Fighting With My Family: DVD Review

Fighting With My Family: DVD Review

Much like a wrestling match itself, Fighting With My Family is a crowd-pleasing piece of performance, that occasionally flounders on the ropes, but ultimately wins with a KO.

Based on the true story of Saraya-Jade Bevis (aka Paige), this sports underdog yarn boasts all the feels and heart of your typical sporting movie.

Pugh and Lowden are sister and brother, Saraya and Zak, whose UK lives have been shaped permanently by wrestling, as they've been brought up by their parents (Frost and Headey, both amiable and amusing, but grounded and real), who are wrestling-obsessed.

When the duo get a chance to try out for the WWE in the US under Vince Vaughn's talent scout , not everything goes to plan...and could potentially open up a chasm between the family.

Fighting With My Family is essentially a Christmas movie, with Dwayne Johnson playing Fairy Godfather.

Its beats are familiar, and its genre tropes are all ticked off as it powers through its running time.

And yet, it's more than watchable fare that has a gooey heart to show, as well as an inspiring story of girl Paige's rise to the top. (Pertinent in these times, obviously).

It helps that Pugh and Lowden make a good on screen brother and sister, with Lowden dealing well with a complex and realistic arc as events transpire; he manages to elevate the cliches into something that's eminently identifiable, and gives his arc of finding your place in the world a fresh feel despite its hoary familiarity.

Equally, Pugh builds on promise demonstrated in the likes of Lady MacBeth to show a tough, but occasionally vulnerable, woman trying to make her way in a man's world.

Merchant's script gives the lion's share of the one-liners to Frost, who delivers them with the usual aplomb, and to crowd-pleasing knockout effect. But the script's also smart enough to occasionally pull the rug from under you, and deft writing helps sell some of the more improbable edges.

While Merchant's directing is fairly formulaic, he does give the wrestling both at the WWE and in the UK heartland a sense of place, scale and nuance that's commendable.

Ultimately, Fighting With My Family is a nicely packaged piece about family as well as hopes and dreams. It's a knockout piece of fun that delivers where it should and is unashamedly happy to be feelgood where it counts. 

Films to watch out for at the 2019 New Zealand International Film Festival

Films to watch out for at the 2019 New Zealand International Film Festival

Every year, the phrase "cinematic smorgasbord" is bandied about, but every year, the choice is close to immaculate.

The 51st annual festival is no exception, bringing as much delight to cinephiles as it does distress by providing yet another scheduling frenzy.

Don't look to the experts to guide you on what's best to see - sometimes, it's a case of throwing a pin in the air, and seeing where in the programme schedule it lands.

These are the best moments of the festival - the unexpected joy of an unplanned screening.

But if you have to take some solace in what others think, these pointers may help.

2040 is the most optimistic film of the festival.

That Sugar Film's Damon Gameau (who'll be in NZ for the festival) decides to turn the spotlight on the planet and its future in a 90 minute piece of positive propaganda that zips by.

Centring around what he believes would work best for his daughter Velvet for the state of the planet, Gameau explores "fact-based dreaming" to see schemes from around the world that could help.

From grid-sharing in Bangladesh to autonomous cars, Gameau may inspire others, but he'll definitely frustrate some who are after some of the more political reasons why these can't be put in place, and why dreaming can only get us so far.

But the guarantee is that you'll leave the cinema galvanised and positive, rather than than terrified at what destruction your coffee cup will wreak.

Terrifying satirist Chris Morris is back with The Day Shall Come, a film that will be seen regardless by fans of his.

Four Lions a few festivals back brought raucous laughter with its clueless bunch of English jihadi, but in among the inept, real pathos lay, delivering a movie that worked on many levels.

Early word is that the absurd is present again in The Day Shall Come, and that the war on terror will never look the same.

Big events are what the NZIFF is known for - and you can't go bigger than Apollo 11 on the mighty Civic screen.

50 years on from the lunar landing, it's fortuitous the festival falls at the same time. However, conspiracy theorists would probably beg to differ....

Equally, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now Final Cut should be thunderous too, with the three hour vision of the Vietnam film likely to thrill as much as tantalise.

