Off the screen magazine august 2013

August 2013 Your one resource for what’s going on at the South African Box Office www.offthescreenmagazine.com

Off The Rim Ron Perlman and Charlie Day tell us about their roles in the giant monsters versus giant robots movie, Pacific Rim

Running the War South African actor Fana Mokeona talks to us about his role opposite Hollywood heavyweight Brad Pitt in the zombie invasion film, World War Z

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Content s Cover Story: 10 Off the Rim

Ron Perlman and Charlie Day chat to us about their roles in Pacific Rim

Features:

6 Scratching the Surface We talk to David Leitch, the man behind the stunts in the film The Wolverine

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We talk to two of the stars of the new action film, Pacific Rim, Ron Perlman and Charlie Day

14 Ja Boet, Ja Swaer Local screen legends Ian Roberts and Norman Anstey talk to us about bringing their iconic characters to the big screen, in Babalas

20 The Rose among the Thorns Model and presenter TammyAnne Fortuin talks to us about her role in the new Afrikaans film, Babalas

26 Running the War

We talk to SA actor Fana Mokeona about his role in the Brad Pitt starring film, World War Z

Reviews: Film Released on July 12th 32 The Lone Ranger 33 The Big Wedding 34 Disconnect 35 Bustin’ Chops

Released on July 19th 36 The Company You Keep 37 World War Z 38 I Give it a Year 39 The Internship Released on July 26th 40 The Place Beyond the Pines 41 Scary MoVie 42 The Wolverine 43 Tyler Perry Presents Peeples Released on August 2nd 44 Babalas 45 Dark Skies 46 Pacific Rim 47 Killing Them Softly

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Editor

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Jon Broeke jon.broeke@gmail.com

Deputy Editor Annette Bayne annette.bayne@gmail.com

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Photo Credits Nu Metro, Ster Kinekor, Getty Images, UPI.com, Google Images, imdb.com

DVD Released on August 48 Grown Ups 2 49 Great Expectations 50 Vehicle 19 51 Now You See Me

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54 Beast of the Southern Wild Chimpanzee El Gringo The Intouchabes 55 Cirque De Soleil The Barrens The Preacher’s Daughter

Contact us offthescreenmagazine@ gmail.com

Or www.offthescreenmagazine. com

Online at www.offthescreenmagazine. com

Editors Letter It’s the beginning of another month, which means another issue of Off The Screen Magazine, and we’ve got another great issue for you. We talk to Ron Perlman and Charlie Day, star of the new Kaiju (giant monster) versus Jaeger (giant robot) film, Pacific Rim. We also have interviews with Fana Moekeona, the South African actor who rubs shoulders, and gives orders to, Brad Pitt in the new zombie attack film, World War Z, as well as Babalas stars Norman Anstey, Ian Roberts and Tammy-Anne Fortuin, who bring the Castrol Boys back to the big screen this month. Also don’t forget to check out our reviews for the latest films at the box office.

Published by www.issuu.com

Join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ offthescreenmagazine

Best Wishes Jon Broeke Editor Off The Screen Magazine 3

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Scratching the Surface The most feral of the X-Men is back on the screen this month as The Wolverine rips itself onto the silver screen. We spoke to David Leitch, the man responsible for the stunts in the film, about the latest instalment for our beloved hairy superhero

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he favourite of all the X-Men is back on the big screen this month as The Wolverine hits our big screens. This time the feral hero is in Japan catching up with an old friend and making all new enemies, especially when his mutant power, the ability to heal any injury he sustains, begins to stop working, and he has to rely on his other facets to figure out what’s going on and save the day. Second unit director and stunt coordinator David Leitch worked closely with Hugh Jackman, back reprising his role as Wolverine, and director James Mangold designing every complicated and thrilling fight sequence and stunt. Leitch, together with Chad Stahelski, co-founded 87Eleven, a company specializing in action design. It has become synonymous with Hollywood action at its best and has been involved in dozens of hits ranging from The Bourne Ultimatum to Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Hunger Games, Leitch’s personal credits as second unit director and stunt coordinator include V For Vendetta, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, In Time, The Tomb, Parker, Tron: Legacy and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. We sat down with him to discuss the latest outing for the Wolverine.

“I was excited about designing the amazing martial arts sequences in the film,” he told us about the appeal of getting involved in The Wolverine. “At 87Eleven we work on many big martial arts movies. But this one was different. What really drew me to the project was the Japanese theme: Wolverine versus ninjas! How fantastic, that was like a dream come true,” he laughs.

“Everyone knows the X-MEN universe and loves these stories about Wolverine, but for me as far as action design goes there couldn’t be anything more compelling than the idea of

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Wolverine fighting ninjas. That was like candy to me. It was very exciting.”

Leitch was involved in the film right from the beginning, giving his input in from the very first stages of production.

“I was involved from the very beginning in the pre-production stage,” he tells us. “There are a lot of martial arts sequences in the movie and five or six main fight scenes. That initial design work had to be done before filming even began. What we do at 87Eleven is to design a sequence and then choreograph it by making videos with stunt performers. That enables us to map out the action so we can get an idea of what the actual scene will eventually look like on screen. Sometimes we will use stunt doubles in the videos. We worked closely with Jim so that the sequences fit in with his vision.”

The film has a very different feel from the other superhero films out there, with a lot of martial arts and stunts that we haven’t seen before.

“What’s cool about the film is that you’ll see a very different style of action than you would normally see in a comic book movie,” Leitch says. “Jim was adamant that we ground Wolverine in reality so that the audience can identify with his human, vulnerable side. Logan is coming to terms with his immortality. He is lost and is looking for meaning in his life. That theme gives the movie a different feel and influences everything.

We did not choreograph these fights with a lot of complicated wirework. We designed them from a martial arts movie perspective. There are visceral foot chases. The sword fights tend to be influenced by classic martial arts rather than the kind of fights you would see in a regular superhero movie. You still have all the fantastic spectacle that you get in all the big X-MEN films, but this film is grittier.”

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“Hugh will do all the stunts that we allow him to do,” he says.

“He’s not afraid.”

Of course, even with all the stunt sequences, Leitch has his favourites.

“My favourite sequence in the film happens when Wolverine encounters an army of ninjas.” Leitch says. “I can’t give you exact details, but it is exciting and awesome and so much fun. The ninjas use every type of weapon you can imagine and it all takes place in the snow and ice. It is amazing. These ninjas work as a team using their different kinds of weaponry in synchronicity to keep Wolverine on the ropes. They prove to be formidable opponents for Wolverine in a world that is entirely foreign to him.” But, Wolverine wins right?

“No,” he laughs at the question. “I’m not going to say whether he wins or loses, but I will say that Wolverine returns to that ‘berserker rage’ he is known for because it is the only way he can survive this onslaught. He has to start taking these guys out. The ninjas set up trap after trap for him and he has to use his ‘Wolverine’ techniques with his claws: slashing, grabbing and throwing. He also gets help from Yukio [played by Rila Fukushima]. It was a fun set piece to work on; a sort of homage to those classic martial arts movies like 13 ASSASSINS.” This is the 6th time that Jackman is reprising his role as Logan, first in the three X-Men movies, then in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and a small cameo in X-Men: First Class, and he still wants to do as many of the stunts himself as possible.

“Hugh will do all the stunts that we allow him to do,” he says.

“He’s not afraid. He cannot do everything because we also have to be concerned with time and safety.

But when you have to use stunt

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doubles you are always compromising the camera position and compromising the character in a sense, because you can’t be close up on the actor’s face and see his or her emotions. Hugh was great, he did a lot of his own wirework and there is a huge action sequence and fight that takes place inside and on top of the train. He flies out of the door of the train. It was very difficult and he had to do it several times. It required him to be completely aware of his body. It was actually one of those moments when you need to trust the performer fully because it is so complicated. It is a sequence where he encounters some Yakuza. It entailed wirework that would have been difficult for any stuntman and Hugh did it himself. He is very committed. He had to be in a harness for weeks, hitting the ground hard. I wanted us to be able to see Wolverine in pain at that moment, so we had to make sure he did hit the ground and that there was a real impact.

When you see it you know that it is not a stunt double, it is actually Hugh. There are plenty of amazing shots where Hugh Jackman is hitting the surface of that train very hard.”

