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.
But thanks to an exceptional turn from a downbeat Melissa McCarthy, a few more people will be aware of what the literary faker did.
A failing writer facing extremely hard times and needled by Tom Clancy's success, Israel's unable to sell her agent (a tart Curtin) any ideas, but hits on an apparent goldmine when she discovers a letter from a subject she's researching.
Trying to sell it, but upon being told she can get more for more personal letters, Israel hatches a plot from desperation and begins faking literary letters. Enjoying the spoils of her lucrative market, and finding her voice for the first time in years, Israel ends up enlisting Jack Hock (Grant, in flamboyant mode) to help with her scam.
However, the authorities are edging closer to being onto her game.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a great reminder that McCarthy can do more than simply broad comedy; in this one, there are signs of repressed anger and frustration that she channels well by underplaying, rather than her usual modus operandi of broad comedy laughs and easy hits.
As a result, Israel is a deeply empathetic character, even though what she's doing is so obviously criminal; along with Nicole Holofcener's script, which gives scenes the zing they need, lots of Can You Ever Forgive Me? works well.
Grant's never been better - imbuing his rascally coke-dealing flamboyant with flourishes that mean every single scene he's in is a joy to behold; and he spars well with McCarthy.
But this is McCarthy's film without a shadow of a doubt; her quietly frustrated take on it all lends the film an edge of engagement and a warmth to undercut the prickliness that lies within. There's an outsider vibe to both Lee and Hock, but rather than make them victims, the actors and script embed them in proceedings and give them a life beyond the text.
There's a delicious irony that McCarthy brings her best work to someone channelling someone else, but Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a surprising film that enchants, amuses and engages - it's some of McCarthy's best work yet.
Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Daniel Mays, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott Director: Sam Mendes Schofield and Blake, (MacKay and Chapman) two young British soldiers during the First World War, are given a seemingly impossible mission.
With time against them, they must deliver a message, deep in enemy territory, that will stop their own men, and Blake's own brother, walking straight into a deadly trap. But with the clock ticking, the duo face deadlier dangers than they could realise as they tread the trenches and the mistrust within the ranks.
In all honesty, director Sam Mendes does nothing new with the bones of the story of 1917.
There have been countless rescue missions/ one last mission war stories told before (Saving Private Ryan being the most famous) and Mendes’ tale of two soldiers tasked with stopping a doomed final push is hardly new - more an intimate tale set against the backdrop of a grander canvas.
And yet, in among some truly naive dialogue and some narrative contrivances that border on unbelievable, 1917 enacts one major coup - namely its one shot ethos, set in real time.
Imagine a more relaxed episode of 24 but with no less of the tension but less of the shouting and the real time(ish) exploits in 1917 start to merit some viewership rather than a familiarity dismissal.
Mendes along with cinematography from Roger Deakins sets the film apart - from an opening shot that takes two soldiers from a glen, weaves them through trenches and ends in a final mirrored shot that echoes the opening.
In between these bookenders, our pair of young heroes go through hellscapes, rendered with panache by the visuals team and undergo much more than any soul should take. But yet, your engagement with their mission feels forced and distant, therefore some elements don't land as perhaps they could - or should.
The emotional level doesn’t quite pull together as it should, with aforementioned contrivances and ropey dialogue jarring occasionally. And some sequences are clearly in existence to add to the necessary joining of the story. But where 1917 works is in its immersive take on what war means and how it affects people. It's here that the visual chutzpah comes together, and here that you get sucked into the action, such as it is. Complete with landscapes that are hellish and visually eye-popping, 1917 works better in parts than compared to the sum of said parts. Ultimately, 1917 may well be a journey, but it's one that while successfully instigated at a technical level, falters at the more human edges that produce the most effective of war stories.
Leaning heavily into the eccentricities and the weird Welsh whisperings of the titular character, the CGI heavy Dolittle comes across as a strange mix of Willy Wonka-cum-Jules Verne-cum Aladdin that never quite settles on a tone.
A wafer thin plot involving the grieving recluse being forced out of hiding to try and help save a terminally ill Queen Victoria is just the jumping off point for Downey Jr's Dolittle to head off with a menagerie of creatures and a potential apprentice in tow.
But the film is also there to give the man who imbued Iron Man with such gravitas a chance to make gorilla noises as well - it's that kind of movie.
In truth, it's not a mess, more an incoherent folly that dogs Dolittle throughout.
While the talking animals will amuse the kids, what they're saying will amuse the adults less, given most of it is relatively flat comedic fare that lands with nary a punchline.
The CGI is on overload, and maybe a little more breathing space would have given the frantic fare a bit more of the emotional appeal that it needs to counter the general broadness of the comedy and the attempted hits.
