Darkmatters Review: Paranormal Activity - The Marked Ones

Paranormal Activity - The Marked Ones (15)

Dir. Christopher Landon

Reviewed by Matt 'Ghost Buster' Adcock (@Cleric20)

"This is not a gift..."

If you're a 'found footage' Paranormal Activity fan then you might well be interested in this 'spin off' / side story to the main cannon which has seen various families beset by the forces of darkness. Here the story picks up in June 2012 in Oxnard, California with the graduation from high school of young Jesse (Andrew Jacobs). Jesse thinks he's just an average 18 year old until he finds a bite on his arm and develops some freaky superhuman abilities - think 'Chronicle' but with spookier / darker overtones.

Jessie's friends Hector (Jorge Diaz) and Marisol (Gabrielle Walsh) are worried - things start to go bump in the night, an old 'Simon' game begins to have the power to answer questions correctly and when two thugs attack Jessie one evening, he somehow manages to blast them through the air in a most kick ass fashion.

"devilish selfie"

Looking for answers leads the youngsters to their downstairs neighbour who might just be a witch... And when she dies mysteriously one night they decide to check her basement and find photos of Jesse, and his family in a black magic kind of set up... All is not OK. But being young and dumb Jessie goes back to the basement and is confronted by ghostly figures, including those of young Katie and Kristi (Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown) from previous Paranormal Activity films.

From then on it all goes kinda Grand Theft Auto: Blair Witch with a rare action scene seeing some gang banging homies taking on knife wielding witches with shotguns!

"cue explanation from star of previous PA film (pt2)"

The ending does a nice job of connecting the other films in the franchise by returning Jessie to the home from the original Paranormal Activity - which shows that at least the filmmakers are trying to maintain a mythos that can hopefully move to a conclusion of the series soon (Paranormal Activity 5 opens later this year).

The Marked Ones isn't a great film but it does have some good scenes and if you've seen the other 4 movies then you'll get a kick out of the references and cameo characters that pop up. It looks like the box office is diminishing for the Paranormal Activity series (part 4 only made 1/2 as much cash as the first one) but as The Marked Ones only costs $5 million to make, even an ok $34 million return in the first week shows that it's still delivering positive returns.

"that's going to sting a bit"

This Paranormal Activity is by far the swearest, most 'hip' of the series but it certainly isn't the scariest. At least is doesn't have the stupid Xbox product placement of part 4 but it does feel like it's time to maybe finish off the franchise now before all goodwill is lost.

The Paranormal Activity films are different to others that depict demonic forces as they haven't gone for any real counterbalancing force of good / God. It would be interesting to see somehow the baddie forces here would hold up in the face of an agent of the Almighty - as another 'found footage' horror movie 'The Last Exorcism' stated “If you believe in God, then you have to believe also in demons...”

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö1/2

(3.5 - better than pt 4 / not as good as pt 3)...

Awesomeness ööö – even maniac witches fall when shotgunned!

Laughs öö – some dark humour

Horror ööö – tries for horror, some of it works

Babes öö – Walsh has a great smile

Spiritual Enlightenment -öö – evil is not a plaything

Recommended Hashtags: #Iaintscaredofnoghost #FearTheSequel

"Gabrielle Walsh"

Darkmatters Review: American Hustle

American Hustle (15)

Dir. David O. Russell

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Read the newspaper version of this review at: The Bedford Times & Citizen

"Some of this actually happened…"

Here’s a thing – I can make you rich – if you’re in need of credit, cash, liquidity etc but are somehow challenged / crooked / desperate – come to me and I’ll sort you out – just as long as you give me an upfront non-refundable fee…

American Hustle is the half true but mostly fictitious tale of Irving Rosenfeld (a superbly bulked up and bloated Christian “Dark Knight’ Bale), who is brilliant con man scamming desperate people out their money. We meet him as he teams up with faux British accented Sydney Prosser (Amy ‘Man of Steel’ Adams who sizzles throughout) but just as things are getting interesting for the pair, the FBI shut them down.

"anchorman cross over?"

Forced against their will to work for renegade Agent Richie DiMaso (a perm haired Bradley Cooper) who wants them to help him take down much larger fish who include Senators, Crime Bosses and all many of targets – this is where the real life ‘Abscam’ political sting of 1978 is incorporated to the plot. But as the stakes rise so does the danger – and when the Mafia get involved in the shape of notoriously violent overlord Victor Tellegio (an unaccredited Robert De Niro) it could well be the end for the hustlers.