While this is, at its core, an action film, Leitch thinks there is a lot more to it than just that.

“The movie is dramatic and emotional,” he says. “It’s a great story about one man’s journey. It is a lot of fun and it is also a gritty, badass, martial arts action movie.

It is cool. You are going to love it.”

The Wolverine is on circuit right now.

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Off The Rim Pacific Rim stars Ron Perlman and Charlie Day tell us about their characters, giant robots and their relationship with the monsters

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uillermo Del Toro’s latest CGI epic, Pacific Rim, is all about robots fighting monsters. In the film giant monsters, known as Kaiju, the Japanese word for giant monster, have come into our world through a hole through dimensions. To battle them us humans have created giant robots, known as Jaegers, the German word for hunter, and they battle the monsters with them, but not only do we need to defeat the monsters with brute force, we also need to understand the monsters, at least that’s the opinion of Dr. Newton ‘Newt’ Geiszler, a scientist trying to understand the monsters so we can defeat them. He is played in the film by comedy actor Charlie Day, best known for the TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the film Horrible Bosses, costarring Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston.

“Well, I guess it’s nice to finally graduate to a man,” Day laughs as he talks about the difference between his roles in Pacific Rim and the TV show he’s so wellknown for. “Although I think there’s a bit of man-child in Newt. Certainly there’s some man-child in Guillermo [del Toro] with his boyish-like enthusiasm about everything, and I do think that the character’s a little bit based on Guillermo and his love of these monsters.

So, damn, looks like I’m probably a man-child again. I haven’t connected the dots on those two characters yet though. To me, they couldn’t be any more different.”

Del Toro, who directed this film, has said that Day has become famous for playing stupid people, part of the reason he cast him as a scientist, someone smart. We asked Day if he agrees with the sentiment.

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___________________________________________________________________________ “Certainly, the roles that have made me famous,” he agrees.

“I didn’t get much fame playing Mikey Boscorelli on Third Watch, but, yeah, Charlie Callahan in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an incredibly dumb man, and Dale Arbison in Horrible Bosses was not a far stretch from that character, so I’m sure some people will go into the theatre with a bit of trepidation, seeing me playing a scientist, but you know, Charlie Day writes all those lines for Charlie Kelly, so I don’t know. In some ways, this character’s a little bit more like the guy who writes It’s Always Sunny than the guy who appears in it.”

Del Toro has said that he wanted to character of Newt to be part science nerd, and part rock and roll. It’s even been said that if the film had been made in the 80’s then Rick Moranis would have probably been the best to play the role, he was well known for having the nerd angle, but also being able to rock when he needed too. We asked Day how he reconciled the two sides of the character, the rock and roll and the nerd.

“Well, he doesn’t see me like anyone else sees me,” Perlman explains. “He sees these things in me that enable me to play some of those most deliciously fun characters.”

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“Well, I think what he was going for was that sort of struggling nature of the character,” Day explains. “He wants to look rock ‘n roll, and occasionally he does look a little rock ‘n roll, and then on other frames he does look like Rick Moranis, which I think spoke to this guy. He told me something before we ever started filming, and I don’t know if he went away from this, but one of his original concepts was that my parents had created the Jaegers, the technology, that they were scientists. And then I made the assumption that, well, he probably has a chip on his shoulder about scientists never getting any of the credit and any of the pats on the back for saving the war, and that he really rebels against [actor] Burn Gorman,” who plays scientist Gottlieb. “His type of a scientist--the lab-coat-wearing, bowtiewearing scientist--and he thinks, 'Well, these guys are rock stars in a way and they don’t get the credit for being the rock stars that they are.' So he tries to be a rock star. He wears other coats; he has tattoos; he wears bracelets; he’s got the combat boots. And yet his intelligence betrays him left and right.

And he’s a bit dorky. And then he takes to the street over the second course of the movie and he goes through this harrowing experience and comes through it being a bit of a rock star. But, also, I think he learns to not be quite so arrogant and he gets a little dose of humility. It’s a fun journey for the character.”

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The second course of the film follows Day’s character running through the streets of Hong Kong searching for a Kaiju brain. His quest sets him on a meeting with an underworld figure named Hannibal Chau, played by Del Toro film alum Ron Perlman.

We asked Perlman what it was about Del Toro films that keep him coming back for more.

“Well, he doesn’t see me like anyone else sees me,” Perlman explains. “He sees these things in me that enable me to play some of those most deliciously fun characters.

I mean, there’s always humour in the roles that Guillermo gives me. Most guys only see me one dimensionally as somebody who’s just very bad or very bad-ass or very tough.

Hellboy was hysterically funny. And the character in Blade was funny. The character in Cronos was funny. Hannibal’s funny. So Guillermo sees stuff that he pulls out of me that no one else does, and they happen to be my favourite roles that I’ve ever played. So that’s for openers. I could go on. You don’t have enough time. You don’t have enough phone, baby, for everything that I love working about that guy with.”

This film was a little different from the regular Del Toro films though with the actors being given a lot of leeway to ad-lib, or make up their own lines. We asked Day and Perlman what tha was like.

“I never ever wanted to change a line or add a line or subtract a line from anything Guillermo ever wrote,” Perlman says. “It’s pitch-perfect. It always is. And it’s so perfect that it’s almost the easiest to act because it’s almost pre-digested for you. Just by the way Hellboy talked, I knew how he walked, I knew

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how he lied down, I just knew, because of how well articulated he was in terms of his worldview. It’s in the dialog, it’s in what he says.

It’s in the stuff he refuses to do. He refuses to accept that he’s a superhero. He’s just a schlep eating pizza and watching Marx Brothers movies. I think Charlie was encouraged to ad-lib, but I think that’s because Guillermo adapts to every particular artist. I shouldn’t be answering the question for Charlie, but I think there was so much high regard for Charlie’s ability to write comedy that he said, 'I’m giving you a jumping off point here, but if you have anything to add, man, I’ll entertain it.'”

“I think he wanted my character to have some rough edges,” Day adds. “And like Ron’s saying, he is so particular and polished with his work. You see it in the movie, the characters are sort of heightened, like you say. And I think he wanted me to still play within that world, but then to have enough rough edges that you really thought to yourself, 'Oh, this guy’s a little bit more like me than the guy inside the robot punching people out. This is a little bit more of a man on the street.' Because there’s the element of the movie that doesn’t take place inside a Jaeger. There’s the moment where you get to see what it’s going to be like to face one of these things. When they attack the city, what happens?

What happens down on the street level? And my storyline, certainly in the second half of the movie, is there to provide that. And I think maybe that little freedom he gave me here and there to interject any sort of adlibbing probably provided that sloppiness to the character that he was going for.”

You can catch both Perlman and Day slopping around with the monsters and robots in Pacific Rim, on circuit right now.

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Ja Boet, Ja Swaer

Castrol ad heroes Boet and Swaer come to the big screen this month with the comedy, Babalas. We chatted to the actors who gave these characters life, Ian Roberts and Norman Anstey about their characters and the film Off The Screen Magazine

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ver the years there have been a bunch of adverts that have captured the audience’s imagination. Nandos had a lot of really good ones for a long time, Coka Cola has had a couple great ones, and everyone remembers phrases like ‘Hello, Vodacom’, and ‘It’s not inside its on top’. In the 80’s there was a series of adverts that really tickled the South African public, and those were the Castrol ads which showed the misadventures of Boet, Swaer and Mogae as they helped, and hindered, those that needed it at their rest stop, the Kalahari Oasis. This month film makers FC Hamman and Peter Scott looked to tap into that nostalgia by bringing the iconic characters to the big screen in the new film Babalas. I managed to get a few questions to the stars of the original adverts, who also star in the film, Ian Roberts, who plays Boet, and Norman Anstey, who plays Swaer.

The first thing I wanted to know was how they got involved in the adverts in the first place.

“In 1988 [Norman] and I auditioned opposite each other for the original ad,” Roberts tells me. “Norman was doing my character and I his…But then the director, Jonathan Taylor, asked us to swop roles. That way we landed the roles.”

Anstey remembers it the same way.

“I auditioned for this little commercial,” he says. “But I read for the other part, the one that became Ian's role. I think also vice versa.”

The characters were, basically, created by the actors, from the mannerisms to the accents.

