Marks of Mana
New Zealand Competition – Short Documentary Best New Zealand Short: Humans - Cash prize of $2,000 from NZ On Air Special Mention: The Breath Connection
International Competition – Feature Documentary Best International Feature: Midnight Traveler - Cash prize of $3,500 from Panasonic Special Mention: On Her Shoulders Special Mention: Ghost Fleet Best International Director: S. Leo Chiang & Yang Sun – Our Time Machine
International Competition – Short Documentary Best Short: Beneath the Ink - Cash prize of $1,500 from Panasonic Special Mention: Again/Noch Einmal
Doc Edge Superhero: Heddy Honigmann
Festival Category Winners All In The Family: Our Time Machine Around the World in 8 Films: American Factory Art Attack: Megalodemocrat: The Public Art of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Best of Fest: Midnight Traveler Crime & Conspiracy: Sea of Shadows Fearless: On Her Shoulders Future Watch: Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain
Almost four decades after he drew first blood, Sylvester Stallone is back as one of the greatest action heroes of all time, John Rambo. Now, Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission. A deadly journey of vengeance, RAMBO: LAST BLOOD marks the last chapter of the legendary series.
RAMBO: LAST BLOOD is directed by Adrian Grunberg and stars Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adrianna Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim aka Yenah Han, Joaquin Cosio, and Oscar Jaenada.
RAMBO: LAST BLOOD releases in New Zealand in theatres on September 19, 2019.