Downey Jr's Welsh accent isn't entirely convincing to start off with, and there's definitely a feeling some of it was redubbed afterwards, but it's the mumbling, withdrawn approach that ever so slightly holds this hero back from fully grasping the screen. He never seizes the moment, and while there's some Chaplin-esque clowning to be had, there's no defining moment for this incarnation of Dolittle.
Yet, there's also an other worldly old time quality to Dolittle, a film that wafts by insubstantially on more innocent fare (witness Sheen's cartoon pantomime villain) and feels like it's from yesteryear as it flits quickly and awkwardly from one scene to the next.
Ultimately, this Dolittle is less a case of the man who could speak to the animals, more a case of should he have done so in the first place.
Win a double pass to see The Secret Garden in cinemas
To celebrate the release of The Secret Garden in cinemas September 24, thanks to Studio Canal New Zealand, you can win a double pass.
About The Secret Garden
THE SECRET GARDEN tells the story of Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx - Genius, The Little Stranger), a prickly and unloved 10-year-old girl, born in India to wealthy British parents.
When they die suddenly, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Academy Award® and BAFTA-winner Colin Firth – A Single Man, The King’s Speech, Bridget Jones’s Baby) at Misselthwaite Manor, a remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Medlock (BAFTA-winner Julie Walters – Mary Poppins Returns, Harry Potter, Mamma Mia) and with only the household maid, Martha (Isis Davis - Guilt, Electric Dreams) for company.
However, Mary begins to uncover many family secrets...
From the Producer of Harry Potter and Paddington, comes this beautiful adaption of the classic book, THE SECRETGARDEN – In cinemas September 24.
Gleefully unhinged and schlocky as they come from about halfway through, Becky is a vengeance film that puts its Cabin in the Woods versus the Nazis ethos to good use.
Lulu Wilson's Becky is still raw with emotion after the death from cancer of her mum. Sprung early from school by her dad (Community's McHale), she heads to the woods on a break. However, Becky's surprised on arrival by a visit from her dad's new girlfriend and her son.
And she's even more surprised when dad reveals he's about to remarry. Running off and hiding in the woods, Becky is even more shocked when a group of neo Nazis, led by Kevin James' Dominick, show up on the doorstep, searching for a key...
Becky doesn't hold back from the necessary violent edges when it needs to - and is all the better for it.
James turns in a surprisingly restrained and villainous performance as the brooding leader of the baddies, but his character's motivations are left weirdly vague in a way that detracts from the film's sense of urgency. However, he exudes the menace needed and gives the film the bad guy it needs.
Equally impressive is Lulu Wilson, whose character is described at one point as "vindictive and strong-willed". Wild-eyed and grappling with grief, loss and jealousy, Wilson's Becky becomes a force of nature halfway through that any film would use for OTT requirements. However, Wilson's stripped back turn helps turn her into a tool of vengeance and revenge with ease during the home invasion elements.
It's a good thing too, because the script's more ludicrous edges and sense of convenience begins to outweigh the film as it races towards its end.
Granted, Becky is the kind of film you watch after a few beers or as part of a marathon, but thanks to James and Wilson's performances, that's no bad thing.
Television of unease doesn't come much better than new psychological thriller, The Third Day. Even if the answers aren't quite as enticing as the questions posed early on.
Jude Law stars as Sam, a former social worker who now runs a garden centre with his wife. On a road somewhere he makes a call to an unknown person, his voice edged with desperation and urgency.
Stumbling into a woods, Sam sees a girl apparently playing a game - but when the game turns nearly deadly, Sam rescues her and offers to take her home, an offshore island called Osea, separated from the mainland by a causeway that only opens a few times a day due to flooding.
So The Third Day begins - and the new series from Dennis Kelly, the creator of Utopia never really lets up with its mystery and intrigue, as it sends Sam and the viewers on a trip that messes with both the head and reality.
The Third Day is split into 6 episodes, and three sections.
The first three episodes, subtitled Summer, concern Sam and his time on the mysterious island of Osea.
The second three, entitled Winter, concern Naomie Harris' mother Helen as she visits Osea with her daughters.
Sandwiched in between is a 12 hour immersive event, the screening details of which have yet to be revealed.
It's fair to say that the limits are pushed in The Third Day's first three episodes (episode one of which is now available to view on Neon NZ, and which plays Tuesday nights on SoHo in NZ) which make at times for uncomfortable viewing, even if you are familiar with The Wicker Man, The League of Gentlemen and Midsommar.
But while the reveals in episodes two and three help piece together the portentous jigsaw puzzle, they're not as massively earth-shattering as perhaps you'd expect; equally though, they are not on Lost levels of disappointment.
It's in the thrill of the journey and the steely determination of Jude Law's Sam that The Third Day gets its power.
With Law's continually furrowed brow and director Marc Munden's use of close ups, The Third Day has a very real tendency to unnerve as it spins its story. It's helped by Law's edgy performance that suggests confusion as he searches for answers on Osea.