“In those days,” Roberts says. “There were good budgets for ad's and we all trekked out to a tented camp somewhere in the Kalahari other side Hotazel, in what was then still Bophutatswana. On the first day, there was actually the luxury of rehearsals. It had become apparent to me that all ads that

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represented English speaking people on the platteland in South Africa always spoke with a "Dom" accent - and spoke slowly, as if they were comprehensively challenged. I asked the Director if we could rather "PLACE" the English. He said "Like how do you mean?" I told him I was from the Eastern Cape where they speak English with a specific accent, and gave him a few examples. He loved it, and Norman Anstey being such a genius at picking up accents - we were very quickly into it. That is where the names Boet and Swaer came from, together with the speed of delivery.”

“On the ad,” Anstey continues. “We had quite a bit of freedom. After Ian's Eastern Cape "accent" input, we quickly found our characters. This was much easier than the characters that were written originally. They were quite staid Englishy sort of, with names to match. But with that tiny shift into Ja Boet and Ja Swaer became much easier.”

The characters now appear in a feature film that sees them travelling from their Oasis to Emperor’s Palace, something far removed from what they’re used to, but it’s not the first time they’ve been involved in more than just selling oil.

“About ten years ago we made a TV series which was aired on M-Net: ‘Kalahari Oasis’,” Roberts says. “While busy with it out on the game farm Mabalingwe between

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Warmbad (Bela Bela?) and Thabazimbi, we found the restrictions of limited time very frustrating. We used to muse on set how lekker it would be to do a feature film where we could dictate the time we could take to deliver comedy. F.C Hamman began the process of script writing. He used Norman and I as sounding boards from time to time, and carried on through the years till eventually the movie became a reality.”

“The film has been in development for about 10 years,” Anstey adds. “Trying to

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get the right story/script and backing. Also the time is right as per technology- meaning shooting on digital and getting those prints into multiple movie houses is much more affordable now. The film persona is the same as the guy in the ads, but evolved a little.

Having done so many ads, it served as a spring board for whatever the movie story required.

One could always refer to the past when gauging what Swaer might or might not do.

Remember, in 2002/3 we had a 13 part TV series on MNET which back then was already stretching these guys into some zany and crazy situations, and shifting them out of their comfort zones.”

There was something about the characters back in the 80’s that just tickled the public, which made the adverts so popular. The film makers did it again with Kalahari Oasis, so I asked what the two actors thought was the reason the characters were so loved, and what would make them loved now in the feature.

“They are characters who have, for reasons of their own, chosen to dis-associate themselves from the hurly burly of the high tech suburban world,” Roberts tells me. “And therefore will have perhaps a unique take on things. Look at the scene where the highlymotivated Lady from advertising gets to the Stoep of the Horingboom Oasis: The laid back idleness with which Neef and Swaer interact with her. Maybe secretly inside us all is the desire to slow down. I would like to put forward the proposition that they are funny without trying to be so.”

Anstey agrees with the sentiment Roberts is sharing.

“They were real,” he says. “And grounded and a little offbeat and grubby and people could relate to these local Kalahari hillbillies. We did not portray them as stupid, but eccentric and different but complementary to each other. We had a motto which became our mantra, ‘Remember, we are not trying to be funny’. So the situations were kept believable, if a little stre-e-e-etched, and the dynamic between these rather different people worked well.

The situations carried themselves and we really avoided slapstick effects for our Off The Screen Magazine

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___________________________________________________________________________ humour. One could write a thesis on what makes humour work...”

Working with the two actors in the film are Tammy-Anne Fortuin as Mia, the executive who gets the guys to agree to go to Emperor’s Palace, and Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow, as Neef, either Boet or Swaer’s nephew, it’s not confirmed which. Anstey told me what it was like working with them.

“Tammy-Anne is very easy on the eye and-er-oopps- I mean, easy to work with,” he jokes. “And gives a lot to each scene. Very intelligent performer, who is studying her craft further, and not some overnight success, ‘Presenter, now in a movie’ of whom we've had enough of, and that will soon be littering the landscape of has-been wannabe's. I enjoyed working with her and look forward to more in the future. Jack Parow was surprising.

He fit right in to the filming, and really came to the party from day 1 when we filmed

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Combi interior scenes all day, with major dialogue etc. Our biggest task was in making him feel relaxed and comfortable in, for Jack, a new work environment with actors of lots of experience. He was no sissy when asked to dive into icy swimming pools on night shoots and have to stand around shivering, while shots were setup etc. A very pleasant surprise when you get to know him. Fun to work with creative ideas and input of his own.”

Catch Boet and Swaer in Babalas on the big screen right now.

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The Rose among the Thorns This month sees model and presenter Tammy-Anne Fortuin venturing onto the big screen in the Afrikaans comedy, Babalas. We chatted to her about the role, her costars and pole dancing Off The Screen Magazine

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ammy-Anne Fortuin is best known for her presenter work. Since 2004 she has been the presenter of the lifestyle cooking show, Roer, on kykNET, and since 2009 she’s been a presenter on the entertainment reality show All Access on Mzansi Magic. This month sees her on the big screen for the first time as Mia Moolman, an employee of an events company who sets off into the Kalahari to track down the stars of the 80’s Castrol ads, Boet, played by Ian Roberts, and Swaer, played by Norman Anstey, in the new Afrikaans comedy, Babalas.

“Mia is career-driven and very focused on her job,” she tells me in an email interview I did with her. “She is the orphan character in this film because she doesn’t really fit in with the guys when she travels into their world and her own reality in Sandton, is basically being a loner that places work before everything else in order of importance. It makes her the odd one out in both the very competitive industry like the advertising world, as well as the Kalahari; and she is totally up for the challenge. She is the eternal optimist and “miss fix it” at all times, a real independent soul who likes to win. She’s a strong girl and she likes structure in her life, that’s something that comes crashing down on her when she meets Boet, Swaer and Mogae.”

The film is loosely based on the Castrol ads, but infer that the characters of Boet and Swaer are real people. I asked Fortuin if she was familiar with the original ads, and what she thought about them.

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“I loved the ads then and I still do now,” she tells me. “The director, FC Hamman, provided me with copies of all the old Castrol ads before my audition in order for me to become familiar with them; I could remember every single ad as I watched it in preparation because these guys were household names. I only wish that Fats could have been a part of the movie too because the three of them (Boet, Swaer & Mogae) were incredible together.

I think he would be proud of how the film turned out and would’ve thoroughly enjoyed Neef!”

Unfortunately Fats Bookholane, who played Mogae in the original ads, died during filming.

The film was dedicated to him in the final credits, but both Boet and Swaer were on hand to pick up the slack. I asked Fortuin for her first thoughts about the characters.

“I knew about Boet and Swaer even before I read the script and I started preparing from day one,” she says. “Ian Roberts and Norman Anstey are legends in my book so the pressure was on to deliver on the acting front. I was so excited by the prospect of working with them because I knew that it would be a learning experience as an actor; and it was.”

Another big name entering this film is Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow, who takes on the role of Neef. I asked what it was like to work with him.

“It was an unforgettable experience,” she tells me. “That will stay with me for a long time to come. I have the greatest respect for all three of them and I think they are all masters of their crafts.”

A highlight of the film is when the four, Boet, Swaer, Neef and Mia get Off The Screen Magazine

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________________________________________________________________________________________ stranded in a bar and she has to win a pole dancing contest to get them out of trouble.

I asked her what it was like shooting that scene, incredible fun, or daunting horror.

“It was both terrifying and fun,” she tells me. “The great thing was that I was in the company of gentleman who, I think, were more nervous than I was! I kept trying to find comfort in the fact that I had taken several lessons leading up to the production so that calmed my nerves a bit. It didn’t prevent me from having the ‘how to do it’ youtube video with me next to the stage.

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The next thing I knew, they closed the set, someone put on some music, I took a deep breath and hoped for the best! I got stuck on the pole a couple of times and managed to whip myself, with my own whip, on an occasion. Oh well, it was exhilarating transforming into different characters and we had big laughs. I highly recommend it!”

If you want to see Fortuin on the pole then go and see Babalas at cinemas right now.