The plot is your average twisty turny scam-em-up but it’s the AAA cast who make this movie so much larger than life and must bring Oscar possibilities. All the leads are excellent and include Jennifer ‘Hunger Games’ Lawrence as the wildcard wife of Irving who just might bring the whole hustle crashing down with deadly consequences.

"Lawrence - agent of destruction?"

Drawn into the scheme is corrupt mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy ‘Avengers’ Renner) who is prepared to do some shady deals in order to try and make New Jersey a better place – and make some money along the way. The emotional friendship between Carmine and Irving is one of the film’s cores and you’ll find yourself genuinely moved by the interplay of men whose relationship is built on a lie.

Director Russell brings a convincing ’70s look and feel to the whole production – it really is like stepping back in time as you soak up the fashion and culture of the time. American Hustle is a love letter to the shady dealings the tore the heart out of the US political system but it maintains a great balance between danger and fun.

If you learn anything from American Hustle - you can take away the fact that both the hottie leading ladies are swooning over a 'larger' gentleman throughout... or as poet lariat in the making Ben Molyneux noted: "My big take away was that Adams and Lawrence dig fat dudes."

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö1/2

(4.5 - Everyone hustles sometimes)...

Awesomeness öööö – very strong scenes, feel the tension dripping off the screen

Laughs öö – occasionally funny

Horror öö – couple of grim moments

Babes öööö – Adams and Lawrence try to out cleavage each other

Spiritual Enlightenment öö – don't fool yourself

Recommended Hashtag: #HustlersFTW #ChicksDigFatDudes

"hope for men with bellies everywhere"

Darkmatters Review: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (PG)

Dir. Ben Stiller

Reviewed by Matt 'Major Tom' Adcock

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention."

You know something? I quite often track down and kill people (bad people you understand - terrorists, serial killers, rapists, Daily Mail Editors...) but it's invigorating, life affirming and a supreme rush - taking the law into my own hands and making the world a better place through the use of heavy weaponry, fast cars, attack helicopters and even super powers which I have but keep quiet about!?

*ah* sorry, I zoned out there for a minute but do you ever find yourself lost in a daydream of epic proportions? Maybe in a dull meeting, a long church service or just in a odd moment during the working day? I'm not saying your daydreams are hunting down violent maniacs or despicable scumbags but even if you've just stopped to consider spending a unforeseen lottery win - this is a film for you...

"fully zoned out"

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is the story of a man who wants to be taken seriously, who yearns for love and accolades but who hasn't ever knowingly done anything meaningful, exciting or of significance.

What Walter (Ben Stiller) does is often zone out from reality staring into the middle-distance oblivious to everything around him. But his imagination is well honed and his fantasies are joyous forays into crazy daring-do adventures - valiantly saving animals from burning buildings, smashing his awful boss through 30th storey windows, smoothly wooing the quietly sexy girl from accounts... Things are just better in Walter's head than they are in real life where he works ironically enough for 'Life' magazine as a photo asset controller.

"adventure awaits"

But life hits Walter hard when the magazine is taken over, moved online  and the hard copy operation shut down - leaving him the chance of one final cover image to send the title on its way into history.

This is where world renown guerrilla photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) comes in has he has submitted a shot he'd like considered for the final cover - one that captures the 'quintessence of life' no less. The fabled shot however has been mislaid and with his job on the line Walter must embark on the adventure of his lifetime to try and find it!

Cue scaling mountains, leaping from helicopters, battling sharks, fleeing erupting volcanoes - all the while bring called by Todd Maher (Patton Oswalt) the rep from his lonely heart dating website eHarmony, helping him update his chronically dull profile.

It's a fun trip travelling with Walter in this bitter sweet tale that sees him trek through some amazing scenery, face down improbably odds, get the girl (Kristen Wiig) and maybe, just maybe save the day...

"smooth"

I watched this with my lovely wife and it was a superb date movie - funny, thought provoking and engaging throughout. If you're after something refreshing and fun, stop daydreaming and take a trip with Walter!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - Strong reality bites fantasy)...

Awesomeness öööö – lovely fantasies, superb effects, great reality

Laughs ööö – good comedy moments

Horror ö – not very nasty

Babes ööö – Wiig's Cheryl Melhoff is a great fantasy in herself

Spiritual Enlightenment öööö – life is for living!

Recommended Hashtag: #Thegreatestadventurestartswithonestep

"fantasy girl?"

