Vai: DVD Review

Vai: DVD Review

Kiel McNaughton and Kerry Warkia's powerhouse film Waru, about abuse, was a movie that blazed a trail on the local scene.

Using eight separate stories and eight directors, the film signified something different for film-making and its critical success allowed other wahine to be inspired for the future.

Their follow up treads a similar path of approach, with nine female directors taking on the story of Vai, in different stages of her life. Set across various Pacific islands, the portmanteau approach once again has highs and lows, with the overall film feeling more like a spiritual piece, than a fully fleshed out feature.

However, what emerges from Vai is a strong eye and connection for stories related to the lands, and within the lands they are set. Excellent camera work from those involved give the film a sense of place, and a sense of timing with shots blending into the land, and with set ups being kept within a close frame than would be offered by the likes of drones and so on.

The non-freewheeling camera approach gives the film an intimacy that's seized on by some of the storytelling and that proves to be greatly beneficial. Certainly the short vignette set within school as Vai's reality of existence comes to the fore, and family matters bubble under is one of the more powerful of the portmanteau.

Ultimately, while Vai has less of the power of Waru, it certainly has more of the spirituality with restrained camera work and direction capturing some traditions for posterity that are wondrous to behold, and which have resonance as they play out.

There may not be a familiar narrative thread running throughout allowing for an easy follow, but there's a familiar theme in Vai of the power of the female, and of the indigenous connection to the land.

It's sparsely stirring stuff when it needs to be, and while overall, Vai may not find a wider audience or stir up as much emotion as Waru did, its commitment to giving a platform for different voices to tell one longer form story in chunks is more than commendable. 

Pokémon Detective Pikachu: Blu Ray Review

Pokémon Detective Pikachu: Blu Ray Review 

How you feel about the family friendly Pokémon Detective Pikachu will depend largely on how you feel about the crazed cult of Pokémon.

The uninitiated may struggle with the film, which is set in a world where both Pokémon and humans co-exist, thanks to the benevolent Howard Clifford (Nighy) who believes co-existence and betterment is possible.

One who doesn't agree is 21-year-old Tim (an awkward Justice Smith) who resents the Pokémon and refuses to be paired up with them like others. When he discovers his dad is missing after a car accident, Tim goes to Ryme City, the hub of the human Pokémon harmony, and ends up working with Ryan Reynolds' Pikachu to try and solve the case.

If you're a Pokémon fan, you will adore this film, packed as it is with creatures from the cards and the TV series, and no doubt riddled with Easter eggs.

But, to be honest, for all others, it's kind of middling, narratively flat fare that's more about its nostalgia than a degree of coherence, and its plot is saddled with exposition for character development and sees a lurching plot stop and start while someone drops reams of necessary explanation.

There are elements of everything that's gone before here, with a Zootopia mesh, some Roger Rabbit hating of the opposites, X-Men, a film of fathers and sons and other all-too familiar sci-fi DNA tropes that can be seen a mile off. It unfortunately cripples part of the movie, as you can see what's coming before it hits, lacking weight and heft when it should.

In fairness, Ryme City is wonderfully realised, a kind of cartoony Blade Runner cityscape that shows the co-existence with ease. And Reynolds' trademark motormouth may be dialled down this time, but it still gives the over-caffeinated Pikachu some much needed laughs here and there. The buddy cop relationship between Pikachu and Tim makes for amiable fare as well.

But Pokémon Detective Pikachu lacks the noir edges it's clearly aspiring to, saddling everything with heavy flashbacks early on to paint the portraits and relying on audience love and nostalgia to forego the repetitive simplicities of the plot. And that could be fatal, seeing as newer audiences are what will continue this series.

In truth, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is less gumshoe, more candy coloured gum stuck to your cinematic shoe. The series' refrain may be that you "gotta catch them all", but if you're not in the in-crowd, you should be happy to let this one go free. 

The Kindergarten Teacher: DVD Review

The Kindergarten Teacher: DVD Review

Based on the film Haganenet by Nadav Lapid, Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Lisa Spinelli, an adrift kindergarten teacher in this rather odd piece that veers creepily into territory that's unsettling.

Unhappy with her kids refusing to eat dinner as family, with one who would rather use Instagram to further her once burgeoning photo career and flailing in her poetry class, Spinelli finds her life changed one day thanks to five-year-old Joe (Parker Sevak).

Joe appears to spontaneously erupt into poetry, and Spinelli, sensing there's more here, decides to nurture him after taking one of his poems, reciting it in class and receiving accolades.

But she spirals further into pursuing his talent, what emerges is dangerously close to obsession.

The Kindergarten Teacher is an odd watch at times, with Spinelli's behaviour seeming borderline unsettling in its naivete and its execution.

And while there are definitely questions over Spinelli's actions, there are no questions over Gyllenhaal's performance as she descends. Committed, human and with subtle changes as the film goes on, Gyllenhaal imbues her character with the signs of some kind of breakdown and innate sadness.

It's hard to keep a film like this ambiguous without the audience becoming ambivalent, and while some moments border very closely to steering the film in a direction where you don't want it to go, Gyllenhaal and to a lesser extent, Sevak, manage to keep it just on the right side of uncertain.

"This world is going to erase you" is just heartbreaking to hear and when the frustration behind this is expanded further, Gyllenhaal gives Spinelli soul and a reason for her growing insanity - sadly, it's all too reflected in the modern world and in Spinelli's children.

In a weird way, The Kindergarten Teacher does feel like a psychological horror wrapped up in a drama, as the edges and lines become blurred - but as a subtle portrait of a breakdown and potentially, abuse, it perhaps works better.

