Win Captain Marvel on Blu Ray

Win Captain Marvel on Blu Ray

THE BARRIER-BLASTING, INTERGALACTIC ORIGIN STORY THAT GOES 
HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER

MARVEL STUDIOS’
“CAPTAIN MARVEL”
LANDS IN BLU-RAY™ COLLECTIONS JUNE 19

Extensive extras explore the universe’s most powerful hero and future Avenger, Nick Fury’s influence on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fan-favorite Goose the Cat, deleted scenes, gag reel, commentary and much more!

The spectacular, 1990s-era Super Hero adventure, which electrified and inspired audiences worldwide and surpassed $1 billion in ticket sales, lands on DVD, Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD™ June 19.

Arriving home with extensive line-up of extras detailing the development of this highly anticipated addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), “Captain Marvel” includes Featurettes that highlight the transformative journey of Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) and her character’s impact on audiences around the globe; the influence of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) on significant events within the MCU; the perfect pairing of directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck; the ongoing conflict between the Skrulls and the Kree; and the raw talent behind the fetching feline named Goose. Viewers also gain access to six deleted scenes, director commentary, a gag reel loaded with funnies, flubs and Flerkens, and never-before-seen concept art and production photography. 

Starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, you can win a copy of Marvel's Captain Marvel!

All you have to do is email your details and the word MARVEL!

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

Competition closes 28th June.

Men in Black: International: Film Review

Men in Black: International: Film Review

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, Rafe Spall, Emma Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani
Director: F Gary Gray

It's easy to forget the Men In Black series was a franchise of goofy aliens versus straight laced G-men, dour faced, suited and booted.

Yet the original film with Will Smith fast talking his way into stone-faced Tommy Lee Jones' world was a blast of family entertainment, propped up with a peppy rap song that lived on for years.

The latest, Men in Black International, is the final nail in the franchise coffin, a film that should neuralise its entire audience after its car-sponsored credits have ended. It would be the only decent thing to do.

Hemsworth and Neeson are the original Men in Black, H and T, who back in 2016, saved the world by ridding it of the threat of the Hive atop the Eiffel Tower. Two decades earlier Tessa Thompson's science-smart and ferociously intelligent Molly had a run-in with the MIBs and has been determined to join their ranks, but has been rebuffed repeatedly.

When Molly and H cross paths, they're put on a mission to investigate whether MIB's been infiltrated, and once again, save the world.

The depressing thing about Men in Black International is that the potential's so inherently there.

Both Thompson and Hemsworth have a good rapport, as Thor and Valkyrie can attest. Yet, a weak script, with twists that can be seen coming from literally the opening minutes do nothing to exploit their chemistry, and in fact, choke it in a cloud of lame weak gags that fall flat.

Once again, the script lazily points to Hemsworth's necessity to derobe, and while an Avengers-inspired gag is amusing, its weak execution sees it fall flat. Hemsworth's done comedy well, as Ghostbusters can prove, but essentially, it's a boorish himbo in parts that outstays its welcome long before 15 minutes is up.

Tessa Thompson is more successful, giving her Agent M a more rounded feel, even if she spends most of the film seeking validation from a male. (Seriously, this film with its female needing approval and two middle Eastern villains feels like a queasy throwback at times.) And Emma Thompson's snarky boss is wasted in a book-ending turn that feels like it could have had the spark and spunk the script so desperately needed.

While Men in Black International is a family film, its commitment to the kids comes in the form of Kumail Nanjiani's Pawny, a CGI character that irritates initially, but is soon saddled with the lion's share of the and best lines. To be honest though, he's no Frank, and pales weakly in comparison.

Ultimately, at a sagging two hours, the film doesn't proffer nearly enough - it may be positioned as a comedy action movie, but it offers up little enough of either, and is a depressing end to the franchise that began with such bluster 22 years ago.

When it goes goofy (as it does towards the end) and cuts loose with its script, Men in Black International offers up a good reason to exist. Sadly, it's too late in the piece, and as the depressing Lexus car product placement shots pile up, the feeling is one of utter despair, and wasted opportunity.

Crash Team Nitro Fuelled post release content plans

Crash Team Nitro Fuelled post release content plans

CRASH TEAM RACING NITRO-FUELED KEEPS FOOT ON THE GAS POST-LAUNCH WITH FREE SEASONAL CONTENT FOR ALL PURCHASERS

Grand Prix delivers new tracks, characters, items, and challenges to all owners

Fans will have access to even more content after launch from other beloved games

June 12, 2019— Crossing the finish line in Crash™ Team Racing Nitro-Fueled doesn’t mean the Bandicoot has sung! Today, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and lead developer Beenox announced that for the first time ever, purchasers of the remastered game will be able to take part in free bonus seasonal content with its Grand Prix in-game offerings post launch. Giving gamers another reason to play, the first Grand Prix will kick off on July 4, 2019 in ANZ, and will include a new track for all players, unlockable characters, karts and various customisation items.

