Military Wives: Film Review

Military Wives: Film Review

Cast: Kristin Scott-Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Amy James-Kelly, Laura Checkley, Jason Flemyng
Director: Peter Cattaneo

The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo knows exactly where he wants to go with this tale of a group of army wives who're left on base and killing time when their husbands are deployed to Afghanistan.

And to be fair, he should - after all, he achieved the same level of crowd-pleasing success with The Full Monty in 1997, a tale of seemingly polar opposites and shambolic group of amateurs coming together to achieve glory under duress. (Even in Military Wives, there's someone within the group who's hopelessly out of their depth, but whose underdog enthusiasm wins through.)

Catastrophe's Horgan is Lisa, a freewheeling mum of a troubled daughter who butts heads with Scott-Thomas' prissy and uptight Kate, the wife of the base's brigadier.

Scorning the usual ideas from the icy Kate of knitting to pass the time and keep the Brit morale up ("It's a bit Little Women, innit" she decries), Lisa assembles the group into a singing group, despite opposition from Kate, who sees it more as a choir and the usual parade of stuffy numbers.

However, Lisa's more keen on drawing from the hit parade of her musical youth and the group finds a common bond - but when their boys are ambushed, tensions that have already been simmering inevitably blow over.

It seems churlish to dismiss Military Wives as anything but predictable formulaic fare, but in truth, that's exactly what Cattaneo achieves here. With a penchant for the obvious, the film falters into "could be a BBC four part drama where the wives face fractures and conflict before ultimately rising to the occasion and the bigger picture" territory.

There are no surprises here and the playing safe causes a slice of tonal whiplash when the drama explodes like a well-timed bomb in the middle of proceedings - it's all very simply telegraphed and signposted early on.

And yet, underneath its fluffy fuzz and cloak of familiarity, Horgan and Scott Thomas elevate the film's penchant for predictability to a more acceptably amiable level.

From the visual cue of the opposition of their outfits (Lisa's more laissez-faire, and Kate's more buttoned up and prissy) to the acerbic banter and bickering, both Scott Thomas and Horgan turn the banalities of females fighting and picking at each other into something more humane - even as the cliches come tumbling forward in their direction. In truth, they elevate the film, and give it more credit than it is sometimes due.

It may sing a good tune for a crowdpleasing piece, and may aspire to easy (and occasionally well-earned) laughs throughout, but Military Wives, in parts, is surprisingly moving.

Just don't be surprised if at the end of all the opposition to the comfortably familiar and eye-rollingly obvious as the film follows its crowd-pleasing zero-to-hero algorithm, you leave singing from its admittedly corny songbook.

Win a double pass to see I Still Believe in cinemas

Win a double pass to see I Still Believe in cinemas

To celebrate the release of Riverdale star KJ Apa's new movie I Still Believe, thanks to Studiocanal NZ, you can win a double pass.

About I Still Believe

From the makers of I CAN ONLY IMAGINE comes the true life story of music star Jeremy Camp. 

Jeremy’s remarkable journey of love and loss proves there is always hope in the midst of tragedy. 

Love tested is the only love worth sharing.

Starring KJ Apa and Britt Robertson, I Still Believe is in cinemas from March 12.


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

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

Win a copy of Knives Out

Win a copy of Knives Out

To celebrate the release of the wonderful Knives Out on home entertainment, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.

About Knives Out

Everyone has a motive. No one has a clue.

A modern take on the classic detective genre.

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc 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

Knives Out releases on March 11.

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

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

Win a double pass to see BLOODSHOT in cinemas

Win a double pass to see BLOODSHOT in cinemas

To celebrate the release of Vin Diesel in BLOODSHOT, you can win a double pass to see BLOODSHOT in cinemas, releasing March 12.

About Bloodshot

Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation.  

With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly.  

But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too.  

Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.

Bloodshot hits cinemas March 12.


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

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

Guns Akimbo: Film Review

Guns Akimbo: Film Review

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Ned Dennehy, Rhys Darby
Director: Jason Lei Howden

Frenetic edited and frantically paced, Jason Lei Howden's Guns Akimbo is the triumph of style over substance.

But it's nothing without the 110% commitment of its lead, Daniel Radcliffe, who proves terrifically game and fantastically physical in his pursuit of the story.

Radcliffe is Miles, a low-level coder who lives in Shrapnel City. Recently dumped and bored with his work, Miles stumbles onto the live fight site Skizm and delivers some high-level trolling of those dwelling within.