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Running the War

In the new film World War Z, South African actor Fana Mokeona gets to boss around one of the most powerful Hollywood actors in the world, Brad Pitt. Jon Broeke sat down with him to discuss the film, the incredible sets and the zombies that bring it all together. And then try to rip it apart

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ince cinema began zombie films have filled the big screen. The first zombie film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, by Robert Wiene was made back in 1920 and since then there have been no less than 300 films containing zombies in them, including Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead and the Resident Evil franchise, just to name very few. These zombie films have usually been low budget horror flicks, pointed directly at the fans of the genre, but no more.

This month sees the biggest, and I’m sure, the most expensive zombie movie ever made hitting the big screens, as World War Z eats its way on the silver. The film starring Brad Pitt, another unheard of, as a Hollywood A-Lister takes part in a zombie film, tells the tale of Gerry Lane, Pitts’ character, a former UN employee, who gets caught in the middle of a zombie invasion. I sat down with another of the stars of the film, South Africa’s own Fana Mokeona, recently to chat about the film, and as we sat down at the United Intrnational Pictures offices in Sandton I felt as if I was sitting across from his character, Thierry Umutoni, the Deputy Secretary General of the UN. “He’s an old friend of Gerry Lane,” Mokeona tells me about his character. “Who is the main character, played by Brad Pit, they have a history together. Where they’ve been together, exactly, isn’t mention in the end product, but it was mentioned in the script.

They’ve worked in other war torn areas and Gerry Lane was sort of his right hand man. He was his infiltrator, so to speak. He’s the guy that calls him up when this happens. He thinks of him first and thinks he’s the guy who can go and figure out what’s going on. They do see it as a small mission that they can’t send a whole army to investigate.”

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Thierry is a vital character in the film, getting Gerry involved in the first place and convincing his to go in search of a cure, but not much is said about his back story, where he came from and who he really is. I asked Mokeona how he developed the character and if he sat down with Pitt and the director, Marc Foster, to discuss exactly who Thierry is.

“Absolutely,” he answers adamantly.

“That was one of the key questions I had when I first read the script. In the script there was quite a bit that established that relationship, there were also photos and other things that they took out of the final product, but I still had questions. I still needed to find out, who is this guy, first of all, because that was the one thing that wasn’t answered.

Who is he? Where does he come from? Why is he where he is? And that’s what you have to build going into the work, your research needs to establish that. In terms of the character I was looking at major politicians who are internationally inclined who could fit into the UN global, space, and two characters came to mind for me, that was Thabo Mbeki, one, and Kofi Annan, two.

Those two they fit in with all those elements.

So I looked at them, and read a lot about Kofi Anna, who I didn’t really know. Thabo Mbeki, I had a lot of background on him so that was easy. I was also trying to understand the UN. How does that work. If you are deputy secretary general, what do they do? What would they need a man like Gerry Lane for?

What kind of work do they do? So all of that information I had amassed in my background work before hitting the set.”

As I said this was an expensive film.

The action starts in Philadelphia, but then moves to an aircraft carrier, then to a Russian air base, then to Jerusalem and finally to

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“I was also amazed by the zombies. They were going to CGI quite a lot of them, but what they did was to take the ones they actually had, the actors with the make up on, and they CGI’d those, sort of multiplied them, and it looks amazingly real.”

Glasgow. I asked Mokeona what he thought about the sets for the film.

“With me,” he says. “Because my character is stuck on the ship, I did the ship scenes, and those were shot in Studio 1 in London and on the big ship, on the carrier, which was in Falmouth, south England. That was interesting. It was such a huge ship, you know this room,” he indicates to the room we’re sitting in which is about 5 metres by 3 metres squared. “This room is about the size of a lift in the ship, and I’m not exaggerating.

It was a lift that went up about three floors in the ship. It was a fully functioning ship. I think they got it from Russia, or something, and it took about a week to get it over to England. I got a figure of what it cost to just rent that ship for a week. We could shoot four movies for that kind of money.”

He didn’t get to see much of the locations, but he did get to fly in a helicopter for the film, not the first time he’d had that experience either.

“The first scene while I’m flying over the city,” he remembers after I remind him.

“That was fantastic. I flew in one with Marc Foster in Machine Gun Preacher, it was a scene that was cut from the film when the helicopter my character is in gets blown up, but the scene [in World War Z] was in Glasgow, because all the Philadelphia scene, they shot them in Glasgow, because they got a better deal shooting there, I think.”

I mention how amazing it is that they shoot in a different country and make it

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appear to be one of the most well-known cities in the world.

“It turned out amazingly,” he agrees.

“I didn’t know how it was going to work but it turned out amazingly. I was also amazed by the zombies. They were going to CGI quite a lot of them, but what they did was to take the ones they actually had, the actors with the make up on, and they CGI’d those, sort of multiplied them, and it looks amazingly real.

When you see other movies you can see the CGI, when you see the buildings, they don’t look quite real, but in this film it does. I suppose it helped that they had $170 million to spend.”

Yup, the most expensive zombie movie ever. I asked Mokeona how he got involved in the film in the first place.

“I shot Machine Gun Preacher with Marc Foster [in South Africa],” he tells me.

“With Gerard Butler, and what happens with many scripts, sometimes it works on paper, but sometimes it doesn’t work in real life. I had a huge scene with Gerard Butler, but on the day the scene didn’t work. We spent literally half the day between myself, Gerard and Marc trying to fix the scene and the rest of the day trying to shoot it. I think it gave Marc an idea of what I can do and what kind of an actor I am, and I think that was pretty crucial, because when World War Z came along and they were looking for someone to play Thierry, he gave me a call.”

There was one question I had to ask him, especially with over 300 zombie films out there. I asked him what he thought it was about zombies that keep the audiences coming back for more.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly.

“My thing is, I don’t believe in zombies, I don’t believe in that world at all, so that’s been my difficulty, just trying to believe it, that was the first thing, but here’s what I’ve come to understand from asking people here in South Africa as part of my research, it’s the fascination with the fact that you can take a soul out of somebody and have just a vessel.

There’s a part of us that fears them, these others, that are us, but aren’t. I think that’s what fascinates us. There are so many version of the zombie all around the world. If you go Off The Screen Magazine

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___________________________________________________________________________ to the Middle East, there zombie is a very different zombie to the African one, and the Western one is also different. I had a long chat with Brad [Pitt] about who they are so many different kinds of zombie I think that was one of the things they tried to tap into with the film, and the book, because they could see that there’s a fascination with the zombie character around the world. Basically you can’t fail telling a story about a zombie

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because everyone thinks about zombies.�

Whether you believe in zombies or not go and check them out in World War Z in cinemas now, and see Mokeona battling them alongside Brad Pitt.

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Film Review: Released on July 12

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The Lone Ranger 6/10

Starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer and William Fichtner Directed by Gore Verbinski

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hen John Reid (Armie Hammer) comes home to become the new district attorney, believing in law instead of the Wild West justice that has long lived there, he immediately gets involved in the escape of wanted killer and mad man Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner), who was on his way to stand trial and hang. John joins forces with his brother Dan (James Badge Dale), a Texas Ranger, who deputises John, and the posse and goes after the fugitive, only to get caught in an ambush. Everyone dies, except for John who is saved by Tonto (Johnny Depp), a completely insane Cherokee medicine man, who brings the injured Reid back to life, gives him a mask and turns him into the Lone Ranger, a figure to stand for justice in a world in desperate need of it. The two then go in search of Cavendish to bring him to justice, but their ideas of justice are quite different.

This is not the first incarnation of the iconic western figure, the first a TV series back in 1938, and the man, and the mystery, has been legend ever since. I loved the Lone Ranger since I was a kid, and the song that plays when he’s riding Silver into battle, which is featured in this film, is epic, but this film left me wanting, which is a pity since I was really looking forward to it. The story is good with a lot of twists and turns to keep the audience interested, and the action is good, when it happens. The problem for me is the characterisations of the Ranger and Tonto.

Tonto is a problem because for some reason they decided to turn him into Captain Jack Tonto. I’m a big fan of Johnny Depp, be it as Captain Jack Sparrow or any of his other iconic roles, but Tonto is Jack and he should have been played completely differently. All I can think is that the director and producers, the same as on the Pirates films, wanted him to be Jack again so didn’t give him the freedom to create the role for himself. If they had it would have turned out very different. A real pity from an incredible actor. Then there’s Hammer. Again I lay the blame at the feet of the director and producers and writers, but the Ranger is supposed to be touch and strong and take no prisoners, but instead they turned him into a snivelling wimp who moans and whimpers his way through the entire film, not exactly a warrior for justice. I really think that the makers should have looked at what made the originals so popular and not messed with the formulae too much. It’s a real shame.

