Starring:Iddo Goldberg, Deborah Francois, Fernando Tielve Genre: Drama IMDb:Unmade Beds Released: July, 2009 NZFF (New Zealand)

For the first half of this movie, I was intrigued. I felt genuinely interested in finding out all about Axl and his life of reckless debauchery in the underground scene of London town. But somewhere along the way I got side-tracked and things seemed a little hazy. Random events ocurring in the lives of both Axl and Vera became intertwined. It was no longer a clear cut path and the Unmade Beds became a mish-mash of imagery – broken glimpses of two lives thrust together by chance.

I don’t like messy storylines. Watching Unmade Beds began as if a painter was about to embark on creating a masterpiece with a blank sheet of canvas. But it soon became a collage of messy images, alot of which seemed unsubstantial. I did however enjoy the part of Axl’s story as he tried desperately to piece together aspects of his life after locating his father. This gave the character of Axl some backbone, something deeper than drugs, orgies and dancing to crappy music.

Maybe I’m just not made for art-house movies. None-the-less the acting talent of our two main characters Vera and Axl (Deborah Francois and Fernando Tielve) is undeniable. Diary of a Call Girl’s Iddo Goldberg is also worth a mention – he’s just great.

Image via Vimooz

Starring: Adrian Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo Genre: Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller IMDb: Predators 2010 Released: July 8, 2010 (New Zealand)

SPOILER ALERT – There are spoilers herein, consider yourself warned!

The one thing you need to know before seeing this movie is that it’s not a sequel to any other movie associated with Predator. So essentially it’s a new storyline with new characters and vision from Nimrod Antal and the script writers.

In the previous Predator movie, commando and all-round tough guy ‘Dutch’ (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) adventured (and was eventually hunted) in the swaggering Amazonian heat with his tough-as-nails compadre’s. This time around it’s a group of complete strangers who seem to have one thing in common – they’re all predatory in their own right – all except one. Now, I dunno about you but if I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of killers and only my gun to keep me company, I wouldn’t be too trusting of anyone or anything. As it turns out, being marooned and left for dead in an unfamiliar environment is less appealing to our band of killers than working together as a group. They venture forth into the unknown, temporarily putting their trust issues (and kill-or-be-killed instincts) on hold.

So the premise is a bunch of criminals, ex-military types and a doctor are all stuck on a mysterious planet without any idea why. Adrian Brody makes his move early on as the ‘Alpha’ male and while he does an adequate job, he’s really nothing like the character Arnie represented in Predator. It’s difficult not to make comparisons afterall, Predator had to be one of my favourite action movies of the 80s.

Probably the weirdest casting call in this is Laurence Fishburne’s character who seems something of an erratic and misplaced individual. While the interlude provided by his appearance half-way through the movie is somewhat unexpected and entertaining to a point, again, it just didn’t seem to sit right with me and almost interferred entirely with the flow of the film. Almost.

Topher Grace’s character as the elusive and all-knowing ‘Doctor’ is an enigma and probably the one character that should have been fleshed out alot more than he was. Topher carried his character off very well and it’s a pity he didn’t get really interesting until the very end.

The Predators however were seriously just as awesome as I remember from the original if not even more menacing. I have to credit Nimrod Antal and the special effects/creative team here because there are some very well directed action sequences that keep the movie moving at a frantically delicious pace. The ‘Dog’ scene is a particularly exquisite action sequence which had me all tensed up in my seat!

Antal did a pretty good job of creating something literally out of nothing, blending some of the old with alot of the new and creating something fresh for us to fear all over again. It isn’t easy to do considering the history and cult following the Predator franchise has had over the years. I think Antal did the best anyone could without using someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger to carry the project forward.

Image via dietrichthrall

PCR’s rating:

Today’s visit to my local DVD store took me around 10 minutes. That’s actually a long time for me. I can usually spend less than five minutes in the store and know what I want (usually New Releases) – assuming I haven’t seen it at the movies first. But I’m happy to spend longer in the store if it means finding little gems like ‘After Sex’.