Low key is also good for the festival - and Hail Satan?'s mix of high level trolling and examination of America's schisms over intolerance for other ideas gives the doco a kind of quirky feel that's hard to shake.

But it does expose the intolerances which have festered greatly within the US, as well as showing an organisation perceived as devilish, but which still has enough community nous to volunteer to clean a stretch of beach for a year. It exposes the paradigms, and does so playfully.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening looks promising too.

A short doco about African Americans in Alabama, the examination of community promises much, and given there was 1300 hours of footage to cull down, 76 minutes seems rich enough pasture to dwell in.

These are just a handful of what's out there - others like In Fabric, High Life, Come To Daddy all command your attention as well.

The New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off in Auckland on July 17. For more, go to nziff.co.nz

Pet Sematary: Blu Ray Review

Pet Sematary: Blu Ray Review

The 2019 remake of Pet Sematary knows what it wants to do.

But unfortunately, in parts, its weaker characters and wider film squanders some of the chance of doing it so.

Clarke and Seimetz play Louis and Rachel Creed, parents who've relocated to the apparently idyllic countryside for an easier life, and to spend time with their young family.

However, when their cat Church is killed by a passing truck, Louis finds an offer of a burial from neighbour Judd (Lithgow, in venerable and stoic form) too irresistible to refuse....and before they know it, their world's changed in ways they could never have imagined.

Pet Sematary may have big themes such as dealing with death and the wider effects of grief, but it squanders most of the well-done earlier edges in favour of traditional jump scares, brooding and foreboding  and creepy edges.

The final result is that parts of the plot creak with the silliness that's clearly been imbued in them by the original pulpy schlocky page turner from Stephen King. And while parts of the movie deviate from the book, the 2019 version is more a portmanteau of jump scares and creepy scenes, rather than a coherently paced story.

That's not to say when they come, the jump scenes don't work, but towards the back half of the film, the scares border on the silly rather than the horrific and sequences which should be terrifying end up more laughable than anything.
Pet Sematary follows the Stephen King writing MO - it has a great set up, but the final portion falls over under either close scrutiny or the weight of what it's been set up for. It's not that the 2019 version isn't unentertaining enough, it's just that paper-thin characters with largely underexplored themes don't create enough of an engaging finale, and wider themes are used solely as a lazy crutch for scares.

Ultimately, the 2019 Pet Sematary is to be lauded for some initial creepiness, and some unnerving moments that catch you off guard. It's just that in the final wash, the schlock overwhelms the B-movie edges and drowns it in a madness that's hard to shake. 

Disney Mulan trailer first look

Disney Mulan trailer first look

Epic Tale of Legendary Chinese Warrior Directed by Niki Caro

Features a Celebrated International Cast, Including

Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee with Gong Li and Jet Li

The teaser trailer and poster for Disney’s “Mulan” are here! Please check them out and share with your readers. The epic tale of a fearless young woman who risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known, opens in NZ cinemas in March, 2020.

When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation…and a proud father. “Mulan” features a celebrated international cast that includes: Yifei Liu as Mulan; Donnie Yen as Commander Tung; Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan; Yoson An as Cheng Honghui; with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor. The film is directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek based on the narrative poem “The Ballad of Mulan.”

For more information on “Mulan,” follow us on:

Instagram: disneyaunz

Facebook: WaltDisneyStudiosAUNZ

Hashtag: #Mulan

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon - Teaser Trailer

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon - Teaser Trailer

Shaun the Sheep’s highly anticipated return to the big screen will herald the arrival of a mystery visitor from far across the galaxy…

…an impish and adorable alien called LU-LA who crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun soon sees an opportunity for alien-powered fun and adventure as he sets off on a mission to shepherd LU-LA home.

Her magical alien powers, irrepressible mischief and galactic sized burps – showcased in today’s trailer - soon have the flock enchanted.  

Can Shaun and the flock avert Farmageddon on Mossy Bottom Farm before it’s too late?