However, those in charge of Skizm aren't impressed and decide to make Miles the star of their next death match, bolting guns to his hands and pitting him against the current champion, psychotic killer Nix (Samara Weaving, in a sneery punkish role).

But Miles isn't ready to die yet...

Guns Akimbo is relatively shallow, a series of fight sequences set to heavy metal renditions of 80s pop music tunes. Quickly edited, with swirling cameras that seem to suffer from ADHD, the film rarely stops for a moment to breathe, delivering some impressive kill sequences, and some gun fu that's to be admired and enjoyed in a Friday night popcorn entertainment way.

There is some commentary of life in the social world versus the real world, but to be frank, it's not smartly delivered, nor is it radically challenging.

Meshing the juvenile with the video game shooter mentality works well for the film, elements of Crank and Death Match blended together, but it does struggle to deliver anything more than this as it breezes through its 90 minutes run time

Where Guns triumphs though is in its two leads - Radcliffe's overly committed to Miles' disastrous situation and delivers a performance that is comedic and impressive, his everyman schlub loser caught in the crossfires of his own doing. Samara Weaving is equally enjoyable as Nix, a drugged up psycho who's addicted to the kills, she gets to deliver the lion's share of the film's best lines.

In truth, the villains are a little vanilla, and some of the peripheral characters are merely there for exposition rather than to flesh things out, but Guns Akimbo mostly delivers a blast of neon-soaked bubblegum fun. Sure, it riffs on its own video game mentality (dispatch a load of bad guys, take on the final big boss), but there's a reasonably disposable ethos to Guns Akimbo that sees you through the repetitive nature

Win a double pass to see GUNS AKIMBO

Win a double pass to see GUNS AKIMBO

To celebrate the release of Jason Lei Howden's Guns Akimbo, starring Daniel Radcliffe, in cinemas now, you can win a double pass.

About Guns Akimbo

Miles is a video game developer who inadvertently becomes the next participant in a real-life death match that streams online. 

While Miles soon excels at running away from everything, that won't help him outlast Nix, a killer at the top of her game.

Guns Akimbo is in cinemas now.
 
All you have to do is email your details and the word GUNS!

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

Competition closes March 12.

Dreams: PS4 Review

Dreams: PS4 Review

Developed by Media Molecule - and the entire world
Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment

There was a game in the late 1980s that opened up the idea of game development to the public.

Initially released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and Amiga consoles, the Shoot'Em Up Construction Kit worked on an MO which offered the elements to gamers to create their own shoot'em ups. A simple concept, and one bound only by system limitations of the time, the versatility on show show it embraced by the hoi polloi.

So it is with Little Big Planet and Tearaway creators Media Molecule.

Dreams, which appears to have been in BETA testing for a long while, is now on general sale, and is currently being mined by the Dreamiverse community to create, make and share.

The community's seized on the opportunity already - and remakes of the likes of Sonic through to arcade classics such as Arkanoid and Marble Madness already exist. But here's the thing with Dreams - in some ways, it's like fan fiction writ large and within the gaming sector. There's nothing wrong with using the tools to recreate the greatness of the past, and in many ways, it's a nostalgia-fest for those determined to seek it out.

But while it may enable a new generation of game devs, it will also prove to be a gaming boon for those looking to satiate a variety of genres.

And yet, so far, with the exception of what Media Molecule has created themselves, and bar a smattering of other users, most people seem to be playing inside their own sandbox, and recreating games of their youth.

It's no bad thing if you're a nostalgia addict, but it does make one wonder what the deal is with copyright and how Media Molecule is protected from it.

However, the interfaces for Dreams are, for the most part,easy to access and use - a floating sprite is used to scroll between games, search and play/ possess characters.

Creation is a lot tougher though, and while the use of the touchpad and a floating sprite seem relatively easy to negotiate for the games, it's in the making that a few niggly problems emerge.

The game presents creation as a series of mini games to "achieve" and while the premise of them seems fairly simple, some of the technical aspects of the moving and positioning is difficult at best, and takes perseverance to get through.



However, when it does come together, it's rewarding - and does really show that even if there are creators who are uploading Sonic levels, or recreating Arkanoids, the patience and skill is more than commendable.

Ultimately, Dreams will thrive on its community.

Media Molecule may have empowered many, and while they currently have yet to see a return on the potential, there's a chance that with all out involvement, this could be a hub for the future - as long as you're visionary.

It rewards patience, and given the breadth of what it's covering -from games to visual experiences - it's highly worth having. But as ever with any creative tools, how ever much you get out, will depend greatly on what you're willing to put in.