The movie is about what happens after the hanky panky (just as the title suggests). And it’s filmed so well that I found myself all over the place emotionally watching it. The movie is split up into short sequences between eight different couples – different people with different needs and sexual orientation. Pretty much everything’s covered – the gay couples (both male and female), the straight couples, the swingers, the cheaters, the virgins having sex for the first time and the one night stands. And not only is the script great but the cast will blow you away – Mila Kunis (from That 70s Show) and Zoe Saldana (pre-Avatar), Taryn Manning, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Jane Seymour even does a small bit.

The opening sequence was particularly powerful because the exchange between the two characters resonated with me on so many levels. When movie dialogue makes a connection to you, you know you’ve got a winner. The individual performances are also stellar; Zoe Saldana and Mila Kunis are particularly great as are Emmanuelle Chriqui (as the cheating ex-girlfriend) and Taryn Manning (as the actress that fools her date into thinking she’s an incest-loving escort from Arkansas).

Movies like ‘He’s Just Not that Into You’ might be fun to watch and may have some big names fronting for the camera, but when it comes down to it, it’s always about sex and ‘After Sex’ deals with this straight-up without all the BS inbetween.

PCR’s Rating: 5/5

It’s a crying shame when you find gems like ‘The Poker House’ hidden away in the new release section down the back of your local video store. A shame because little indy projects like this one should get a whole lot more exposure and publicity than they do, especially when they’re directed by a reasonably well-known Hollywood actress.

Lori Petty’s (Tankgirl, Point Break) directorial debut is a ‘based on a true-story’ kinda deal about a 14-year old girl named ‘Agnes’ (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who lives a life pretty akin to something out of a freakshow. Her mother is a drug addicted prostitute (played fantastically by Selma Blair) bound to a pimp who runs their household like the local five and dime (except his wares are women). Surrounded by a maelstrom of disconnected humanity, Agnes is forced to be the mother figure for her two younger sisters, Bee and Chloe. So much living to do for such a young soul full of promise, intensity and life. You can’t help but feel for Agnes as she fumbles through school with straight A’s, holds down two jobs, one of which sees her writing poetry for the local rag and juggles her responsibilities as a star Basketball player on her high school team.

As each new day of her life unfolds like pages in one of her text books, we come to understand that Agnes knows what the future holds and isn’t afraid to grab hold of it, even at the risk of losing everything. One particularly tragic event forces mother and daughter to make painful choices and we finally see Agnes leave The Poker House with her two sisters in-tow.

If you’re not one for reading the synopsis’ on DVD covers, ‘The Poker House’ is based on Lori Petty’s life as she grew up in a small town in Iowa. It’s powerful and sobering and will make you sit up and take notice. Jennifer Lawrence won the award for ‘Outstanding Performance’ at the Los Angeles Film Festival for her portrayal of the young Lori Petty.

If you thought ‘Precious’ was good, you’ll absolutely love ‘The Poker House’ and in my opinion, this movie is far superior.

PCR’s Rating: At the very least you should rent this title.

Madman provide some of the most compelling and interesting dvds but also provide the best selection of anime in New Zealand. Blade of the Immortal is definitely a title worth checking out if you’re a fan of storylines set in the fuedal era in Japan.

As a rule, I haven’t reviewed alot of anime or manga titles here at PCR. I’ve decided to include good anime and manga titles on the site if I’m lucky enough to come across copies for review.

Blade of the Immortal is a story about a lone Samurai named Manji who is cursed with the ability to avoid being wounded. The only thing that can kill him is a very rare poison. He was cursed because of past deeds that resulted in the death of 100 Samurai and is persuaded (by the death of his sister) to seek an end to the curse. Thus begins the story of Manji’s journey to discover a cure for his curse.

Although one would think that being ‘cursed’ with the ability to avoid being wounded as a Samurai would be more like a blessing than a curse. Traditionally, it’s also a Samurai’s calling in life to die in battle with honour which of course is impossible if you’re cursed with not being able to die.

Blade of the Immortal is a moving story of one man’s struggle with his past mistakes and dealing with the price he has to pay for making the wrong choices. With the wonderful cinematic and animation work from Production I.G, Manji’s story is adapted brilliantly from the original manga by Hiroaki Samura.

The beautiful collector’s edition box set is also a must-have if you’re a fan and is the perfect way to collect the entire volume.