“LAZY” is written by Justin Hayward-Young, Yoann Intonti, Timothy Lanham, Freddie Cowan, Arni Hjorvar Arnason,and Cole M. Greif-Neil. Published by Universal Music Publishing Ltd, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd, Beggars Music Publishing Ltd. Produced and mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat. Recorded The Pool Studios, London and Sarm Music Village Studios, London

SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON continues the production partnership with AARDMAN and STUDIOCANAL following the success of SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak, which grossed $106 million worldwide and Nick Park’s prehistoric comedy adventure, EARLY MAN. STUDIOCANAL is financing and will distribute in its own territories, the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand in Autumn 2019.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled Grand Prix

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled Grand Prix

Get Ready to Floor It – Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled’s Grand Prix Has Arrived!

Crash™ Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has officially launched and is showing no signs of slowing down. Currently rated an 80+ on Metacritic and GameRankings, Beenox’s remastered experience has fans all around the world revving up their engines. And, starting this week, the race continues with the release of the game’s first ever Grand Prix!

From now, all Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled players that purchased the game will get the first Grand Prix* season called Nitro Tour pushed to their consoles for free – which gives fans more game to love, including a brand-new track, Twilight Tour, to conquer.

Twilight Tour will take players on an epic ride through a middle east-inspired track! Players will enjoy racing through the track that shifts from day to night during gameplay. What’s more, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled players will be able to compete in Grand Prix challenges* and fuel up their “Nitro Gauge” (XP) with Nitro points, to earn rewards, such as a new character (Tawna), new character skins, new karts, and new kart customisation items.

Also, as part of the content being offered during the Nitro Tour Grand Prix, the in-game Pit Stop is being updated with new characters, skins, karts, and kart customisation items.  Players can use the Wumpa Coins* that they earn by playing the game to unlock additional cool items, such as the Nitro Squad as playable characters for the first time. Formerly known as the Trophy Girls in the original CTR, the Nitro Squad have come to compete as some of the fiercest racers around!

For more information, players can head over to CTR TV, the in-game news channel where hosts Chick and Stew revealed some of the fun awaiting players in the Grand Prix and more.

*Requires players to be connected to the internet.

KNIVES OUT First Trailer & Teaser Poster

KNIVES OUT First Trailer & Teaser Poster

KNIVES OUT WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU THE FIRST TRAILER AND TEASER POSTER FOR OUR UPCOMING "WHODUNNIT" CRIME/DRAMA FILM KNIVES OUT IN NZ CINEMAS NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Synopsis: Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect.   When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, KNIVES OUT is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.

Arctic: DVD Review

Arctic: DVD Review

Mixing elements of All Is Lost, The Revenant, 127 Hours and every other wilderness survival tale you've seen, director Joe Penna's Arctic benefits from a minimalist turn from Mads Mikkelsen and maximum use of the snowy world around him.

We join Mikkelsen's unnamed man Overgard atop a snowy peak, as he appears to be digging a trench. 

But as Penna's camera pulls back, the reveal is that of an SOS carved into the ground.

With time spent on there unknown, but with Mikkelsen's Overgard clearly ensconced in the icy peaks for a while, Arctic wastes no time in showcasing the climate and the measured approach of the leading man.

With no soundtrack to note initially, and with the sound of the wind howling, Mikkelsen's lost-in-the-snow man spends his time handcranking a beacon, hoping for a hit. But it doesn't turn out as he'd expect.

To say little happens in the sparse Arctic is perhaps an understatement.

But with Mikkelsen throwing everything into the performance, and when it becomes clear that it's not just him to consider, Arctic ramps up into a what would you do approach that's as icy as the climate surrounding it.

As Mikkelsen rages against the elements, throwing frustration to the wind only in the worst incidents and leading you to empathise with him for it, it becomes a question of who's keeping who alive in this, as he wrestles with more than just the harshness of the land but the potential futility of what he's doing.

It's a classic case of self-survival and the fight against the odds - a "we'll be fine" versus "you've got to be kidding me" and Mikkelsen channels it well, using silence for maximum effect and frustration sparingly.