Darkmatters explores: The Twitter Gospels

#Twitter_Gospels

Reaction by Matt Adcock

Here are two things that are obviously synergistic, the Word of God and Twitter...

The ambitious Twitter Gospels project headed by Andrew Richardson from the University of Sunderland is a contemporary response to the idea of illuminated writing in the context of a digitally connected community. Think Lindisfarne Gospels 2.0 and you'll be in the right headspace.

The project explores and examines ideas of meaning, legibility and aesthetics by creating a digitally illuminated version of the Gospel text, informed by online communities - it looks great in the book format and also when witnessed projected (see below).

The project used a Twitter feed to capture contemporary responses and thoughts about the Gospel text, in the form of ‘tweets’ written in response to each chapter and verse over the course of a single day.

It is fascinating to read through the data that was translated into a computationally generated ‘illumination’ of the Gospels - it becomes a unique, visual representation of the Gospels in the light of online social engagement.

Some of the text is hard to read, on other pages you have to simply let the visualisation wash over you but there is something very cool going on here and it is worthy of your time.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters: 

öööö1/5 - a great new way of exploring an ancient text

4.5 - Visual food for the soul!

More on this subject:

Official Site

Reaction blog by PM Phillips

"Vicky Beeching - a strong Christian twitter advocate

worth a follow at: @vickybeeching !"

"Conrad Gempf at The London School of Theology... 

would be awesome if he started tweeting"

Another Darkmatters mini book review:

St George Blood & Martyrs

Darkmatters Review: 47 Ronin

47 Ronin (15)

Dir. Carl Rinsch

Reviewed by Matt 'Half Breed' Adcock


“I will search for you through 1,000 worlds and 10,000 lifetimes...”

I am a Ronin, a master less Samurai who wanders the earth looking to restore my honour. Legends will be told of my valour, my courage and my 46 other pals who I like to kick ass with...

This special effects heavy, chop-em-up fantasy tale is set in Feudal Japan where Kai (Keanu 'The Matrix' Reeves) plays a half-breed warrior (half Japanese, half English) who was raised in the forest by demons after being abandoned there as an unwanted child.

We join his tale as he fights alongside a group of Samurai - in one memorable scene they take down a woodland dragon beast with six eyes - you know just for the LOLs. Anyway all is not good times and sushi because their master Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) is shamed and has to off himself leaving them disbanded as Ronin.

"ride of the 47..."

But the evil Lord Kira (Tadanobu Ansano - no relation to the good master character) wants them wiped out whilst he forces the young hottie princes Mika (Kô Shibasaki) - who is in love with Kai- to be his wife / thus joining the whole of Japan under his baddie rule.

Lord Kira is backed up not only by his army of Samurai but a huge metal clad warrior giant and a sexy evil witch played by Rinko 'Pacific Rim' Kikuchi - who has the ability to transform herself into various guises including a white fox and travel on the wind as a twisting silk kimono. Oh and when threatened the witch can also become a huge battle dragon-like creature!?

"dragon slaying time"

This won't be everyone's cup of tea but if you enjoyed The House of Flying Daggers or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon then you should give 47 Ronin a look as it delivers plenty of Samurai battles, some great fantasy creatures and has an ending you'll likely discuss for some time!

It really is a shame that 47 Ronin has flopped so hard at the international box office (only making back a fraction of its $175million budget) - I guess there are just not many Samurai fans left!?

"freaky hair..."

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö

(3 - Honour your inner Ronin)...

Awesomeness ööö – decent fights and effects

Laughs ö – not a comedy

Horror ööö – some grimness

Babes ööö – Rinko Kikuchi is lovely

Spiritual Enlightenment öö – live with honour

Recommended Hashtags: #SexyWitch #Honour #RoninFTW

"two for tea"

"Rinko Kikuchi"

Darkmatters Review: Assassin's Creed IV - Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4 Edition)

Developed by Ubisoft

Reviewed by Matt 'Pirate Lord' Adcock

"We're Assassins and we follow a creed, aye.  But it does not command us to act or submit - only to be wise. Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. This is the world's only certainty!"

Calling all wannabe pirates and / or assassins - Ubisoft have created something rather wonderful which runs supremely on the sexy new PS4... If like me you were bit underwhelmed by Assassin's Creed 3 then let me reassure you straight away - Black Flag (as part IV is called) puts the franchise right back on track!!

