Sacha Dhawan aka The Master from Doctor Who at the Armageddon Expo 

The Master aka actor Sacha Dhawan was live at the Armageddon Expo for Auckland's 25th anniversary show.

Sacha was generous with his time, and spoke of wanting to work with Big Finish as the Master in its current form, discussed An Adventure in Time and Space and shared some outtakes stories from the first time he worked with Jodie Whittaker on the Doctor Who series.

Below are some pictures from the Zoom panel of Sacha Dhawan aka The Master from Doctor Who at the Armageddon Expo.

Armageddon 25th anniversary begins

The festivities are underway at the Auckland leg of the Armageddon festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary at the ASB Showgrounds.

With over 70 virtual guests from the worlds of Doctor Who, Stargate, Star Trek: Discovery, Outlander and What We Do In The Shadows, the festival is one of the biggest yet.

Here are some of the sights of the 25th Armageddon Expo.

New Zealand International Film Festival 2020 survey

THE FILM FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU!

This year’s New Zealand International Film Festival was exceptional – delivered in a time of COVID-19, it took place online and in 16 cinemas around the country. 

Now the festival is looking to the future and is keen to hear about people’s experiences of the 2020 film festival, whether you watched films online, in a cinema or not at all.

Be part of shaping the film festival for 2021 and beyond.

Complete the survey before 30 July and you’re in to win a film festival prize pack!

To enter the New Zealand International Film Festival survey, click here.

First look at Tom Holland as Nathan Drake in Uncharted movie

First look at Tom Holland as Nate in Uncharted movie

The first look at Tom Holland as Nate in Uncharted movie has arrived.

The famous Naughty Dog movie is being turned into a film, and Spider-Man's Tom Holland will be leading the charge.

It’s nice to meet you, I’m Nate. #uncharted pic.twitter.com/v79Mvy26iH

— Tom Holland (@TomHolland1996) October 22, 2020

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan: Amazon Prime Video Movie Review 

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Maria Bakalova/ Irina Nowak
Director: Jason Woliner

How you will feel about the return of Borat in a film that ends with an exhortation to "Vote or you will be execute" will depend largely on whether you feel Baron Cohen's desire to expose the US underbelly is worthy, or whether it's past its best given the fact America does this daily now in 2020.

Whereas the 2006 film Borat:Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan felt fresh thanks to its unscripted vignettes and interactions with the US public, the sequel has a harder path to tread.

In the sequel, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat begins life in a gulag having heaped shame on Kazakhstan with his previous antics. Taken out of jail to perform a mission to deliver Kazakhstan's minister of culture and No1 porno star Johnny Monkey to US Vice President Mike Pence, Borat sets out back to the US.

But on arrival, Borat discovers most people know him (a scene that feels a little too scripted, but reeks of the mankini craze ensuring no further anonymity). So forced into a series of disguises, Borat finds his plans changed when his neglected daughter (Nowak) has smuggled her way into the states.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan may have its sights on satire, but many of the targets feel way too obvious and the jokes two decades too late.

Relying on lazy stereotypes about Jews and periods, Baron Cohen and a team of 7 other writers (one of the film's biggest shocks) go low as they go beserk in the US. Puerile jokes about calling the US President McDonald Trump and naming one of his sons Jeffrey Epstein feel lazy; gags about going to a synagogue to wait the next mass shooting and dressing as a stereotyped Jew complete with long nose and money bags in hand simply cement a feeling that Baron Cohen may have lost the ability to shock in a 2020 that's robbed many of so much.

Yet, in moments when Baron Cohen gets it right (and his co-star Nowak as his daughter turned reporter) and they avoid the obvious targets for more subtle approaches, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan actually delivers some gold.

From the scandal enveloping Rudy Giuliani seemingly being caught with his hands down his pants to quarantining with two US conspiracy theorists who believe Hilary Clinton drinks blood, the Borat movie depressingly shows how little America has moved on, and how further entrenched the misguided beliefs have become.

It's here the Borat sequel finds its strength, but it's also a long wait to get there - for every hit, there is a prodigious number of misses or soft targets.