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Film Review: Released on July 12

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The Big Wedding 6/10 Starring Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl and Diane Keaton Directed by Justin Zackham

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t’s the weekend of Alejandro’s (Ben Barnes) wedding to Missy (Amanda Seyfried) and everyone is thrilled, especially his adoptive father, Don (Robert De Niro) and his girlfriend, Bebe (Susan Sarandon). Even his adoptive mother, Ellie (Diane Keaton) is coming in for the wedding, as are his adoptive siblings, virgin doctor Jared (Topher Grace) and Lyla (Katherine Heigl), but when Alejandro remembers that his real mother is coming to the wedding and he’s been lying to her for years, he’s suddenly in trouble. He now needs to convince Don and Ellie to pretend that they’re still married, something he’s told his mother, he needs to deal with a crazy priest (Robin

Williams) and he needs to handle his sex crazed sister, Nuria (Ana Ayora) who is coming with his mother, but as the weekend goes on and things get more complicated secrets that have been buried come out and everyone learns a little something about themselves, and each other.

This is sweet, sometimes funny, but largely inconsequential film. The performances are good from high calibre actors, such as De Niro, Keaton and Sarandon, but nothing really to write home about.

We’ve all seen them in something better. I would have liked to see more of Williams, who reprises a very similar role to that which he played in Licence To Wed, but to a much smaller extent. The few emotional scenes seem a little forced, giving way for the funny over the top scenes, which aren’t really funny.

If there’s nothing else on then this isn’t bad, but if there’s something else, pick that over this.

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Film Review: Released on July 12

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Disconnect 8/10 Starring Jason Bateman, Hope Davis and Jonah Bobo Directed by Henry Alex Rubin

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isconnect tells three separate stories that intersect as the film continues.

Ben Boyd (Jonah Bobo) is an outsider at school, into music and art, and not well liked by the other kids, but when two boys, Frye (Aviad Bernstein) and Jason (Colin Ford) play a trick on him, pretending to be a girl on Facebook to get him to open up, only to then embarrass him totally in front of the whole school, Ben tries to commit suicide, ending up in a coma in the hospital and shattering his families lives. His father (Jason Bateman), then goes in search of those responsible, trying to understad what happened to his son.

Derek (Alexander Skarsgard) and Cindy (Paula Patton) have their identities stolen and thousands of Dollars of debt run up. They hire

a detective (Frank Grillo), who is Jason's father, to find the culprit, but when he can't do anything to the man he's found, they decide to take the law into their own hands.

Nina Dunham (Andrea Riseborough) is a journalist with an idea for a great story. She befriends a boy (Max Thieriot) on an internet webcam site in an effort to get him to tell her his story, but after he does, and the FBI get involved, she finds herself selling out everything she believes in to try and keep her job, with devastating results.

This film is a fascinating insight into the world we live in today. In the world of Facebook and Twitter and internet chat sites, you would think that connecting with other human beings would be easier, but instead it's far harder to make any kind of meaningful connections. This is what this film is about. It shows how people don't even realise that they're disconnected until they lose what little contact they have, but by then it's too late.

With wonderful performances by a stellar cast, this is a dramatic ride that you all should take.

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Film Review: Released on July 12

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Bustin’ Chops (No Rating) Starring Eugene Koekemoer, Jaco Jordaan and Paul de Beer Directed by Danie Barnard and Eugene Koekemoer

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he movie starts 5 years after stuntman Eugene Koekemoer and his crew of misfit stuntmen left the world of fame with their Stunt TV shows and started to work regular 9 to 5 jobs.

Everybody seems to be doing well except Eugene, so he devises a way to get his whole crew back to follow him one more time on the road to fame.

It doesn’t end there, Eugene’s plan is to make a STUNT movie and show it to Steven Spielberg when he visits South Africa. This of course ensures chaos and lots of laugh-out load stunts! Steven Spielberg isn’t the only big movie producer on Eugene’s list, he also gets a tuff movie mogul (Jonathan Pienaar) involved just to make things interesting!

Eugene meets up with (Jonathan Pienaar) and tells him his whole story of producing the newest South African stunt film. As the story evolves the audience is shown bits of the stunts that Eugene and the crew performed for the film.

Jonathan is more and more intrigued and this is where the plot thickens and Eugene has to employ every resource he has to get the movie sold.

Follow Eugene and his crew on a journey of blood, pain, and sorrow, as he attempts to pull of the biggest con in history.

Unfortunately we didn’t see this film, go and check it out for yourself and let us know what you think.

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Film Review: Released on July 19

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The Company You Keep 8/10 Starring Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf and Brit Marling Directed by Robert Redford

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hen Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon), a woman on the run for thirty years after her participation in a bank robbery connected to an anti-war movement, the Weathermen, back in the 60’s, which cost the life of a security guard, is arrested it sets off a chain of events that shatters the life that Jim Grant (Robert Redford), a small town lawyer, has made for himself. The truth is that Grant is in fact Nick Sloan, an accomplice in the robbery, and through a chain of events he finds himself uncovered by a journalist (Shia LaBeouf), who exposes his true identity. Grant now has to go on the run, but when thirty years ago he went on the run to escape the law, now he has a daughter (Jackie Evancho) to think about, so

he heads off to do the only thing he can, to find the only person who can clear his name, his ex-girlfriend, and the third person in the crime (Julie Christie).

This is the kind of tight, compelling story telling we expect from Redford, both as an actor and as a director. The pace of the movie is lightning fast, starting with Sarandon’s arrest and moving quickly through Redford’s run. It’s a smart interesting piece that brings back memories of another of my favourite Redford performances in Sneakers (1992). The performances are stellar from the entries cast, from Sarandon’s small cameo as a woman that’s been running for so long she’s just tired, to LaBeouf’s somewhat peculiar, but interesting journalist, to Nick Nolte as an old friend of Grant’s from back in the day, to Christie’s portrayal of a woman trapped in a past she refuses to let go of, regardless of how the world changes around her. If you are a fan of Redford’s films then you won’t be disappointed with this one.

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Film Review: Released on July 19

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World War Z 8/10 Starring Brad Pitt, Fana Mokoena and Mireille Enos Directed by Marc Forster

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t starts out as a regular day, but pretty soon, as he's taking his children to school, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) realises that there is nothing ordinary about this day. The world has gone nuts as a rare strain of what can only be described as rabies has turned a large portion of the population into zombies. As Gerry and his wife, Karin (Mireille Enos), try to escape from the zombies, his old boss, UN Deputy Secretary General Thierry Umutoni (South African actor Fana Mokeona) contacts him to get his help in solving the epidemic that might destroy the world as we know it.

So with his family safely ensconced on an aircraft carrier, Gerry sets off to try and discover the source of the infection, and possibly a cure to save the world.

This has got to be the most expensive zombie film ever made, not only because of Pitt's salary, but also because of the amount of helicopters, soldiers and a freakin' aircraft carrier that they used for the shoot. It is also beautiful, using amazing sets to give the story life. From Jerusalem to Glasgow we follow Gerry as he tries to fix this problem, though a fix seems highly unlikely. The film plays out more like an Outbreak than a Resident Evil which makes it a better film. If you like zombie films then you'll get something out of this film, if you like medical outbreak films you'll get something out of it.

It's a good action romp.

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Film Review: Released on July 19

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The Internship 8/10 Starring Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and Rose Byrne Directed by Shawn Levy

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ick (Owen Wilson) and Billy (Vince Vaughn) finds themselves unemployed when the watch makers, who they’ve both worked for as salesmen for years, closes. Without any other option they decide to try take an internship at Google but when they arrive they find themselves surrounded by kids, straight of college, who are half their age, and far more advanced technologically then they are. Being the fish out of water doesn’t stop them though as they are put into a group run by a young Google worker Lyle (Josh Brener) along with Stuart (Dylan O'Brien), Neha (Tiya Sircar) and Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael) as they battle the mean spirited jerk Graham (Max Minghella),

because the group that wins several challenges, wins the jobs at Google.