Today, in a first-look of CTR TV, hosts Chick and Stew revealed all the fun awaiting players in the Grand Prix. They also revealed that fans will get a brand-new track with each Grand Prix. The first track is called Twilight Tour, which takes players on an epic journey by day and night  through the middle east. That’s not all, Chick and Stew also spilled the news that Tawna will in fact be coming to the CTR universe, as an earnable character in the first Grand Prix. There will be new items and characters dropped into the game’s Pit Stop rotation each Grand Prix, including members of the Nitro Squad in the first season (formerly known as the Trophy Girls). These racers come from regions around the world and are ready to represent their countries with speed and strength! Chick and Stew also let fans know about the content they can expect in the two following Grand Prix Seasons, including the most anticipated event of the century…Spyro’s induction to CTR!

Additionally, in the South Lobby of the Los Angeles Convention Center at E3 (June 11-13), show attendees can test drive Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Passersby will be among the first in the world to race on remastered Crash Team Racing tracks: Tiny’s Arena and Hot Air Skyway and reimagined Crash™ Nitro Kart tracks: Jungle Boogie and Thunderstruck.

“Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled was designed to deliver fun in unexpected and exciting ways.  The Grand Prix does that by giving players a reason to fall in love with the game over and over again,” said Thomas Wilson, Co-Studio Head at Beenox. “Crash Team Racing was an iconic game in the ‘90s that influenced how gamers played kart racer games, and we’re thrilled to continue that tradition with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled by introducing new content to players in ways they haven’t imagined yet— the race definitely isn’t over once you cross the finish line.”

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled features all the remastered tracks, characters and modes from the original CTR game, and all the reimagined tracks from the original CNK game -- all playable in stunning HD!  In addition to this, with the in-game Pit Stop and the Grand Prix seasons, players will be able to race with their earned karts and characters from CNK, as well as content inspired by Crash Tag Team Racing to get the best of the Crash racing universe! Get ready to trick out your ride, complete N. sane battles, get lost in the adventure mode, and race against your friends or frenemies in online multiplayer and more. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled launches on June 21, 2019, and will be available for the PlayStation® 4, PlayStation® 4 Pro, Nintendo Switch™, and the family of Xbox One devices from Microsoft, including the Xbox One X.  Racers that want to start revving their engines can pre-order both Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and the Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - Nitros Oxide Edition now.   Watch the official trailer [here]. More information about Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled can be found at www.crashbandicoot.com/crashteamracing. Fans are also invited to follow Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as subscribe to the YouTube channel at YouTube.com/crashbandicoot.

Call of Duty: Mobile has landed in New Zealand!

Call of Duty: Mobile has landed in New Zealand!

Call of Duty: Mobile is the definitive first-person action experience that delivers fan-favourite maps, modes, weapons and characters from across Call of Duty for the first time on mobile.

We’re bringing together the most beloved maps, competitive modes, familiar characters and signature weapons from across this storied franchise, including Black Ops and Modern Warfare, into one epic game.

The game:

• Call of Duty: Mobile is free-to-play, on both Android and iOS coming soon

• Developed by Tencent’s award-winning Timi studio, who has an incredible track record

of creating triple-A titles on mobile

• Fan-favourite maps, modes, characters and more from iconic Call of Duty series like

Black Ops and Modern Warfare series, all together in one mobile game

o Fluid, visceral combat fans of the franchise know and love

o The ability to test your skills against players all around the world

Launch date:

• Call of Duty: Mobile will be soft launching in Beta form in select territories now

• Official worldwide launch date to be announced soon

Wild Rose: Film Review

Wild Rose: Film Review

Cast: Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okonedo
Director: Tom Harper

You've seen Wild Rose before.

Its underdog tale of someone hoping to fulfill a dream against all the odds is not a new one. In fact, it's a cinematic staple, one as inherent in the multiplex as popcorn, phone users and people talking.

And yet, in Jessie Buckley and Julie Walters' hands, this film emerges from the distinct shadow of familiarity to be an emotional piece, that pivots midway through into something that's more about what it takes to get to where you should be.

Buckley is Rose-Lynn, a Glasgow fire-cracker, a love of country music burrowed deep under her ginger bangs and in the white cowboy boots she's never out of. Just released from a 12 month stint in jail, Rose is determined to get to Nashville to realise her dream of becoming a singer.

But there are two things standing in her way - the first is an electronic tag, and the second is her kids, which she feels are holding her back, and who've been thrust upon their grandma (Walters, in fine honest form) during her incarceration.

So, forced into taking a cleaning job with local stay-at-home businesswoman Susanna (Okonedo, benevolent, but underwritten and under-used), Rose-Lynn tries to cope with the reality of life, and the pursuit of a dream...

Wild Rose is a conventional film that veers nicely into non-conventional territory when you're about to write it off.