Some would say the crassness hints at slights on patriarchal views, and the inclusion of the daughter shows Baron Cohen's responded to the MeToo world - but in truth, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan isn't as tight or as strong as it could and should have been.

One thing is obvious though - in some cases, it's not lost its ability to shock. But in a 2020 where every little thing shocks us so much that we've become numb, the question remains for Baron Cohen - where does satire go when it's already prevalent in real life?

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan streams on Amazon Prime Video from Friday October 23.

Baby Done: Film Review

Cast: Rose Matafeo, Matthew Lewis

Director: Curtis Vowell

Less a comedy, more a drama that lacks a little bite, the relatively predictable Baby Done treads a path for its protagonist and New Zealand film seldom glimpsed before.

A bright and perky Matafeo plays Zoe, an arborist who deplors the constant baby showers of her friends and who vows never to become a mum just because everyone else is doing it.

However, fate deals her and boyfriend Tim (former Harry Potter star Lewis aka Neville Longbottom) a two line shaped hand, and sends Zoe into a spiral of denial...

There is heart in Baby Done; however, promising a riotous comedy and then delivering anything but is a minor disappointment. In truth, there are some laugh out loud moments, indications of where the cast is allowed to go off script, cut loose and generally have fun. Drawn from the well of real-life couple Vowell and writer Sophie Henderson, there's veracity in the film's veins, even if there's not gut-busting moments expected of a comedy.

Stand-outs like Rachel House's snooty school principal riffing with Matafeo's Zoe, a mistimed confetti bomb and the all-too-brief wearied ante-natal class teacher (Alice Snedden) are sequences that give Baby Done a bit more life when proceedings start to sag - but they do also remind what could have been if the tone was a little more concisely honed.

That said, Matafeo and Lewis make a nice ordinary couple, one who are at pains to cope with the direction their lives are suddenly going on. Lewis delivers dependable and solid, who runs toward the idea of being a dad rather than away (a genre trope nicely subverted). Matafeo's Zoe has energy, and affability as the story coasts along - but she's an easy companion to tag along with, and carries the film through its more uneven and underwritten edges.

All in all, Baby Done doesn't quite deliver on its promise and there are one too many pregnant pauses in its execution, but it does offer a protagonist who wants to behave badly and fight against the societal expectations of expectant mothers. It could do with a dash more freewheeling, but it does deliver a star turn from Matafeo to enjoy.

Star Wars: Squadrons: PS4 Review

Developer: Motive Studios

Publisher: EA Studios

Platform: PS4

The Force is strong with the latest Star Wars game, giving fans of the series the experience they've always craved since the early days of the Star Wars arcade games.

Blessed with a killer VR app, the game makes great use of the expanded Star Wars universe, and the sound effects of the iconic franchise.

Set after the end of Return of the Jedi, Squadrons sees you swapping between two different pilots on opposing sides in the aftermath of the second Death Star’s destruction. You’ll fly several ships from both the Rebellion and the Empire across its 14 missions, and progress through the ranks to become a top of the range fighter pilot.

The thing with Star Wars Squadrons is just how much it truly immerses you in the world of the Rebel alliance or the Empire; it does it with such ease that you can't help but feel like you're there among the stars.

The VR support for the game is also unparalleled too, building on the free VR update that was part of the Star Wars: Battlefront game in 2016. It's something else to be in the cockpit of a ship, zipping back and forth and dealing with your opposition.

If there's to be a complaint, it's that the single player story isn't quite nearly as long as it should be, but given this is a mid-price range game, Star Wars Squadrons is the Star Wars game we've been waiting a while for. It sets the bar for future titles and shows that given the right treatment, the franchise is in strong hands.

NBA 2K21 - MyTEAM Season 2 is now live

Next is Now! NBA 2K21 MyTEAM Season 2 is now live

 

 

NBA 2K has unleashed the next season of MyTEAM for NBA 2K21 on current-generation consoles, continuing the first season structure in the franchise’s history. Season 2 focuses on highlighting the NBA’s off-season and the young talent emerging in the NBA.

