The Non

The latest of the Conjuring-verse... Conjur-verse? we dive into the backstory to see what is the source of the creature that we've already seen defeated, so we know how this is going to go.

Back in 1952, a priest and a wanna-be nun are called in to investigate the suicide of a nun at a convent. As we, the audience, know what's going on, we spend a lot of time on a slow build of them getting involved. There's more of an action ending than in the normal Conjuring movies, but again we know where we have to end up, so...

These movies are generally good at the slow build, and at the actual horror thing happening (as opposed to faking out scares like other movies), so in that sense, yeah this worked well. There were some good sequences of tension building, and then slipping expectations of what is going on from underneath you...

However, the ending action sequence just bored me. This series shouldn't do action, because as soon as you know you can shoot it, a lot of tension is gone. And when they reached the moment in the trailer, which is one of the bigger jump scares, that definitely lost its impact because I knew exactly what was going to happen.

This is also a brief 90-odd minutes, and given how dull it gets, catch it when it comes to cheap viewing.

[END]

Read more!

In Her Shadow

It unlocked last week, and I dived right in. It's the latest Tomb Raider game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

We're on familiar ground with a Mayan apocalypse, but it's not supposed to be 2012. (Well, no date is mentioned, but that is unlikely.) And, um... whoops. It might be Lara's fault, but who can say? Anyway, we are then running around jungles and ruins and, of course, villages tucked away from the rest of civilisation.

As far as story goes, this is similar to the other games. As is the gameplay. There is a slightly different upgrade mechanic yet again, and merchants you now need to find to buy things. However... there is a LOT more focus on puzzles than combat. Like, the first half of the game is puzzles with only a little shooting. Then we get random rooms with mooks to make up for it.

And once again Lara is a bigger psychopath with more kills than some wars and plagues. She doesn't even hesitate to kill some, and that's in cutscenes so you can't blame me for shooting people.

I have completed the main storyline, although I have yet to collect everything (I didn't even fast travel once!). And there is a New Game+ mode I'd like to try.

So far I would rank the games as the first one, then this, then Rise. Not that Rise is bad, just not as good as this one.

That said... I can see me playing the first game again...

[END]

Read more!

MEGA Tim Sqid

Hey, New Zealand film! And after screening at the film festival it gets a general release.

John is a guy that works for Deacon (actually called Shelton, but he plays Deacon in What We Do In The Shadows so I kept thinking of him as Deacon), and decides to pull a job he shouldn't have, by raiding the Chinese shop and taking money and a temporal dislocator. As such, when he gets into trouble, he can time jump, and because he's not that bright, gets into further trouble by time jumping. Along the way he sort of gets a girlfriend and also right up his own nose. And they eat pies a lot.

This is set in Thames, and boy howdy does it feel small town New Zealand. From the small time crooks, to the 'yeah, okay' attitude, to the real enjoyment of the pies, this is pure kiwi.

It's also a comedy about time travel, and that part didn't land as well with me. The comedy was too understated at times, and the time travel was just a thing, not a real problem to be overcome or helping (I'm pretty sure the writer didn't bother trying to keep track of everything).

Still, overall... sweet as.

[END]

Read more!

Tangerine

Okay, let's acknowledge the iPhone gimmick now and move on. This is a "screwball comedy" called Tangerine.

Sin-Dee gets enraged when she finds out her pimp boyfriend is cheating on her and goes off to find the woman down. Alexandra reluctantly follows until the drama is too much, then peaces out as she wants to get ready for her club performance. Razmik is just a taxi driver who sometimes need to get some release. These three people swirl and intersect until everything comes together for a big climax. But not a lot are satisfied afterwards.

Human dramas are human dramas, no matter what the context, and this one comes across well. Being how they are transsexual prostitutes, this isn't one you wouldn't immediately think of, but it still works out.

I'm not a big fan of screwball comedies, but by the end, I was on board.

[END]

Read more!