Now the kids have to teach the old guys about technology and the new world, while the old guys need to teach the kids how to be kids.

This is one of the best Wilson, Vaughn films that I’ve seen. The two teamed up before for Wedding Crashers (2005) which I also enjoyed, and this is a great follow up.

The story is sweet, about the old guys seemingly out of place, but they teach the others as much as they learn from them, which is a great lesson to learn. The comedy is, at times, crass, I will admit, but for the most part it is above the belt, relying heavily on the fish out of water theme as a comedic device, which Wilson and Vaughn pull off very well. They are good guys, who are just trying to make a living, and the supporting cast have enough quirks and folly’s to make them compelling as well. It is a fun film for those that enjoy today’s comedies, but don’t want it going too far.

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Film Review: Released on July 19

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I Give it a Year 7/10 Starring Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall and Alex Macqueen Directed by Dan Mazer

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at (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) meet and fall madly in love. Seven months later they’re married, but, as they say, the honeymoon doesn’t last long. As soon as they get back to their regular lives they begin to think they might have made a large mistake. Things get more complicated when Nat meets Guy (Simon Baker) a prospective new client at work, and sparks fly immediately. Meanwhile Josh has been hanging around his ex-girlfriend, Chloe (Anna Faris), and his sparks are equally large. Have they made a huge mistake, or is it just that the first year is the hardest?

This is an interesting take on the justmarried romantic comedy, especially since, spoiler alert, they don’t end up together. I will admit that I did laugh out loud at several occasions, but it was just specific scenes that made me laugh. The doves are classic, and the first scene, with the priest who reminds me of Rowan Atkinson in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and the worst best man speech ever is really laugh out loud funny, but the rest of the film is somewhat flimsy. There are also those really gross out moments, especially the full frontal nudity, which makes this a very not for under 16’s movie. If you don’t mind a bit of nakedness, and are over the requisite age, you may enjoy this, but it is very British, so be warned.

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Film Review: Released on July 26

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The Place Beyond the Pines 4/10 Starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes Directed by Derek Cianfrance

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story that spans three over two generations and tells the tale of three separate lives joined together through tragedy. Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motor cycle rider in a traveling carnival, but when he discovers that the girl he had a fling with the previous summer (Eva Mendes) had a baby he decides to settle down and be the father he never had, problem is he can’t find any work better than a part time mechanic. So he decides to rob banks, with the help of his boss (Ben Mendelsohn), the owner of the workshop where he’s working. At first the jobs work well, but when Luke wants more he gets greedy and ends up cornering himself in a house, enter Avery (Bradley Cooper), a

rookie cop who finds the robber and kills him in a shootout. Years later Avery is a lawyer with political aspirations when his son AJ (Emory Cohen) makes friends with Jason (Dane Dehaan), Luke’s son all grown up. Things are tense between them, especially with Avery telling them they can’t be friends, even though neither knows why, but when Jason learns the truth it leads to a devastating conclusion.

This film starts off well. The bike chases in the beginning of the film are intense and interesting, but soon it begins to flounder and doesn’t come right after that. It feels like they had the idea for three separate short films and decided to put them together to make one long one, but it stills feels like three separate films stuck together. It just doesn’t work, and the fact that it’s over two hours doesn’t help. I will say that the acting is great

by Gosling and Cooper, but even that can’t save this film.

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Film Review: Released on July 26

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Scary MoVie 5/10

Starring Ashley Tisdale, Simon Rex and Charlie Sheen Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

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cary Movie is back, but this time without the Wayan’s brothers. When Charlie (Charlie Sheen in the same character he portrayed in Scary Movie 4) disappears his brother, Dan (Simon Rex, also reprising his role from Scary Movie 4) and his new girlfriend, Jody Sanders (Ashley Tisdale) has to take care of his two kids, who have been raised in a cabin in the middle of the woods, a la Mama. They take the kids in and then strange things begin to happen in the house, a la Paranormal Activity, so they set up cameras around the house to try and catch them. They even bring in a very strange psychic to try and help, but he doesn’t. Meanwhile Jody goes back to her first love, as a ballet dancer, and

gets cast as the Swan Queen, a la Black Swan, and the movie parodies keep on rolling throughout the film.

This is exactly what you think it’s going to be, a parody of a bunch of other films, both horrors and dramas. Those mentioned above are only a few of the dozen or so films that are made fun of in this film, but without the Wayan’s bothers the comedy is very different from the other films in the franchise, and it just doesn’t quite match up.

Add to that the exclusion of Anna Faris from the line-up, even though Tisdale does a good job filling her shoes, but it just doesn’t fit in the with the rest of the franchise. It has got funny moments, the pool cleaner notwithstanding, you’ll have to watch it to get that reference, but the comedy isn’t enough to make it a movie to watch over and over, like you would the other Scary Movies. If you liked the others you’ll probably get a few laughs out of this one, but don’t expect it to be as good.

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Film Review: Released on July 26

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The Wolverine 9/10

Starring Hugh Jackman, Famke Jansen and Rila Fukushima Directed by James Mangold

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t's been years since the events in X3: The Last Stand and Logan (Hugh Jackman) is living in the middle of nowhere, having vowed to not hurt anyone ever again, but is plagued with dreams about his guilt over killing Jean Grey (Famke Jansen). He's pulled from his self-imposed solitary when he's found by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), the adopted daughter of a Japanese man Logan once saved, Yashida (Ken Yamamura when he's

young and Hal Yamanouchi as an old man).

Yashida is dying and wants to see Logan, and thank him, before he does, so Logan jets off to Tokyo, but as soon as he arrives he finds himself caught up in a massive power struggle between Yashida's son, Shingen (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his grand-daughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), and the Wolverine needs to step up again to save the day, but there is more going on than meets the eye, and when his mutant powers begin to fail him Logan might not be able to win this time.

Based on the wildly successful comic storyline, I am thrilled to see the Wolverine back on the big screen, bigger and better than ever. This is a great film that brings Logan from doubt and guilt back to his wild ways, preparing him for the events of X-Men - First Class: Days of Future Past, which is releasing next year. Jackman is his wolfish self again as the title character, but the Japanese cast is wonderful, especially the contrasting cultures that are apparent between Logan and everyone else in the country. It's lovely to see a fish out of water, or in this case a wolf out of the woods, story. The effects are great again and the story is tight and compelling, with enough twists to keep any fan glued to their screen. A great addition to the Marvel universe. Be sure to stick around for the teaser for the new X-Men film in the credits, simply awesome.

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Film Review: Released on July 26

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Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (Not Rated)

Starring Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington and David Alan Grier Directed by Tina Gordon Chism

Tyler Perry Presents Peeples focuses on that dreaded, anxiety-filled rite of passage that just about anyone in a long-term relationship has to face: winning over the in-laws.

Lionsgate’s and 34th Street Film’s winning comedy tells the story of Wade Walker and Grace Peeples, a happily cohabitating couple who are deeply in love, except for one catch: after one year together, Grace still hasn’t

introduced Wade to her discerning, upper-crust family. Taking matters into his own hands, Wade decides to crash Grace’s family reunion. But his master plan to charm the Peeples and propose to Grace goes hilariously off the rails when he finds himself surrounded by a clan of dysfunctional overachievers who will do anything to keep up appearances.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the screening of this film, so please, go and see it and let us know what you think.

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Film Review: Released on August 2nd

Babalas 4/10

Starring Ian Roberts, Norman Anstey and Tammy-Anne Fortuin Directed by FC Hamman & Peter Scott

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n events company is putting together a big show at Emperor’s Palace when one of its members, Mia (Tammy-Anne Fortuin) has the idea of bringing the stars of the 80’s Castrol ads, Boet (Ian Roberts) and Swaer (Norman Anstey) to the event. At first her superiors are against the idea, but soon they decide it may be a good idea after all and the girl heads off to the Kalahari Oasis, where the ads were shot, to get them to the event.

What she finds is a disaster as the two aren’t as fresh as they used to be, Boet is in an insane asylum, and she’s saddled with their wannabe rapper nephew, Neef (Jack Parow), who tags along when she eventually convinces them to accompany her to the show, but she may have bitten off far more than she can handle.