 

To view the trailer click the image below

 

MyTEAM Season 2 brings a variety of new content for ballers to enjoy including:

• A new Level 40 Grand Prize: Pink Diamond Blake Griffin.
• New Triple Threat Challenges in single player mode, with a grand prize of a Diamond Rafer Alston.
• New Signature Challenges from Vince Carter and over 40 reward cards with NBA 2K21 Next-Gen cover athlete Zion Williamson as the Season’s Level 1 Free Agent card with Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and more waiting in the wings for players to unlock.
• New “Win the Weekend” agenda groups every weekend this Season in MyTEAM creates the opportunity to earn XP in all modes and progress through the Seasonal levels. Plus, Limited mode returns featuring Los Angeles Lakers rings inspired by the current champs and more unique and great rewards.

 

Check out the full Courtside Report written by the NBA 2K dev team for all the details on the latest season below. Remember that all progress players make on the current-gen version of NBA 2K21 will transfer to next-gen coming November 10 for Xbox Series X/S, November 12 for PS5 users.

  

Welcome to MyTEAM Season 2: Next is Now!

 

I hope you’re ready, because the upcoming six weeks will add a new way to play, more rewards, some of the most unique promos ever released, and, of course, the launch of NBA 2K21 on next gen consoles.

So why Next is Now? With the ’19-’20 NBA season coming to a close last weekend with the Lakers’ 17^th Championship, all 30 teams and their fans are looking ahead to the next in this unprecedented offseason. The league’s young players are poised to take control and free agents are ready to sign. So we are using MyTEAM’s second-ever Season to shine a spotlight on the NBA offseason and the young talent emerging in the NBA.

 

To lead the way as our Level 40 Grand Prize, is former #1 overall pick, Pink Diamond Blake Griffin! Anyone who has seen what the Season 1 Stephen Curry is capable of on the MyTEAM court will not want to second-guess pursuing Griffin, and trust me, both of these cards stay a level above the rest on next gen as well!

 

So what can YOU expect in MyTEAM Season 2: Next is Now?

MyTEAM: Season 2 has arrived, bringing new challenges, more rewards, and an all-NEW way to play 3v3. NEXT IS NOW.

TRIPLE THREAT CHALLENGES

 

A new way to play 3v3 in MyTEAM has arrived, with Triple Threat Challenges! This new single player mode will add Triple Threat to the ever-evolving world of MyTEAM Challenges. Take on some of the best trios of all-time with players in your collection, meet new & multiple Win Conditions, adapt your trio to fit the Challenge Rules, and earn rewards to improve your lineup for every mode in MyTEAM!

 

To tip-off Season 2, you will find a Spotlight set of 10 Triple Threat Challenge games against almost all of the rewards for this Season. More on those players later!

 

You can expect Triple Threat Challenges to be the staple of our Spotlight Challenge releases, which will roll out on different days of the week in Season 2. If you complete all of these Challenges, you will earn a player making his MyTEAM debut, Diamond Rafer Alston! Who better than “Skip to My Lou” himself?

 

WIN THE WEEKEND

Season 1 let us all experience MyTEAM Limited for the first time. The lineups we encountered every weekend were creative to adapt to each new restriction and we cannot wait to see what you come up with as everyone’s MyTEAM collections get deeper. With the grand seasonal prize of Limited requiring 6 Championship Rings, missing one is the definition of HOF Heart Crusher.

We have heard your feedback and in Season 2, the Lakers-inspired rings will be easier to get, showing up after just a few wins in Limited. You will not want to stop playing after getting your ring though, as we are adding more unique and great rewards to improve your lineup each weekend.

Accompanying Limited each weekend will be new “Win the Weekend” Agenda groups. This will be your chance to earn more XP every weekend in MyTEAM, in all modes. Expect to get your reps in each weekend, and doing so will earn you a free award pack from the latest release!

 

MORE AGENDAS, MORE REWARDS

In Season 1, we had the NBA postseason to inspire Moment Agendas, but it looks like we have at least a few months until they can make a return. Thankfully, the young players of the league made some impressive early-season stat lines that you can recreate in MyTEAM for that all-important XP!