Arctic may be destined for a debate over its ending (a la All is Lost), but the tension throughout, while not exactly palpable, is present, leading you to be kept in its icy grip.

Details don't need to be added in, back story doesn't need to be fleshed out and everything is garnered only from what's on screen - it's a compelling way to burrow in to the survival story and while Arctic may not be for everyone, given its pace, as a piece of survivalist cinema, it more than earns its place in the genre. 

Us: Blu Ray Review

Us: Blu Ray Review

Us emerges from the shadow of the success of Get Out, and with the weight of crippling expectation as well.

Jordan Peele's debut was a sweeping takedown of America and the societal oppression of African Americans.

For his sophomore effort, Peele's slightly sidelined some of the more overtly racial elements in favour of a more direct horror film that mixes elements of The Twilight Zone (the reboot of which he's helping helm) and doppelganger fears the likes of which haven't been seen since Twin Peaks.

Nyong'o stars as Adelaide, who in 1986, as a child was changed after a visit to a Santa Cruz funhouse at the beach. When she, along with her husband (Duke, the film's necessary and realistic comic relief) and son and daughter returns, the family finds themselves being stalked by four people who look exactly like them...

Espousing an uneasy atmosphere, dousing the whole thing in tension and pumping up the intrigue works well for the large part of Us, with Peele's eye for disorienting shots and moments of fear delivering some memorable big screen imagery.

While the story doesn't quite have as many of the multi-levelled nuances of Get Out, the mystery rides for as long as it can, before being saddled with a necessary exposition-heavy final act. But the disorienting works well throughout, with most of the guessing likely to fall into the "wrong" category even with seasoned genre veterans.

What does emerge from Us is something that has a voice to speak to society, but is hardly the film's driving raison d'etre. A multi-layered mystery, that in turns relies on horror for its propulsion, Peele's approach to the cinema of unease and discord is to be saluted.

Atmospherics help build the feeling of dread and suspense, but it's also thanks to a towering performance from Nyong'o that this smart film gets its human edge. Anchoring the insidious home invasion horror to the more ambitious swerves of the film in the final run, Nyong'o's skill and flair are evident from the get go, summoning two different characters with ease.

Us may riff on the likes of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Invaders from Mars's societal unease that we're being replaced, but its commitment throughout is to psychological edge-of-your-seat fare.

That it achieves that with such ease is a commendation for Peele, and even if the final act's reveals seem a little garbled and rushed with a tantalising hint of a wider mythology to be fleshed out, the overall effect is still a contemplative and relative gut punch that's well-worth sitting through. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Film Review

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Film Review

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau
Director: Jon Watts

More a film about fallout and fallen heroes, as well as father figures, Spider-Man: Far From Home thwips and zips around Europe as it unleashes the concluding picture in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Peter Parker (Holland, lithe and offering depth in whatever's commanded of him) is grieving the loss of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame and fielding calls to become the next Iron Man.

With the world reeling from the replacement of everyone who disappeared from Thanos' snap, and the social problems it poses, Parker just wants to concentrate on being a teen, go on holiday and tell MJ (Zendaya, nicely awkward and giving some resonance to their relationship) how he feels.

But when a new threat emerges, Nick Fury (a petulant and off-key Jackson) is determined to get Spider-Man to man up - however, even with the arrival of Jake Gyllenhaal's fatherly Quentin Blake (aka Mysterio), Parker has to deal once again with the fact that with great power, comes great responsibility.

While Spider-Man: Far From Home will proffer little surprises to those well-versed with their Spider-lore, what Watts and the team does is provide a wrap up capper that leans on the humour, builds on the heart and goes heavy on the action when it's needed.

The tone feels right for Spider-Man, and while the relationship between Peter and Jacob Batalon's Ned is sidelined when it sparkled in Homecoming, Far From Home is more interested in giving Parker surrogate father figure options to replace Stark's cold hard mentoring.

From Favreau's Happy via Jackson's sharp Fury to Gyllenhaal's soft and open-to-listening Blake, and taking in Parker's interactions with MJ as he struggles to say what matters, the human touches are welcome ones, as the film zips around its European settings before ending with an action-packed London finale that shows the CGI off to its highest capabilities. It's these moments which help Spider-Man: Far From Home soar to the heights it's trying to achieve.