The Curse of the Weeping Woman: Blu Ray Review

The Curse of the Weeping Woman: Blu Ray Review

The Conjuring Universe continues to expand out with this latest, a solid but formulaic piece of fright fare that doesn't quite build on its promising premise.

Sacrificing subtleties in favour of providing the Weeping Woman as a punchline to most scenes, The Curse of La Llorona deals with some dark issues - infanticide, suspected abuse, repressed grief as it spins the tale of recently widowed Anna Tate-Garcia (Scooby Doo and ER star Linda Cardinelli).

A social worker, Anna's called in to try and help the children of Patricia Alvarez who show signs of abuse. But when the children are found killed, drowned in a local lake, Anna's sanity begins to be questioned when a folktale of La Llorona, who takes children, appears to becoming true.

The Curse of The Weeping Woman is relatively taut, and as mentioned, hints at some real darkness, before ultimately deciding to sideline that in favour of rote scares.

By keeping the film's point of view within Anna's family alone, there's a palpable sense of claustrophobia as the jolts start to come. And Chaves makes some good fist of a few visual tricks to build a creeping sense of terror. But much like any fairground horror house, he can't resist the pull of the cheap scares, and that's where The Curse of The Weeping Woman starts to fall down, as every scene becomes punctuated by Ramirez's ghost popping into frame.

It's lazy at best and detracts from some genuinely unsettling edges which are displayed throughout. It's a shame the psychological edges aren't mined more, for a deeply upsetting denouement.

From a bathtub sequence to a final housebound showdown, the film's successes come from making the most of the surroundings and some of the genre tropes.

Unfortunately, in bringing in Cruz's former priest, the script settles for laughs and one-liners when the truly terrifying touch would have been to continue on with the darkness that's hinted at - suspense, suspicions and susceptible children make great bedfellows for any decent horror movie, but The Curse of The Weeping Woman doesn't seem content enough to push the boundaries, jettisoning the narratively beefy for the frighteningly familiar.

It's by no means a disaster, and offers the requisite thrills for what you'd expect, but at times, this mash up of The Exorcist and The Nun starts to feel horrendously like a horrific case of deja vu, and worryingly points to the Conjuring Universe potentially running out of tricks to pull on its audience, who are all too willing to go along for the ride.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance trailer

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance trailer

THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

Launches on Netflix August 30, 2019

“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, ” the epic prequel series to the beloved 1982 Jim Henson film “The Dark Crystal,”  premieres August 30 only on Netflix.

Based on The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson’s ground-breaking 1982 feature film, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance tells a new story, set many years before the events of the movie, and realized using classic puppetry with cutting edge visual effects. 

The world of Thra is dying. The Crystal of Truth is at the heart of Thra, a source of untold power. 

But it is damaged, corrupted by the evil Skeksis, and a sickness spreads across the land. 

When three Gelfling uncover the horrific truth behind the power of the Skeksis, an adventure unfolds as the fires of rebellion are lit and an epic battle for the planet begins.

About The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

Launch date: Friday, August 30, 2019

Director: Louis Leterrier

Executive Producers: Lisa Henson, Louis Leterrier, Halle Stanford

Co-Executive Producers: Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Blanca Lista

Producer: Ritamarie Peruggi

Line Producer: Tim Wellspring

Associate Producer: Cameron Richardson

Co-Producer: Vivian Lee

Produced By: The Jim Henson Company

Format: 10 Episodes x 1 Hour

Voice Cast: The Gelfling are voiced by Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones), Caitriona Balfe (Outlander), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Harris Dickinson (Maleficent 2), Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Eddie Izzard (Ocean’s Thirteen), Theo James (The Divergent Series), Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Cloverfield Paradox), Mark Strong (Kingsman), Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), and Hannah John-Kamen (Game of Thrones). The  Skeksis & Mystics are voiced by: Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy), Mark Hamill (Knightfall, Star Wars), Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones), Jason Isaacs (The OA), Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (True Detective), Simon Pegg (Mission Impossible), Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine Nine), Benedict Wong (Avengers: Endgame), and Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians). Sigourney Weaver voices The Narrator.  Aughra is voiced by Donna Kimball.

THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE

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THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

http://www.henson.com
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Facebook: @darkcrystal

IT Chapter Two - Behind the scenes

IT Chapter Two - Behind the scenes

About IT CHAPTER TWO:

Evil resurfaces in Derry as director Andy Muschietti reunites the Losers Club in a return to where it all began with “IT Chapter Two,” the conclusion to the highest-grossing horror film of all time.

Twenty-seven years after the Losers Club defeated Pennywise, he has returned to terrorize the town of Derry once more. 

Now adults, the Losers have long since gone their separate ways. However, kids are disappearing again, so Mike, the only one of the group to remain in their hometown, calls the others home. 

Damaged by the experiences of their past, they must each conquer their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all...putting them directly in the path of the clown that has become deadlier than ever.

IT CHAPTER TWO is directed by Andy Muschietti and stars James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Jaeden Martell, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor and Bill Skarsgård.

IT CHAPTER TWO releases in New Zealand cinemas on September 5, 2019.

The Addams Family trailer

The Addams Family trailer

They’re creepy.

They’re kooky. 

And they’re moving into the neighbourhood. 

Here is the brand new trailer for The Addams Family – opening in cinemas December 5.

CAST & CREW

Directed by: Conrad Vernon (Thomas & Friends) and Greg Tiernan (Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Shrek 2)

Voice Cast: Oscar Isaac as Gomez, Charlize Theron as Morticia, Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday, Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, with Bette Midler as Grandma, and Alison Janney as Margaux Needler.

Synopsis: Get ready to click your fingers! The Addams Family is back on the big screen in the first animated comedy about the kookiest family on the block. Funny, outlandish, and completely iconic, the Addams Family redefines what it means to be a good neighbour.