 

You may have encountered a handful of Original Owner Agendas in Season 1, and they will be returning as bonus XP Agendas in Season 2’s Agenda groups. Meaning if you aren’t the Original Owner of a particular card, you are still very much in the running for that Level 40 Blake Griffin.

 

As mentioned in the MyTEAM unveiling blog, a new Season brings new rewards. Over 40 new reward cards will be added by the end of the Season, enough to run three full lineups! 12 new players for the Reward Market, three new Exchanges, and for the newly expanded Triple Threat Offline, 450 wins will see your collection pick up a Diamond Victor Oladipo. A new Pink Diamond reward will also be available for completing all of the Next is Now collections this Season, the now two-time champ, J.R. Smith!

 

Start your Next is Now journey with NBA 2K21 Next Gen cover athlete Zion Williamson as this Season’s Level 1 Free Agent card. Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and more will unlock as you level up. Like Season 1, each season level reward player is waiting to earn you even more XP.

 

No matter what mode you play in MyTEAM, there are rewards and XP waiting to be earned by you!

 

NEW SIGNATURE CHALLENGE

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed cover athlete Damian Lillard’s Signature Challenge to launch NBA 2K21’s MyTEAM. His epic game against the Thunder in the 2019 Playoffs was a moment to behold, and an incredible challenge to undertake in MyTEAM. Thank you Dame!

Up next is a player who I have been waiting to play with, making his NBA 2K21 MyTEAM debut with his own Signature Challenge, Vince Carter! After a career that played games in FOUR different decades, he was able to pick one game for MyTEAM fans to recreate.

On January 8^th, 2006, Vince Carter hit a clutch game winning three over the Raptors, from a hand-off assist from Nets teammate Jason Kidd. It was his second game in the away locker room in Toronto, and needless to say, a very important moment in his career.

If you can complete Vince Carter’s Signature Challenge by matching his 42 points and dropping a few threes on the Raptors, then you will earn 15 Tokens and a Hall of Fame slashing badge. Not bad for a single game! Here is the issue though, if Vince Carter is making his debut in NBA 2K21’s MyTEAM, you’ll need to get him somehow to play in his Signature Challenge…. Enter the locker code VINCE-CARTER-GAME-WINNER to pick up the card you will need to complete this challenge. Locker code expires Friday November 27, 07:59:59 AM PT.

 

 

NEXT IS NOW

Yes, the Next is Now in MyTEAM! Remember, if you are playing on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, ALL of your MyTEAM progress, lineups, and collection will carry over to the next generation of consoles. So, if you were one of the players who earned Season 1’s Level 40 Grand Prize of Stephen Curry, you already know what he will look like in your lineup in less than a month!

We cannot wait for you to experience MyTEAM on the next generation of consoles and being able to carry over ALL of your progress is an absolute game changer. The Next is literally NOW in MyTEAM. Earn these lineup-changing rewards and get ready for the next gen release of NBA 2K21 in November!

 

Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time: PS4 Review

Developed by Toys for Bob

Released by Activision

Crash Bandicoot is a PlayStation icon.

The original games were so beloved, and such a part of the console itself that it's no surprise the NSane Trilogy remaster of the first three games still had fiendish legs some 22 years on.

So it is with Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time.

An infinitely tricky game that does much to build on the legacy of the platform original, Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time retains much of the spirit of the first game in that it manages to need extreme patience and precision to get through every single level.

In this latest, which picks up after Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Crash's nemesis, Cortex, and Uka Uka manage to escape from the dimension the Bandicoot traps them in by tearing a hole in space and time. 

Vowing to come for Crash, Cortex and a clutch of former enemies decide to take on the multiverse and conquer Crash across the dimensions...

Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time is a platformer that has both chutzpah and charm in plentiful amounts.

With new moves, thanks to a series of new Quantum masks introduced by Lani-Loli, the game freshens up the moves as well as proffers new challenges within the platforming levels.

But what remains at the core is the gameplay that Crash Bandicoot has become famed for - smashing crates, making tricky jumps and collecting Wumpa Fruit. And it's these which will feed the addiction - and annoyance levels - in extremis.