Deftly being thrown around the screen, and leaping where necessary and pratfalling when required, Tom Holland's take on Parker now feels essential, both in the context of Spider-Man and in returning him to more high school related woes as he juggles his conscience and his desire to be normal.

The CGI shows no signs of creaking as the screen occasionally overfills with the action - something the biggest screen is required for. Some nightmarish scenes offer the kind of head trips last experienced by Doctor Strange, but never lose their intimate scope and subject in the mix as the film deftly dances around people's beliefs.

In many ways, Spider-Man: Far From Home is a fairly disposable, but supremely enjoyable piece of superhero fare.

It proffers an alternative to the heavy-laced edges of Avengers: Endgame and the doom-laden films it's led up to, but never loses sight of its place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It may conclude in the usual fashion with the expected CGI carnage, but thanks to the work done by Holland, it feels like it's light and lithe on its feet, a web-slinger that embraces its canon and identity but isn't afraid to play fast and loose with expectations.

(Oh, and it scores extra points for embracing one of the best parts of last year's Spider-Man PS4 game.)

King of Thieves: DVD Review

King of Thieves: DVD Review

As much a film about the fallout of a heist, than the execution thereof, the based-on-a-true-story King Of Thieves feels like a proposition that was better on the drawing board than on the screen.

Michael Caine is 77 year old widower Brian Reader, a former criminal who's urged by his wife to leave it all behind before her death. However, finding that there's nothing to live for, Reader pulls together a crew of former crims after he's approached by Basil (Daredevil star Cox) with a plan to rob the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit....

The thing with King Of Thieves is that it all unfurls in such a pedestrian way.

Underscored by scenes of jazzy music and digital cuts and quick cuts, the film's initially all about the subterfuge rather than anything else. It's not exactly an OAP version of the Ocean's Eleven series, but at times, it comes pretty close, thanks to a combination of one-note characters and a lack of real tension.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the back half of the film where it literally becomes about the audience watching cops listening to bugged conversations. Any sense of suspense dissipates at this stage as the big band music strikes up and the inevitable tears and fractures open up within the group.

A series of swipes at older people and their quirks seem a little more unfair towards the end and the characters simply end up shouting at each other, but Reader's earlier mournful tone as he reflects on his life is given nuanced life by Caine.

Most interestingly, Broadbent shows a crueller side oft kept buried and really plays against type - the rest of the crew are underwritten and do what they can with one-note performances. No more so than Cox whose enigma is clearly due to his character arc rather than writing (to say more is to spoil).

The one directorial flourish that Marsh brings to the table is an end sequence which displays the likes of Caine and Winstone from previous films and is a clever way to showcase their former worth.

Elsewhere, King Of Thieves may have its eye on diamonds as its central theme, but this ain't no shiner at all - it's dulled by the execution and what promised to be something different and cater to an older audience emerges as a rote formulaic and dull film that fizzles rather than sizzles. 

Five Feet Apart: DVD Review

Five Feet Apart: DVD Review

At times, struggling to justify itself as anything other than an option to sell a MOR soundtrack, Five Feet Apart's particular brand of sick lit is to be lauded for one simple thing - Haley Lu Richardson.

She plays Stella, an OCD Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, who lives in a hospital ward, and suffers from guilt. Also on the ward is Will (Riverdale's Sprouse) a fellow sufferer who's trialling new drugs to see if he can be cured.

But the two grow an inseparable bond, despite initially niggling each other and despite warnings to stay apart as otherwise it could kill them...

Less Fault In Their Stars, more TV soapy medical drama, Five Feet Apart knows exactly what it wants to do - and to be fair, does it admirably enough.

Every dramatic moment and trope of the genre is ticked off as the aching star-cross lovers' duo form their bond from their initial bickering through to their inevitable clash against the authorities. And every moment is sequenced by a soundtrack aimed at amplifying their aching and intensifying the brooding looks between the duo.