Boet and Swaer are two of the most

loved South African iconic figures of the 80’s commercials. Their slew of Castrol ads, a lot of which are shown during the length of this film, were without a doubt some of the most favourite of mine while I was growing up, unfortunately this film has managed to take these beloved characters and drown them in unnecessary drunkenness and stupidity, maybe if I’d seen Kalahari Oasis, the TV show they did, I would be more open to the concept of the film, but I didn’t, so I’m not. The story is alright, a basic road trip feel to it, but the second they leave they’re in a bar drinking, then they spend the rest of the film moving from one bar to the next, always in a drunken stupor that ruins the lovableness that they developed in the ads. As for the rest of the characters, they are 1 dimensional and laughable. Parow plays himself, and hearing him swear, every two seconds is one thing, but reading it in the sub-titles, rather annoyed me no end. This film is not what it could have been. They should have focused more on the true naïve honesty of Boet and Swaer that made the so great in the first place, rather that turning them into drunk imbeciles.

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Film Review: Released on August 2nd

Dark Skies 6/10

Starring Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton and Dakota Goyo Directed by Scott Stewart

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he Barretts, father Daniel (Josh Hamilton), mother Lacy (Keri Russell), and brothers Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Sam (Kadan Rockett) are living an average life in the suburbs when strange things begin to

happen all around them. Things moving by themselves, someone breaking into their house every night and moving things, stealing photos, and then an entire flock of birds flies into the house and kills themselves. Neither of the parents know what is going on, but after a few frightening pictures drawn by Sam, the youngest boy, Lacy begins to think that perhaps there is something sinister afoot. She sets out to discover what and in doing so discovers that many children have disappeared after similar circumstances to the ones they’re experiencing, and it becomes a race to try and save her son.

There is nothing especially clever about this film. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I went in to watch it, but it develops pretty much the way expect it to, with no big surprises. There are a few shock moments, when something jumps out at you, but other than that there’s really nothing compelling about the film. If you like you’re basic run-of-the-mill alien abduction film, then you may get something out of this, otherwise skip it. It was nice to see Goyo, last seen in Real Steel with Hugh Jackman, in something else, and he’s pretty good.

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Film Review: Released on August 2nd Pacific Rim 7/10

Starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuchi Directed by Guillermo Del Toro

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doorway has opened up in the Pacific Ocean and through it huge monsters are coming into our world. These monsters have been classified as Kaiju, the Japanese word for giant monsters. To battle these Kaiju humankind has created huge robot warriors known as Jaegers, giant robots and the only weapons against this huge threat. For years the Jaegers manage to keep the monsters at bay, but now the Kaiju have the upper hand and the Jaeger project is being shut down. The last of the Jaegers have been brought to Hong Kong to hold the Kaiju at bay until a huge wall can be built to protect humankind. In the middle of this is Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), a man who, after seeing his brother, and co-pilot die, has given up being a pilot, but now, as the end draws near, he has no choice but to put aside his fears and get back into his Jaeger, the giant robot

named Gipsy Danger to battle again. He's joined by Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) a rookie pilot who longs for revenge against the monsters that killed her family, and together, with Marshal Pentecost (Idris Elba), they may have a way to defeat the monsters once and for all.

I was really excited about this film when I first found out about it. Giant monsters battling giant robots, what's not to love about that? And I will say that it is really cool, for about twenty minutes, then the unfortunate happens, it actually gets rather boring. All the fights are the same, and rather tedious, and always in the rain. Director Guillermo Del Toro seems to think that it will be raining continually in the future. The human characters have their emotional turmoil, but it all seems very forced, especially when they face them, turning emotional scenes into annoyances. For a film that should have been one of the coolest of the year, it is, I'm afraid a bit of a let-down, but, if only for the first ten minutes, you should see the robots. They are very cool.

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Film Review: Released on August 2nd PHOTO CREDIT: Melinda Sue Gordon 2012© Cogans Film Holdings LLC

Killing Them Softly 3/10

Starring Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy and Richard Jenkins Directed by Andrew Dominik

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hree guys, Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola), Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) set off a chain of events when they decide to knock over a mob run card game. Hit man Jackie (Brad Pitt) is bought in to find out who was responsible and clean it up. He starts off with Markie (Ray Liotta) the guy who ran the game, but knocked it over himself a few years earlier, but he’s not involved, that doesn’t spare him though. Soon Jackie discovers who was responsible, but he knows Johnny, so he brings in Mickey (James Gandolfini) to take care of him, but Mickey just sits in a hotel room having sex, so Jackie needs to deal with him too, soon what should have been an easy job becomes very complicated.

This movie made no sense to me. It’s like an art film directors take on a gangster film. There are way too many extreme closeups and slow motion shots, not to mention completely erroneous dialogue that doesn’t seem to have any point, or connection to the plotline. Add to all that the current political speeches that are going on in the back ground, the film takes place while Barrack Obama is running to become president, and you get completely confused. I know, as a critic, that the speeches had something to do with the plot, some kind of metaphor about what was happening on the screen, but it was completely beyond me, so I simply found it annoying and condescending. This is not a film I would watch again.

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Film Review: Released August 9

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Grown Ups 2 4/10 Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Chris Rock Directed by Dennis Dugan

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t’s been a while since the events at the lake in Grown Ups and Lenny (Adam Sandler) has moved his family back to his home town so they can be close to their friends and their kids. On the last day of school, officially the first day of summer, everyone has their own issues to deal with, Eric (Kevin James) is sneaking away from his wife to spend time with his mother, Kurt (Chris Rock) is trying to avoid his mother-inlaw at all costs, especially since he now has to put her new cable in, and Marcus (David Spade) is re-uniting with the son, Braden( Alexander Ludwig), a boy he never knew existed, but is already a grown man. As they deal with their problems, together and encounter all new ones, including a completely insane school bus driver (Nick Swardson) and a group of hyper

healthy frat boys led by two crazy guys (Tayler Lautner and Milo Ventimiglia) I was a fan of the first Grown Ups film. Yes, it was juvenile and yes a lot of the jokes were silly and immature, but it had heart and was a sweet film at the end of the day. They have lost all of that in this film. It’s as if Rock, Sandler, James and Spade sat down one day to think of all the stupid things that they didn’t do as children, and the most idiotic supporting characters they could come up with and put them into a film, with no discernible story line. It’s just one idiotic scene after another, culminating in a ridiculous 80’s themed party, which has no point, just to dress stupid and act stupider. It was a real let down, but it was nice to see the younger cast shining through. Lautner needs to do more action movies, because the boy can seriously fight, even though he’s made fun of in this film, and it was great to see Ludwig getting his Kato on. Young people might enjoy seeing their stars a different way, but even they can’t save this film.

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Film Review: Released August 9

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Great Expectations 9/10

Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Sally Hawkins Directed by Mike Newell

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he latest version of the Charles Dickens classic. Pip (Toby Irvine as a boy and his older brother Jeremy Irvine as an adult) is a sensitive young boy living with his sister (Sally Hawkins) and her husband, Joe (Jason Flemyng), when he’s offered the opportunity to come and be the playmate for an odd little girl, Estella (Holliday Grainger as an adult and Helena Barlow as a child). She is the ward of an equally odd woman, Miss Havisham (Helena Bonham Carter), a woman who never gets out of her wedding dress after being left at the altar. Pip plays with Estella for a while, falling in love with the precocious little girl, only to be told not to come around anymore.

Years later Pip is told that someone has sponsored for him to leave Joe’s blacksmith life and become a gentleman in London. He grabs the opportunity with both hands, hoping to win over Estella after he’s made something of himself, but as he spends more time in the city, the more he loses touch with the sensitive boy he started out as. Then the truth about his benefactor is revealed.

I’m sure almost everyone in the world is familiar with the plot behind one of Dickens’ most famous stories, and this film sticks to the story. The accents are genuinely British, which makes a welcome change, and

the period costumes and sets, the film is set at the dawn of the 1900’s, are immaculate and simply perfect. What sets this film apart from the other versions that have been done before are the performances. The Irvine brothers are both wonderful as Pip, breathing life into him, and Barlow is mischievous and sulky as a young Estella, a trait that Grainger continues when she’s grown up, adding conniving and deceptive to the mix, but the stand out performances are from Bonham Carter, Flemyng and Ralph Fiennes as the prisoner. Fiennes is wonderful as the prisoner, making him scary, but sympathetic at the same time. Flemyng is sweet and naïve and completely spellbinding as Joe, the only person who really love poor Pip, but Pip just can’t see it. Bonham Carter is incredible as Miss Havisham, an iconic character in her own right. When you see her sitting there in her wedding dress for the first time, she takes your breath away and when she finally meets her grizzly fate it is stellar. This is an Oscar worthy performance from her.