The downside to Crash Bandicoot: It's About Time is the addition of things like skins and fire crates, both of which really add nothing new. Skins need to be unlocked, forcing a replay of the levels, and a need to completely clear them - the original game scored replayability solely on the fact that it was so damn playable, and there was a personal pride to clearing it all. This seems like a cynical playthrough mechanic that's not welcome.

Equally, fire crates do little except spew fire out and force you to wait for a cooldown before smashing them - they feel like a wasted opportunity above anything.

There's a lot to master in Crash 4 - and there's certainly a lot to game on with; the addition of some online elements are a welcome touch, but really what Toys for Bob have done has proven that you don't need to deviate from a game's core mechanics - keep those mastered and the game itself will be a classic.

Despite a few minor missteps, Toys for Bob has done an excellent job with a game that's been long desired. The end of the current generation of games may be approaching, but it doesn't matter with games like Crash Bandicoot 4.

Because this is a classic game, and is a perfect addition to a franchise that's been crying out for a sequel for two decades.

Doctor Sleep: Neon NZ Film Review

A follow on to The Shining was a book nobody ordered, yet Stephen King delivered it.

And thus it is with Mike "House on Haunted Hill" Flanagan's film version of said book.

Picking up decades after the Overlook Hotel scarred his psyche, Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor, withdrawn and dour) is stumbling around life, living his father's tortured hell of violence and alcoholism. Riding a bus to the middle of nowhere to start anew, Torrance finds himself pulled back into the world he desperately wants to avoid when his gift connects him with Abra, a girl who's witnessed a brutal murder.

But it also puts her on a collision course with a group of vampires led by Rose the Hat (an enigmatic, charismatic and magnetic turn from Rebecca Ferguson) who feed on Abra and Danny's special gift....

Doctor Sleep is sombre, evocative and at times, mournful.

It's also not its own beast, with shots recreated from Kubrick's cupboard with panache and familiarity and with a final sequence that suffers because it's a repeat of some of The Shining's best moments, given a new spit and polish.

It may be muted and contemplative, and lack its own horrors, but there are elements of Doctor Sleep to much admire.

Ferguson, channeling a kind of demonesque Stevie Nicks is a powerful presence, and a baddie who plays with your sympathies from the start. Owning the screen from the moment she's on, her lithe and charismatically terrifying demon is a human step up from anything witnessed in Near Dark, and she manages easily to con empathy out of the audience that should be opposed to her.

McGregor has a tougher job, selling an iconic follow on to a tortured Danny; but a quiet turn, coupled with the film's more languid approach to the psychology of what happens next, reaps muted rewards.

A more showy performer would have damaged the film's intentions, and McGregor's languid pace and style yields limited results when it should.

It's not all perfect.

Curtis is wasted in a one note role, various shocks are squandered simply for narrative speed, and yet there's a laid back pacing here that doesn't quite work.

The final sequences at the Overlook Hotel serve only to remind what The Shining offered - an abject take on terror, on a family unit imploding in the face of evil - and Doctor Sleep suffers in comparison.

Yet, while the source material may be the issue here, Doctor Sleep's commitment to its lived in characters offers limited rewards - go in expecting an all-out psychological assault like Kubrick mastered and you'll be sorely disappointed.

 It may struggle to provide iconic moments of its own, and some of its best you'll have seen before, but Doctor Sleep's atmospheric nightmare has a way of weaving into your soul when it shouldn't. 

PlayStation 5 UI revealed

The first look at the User Interface for the PlayStation 5 has been revealed.

Watch more details unveiled below in the latest State of Play, as we gear up for the release of PlayStation 5 in a little under a month.

Win a copy of Samsam

To celebrate the release of Samsam, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy!

About SAMSAM

SamSam appears to have it all: his own flying saucer and great family and friends. But the one thing he has yet to attain are actual superpowers

SamSam seems like he has it all: great family, great friends, and even his own flying saucer. But he's still trying to find one thing that will make his life even better – actual superpowers.

Thanks to Mega, a mysterious new student in school, SamSam's about to find them – while learning what it really takes to fight monsters and how many ways there are to be a hero.

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

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

The War With Grandpa: Movie Review

Cast: Robert DeNiro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour, Oakes Fegley

Director: Tim Hill

If being amiable is a cinematic crime, then The War With Grandpa may be facing some jail time for its inoffensive family-led fare.