Sprouse is fine; he's required to do little except look out from under his hair as he ploughs the vulenrable-yet-caring road laid out for him. But the film's power lies in Haley Lu Richardson, whose expressiveness and open-approach to an at times expository laden "This is what Cystic Fibrosis is" gives the film a kind of heart that it needs as it dives headlong through its overlong and obviously cliched execution.

Baldoni does little behind the camera to make this an essential young adult entrant into the pantheon of the sick-lit genre, but thankfully Richardson's performance guides you along the narrative bumps and cliched melodramatic stumbles as they happen.

Five Feet Apart will be destined to be loved by some teens, and there is a worry that at times the film does over-simplify the complexities of the illness, but it does an admirable job of raising awareness. 

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled: PS4 Review

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled: PS4 Review

Released by Activision
Platform: PS4

The thirst for nostalgia continues with Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, another remaster of the Bandicoot's trademark bran of cartoon insanity.

The original kart games were where Crash Bandicoot started to lose me, preferring as I did the narrative driven platform-based shenanigans which tested my button pressing, rather than my ability to read a race track.

That's not to say that Crash Bash and Crash Team Racing weren't iconic Naughty Dog properties, merely tastes lay elsewhere.

However, Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled is a karting fanboy's dream.

The remastered game fires on all cylinders as it dons a new coat of paint, and offers a slick, glitch-free blast around the tracks.

The one downside is the inordinate amount of time the game's loading screens take, compared to the amount of time you play on the track. It's almost as if the celebrations you're expected to have between each race will be enough to occupy gaming minds - well, that's not the case.

Much like the Crash Bandicoot remake last year, the game's difficulty settings will prove controversial too, with Medium being a chasm away from Easy in terms of being able to win. Easy is a breeze round the tracks; Medium, much less so.

The game's MO is the same as it always was - hurtle around the track, grab power ups, knock your opponents out of the way, and surge to victory.

From adventure mode where you're the sole player to online multiplayer, there's more fun to be had in the social elements of Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, as the racing is better when you feel like there are actual stakes.

Yet, at the end of the day, it has to be said, very occasionally, this does just feel like a "Pick up, play, put it down, forget it" kind of game - underneath the slick look and the stellar graphics, the nostalgia's only going to get you so far.

But when the quality is this good, maybe you can forgive the fact that most gamers will be playing the same game they played in their youth, and recapturing the euphoric highs you had at the time.

Win a double pass to see Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home in cinemas

Win a double pass to see Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home in cinemas

To celebrate the release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home in cinemas, you can win a double pass thanks to Sony Home Pictures!

About Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home

Peter Parker returns in Spider-Man™: Far From Home, the next chapter of the Spider-Man™: Homecoming series!

Our friendly neighborhood Super Hero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation.

However, Peter’s plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks are quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home is in cinemas July 3.

 
All you have to do is email your details and the word SPIDER-MAN!

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

Competition closes 11TH JULY.

Win a Toy Story 4 prize pack

Win a Toy Story 4 prize pack

To celebrate the release of Toy Story 4, you can win a prize pack.

The iconic toy gang is back on the big screen with an all-new adventure in Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4. 

To celebrate the release there are 3 prize packs to giveaway

Each prize pack includes
- 1x notebook
- 1x stationery set
- 1x cap
- 1x laptop bag 
- 1x set of button badges. 

Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story4 ventures to NZ cinemas on June 27, 2019.

All you have to do is email your details and the word TOY STORY 4!

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

Competition closes 4th July.

Annabelle Comes Home: Film Review

Annabelle Comes Home: Film Review

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife
Director: Gary Dauberman

The Conjuring Universe continues to proffer more cinematic goods, as the appetite for horror shows no sign of lapsing.

The latest sees the Warrens transporting Annabelle home and confining the malevolent mannequin in their artifacts room, blessing the casing and putting up lots of Keep Out signs to stop people trespassing.

But when Ed and Lorraine head away from the weekend, leaving ten-year-old daughter Judy (a quietly nuanced McKenna Grace) in the hands of her babysitter, Annabelle gets out, awakening all kinds of chaos in the demonic room.