But it's greatly exacerbated by the likes of Paddy Considine and Emily Watson as the owners of the local pub, and Katherine Waterston as one of those visiting the island for its pagan festival. Sure the folk horror genre has undergone a revival thanks to Midsommar, but at its heart, The Third Day appears to be more a treatise on grief and how it affects personally those involved.
In Jude Law's Sam, the unsettling tipping point seems to ever be closer (opening moments show Law sobbing uncontrollably by a stream as a piece of clothing is placed in and left to float away) but Law never proves showy in his portrayal.
It's part of the success of Kelly's The Third Day that nothing is overplayed - from the score to the startling use of over-exposed colours and odd imagery that's dropped seemingly randomly within, the script and its delivery know well that understated adds to the oddity of proceedings and the unnvering nature of some of the dialogue.
Ultimately, the first part of The Third Day provides some kind of conclusion.
Granted, it may not be the game-changing set of answers that is provoked by the initial questions, but the three episodes do feel like a complete whole that reward for the three hour investment. It's perhaps enjoyed more with an open mind and with a spoiler-free attitude. Fans of the genre may get more from The Third Day, but even casual viewers will be rewarded with the intrigue of a psychological jigsaw and the powerhouse central performance of Jude Law.
The Third Day airs on Neon and on SoHo on Tuesday nights. The first three episodes were supplied for the purpose of this review
This morning, PlayStation has finally revealed the price of their new console, the PlayStation 5.
The new console will cost $399.99 US or $499.99 US.
New Zealand prices mean $819.95 or $649.95.
Not only that, PlayStation has revealed the PlayStation 5 will release on November 12 in New Zealand and November 19 in other parts of the world.
There's been speculation PlayStation was set to release details after Xbox last week revealed the price and release date of its XBox Series X and XBox Series S consoles.
You can watch all of the PlayStation 5 showcase again below - including extended looks at Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Death Loop, Village and the God of War: Ragnarok reveal.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced launch date and price details for its highly anticipated next-generation videogame system, PlayStation®5. SIE also revealed new updates to the PS5™ game portfolio, including Final Fantasy XVI, Fortnite, Hogwarts Legacy, and a new God of War title.
On November 12, PS5 will launch in seven key markets: the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. The global rollout will continue on November 19 with launches throughout the rest of the world*, including Europe, Middle East, South America, Asia and South Africa. The PS5 Digital Edition will be available for a recommended retail price (RRP) of NZD$649.95, and PS5 with an Ultra HD Blu-ray™ disc drive will be available for an RRP of NZD$819.95. Pre-orders will be available starting as early as today at select retailers in New Zealand.
Both PS5 models use the same custom processor with integrated CPU and GPU for high-fidelity graphics up to 4K, as well as the same ultra-high speed SSD with integrated I/O that will deliver lightning-fast loading. Both PS5 models also offer a deepened sense of immersion through the DualSense wireless controller and 3D audio capabilities, so players will enjoy the same transformative gameplay experiences regardless of which PS5 they choose.
“Since we first announced our next generation console last year, we have received astounding support from developers and gaming fans all around the world, and it’s truly humbling,” said Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. “Now we are just a couple of months away from launching PS5, which will offer a new generation of experiences that go beyond players’ expectations of how games can look, feel, sound, and play. We can’t wait for our fans to experience for themselves the incredible speed, the heightened immersion and the breathtaking games on PS5 when we launch this November.”
Adding to its growing games portfolio, SIE today unveiled several new titles coming to PS5, including:
Devil May Cry 5™ Special Edition (Capcom)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach (Steel Wool Studios and ScottGames)
Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros. Games)
A new God of War title(Santa Monica Studio)
With titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Demon’s Souls, the breadth of unique gaming experiences coming to PS5 represent the best lineup in PlayStation history. Exclusive titles from SIE Worldwide Studios will be priced at launch from NZD$109.95 to NZD$139.95 (RRP) on PS5.
To support the PlayStation®4 community as they transition to the next generation when they’re ready, SIE will launch PS4™ versions of a few exclusive titles: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy A Big Adventure, and Horizon Forbidden West. While these three games were designed to take advantage of PS5 and its unique next-gen features like the ultra-high speed SSD and DualSense controller, PS4 owners will also be able to enjoy these experiences when they launch. The PS4 digital versions of launch games include a free upgrade on both PS5 consoles, while the PS4 disc versions of these games include a free upgrade on the PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc drive.
In addition, SIE today revealed the PlayStation Plus Collection**, a curated lineup of PS4 games that defined the generation, which will be available to PS Plus members to download and play on PS5. The PS Plus Collection features critically acclaimed games, including Batman™ Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, God of War, Monster Hunter: World, Persona 5 and many more.
SIE also announced the price for the following accessories that will launch alongside the PS5 console:
*Availability in each country subject to local import regulations. PS5 launch date for China is still under exploration and will be announced at a later date.
