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Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - Page 63
Magazine
Movies, DVDs with Jim Sherlock, Aaron Rourke What’s Hot and What’s Not in Blu-Rays and DVDs FROM THE EARTH Genre: Cast: son, Chris Isaak, Sally Field,
TO THE MOON - 50th Anniversary Commemoration: Action/Drama/Adventure/History. Tom Hanks, Lane Smith, Cary Elwes, Rita WilBryan Cranston, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch,
Tcheky Karyo, JoBeth W illiams, Kevin Pollak. Year: 1998. Rating: M. Length: Assorted Running Times/12 Episodes. Stars: Stars: **** Review: Now on Blu-Ray for the first time, the compelling 12 part story of the Apollo missions and their heroic astronauts, from President John F. Kennedy's historic speech, through the first manned expeditions into space, to the defining moment of the space programme of putting a man on the moon. Exemplary filmmaking on every level, the epic story unfolds through standout performances such as Bryan Cranston, Cary Elwes, Sally Field, Chris Isaak and many more, all reflecting the stories of the men, women and children who lived, breathed and manufactured from the power of human will to one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. Executive produced by Oscar winner Tom Hanks, along with Oscar winner Ron Howard, this is Hanks' first foray into television miniseries, and would go on to do the same on the highly acclaimed and multi-award winning "Band of Brothers" (2001) and "The Pacific" (2010), among others, this was a passion project for Hanks, which also has him introducing each episode, as well as direct the pilot episode, but not new to him, as three years earlier he starred as astronaut Jim Lovell for Ron Howard in "Apollo 13.' Remastered in HD for its premiere Blu-ray release, "From The Earth To The Moon" is ultimately a journey through a time and by people on an odyssey of passion and dreams that are in equal part an intelligent, ambitious, exciting, tragic, gripping and haunting, an overall unmissable experience! FILM: DUMBO: Genre: Family/Fantasy. Cast: Michael Keaton, Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Alan Arkin, Danny DeVito. Year: 2019. Rating: PG. Length: 130 Minutes. Stars **½ Review: A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer. Big and relatively effective live-action reimagining of the 1941 animated Disney classic of the same name has an abundance of eyecandy to relish, sparkling set design, all filmed entirely on a sound stage, and breathtaking costume design by four time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood, all carried along with sprinkles of humour, thrills and excitement, and even moments of typical Tim Burton darkness. The cast are all in top form, and they include Colin Farrell as a war veteran and former circus star assigned to look after Dumbo with his children, Danny DeVito as the owner and ringmaster of the small struggling circus, Eva Green as a compassionate trapeze artist, and Michael Keaton as the ruthless and enigmatic entrepreneur who acquires the ailing circus to exploit the newborn and unique Dumbo. It's all in there, as you would expect from a big budget Disney CGI spectacle, however, the one crucial element lacking is the magic, charm and wonder that made the 1941 animated version so special to so many over the years, and even though there's plenty here for the family to feast on, what else this also has to offer is to inspire new audiences to experience the original, and that's the one which will continue to soar in the imagination for generations to come. FILM: SHAZAM!: Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy. Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Michelle Borth, Mark Strong. Year: 2019. Rating: PG. Length: 132 Minutes. Stars: *** Review: American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, a young boy is given a special gift, and by shouting out one word SHAZAM! - this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult superhero with super powers, but getting to learn them is something else altogether. There's lots of laughout-loud fun to be had in this latest DC super-hero romp of orphans and wizardry, brimming with humour, action sequences, and as you would expect, top shelf CGI effects, and everything goes into the well established recipe for a super-hero blockbuster.
Rourke’s Reviews The Lion King
Crawl ■ (MA). 87 minutes. Still showing in cinemas. Under-promoted and hidden from critics prior to release, one would automatically think that Crawl is an unmitigated disaster, ready to quickly disappear from cinemas without a trace. The fact that the film is quite a bit of fun makes one wonder why the studio thought they had such a turkey on their hands. Set in Florida, which has seen numerous natural disasters over the years, is about to be hit again by a category 5 hurricane, and the authorities are in the process of making sure local residents have fully evacuated. Professional swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) has just completed a trial meet when she receives a call from her sister Beth (Morfydd Clark), telling her that she can't get in contact with their father Dave (Barry Pepper), whose house is in the area which will be hit hardest. Haley, who has been estranged from her father for years, reluctantly agrees to check on Dave, but when she arrives at the old family house, not only discovers that Dave has been injured, but soon comes face-to-face with the reason for his injuries. The script by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen (whose biggest achievement was penning iconic director John Carpenter's last feature film, the 2010 horror/thriller The Ward) is very basic and bythe-numbers, introducing supporting characters solely for the reason