There's no denying that Annabelle Comes Home is effective at stretching out its conveyor belt of scares, and orchestrating the kind of spooky atmospherics the series has become known for.

There are some nice moments as the curse of Lorraine's visions appear to have been passed on to the daughter, and there's a familiar theme of being ostracised for their beliefs after their experiences, but Annabelle Comes Home is less interested in nuances, more in pulling back the curtain and giving you a jump scare a couple of moments after you've expected it.

Dauberman shoots it all well, there's the requisite number of spooky scenes and sequences, and there are plenty of close ups of the glass-eyed doll as you expect it to jump at you.

But in truth, after a while you feel like the contents of the demonic room are being rolled out as potential spin-offs. There's the Hellhound case from the past, the haunted Shinobi, the wedding dress that melds with its wearer, the haunted boardgame - they all feel like they're jostling to see which could work for future audiences and extend the universes further after this seventh entrant.

Haunted house cliches collide with a degree of claustrophobia, and an element of a small cast gives Annabelle Comes Home the tautness it requires.

However, this really is the cinematic equivalent of the ghost ride rolling into town every year as part of the carnival.

Deep down, you know what to expect, you enjoy the ride for its nostalgia or for the attempted tweaks the organisers have put in to keep it fresh - but buried underneath its smoke and mirrors tricks, this franchise needs to stop heading down the generic route, get back to genuine deep scares and psychological scars or it'll deserve to be confined to its grave.

Yesterday: Film Review

Yesterday: Film Review

Cast: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran, Joel Fry, Kate McKinnon
Director: Danny Boyle

All the hallmarks of a Richard Curtis comedy are present in Danny Boyle's Yesterday.

A romantic quandary, a declaration of near love in the rain, a sense of detachment from the real world - it's all here in this crowd-pleasing piece that proves everyone's charming in Curtis' eyes.

Patel stars as frustrated musician Jack Malik, a pub singer whose original compositions do nothing for the audience, despite the continual support of Lily James' Ellie, his manager and would be lover (a shockingly shamefully underwritten character whose need for existence being tied to a man feels like something of a parallel world concept where MeToo never happened).

When Jack's hit by a bus during a 12 minute global power outage, he wakes up sans two front teeth, and to the fact the Beatles never existed. Much like coke and cigarettes. (The whys and wherefores of this are part of the script's weakness and Curtis' desire to thrust us deep into fantasy land at whatever cost).

So, seizing on their music, Malik launches his own big for stardom - meeting up with Ed Sheeran and impressing global audiences - but is he losing sight of what actually matters most?

Crowd-pleasing and cute may sound like damning terms for a pop-what-if-fairy-tale, but given Patel's innate likeability, Boyle's raw translation of the Beatles' music and the writer's couldn't give a damn attitude to logic, Yesterday feels like the latest jukebox musical to be hoist upon audiences who want easy fare.

A jaunt through Liverpool late in the piece, complete with postcard tourism neon letters, feels like a tourism cash-grab, a hollow celebrity map that skates the surface and exists solely to give you the sense of the feeling rather than the depth of the feeling.

But it's all done so pleasantly, and in a manner that lulls a crowd into enjoyment territory; there's a noticeable sag when the love part of this fairy tale tries to tug at you, however Patel's performance and charisma lift any lows up.

It's hard to dismiss a feeling that this is a way to sell us The Beatles once again, in much the same way Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman blast out all time favourites, and while the music's still timeless, Curtis' writing and Boyle's showing of why it's timeless simply falls into the show, not tell, category of a song being belted out.

It's not a fatal flaw for Yesterday by any stretch of the imagination, but Yesterday does feel like cinematic candy floss fluff, something that's so inherently determined to make you like it, it does little to hide its flaws. Or explain any of its logic - it's like at times a Comic Relief sketch writ large, and pushed through a Richard Curtis bingo set of tropes and ideas.

Thankfully Patel's charisma and relatability, complete with Boyle's visual energy, make Yesterday a crowd-pleaser whose saccharine touches don't totally overwhelm the audience - but they won't rightly win over the cynics, who will feel worn down by the lack of sense or sensibility.