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Film Review: Released August 9

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Vehicle 19 7/10

Starring Paul Walker, Gys de Villiers and Naima McLean Directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil

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ichael Woods (Paul Walker) is an ex-con, just released from prison, who comes to South Africa to meet up with his ex-wife (Leyla Haidarian), who works at the American Embassy, and try and get her back, but after a mix up at the car rental place he finds himself hurled into insane circumstances. It starts when he finds a gun under the seat of his car, he then realises that he has a woman tied up in the back. The woman is Rachel Shabangu (Naima McLean) an employee of the National Prosecuting Authority, and she’s been kidnapped by bad guys to have her killed for investigating someone. The problem is, the guy she’s investigating is the Chief of Police. Now Michael finds himself on the run, framed for kidnapping and trying to clear his name, keep himself alive and protect his wife all at the same time.

I had very low expectations for this film. Being the second outing for the director, his first was Retribution back in 2011, which I hated, and being South African, once bitten twice shy, I went in expecting it to be shocking, but I was happily surprised. I actually enjoyed the film. Walker is good as a man stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It’s good that he has a good performance, because 90% of the film is him, sitting in the car trying to figure things out. I especially liked the American driving in South Africa comedy featured right in the beginning, which gave me a good giggle. The story is interesting, keeping you engaged until the end, and the supporting cast help things along nicely, giving good performances as they do.

This is also an action film and the action is great, the car chases are interesting and the explosions look realistic. I would recommend anyone this film, especially fans of Walker from any of his other films.

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Film Review: Released August 9

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Now You See Me 7/10 Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrelson Directed by Louis Leterrier

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our magicians, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), a stage magician, Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), a mentalist, Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), a big stunt magician from LA, and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), a close up magician and pick pocket, are all lured to an apartment in New York when they each receive a tarot card. One year later they are working as a team, headlining in Vegas, when they rob a bank in Paris. FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is put on the case, and while he knows that it was faked, he can’t figure out how, and the arrogance of the four makes him really want to bust them. He enlists the help of professional magic exposer Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a man interested in the four himself, to try and figure out how the Four Horseman, as they call themselves, did it, and what they plan on doing next.

This was a very exciting and interesting film. From the very first scene you are playing catch up because the characters on the screen know a lot more than you do.

It’s great to watch and try and figure out what is going on, and what’s going to happen next.

The story is fascinating, the magic is spectacular and the whole thing is just mindblowing. Only thing I wish is that the end hadn’t been so ambiguous. It doesn’t really resolve a few things, I can’t tell you what because that would be a spoiler, so all I’ll say is, is it real, or not?

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Beasts of the Southern Wild 6/10

Starring Quevenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry and Levy Easterly Directed by Behn Zeitlin In a forgotten community in the heart of the Bayou called The Bathtub live Hushpuppy (Quevenzhane Wallis) with her dad, Wink (Dwight Henry). He’s a hard man, but loves her in his own way. Their lives are thrown into chaos when a massive storm hits and floods the entire area, destroying everything.

Hushpuppy, her dad and the other survivors of The Bathtub all rally together to survive the aftermath of the storm.

I didn’t really get this film. It’s beautiful with interesting scenery and heart breaking performances by Wallis and Henry, especially near the end. I completely understand why Wallis was nominated for an Oscar, but the art film aspect of it lost me, and I really didn’t understand the prehistoric horned pigs that are moving towards The Bathtub the whole way through, too much for me.

Chimpanzee 8/10 Narrated by Tim Allen Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield A documentary that follows the life of Oscar, a new chimpanzee born into a group living in one of the last rain forests in the world, in the middle of Africa. He lives with his mother and the rest of the group, led by Freddy, the alpha male, as they navigate the forest, trying to just find food to survive and struggling to keep their land from the encroaching Scar and his rival group of chimpanzees.

If you are into nature documentaries then this is the film for you. The visuals are astounding, from the lives of the chimps to the forest and the rest of the animals and bugs that live there, even the forest itself is alive and videoed beautifully. Allen is great as the narrator, giving a voice to these animals and keeping the viewer interested in the action.

DVD Reviews

El Gringo 7/10 Starring Scott Adkins, Christian Slater and Yvette Yates Directed by Eduardo Rodriguez The Gringo (Scot Adkins) runs across the border into Mexico carrying a bag full of money. He finds himself in the small town of El Fronteras, and the only thing he wants to do is get a glass of water and get out of the town on his way to Acapulco, but after the drug dealers who own the town get wind of the money he’s carrying he becomes a target and starts a war in the small frontier town.

This is quite a good action film. The gun fights are pretty impressive and Adkins can kick some serious ass, but I’m not a fan of the directing. It’s very much in the style of Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez, no relation from what I can gather, but without the finesse that makes the other two so good.

That said if you like mindless action this could be the film for you.

The Intouchables 8/10 Starring Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy and Anne Ne Ly Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano Based on a true story, Driss (Omar Sy) is an excon looking to get unemployment benefits. He needs to show that he’s looking for, but not finding, work so he goes to an interview for a care taker position, even though he has no experience. The man he’s supposed to care for, multi-millionaire paraplegic (Francois Cluzet), likes the man because he shows no pity for the invalid, and hires him. And so starts a friendship that will change both their lives forever.

This is one of those heartfelt films that you hope you get to see. It’s rich and sweet and absolutely beautiful. The performances by both Sy and Cluzet are wonderful, really getting to the soul of the characters, but be warned the entire film is in French with English subtitles, so if you don’t like reading your films this one’s not for you, but give it a chance and you may be surprised.

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Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away 8/10

Starring Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov and Lutz Halbhubner Directed by Andrew Adamson Mia (Erica Linz) goes to a circus and falls in love with an Aerialist (Igor Zaripov). He sees her and falls in love too, but he’s distracted, falling into a fantastical world. Mia follows him, very Alice down the Rabbithole-esque, and finds herself in the fantastical world of Cirque Du Soleil, when she needs to navigate through the different tents to find the man she loves.

This is a fantastic feast for the eyes, if you’re a fan of Cirque Du Soleil. The imagery is fabulous and the astounding strength and skill of the performers takes your breath away.

The film features excerpts from Cirques most popular shows, including “O”, Ka and The Beatles “Love” so if you haven’t seen the shows, you’re in for a treat, just don’t try to follow the storyline to closely, you’ll just get completely lost.

The Barrens 4/10 Starring Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner and Allie Macdonald Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman Richard Marlowe (Stephen Moyer) decides to take his family, his wife, Cynthia (Mia Kirshner), his daughter, Sadie (Allie Macdonald) and his son, Danny (Peter DaCunha) on a camping trip to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a place where he used to hike with his father. The plan is for the family to reconnect and, also, to spread his father’s ashes. As soon as they arrive strange things begin to happen and Richard believes that they’re being hunted by the legendary beats, the New Jersey Devil, but is it true, or is it in Richard’s mind?

This is a run-of-the-mill B-Grade horror film. The acting by Moyer and Kirshner isn’t bad, but the monster is so ludicrous that it’s not really scary and the whole thing goes on for a little too long. Rather rent Nightmare on Elm Street again.

DVD Reviews

The Preacher’s Daughter 6/10

Starring Andrea Bowen, Adam Mayfield and Ron Jackson Directed by Michelle Mower When Hannah (Andrea Bowen) is arrested for drug possession she makes a deal to get probation, but she has to return home with her preacher father (Ron Jackson) for the six week period. Once she’s back in her home town the reasons she left come back as she recalls the events surrounding her flight. All of which started when she was kissed by the much older, married with four kids pastor who works with her father, Neal (Adam Mayfield).

This film wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I foresaw it to be, exclusively because of Bowen’s performance. She inhabits the character so well, taking us effortlessly from her naïve, sheltered beginnings to her hard drinking and drug doing later days. Without her I probably wouldn’t have watched more than five minutes, but because of her it’s not a bad film.

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