De Niro is Jack, who's forced to go and live with his daughter and family after an incident at a supermarket checkout. It's even worse for Peter (Fegley) because the arrival of Grandpa Jack means Peter has to give up his bedroom and go live in the attic.

Sensing it's the ultimate humiliation, Peter declares war on Grandpa Jack, determined to make him move out - but Jack can also be a child and digs his heels in as the battle lines are drawn.

Sure, you could argue that it's appalling to see a cinematic legend like De Niro phone it in and channel some of his previously shown edge from gangster films in The War With Grandpa.  You could argue it's debasing to see Christopher Walken and Cheech Marin mugging when they do - but they're obviously having fun and riffing on previous movie outings from their own catalogue.

And granted, much of the film sees the rest of the big name cast doing relatively thankless lifting as various family members and friends in service of a series of pratfalls and pranks writ large.

But the duelling family film will appeal to the younger end of the audience, amused by silly japes, unexpected nudity from De Niro and general silliness from the movie, which has been adapted from a book from Robert Kimmel Smith.

It's mediocre in parts, and occasionally the stop-start nature of the script as it edges in more of the war pranks does grate, but for the large part, The War With Grandpa does exactly what you'd expect as it treads its well-worn path to redemption before 90 minutes is up.

Greenland: Movie Review

Cast: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Wisely eschewing the whole big budget bloat-fest of the usual disaster movies, Ric Roman Waugh's Greenland is a decidedly more low-key affair with flashes of CGI brutality.

Butler is John Garrity, who's estranged from his wife Allison (Firefly's Baccarin) following an argument too many. As Garrity tries to get back in his family's good books, the world faces the arrival of a comet called Clarke that is on a collision course with Earth.

As fragments begin to reign down, scientists, who initially believed the arrival would only be minor, discover the comet will actually cause an extinction level event, destroying civilisation as we know it.

Racing against time, the Garrity family try to outrun the end of the world...

Greenland is the kind of disaster film that's rarely seen in these days of B-grade blockbuster spectacle, where the FX outshine the human cast and the story.

While it may be a little overlong in its 2 hour run time, and while the script does occasionally overplay the whole end-of-the-world element in a promise of hype that's never quite met amid some final third padding, the film's strength is its focus on the human side.

Never shying away from the Garritys and their domestic problems, as well as the idea of overcoming personal adversity in the face of disaster, Greenland uses its sense of growing dread to focus on the parental problems and the issue of dealing with others misbehaving as societal unrest grows.

Butler and Baccarin make a plausible pair, and the script doesn't demand too much out of them as it plays out. But they make the disaster relatable, and a script that delivers moments of emotion such as when others are left behind, pleading for their lives, certainly does leave a lasting impression and emotional toll on the audience.

Waugh, who directed Butler in Angel Has Fallen, delivers the chaos in an orchestrated and calm fashion, which works in Greenland's favour - as the sense of dread grows as time starts to run out.

Sure, there are a few set pieces and explosions, the majority of which would have been seen in the trailer, but this is not really where Greenland is directing its energy - instead, Greenland is a rare beast of a disaster movie that uses the global crisis to deliver a personal story that has Miracle Mile edges and a highly watchable central core of characters that you end up caring about, despite the broad character strokes and the familiarity of the story.

Win a copy of Mr Mercedes Season 3

To celebrate the release of Mr Mercedes Season 3, out now on DVD, you can win a copy thanks to Sony Home Entertainment

Don't let him inside your head

Tells the story of a psychopathic killer who drives a stolen Mercedes into a crowd and a recently retired detective who tries to bring him down.

Critic Reviews:

• “One of the best things about the series is that you simply never know who's going to cop it next.” – The Herald (Ireland)

• “These are memorable characters and are given terrific dialogue, though holding it all together is [Brendan] Gleeson's cha­rismatic turn as the crotchedy but decent Bill, intent on doing the right thing in his dogged pursuit of truth and justice.” – Irish Independent

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

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

Win a copy of Outlander Series 5 on Blu Ray

To celebrate the release of Outlander Series 5 out now, thanks to Sony Home Entertainment, you can win a copy.