PCR’s Rating – 4/5

This month has been a great month for good comedy flicks. And when I say ‘good’ I mean movies that feature a really talented cast, a hip and funny storyline and fantastic dialogue. The worst type of comedy is one that doesn’t deliver the funny’s when you expect (afterall, a comedy is supposed to make you laugh, right?) and drags on without anything interesting happening. Hot Tub Time Machine gets big ticks in almost every area.

My only reservation about HTTM resides with the script – it’s a very out there concept so you’ve really got to be onboard with the idea of a hot tub that has the power to transport its occupants to another time dimension but hey, Dr Who does it in a telephone box so…

The casting however is awesome with John Cusack (who seems to be making a huge come-back lately after disaster flick 2012 and now this) nailing it in every way in his role as Adam, the unlikely ‘leader’ of a group of friends that have grown apart. I thoroughly enjoyed the upbeat flow of the movie. John Cusack’s uncanny ability to mix comedy with an edge of seriousness was one of the reasons why I enjoyed this movie so much.

If you’re thinking of taking kids be aware that Hot Tub Time Machine deals with adult issues of drug taking, alcohol consumption, sex and also contains excessive amounts of swearing (which really added to the atmosphere of the movie). So it’s not really a family flick unless of course, you’re OK with your youngsters being exposed to this sort of thing. However, if you meet the age restriction (which is R16 in New Zealand) then you’re good to go!

Hot Tub Time Machine releases in New Zealand on April 22nd, 2010.

PCR Rating - 3.5/5

I <3 Zombies, I cannot lie. So when I was asked if I was interested in reviewing ‘Zombieland’ for blu-ray, it was a no-brainer! Who am I to deny the coolness of zombies and Woody Harrelson as the gun-toting zombie-killer from Tallahassee?

Zombieland is a very funny take on how to survive if the entire planet (or in this case, country) had become overrun by zombies. With Jesse Eisenberg as the narrator and ‘WoW playing nerd-cum-zombie survivor’ “Columbus”, Zombieland is a survival of the fittest (or craziest, take your pick) journey of four strangers trying to survive, with often hilarious results. It all starts with rules – there are rules to surviving the zombie holocaust and Columbus has them all figured out. If you follow these rules to the letter, you’re bound to survive… or at least live a little longer.

After meeting up with zombie-killing bad-ass ‘Tallahassee’, Columbus realises that there are times when rules don’t apply and survival really is all about who gets the best ‘Zombie Kill of the Week’. After falling victim to a cleverly orchestrated scam by two sisters named ‘Wichita’ and ‘Little Rock’, Tallahassee and Columbus find themselves without transport and weapons until as luck would have it, they run into the same girls again and again, they are made to feel like chumps and are taken hostage. After a few disagreements and exchanges, it is tentatively decided that the group must stick together to survive (well, as far as the girls are willing to go, that is).

Zombieland is an extremely entertaining ride wrapped up with some very smart humour and great dialogue. Admittedly, the best parts of the movie are all about blowing zombies away but hey, that’s what you kind of expect in a zombie movie with Woody Harrelson at the helm. Jesse Eisenberg brings some ‘nerd-lovin’ to the table, as only he can and proves to be one of the least obvious leading men in an action movie I’ve ever seen.

The blu-ray disk comes with additional features which are pretty interesting including how the crew reacted to creating Zombieland and how first-time director Ruben Fleischer envisioned the creation of Zombieland.

<3 Thanks to Danny at Metroexp PR for the review disk.

Zombieland is not due out until the 19th of May but it’s zombie-tastic!

Crazy Heart heralds the return of Jeff Bridges. Not that he hasn’t already produced fine work prior to this (his creepy and way too convincing psycho-killer Barney in ‘The Vanishing’ springs to mind). In Crazy Heart however, Jeff Bridges takes control of the role with the ease of a seasoned pro and nails it 110 percent.

And don’t be put off by the fact that Crazy Heart is a movie about a country/western singer. Although Crazy Heart is about music (you can’t really have the man without the music since Jeff Bridges protrays a musician afterall), it’s also the story of a man with nothing left to live for, down and out and looking at life through a whisky bottle. All is not lost however, when his character Bad Blake meets the younger and charming local reporter Jean (portrayed wonderfully by Maggie Gyllenhaal) in Sante Fe while on the road. Bad Blake and Jean begin a relationship and it seems things might be finally looking up for the aging musician. But life has other plans for Bad and throws him a bit of a curve ball that lands pretty much right in his face.