Parasite: Film Review

Parasite: Film Review

Director: Bong Joon-Ho

A searing cross-genre look at the chasms between the classes, Bong Joon-Ho's latest, which took top honours at Cannes this year, is, for the great majority of its run time, an edge-of-your-seat piece, that slightly loses it in the last 15 minutes.

Centring on a family of four who live under the line (in this case, literally, the family lives below the street and often look up to people urinating near their one solitary window), Parasite follows Ki-woo, who's offered a well-paid tutoring job, proffering the family hope of escape from their hand-to-mouth routine.

Inveigling his way into the Park household, Ki-woo manages to seize an opportunity for his sister to become a fellow tutor to the youngest of the household...

To say more about Parasite is to go against director Bong Joon-Ho's wishes in terms of spoilers, but suffice it to say that Parasite dances an extremely fine line between edge-of-your-seat suspense, utter revulsion and horror, and excoriating commentary on the classes that has become the norm for his other films.

There's much to unpack in Parasite - and much of it can't be debated without spoilers.
Whether it's the way the rich refer to and interact with the poor, or the subtleties of microcosms of society which are laid bare, there's a tapestry here to explore that's brilliantly writ large on the big screen.

In all honesty, at times, it's depressing stuff if you're clued into the social mores laid bare, and laid thick with the blackest humour one could find for such an outing.

But it deserves commendation for the way the director and scriptwriters pivot the film roughly half-way through. What seems obvious is given a gut-punch and turned into something that becomes not what you expected.

All of that said, and a coda ending aside which seems like a tonal mismatch from what's transpired, Parasite is a thrilling ride at the cinema, and easily one of the best films of the year.

It's a subversive, subtle and subliminal ride that's as rewarding as it is compelling.

With its subtle genre changes, and its dancing neatly on the taut tightrope of thrills and suspense, it's a game-changer in terms of subverting expectations, and yet delivering a wide broad film that's begging for a Hollywood remake, but which will be all the better if they don't.

Simply put, a must-see.

If Beale Street Could Talk: DVD Review

If Beale Street Could Talk: DVD Review

Based on James Baldwin's novel, and opening with a quote from him, the gorgeously shot If Beale Street Could Talk is once again proof that Jenkins knows lighting perfection from shot to shot.

Told across different time periods, Jenkins' latest is the story of childhood friends and lovers Tish (Layne) and Fonny (James) who in the 1970s in downtown Harlem found themselves the victims of an egregious crime of the times.

When Fonny's arrested and imprisoned for the rape of a neighbourhood woman, Tish vows to fight to clear his name and get him out of jail. But their plans for a future together are derailed by constant stops and starts in the quest to reunite.

If Beale Street Could Talk is lyrical poetry personified.

Much like Moonlight did, the film takes a deep dive into its subjects, placing them front and centre of every shot, bathed in different lighting moments to evoke mood and internal turmoil and emotion.

But it also conveys the deep love of the duo, with many shots being close ups of their face as the slow, quiet and deliberate tale weaves its web over the audience. However, it has to be said, despite the layered performances of the central leads, and the sterling work done by King in a supporting role as the mother, the film feels like it holds you away at emotional arm's length.

It's an interesting stance, with its languid pace doing much to keep the audience at bay, and stopping the anger at the injustice rising up. Sure, there are some racist cops of the period, that feel like they've been ripped from the fringes of movie Detroit; and there's some commentary on life of the time, but there's never the righteous indignation being given the chance to rise up and continue.

It's perhaps Jenkins' approach to the story which has been told time and time again; he cares not for the well-worn tropes (all of which are present and correct), but is rather more consumed with the details of the situation, lacing all of it with a trembling OST that evocatively quivers when needed.

As commentary on the time, and the period as well as the crimes, If Beale Street Could Talk falls short - but what it does provide is something more mellow, more intimate and perhaps more astounding because of it.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but If Beale Street Could Talk is a masterclass of how to make a film and a well-worn subject look incredibly good, deeply rich and resonant, even if it does feel emotionally aloof.