of being torn to pieces by the killer reptile, in an attempt to create a respectable body count for what is really nothing more than a flooded chamber piece. French director Alexandre Aja, who garnered much-deserved attention for his brutal, incredibly suspenseful 2003 thriller High Tension, before moving to Hollywood to helm a seemingly endless series of remakes (The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3D, Mirrors) does his best to raise the lacklustre material, showing imagination and punch when the writers regularly fail to do so. Performances are adequate (Pepper's voice is still a dead ringer for Johnny Depp's), and the special effects are thankfully convincing most of the way. Though Jaws is an obvious inspiration, this compact little movie feels like a cross between Lake Placid and Hard Rain, two quite under-rated films. The best film featuring this particular creature is still the Lewis Teague/John Sayles productionAlligator (1980), starring Robert Forster, which sadly has yet to arrive on blu-ray. RATING - ***
■ (PG). 118 minutes. Now showing in cinemas everywhere, including IMAX. Outstanding, photo-realistic CGI animation is the only saving grace of this needlessly overlong, depressingly soulless product, coming across as nothing more than an expertly crafted, assembly line cash cow. It's such a pity that so much technical wizardry (at a cost of $260 million) is wasted on such a lazy, shot-for-shot regurgitation, instead of using it to create something genuinely innovative and original. Watch the classic 1994 original instead, or for a more compelling, entertaining blend of photo-realistic landscapes and animated characters, watch Disney's under-rated 2000 effort, Dinosaur. RATING - *1/2
The Pool ■ (MA). 91 minutes. Available on Blu-ray and DVD. Coming out nearly a year before Crawl, this cleverly constructed Thai thriller has a similar set-up, in that it has two characters trapped in an enclosed space while trying to evade a hungry reptile, and while it may not have the budget of its Hollywood cousin, it offers up more tension, and isn't afraid to be mean and ruthless when needed. Day (Teeradej Wongpuapan), a crew member working on a low budget movie, which is filming at an abandoned pool, manages to secure an extra paycheck by using his own dog for a key scene, allowing him to be employed as the animal wrangler. Once the long, arduous shoot has finished, and the crew have left, Day decides to enjoy a dip in the six-metre deep pool before it drains. Relaxing on an inflatable raft, the tired Day falls asleep, and when he awakens to the sound of thunder, he sees to his surprise that the water level has lowered considerably, to the point where he can't quite reach the ledge (all under the watchful eye of his loyal dog, which is tied nearby). With a storm approaching, Day slowly realises the trouble he now finds himself in, but this pales in comparison when a wandering crocodile slips and falls into the pool Day is trying to escape from. Matters take a turn for the worse when Day's girlfriend Koi (Ratnamon Ratchiratham) turns up and also ends up in the pool. The Pool, which was a massive box-office hit in its native Thailand, is one of those unexpected discoveries that deserves to find an appreciative global audience. RATING - ***½ - Aaron Rourke
Top 10 Lists JULY 21-27 THE AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE TOP TEN: 1. SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME. 2. TOY STORY 4. 3. THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2. 4. YESTERDAY. 5. ALADDIN (LIVE ACTION). 6. ANNABELLE COMES HOME. 7. CRAWL. 8. STUBER. 9. BOOKSMART. 10. AFTER. NEW RELEASES AND COMING SOON TO CINEMAS AROUND AUSTRALIA: JULY 18: THE LION KING (2019), APOLLO 11, THE WHITE CROW. JULY 25: APOCALYPSE NOW: FINAL CUT, DEFEND CONSERVE PROTECT, DIEGO MARADONA, THE KEEPER. THE DVD AND BLU-RA TOP RENTALS & SALES: 1. SHAZAM [Action/Adventure/Comedy/ Fantasy/Zachary Levi, Mark Strong]. 2. DUMBO [Family/Fantasy/Adventure/ Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito]. 3. FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY [Comedy/ Drama/Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost]. 4. PET SEMATARY [Mystery/Horror/Jason Clarke, John Lithgow, Jete Laurence]. 5. US [Horror/Thriller/Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss]. 6. DEAD IN A WEEK: OR YOUR MONEY BACK [Comedy/Tom Wilkinson]. 7. THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER [Drama/Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gael Garcia Bernal]. 8. SOMETIMES, ALWAYS, NEVER [Mystery/Comedy/Drama/Bill Nighy, Jenny Agutter]. 9. FIVE FEET APART [Drama/Romance/ Cole Sprouse, Haley Lu Richardson]. Also: THUNDER ROAD, WONDER PARK, THE LEGO MOVIE 2, A DOG'S WAY HOME, GREEN BOOK, ESCAPE ROOM, STAN AND OLLIE, THE HAPPY PRINCE, PIMPED, KING OF THIEVES. NEW HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK: ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL [Sci-Fi/Action/ Adventure/Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz]. GLORIA BELL [Drama/Comedy/Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Brad Garrett]. HELLBOY [Action/Fantasy/adventure/David Harbour, Ian McShane]. SWIMMING WITH MEN [Sport/Comedy/ Rob Brydon, Rupert Graves]. GALVESTON [Crime/Drama/Ben Foster, Elle Fanning]. MISSING LINK [Animated/Adventure/ Comedy/Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry]. DVD AND/OR BLU-RAY NEW & RE-RELEASE CLASSIC MOVIES HIGHLIGHTS: SILENT RUNNING [Drama/Sci-Fi/Bruce Dern]. NEW RELEASE TELEVISION, DOCUMENTARY AND MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS: OLDER THAN IRELAND. THE STORY OF GOD WITH MORGAN FREEMAN: Season 3. END OF EMPIRE. BREAKING HABITS. - James Sherlock
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