Anchored by a performance from Buckley that's as honest as it is earnest, Wild Rose overcomes some of its narrative flaws because of its lead. It helps that the well-written rounded take on the cliche is given more of a life thanks to Buckley's mix of vulnerability and hard-as-nails approach, which, to be frank, borders on the selfish, making her a hard case to cheer for.

And yet, in moments between Buckley and Walters, Wild Rose's true raison d'etre comes to the fore - a reconnecting of family, of hopes and dreams, of life and reality, and of generations wanting the best for their next. There are moments of rare honesty in Rose, a mother who doesn't yet want to be, but who is, and in Walters, a mother who hasn't got what's she wanted in her daughter.

It's here that Wild Rose soars, in among its country soundtrack, in its examination of two women orbiting each other and clashing. While Rose's interactions with Susanna seem oddly undercooked and character intentions lost in a fog of under-writing, her interactions with her mother are deep, intense and honest.

The rebel at Wild Rose's heart may hold dear a country adage of "three chords and the truth", but the honest truth is this tried-and-tested formula film is really about the relationships between women, rather than a simple second shot at glory film - and for that, it deserves to be shouted with as much gusto as Rose-Lynn musters behind the microphone on stage.

Sometimes Always Never: Film Review

Sometimes Always Never: Film Review

Cast: Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, Alice Lowe
Director: Carl Hunter

Irritatingly quirky to start off before quickly cementing itself as something like a cross between Waiting for Godot and a rumination on fathers and sons, Sometimes Always Never is a low key delight.

Nighy plays tailor Alan, who starts the film by meeting up with his son Peter (a downbeat Riley) and clearly trying to repair their relationship. (The reasons why are too spoilery to discuss here, and while it's not a massive plot point, part of the vicarious thrill of Sometimes Always Never is seeing the tiny details teased out.)

When Alan moves in with Peter, the strained bond is pushed further, but as events transpire, the truth behind it all becomes apparent...

As mentioned, the initial quirk of Sometimes Always Never greatly irritates, as if director Hunter has nothing else to lean on, but what happens is that the combination of Nighy and Riley begins to tease something out that's utterly poignant, charmingly unexpected and utterly and unequivocally moving.

Dry in extremis, the delight comes in the wordplay (in more ways than one) and the subtle nuances of the relationship between father and son, entrenched as it is in the English ways of relationships, where less is said than should be.

Nighy and Riley excel in this piece which is effectively about communication, the lack thereof and what goes unsaid in relationships. It's surprisingly affecting in its little moments as Hunter assembles the pieces on the chess board of this bond, using drained colour palettes and terrible interior decor to illustrate various moments in their lives.

There's an intrinsically sad whimsical feeling to Sometimes Always Never, but it manages to leave you feeling uplifted as it skirts around David Lynch levels of obtuseness.

Sometimes Always Never is, without a doubt, one of the low-key highlights of the cinematic year.

The Secret Life of Pets 2: Film Review

The Secret Life of Pets 2: Film Review

Vocal cast: Patton Oswalt, Tiffany Hadish, Kevin Hart, Eric Stonestreet, Harrison Ford, Jenny Slate
Director: Bryan Lynch

Pleasantly enjoyable whilst it's on, but forgettable the moment it's ended, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is an animation which does its zany job well and will entertain - as is to be expected of the Illumination stable.

The sequel to the peek-behind-the-curtain-to-see-what-our-pets-do-all-day takes its cue from a treatise more about parenting.

Faithful terrier Max (Oswalt, in laconic form) finds his life changed when his owner Katie meets and falls for someone before having a child. When the youngster shows, Max is initially reticent and hostile, but soon bonds with him before worrying about the day-to-day life he's now part of.

Meanwhile, Snowball the rabbit (Hart, in usual frenetic form) is now convinced he's a superhero, and is recruited by Haddish's pooch Daisy to help rescue a tiger, imprisoned in a circus.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 feels like a series of moments and mini-sequences strung together throughout, rather than a fully cohesive whole. It gels at the last minute, but it's a long journey to get to some semblance of a narrative.

That said, the journey to get there is pleasantly amusing, with sight gags and silliness the order of the day.

There's an emotional core for Max, and some learnings for youngsters in the audience about trusting yourself (Ford's gruff farm dog Rooster is nicely positioned, a mix of tough exterior and necessary emotional coldness) and for parents to trust their judgements as well.

Disparate threads resolve in a way that feels light, rather than subtle and nuanced, but frankly, kids in the audience won't care as there's enough to amuse, and adults won't mind as the film zips along at a pace that's both episodic and frantic.

Animation purists will find nothing new here, both in terms of visuals or also in terms of deeper meanings, but there's a passing joy to be had with The Secret Life of Pets 2 that renders this trip to the cinema something worthwhile while it passes, but fleeting the moment it's over.