Page 40 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Observer Showbiz
Movies, DVDs
www.MelbourneObserver.com.au
With James Sherlock
Reviews by Aaron Rourke
What’s Hot and What’s Not On DVDs and Blu-Ray
● Bond 50: Celebrating 50 blockbuster years of British super secret agent James Bond 007 with one of the most spectacular DVD and Blu-ray releases of all time. FILM: BOND 50 (007) Box Set: Cast: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan. Genre: Action/Thriller. Year: Assorted Years. Rating: TBA. Running Time: Assorted Running Times. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: ***** Verdict: A celebration of 50 years of James Bond, this epic 22 Disc DVD box set and 23 Disc Blu-ray box set release of all the James Bond 007 blockbuster adventures from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace is one of the most impressive and highly anticipated releases of all time, and a must for any collection. Beautifully restored and remastered in high definition each box set also contains over 130 hours of bonus features including Documentaries, Featurettes, Interviews, Photo's, Poster Art, Trailers and much more. Highly Recommended! FILM: W.E: Cast: Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy, Oscar Isaac. Genre: Drama. Year: 2011. Rating: M. Running Time: 113 Minutes. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: **1/2 Verdict: A beautifully filmed but muddled retelling of the affair between King Edward VIII and American Wallis Simpson, and a contemporary parallel romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard. Directed by Madonna, With fine performances and production design, W.E. has many impressive moments, most notably the abdication of the throne by King Edward VIII, but is overall hampered by a loss of direction, conviction and sluggishness. Sadly, there's a genuinely superb film in here, just give me a pair of scissors and I'll prove it. FILM: IRON SKY: Cast: Udo Kier, Julia Dietze, Peta Sergeant. Genre: Science Fiction. Year: 2012. Rating: M. Running Time: 89 Minutes. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: ***1/2 Verdict: With a plot that has the Nazis set up a secret base on the moon in 1945 and where they hide out and plan to return to power in 2018 and invade Earth, then it has to be seen to be believed. Iron Sky is a delightful, tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top science fiction romp that comes across like a 1950's Saturday matinee serial, only the special effects are more impressive, and just as enjoyable. Filmed on a small budget, this is more entertaining than many $200 million epics out there, so bring on the sequel. FILM: THE HUNGER GAMES: Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth. Genre: Action/Thriller. Year: 2012. Rating: M. Running Time: 142 Minutes. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: ** Verdict: Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from its twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, a volunteer takes her younger sister's place for the latest match. Take a good sprinkle of Rollerball (1975), a strong dash of Running Man (1987) and truck load of Battle Royale (2000) and you have this drab and plodding overlong affair that seriously lacks the shear tension, intensity, emotion and thrills that the three films mentioned deliver in spades, most notably the powerful and unrelenting Battle Royale, which is everything The Hunger Games should have been, but isn't ... by a long shot!
Melbourne
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Top 10 Lists THE AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE TOP TEN: 1. KATH & KIMDERELLA. 2. THE EXPENDABLES 2. 3. THE SAPPHIRES. 4. THE BOURNE LEGACY. 5. TOTAL RECALL. 6. HOPE SPRINGS. 7. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. 8. MOONRISE KINGDOM. 9. FINDING NEMO 3D. 10. HIT AND RUN.