You don’t have to be a fan of country/western music to appreciate the struggle of a man who has nothing left to live for but eventually finds himself renewed through the love of a good woman and the revival of his musical talent. Jeff Bridges is Bad Blake and represents the life and soul of so many musicians who find that life has somehow passed them by. And when all the glamour and fame finally wears off and the well of creativity runs dry, what do you live for? This is the story of Crazy Heart. I highly recommend this to fans of Jeff Bridges and to anyone who enjoys a well dramatised and well scripted movie about life, love and music.

For some, climbing a mountain that you know in your heart of hearts will most probably kill you is a passion and for a few, an obsession. There’s something deep and primal about man going up against nature but you kinda expect that the outcome will rarely be a positive one. Thus is the case for our adventurous mountain climbers from Germany and North Face is their story.

From a purely cinematic point of view, North Face is photographed beautifully. I’ve never been to Germany so I’ve never seen the Eiger Mountain but in this movie and from a distance, it really is beautiful and uncompromising and doesn’t look in the least bit threatening. For climbers Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser, the challenge to face Eiger is overwhelming and cannot be ignored. After leaving the Fuhrer’s army to climb their mountain and make history as the first to do so, things start to really decline at a rapid pace.

Again, this is another movie supposedly based on the true story of the climbers who faced their most terrifying challenge ever only to succumb to a plague of bad luck, poor preparation and bad timing. Mother Nature it seems, is a more than formidable opponent and is captured in all her glorious fury as she unleashes her wrath upon the climbers. As they ascend the “Murder Wall”, the locals’ nickname for Eiger, step by painstaking step the climbers realise they are slowly losing their grip on their dream, their hopes and eventually each other.

North Face is similar to “Touching the Void” in the sense that it truly captures the essence of Man vs. Nature and the struggle of two friends with a dream to climb one of the most dangerous mountains in the world.

I was thrilled to walk into my local video store to find they had The Red Baron advertised on the shelves. Alas, this happiness was short-lived when I discovered every single copy was out! I was eventually able to grab one as it was returned and was pretty hyped to watch this movie all about the infamous “Red Baron” or ‘Der Rote Baron” as it is said in German.

Reading some of the background about the real “Red Baron”, I felt that the movie did well to capture alot of the realities and harshness of World War I. I’ve seen a few movies about WWII and Vietnam but very few modern movies focus on the first World War so in that sense, The Red Baron was something refreshing. And I don’t know alot about fighter planes, pilots or aerial combat but I was thrilled with the cinematics and special effects executed in this movie. You don’t have to know a thing about planes to feel like you were right there in some of the aerial combat scenes. The Red Baron was shot beautifully and the aerial combat mechanics were out of this world. Kudos to the direction and special effects team!

The casting was also spot on apart from Lena Headey’s portrayal of the love interest for our Red Baron, nurse Kate Otesdorf. According to historical accounts, the romance portrayed in the movie between Manfred “The Red Baron” Von Richthofen (played by Matthias Schweighöfer) and nurse Kate Otesdorf is purely fictitious. But this isn’t why I didn’t like her in the role. As an actress, I quite like Lena Headey but there was something about her playing the nurse that just didn’t fit. Her accent seemed fine, and it wasn’t her acting that was bad either. She just seemed a little too mature for the baby-faced beauty Matthias Schweighöfer. And there was a distinct lack of on-screen chemistry between them. It just didn’t work for me.

Matthias Schweighöfer on the other hand is brilliant as the Red Baron. I was very happy to see the director decided on a German actor rather than the previously listed Val Kilmer to play the main role. Again, I really like Val Kilmer but I thought that using a German actor and one that looks very much like the real Red Baron would serve the role and the movie better. I’m also glad that the movie received the funding it needed to keep the production in Germany rather than forcing it to become another ‘Hollywood’ movie made in the US.

I highly commend the director and script writers for portraying The Red Baron as a man with morals, honour, dignity and respect for both himself, his fellow pilots and the enemy. And although Germany didn’t receive this movie very well when it released in Berlin last year, I think the director, cast and crew all did a fantastic job of capturing an important historical icon of the German people on screen.