Stand For All!

Follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world in which her life is threatened. 

When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable li­ves.

Critic Reviews:

• “Even when Outlander ventures into darkness, it still remembers its joyous spirit and finds new ways to make even small moments feel sweeping.” – TV Guide

• “In its fifth season, the time travel period romance has truly found its footing… the series has now found a new level of maturity which matches its central characters.” – Collider

• “Season five of Outlander is shaping up to be the best yet.” – Digital Spy

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

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

Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn: Neon NZ Review

Cast: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez
Director: Cathy Yan

DC continues its potential reinvention after the success of Shazam!, Joker, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, by taking the very best part of Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie's twisted Harley Quinn and giving her her own adventure in Gotham.

In Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, Robbie's Quinn finds herself trying to help a girl in need when Ewan McGregor's Roman Sionis (aka Black Mask) puts out a hit on a young girl named Cass.

As Quinn's path collides with others in the city, a new team up emerges - the Birds of Prey.

Trashy, hollow, yet distinctly pleasing and anchored by a power performance from Margot Robbie, Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is one heck of a blast from the DC Universe, a film that makes it hard to match up a universe where Joaquin Phoenix's Joker lives.

Some impressively choreographed action scenes really add a bite to the pop art aesthetic of Birds of Prey, and give the supporting characters a chance to shine throughout.

Which is a good thing, because with a slight plot (kid finds themselves on the wrong side of crime, and forced on the run), Birds of Prey doesn't exactly go more than surface deep throughout. And outside of Robbie's phenomenal turn as the spinning-out-of-control-after-splitting-from-Mr-J, there's not much room for the supporting characters to get anything more than a once over lightly approach, and a slight mickey-taking for Winstead's Huntress.

But given the whole affair is narrated by Quinn, the wise-cracking, spiralling story works best with its unpredictability, the crackle largely given by Robbie's performance. McGregor goes from hammy to menace with ease, though his Black Mask feels like a spoilt brat with psychosis for temper tantrums - he's still watchable, but only thanks to the frisson of uncertainty of where it's all going.

There is a feeling of flagging within Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn as the movie searches for an ending after delivering a killer action sequence inside a fairground funhouse; but the irreverence that's been lurking underneath comes flying out to finish the proceedings.

It's these touches which prove to be Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn's saving grace - the film looks like nothing else that's been witnessed in this world since DC began. A blast of colour, inventive fight scenes and a sensational leading lady gives the flick the emancipation from the gritty grim DC Extended Universe that it's been searching for.

Sure, Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is style over substance, but when it looks this good and enjoyable, who cares?

My Spy: Neon NZ Film Review

My Spy knows what it wants to do and it has no pretense otherwise.

Bautista is JJ, a former Special Forces op who now works in the CIA - but whose hopeless ineptitude blows their biggest operation which centres around a potential nuclear threat.

Assigned to watch a family believed to be connected to the terrorists, JJ, along with new tech support buddy Bobbi (Conchords' star Schaal, who gets some of the best oneliners and moments) believes he's been benched.

But when the 9 year old girl Sophie (Coleman, amiable without ever being too precocious)twigs they're operatives, she deploys blackmail to help her settle into her new school and life...

Sure, there's a story we've all seen here before - the mismatched adult out of their emotional depth, and the kid who's looking for a surrogate dad. But My Spy doesn't pretend to radically change the formula, only play up to it, and occasionally, openly mocking it.

Bautista uses some of the same skills as Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy and Stuber to reasonable comedic effect, but in among the pratfalls, and silliness of the wafer-thin story lies a fairly solid piece of family fare that offers a few unexpected laughs, a subtle Indiana Jones gag and a faltering slide into inevitable sentiment (but never mush).

Bautista and Schaal have elements of the Melissa McCarthy comedy flick Spy, but it's Coleman and Bautista's charming double act that may catch you off guard, even if none of it feels utterly original.

It may dip a little unevenly and lean a little heavily into its terrorism plot to power things forward, but charm gets My Spy a long way, and it never outstays its welcome.