● Jeremy Irons tionally well-crafted, King Of Devil's Island takes familiar subject matter ■ (MA). 107 minutes.Available now and creates a decidedly more involving and powerful experience. on DVD. Set at Norway's infamous Bastoy After the disappointment of Oliver Stone's highly-anticipated but tepid Reform School which operated from Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps, 1900 to 1953, the story is set in 1915 along comes Margin Call, and qui- with the arrival of 17 year-old Erling etly succeeds where Stone's film (Benjamin Helstad), sent to the isolated school after committing a serifailed. Set in 2008 on the eve of the global ous (but undisclosed) crime. A confident, head-strong youth, financial crisis, we see a well-respected investment bank going Erling is told the strict rules and conthrough a brutal downsizing process. ditions by governer Bestyreren One of the victims is Eric Dale (Stellan Skarsgard) and placed in (Stanley Tucci), head of the risk man- Barrack C, which is headed by felagement division who was currently low inmate Olav (Trond Nilssen) and analysing the company's loans and overseen by the ruthless HouseFather holdings, and what would happen if Brathen (Kristoffer Joner). Erling, who desperately wants to the market crashed while these huge escape, soon learns that this is going loans were still in place. Dale gives the information to wiz- to be a harsh (both physically and psykid underling Peter Sullivan (Zachary chologically) stay. The reform school genre is one that Quinto), who completes the puzzle late that night, and what he discovers is usually filled with cliches and melodrama, but this true story is handled isn't pretty. This sets off a chain of events that so delicately by everyone invloved will involve his superiors, including that it manages to rise above the prehis office boss Will Emerson (Paul dictable and routine. Screenwriter Dennis Magnusson Bettany), trading floor manager Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), financial puts real care and attention into the manager Sarah Robertson (Demi characters and the grim situation they Moore), branch manager Jared find themselves in, and director Cohen (Simon Baker), and the com- Marius Holst (Mirush) portrays the pany boss himself John Tuld (Jer- scenes of confrontation and violence in a matter-of-fact manner, never emy Irons). First-time writer/director J C sensationalising the dark aspects of Chandor builds the characters and the material. Helstad mixes a tough exterior story in an incredibly measured fashion, giving each person a central core with a more humane centre to great we can connect with, then shows us effect, Nilssen is excellent as the how this volatile world can alter their straight-arrow Olav, and Joner is utterly convincing as Brathen. moral compass. Skarsgard (Insomnia / Good Will Chandor even explains the financial side in a way that is clever and Hunting / Zero Kelvin / Thor) is iminvolving, instead of bombastic and pressive as the all-powerful governer, who rules the island with an unsubtle. Performances are all first-rate, unnervingly quiet iron fist. This great actor rarely disappoints, with Spacey and especially Irons parand this is one of his most intelligently ticular stand-outs. Margin Call is the kind of film adult handled performances. The inhospitable environment is audiences crave for, where strong writing, intelligent direction, and care- brilliantly captured by cinematograful casting is what shapes its identity pher John Andreas Anderson (the cast seem genuinely affected by the freezand vision. ing conditions), and there is an effecRATING - **** tive, moody score by Johan Soderqvist. For viewers who want to be taken on an absorbing journey via character and story rather than mere colour ■ (M). 116 minutes. Available now and movement, King Of Devil's Ison DVD. land will prove rewarding viewing. Measured, low-key, and excepRATING - ****
Margin Call
King of Devil’s Island
NEW RELEASES AND COMING SOON TO CINEMAS AROUND AUSTRALIA: SEPTEMBER 13: BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED, REEL ANIME, RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION, THE ANGEL'S SHARE, THE WATCH, BARFI! SEPTEMBER 20: BAIT, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - DOG DAYS, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA, LAST WILL, LORE, RUBY SPARKS, THE WHALE, HEROINE. THE DVD TOP SELLERS: 1. THE AVENGERS [Action/Adventure/Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner]. 2. THE WAY [Drama/Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, James Nesbitt]. 3. SAFE [Action/Jason Statham, Chris Sarandon, James Hong]. 4. THE HUNGER GAMES [Action/ Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson]. 5. THE LADY [Drama/Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett]. 6. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN [Comedy/Ewan McGregor, Kristin Scott-Thomas]. 7. W.E. [Drama/Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy]. 8. AMERICAN PIE: REUNION [Comedy/Jason Biggs, Eugene Levy, Chris Klein]. 9. THIS MEANS WAR [Comedy/ Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine]. 10. WRATH OF THE TITANS [Action/Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Danny Huston]. Also: KILLER ELITE, RAMPART, KING OF DEVIL'S ISLAND, MARGIN CALL, BATTLESHIP, 21 JUMP STREET, Dr. Seuss' THE LORAX, THE LUCKY ONE, THE AWAKENING, THE RAID. NEW RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS ON DVD THIS WEEK: THE WOMAN IN BLACK [Horror/ Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer]. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL [Comedy/Drama/Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith]. MEN IN BLACK 3 [Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin]. BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 3: Viva La Fiesta [Family/Frances Fisher]. NEW & RE-RELEASE CLASSICS ON DVD HIGHLIGHTS: WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE [1986/ Action/Rutger Hauer]. THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT [1984/Science Fiction/Michaele Pare, Nancy Allen]. BASIL THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE [1986/Family/Childrens]. NEW RELEASE TELEVISION, DOCUMENTARY AND MUSIC DVD HIGHLIGHTS: BAND OF BROTHERS/THE PACIFIC: Special Edition Gift Set [Drama/War]. Turn To Page 48