Everything works really well - especially when you take to the open seas - visually you'll be blown away by the 1080 HD graphics which are notably better than the PS3 (or either Xbox for that matter) - you can almost taste the salt water as you battle the elements, plunder treasure and dispatch many many people to their death!

"enjoy your Caribbean travel - but bring a sword!"

The gameplay too is top-notch, packed with lovely little touches such as sea shanties you can collect which you then find your crew of pirates singing along to!? Ship to ship battles are immense - both satisfying and exciting as you attack, sink or board and capture various vessels in order to grab materials to upgrade your ship... or just for the LOLs...

The RPG-lite parts work well too and upgrading your trusty ship  'Jackdaw' is very rewarding. It pays off getting better weapons - so you can take down bigger, badder enemies, but everything just feels good about buying some new cool sails for your ship so you can swag across the oceans spreading fear before you!?

Your virtual pirate's life will also see you finding treasure maps and digging up chests on sandy islands, plus collecting the riches from guarded buildings (ok robbing), picking pockets, and even selling on your sea plundered goods will see you amassing money so you can invest in a hideout as well as upgrading your ship, personal weapons and a host of other items.

As you expand your pirate operation you can start a mini-business commanding your own fleet of ships to carry out missions for you - and this can be done on the go via the Assassin's Creed IV phone app when you're away from the PS4. Plus of course AC IV works really well via remote play on a PS VITA so you can take the fun on the road with you.

"leaps of faith - more appetising into a lovely warm sea"

Other highlights include a non PC whaling mini-game, underwater exploration, island based forts to attack and capture plus trying to avoid tornadoes and rogue waves on the open sea. If you're tough enough you can even take on 'legendary' ships before you get to the end...

You play the part of Edward Kenway, a lovable rogue who  kind of stumbles into the Assassin's Creed mythos. But there are a host of great characters in this adventure that include the feared pirate lord Blackbeard (who also makes an appearance in the cool multiplayer options too).

So why buy the PS4 version? Well as I mentioned it's by far the best looking one on the market with fully 1080 HD visuals, then there's also 60 minutes of PlayStation exclusive material which adds to the lore and world of Assassin's Creed (yes this is on PS3 too but you don't get the lovely lovely visuals or the cool additional functionality of the DualShock 4 touchpad etc), and finally there is a special feeling when playing AC IV via remote play on your PS VITA which is simply superb...

"remote play in action - screen shot from DualShockers"

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö1/2

(4.5 - Pirates and Assassins make a great combo!)...

Darkmatters Film Picks for 2014

Darkmatters Film Picks for 2014

Matt Adcock is looking forward to seeing these...

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Incoming - January 17

Scorsese directs DiCaprio and McConaughey, plus Jonah Hill in this 'based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfont' tale of a Wall Street criminal's hedonistic rise - it looks like American Psycho with added dwarf tossing and a bit less serial killing.

ROBOCOP

Incoming - February 7

Somewhere a crime is being committed - let's hope that it's not this remake set in 2028 Detroit, where the police are losing the war on crime - and are not allowed to use robots like the rest of the world. Cue the evil corp creating a machine cop that has a human heart in Alex Murphy, badly injured policeman rebuilt as a kick ass cyborg cop.

THE BOOK THIEF

Incoming - February 26

I loved the book of this moving tale where a young girl named Liesel is orphaned who is left with foster parents and a love of books. World War II rages and Death / The Grim Reaper (Roger Allam) is narrating the story - hoping the balance between grimness and sentiment is struck well...

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

Incoming - March 7

Partying in the shadow of the mighty 300 - this is a prequel which shows how Xerxes set out to conquer the world and brings an epic confrontation between the Persian fleet, led by Eva Green's formidable Artemisia, and the Athenian fleet led by Themistokles.

NEED FOR SPEED

Incoming - March 14

Aaron Paul follows up Breaking Bad as Tobey Marshall who is set up and banged up in prison. Upon release though he takes on a crazy cross-country race as part of his quest for revenge – but with a price on his head it could get very messy! Vroom.

THE ZERO THEOREM

Incoming - March 14

What happens when a computer genius in a Brazil like future is working to solve the Theorem of Life. This is a Terry Gilliam film that includes 'The Church Of Batman The Redeemer' - you have to love this!!

NOAH

Incoming - March 28

Darren Aronofsky directs Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone. Things get biblical for Noah (Crowe) and his ark!?

GODZILLA

Incoming - May 16

Monster mayhem on a grand scale beckons as things get radioactive and the world just might not survive!!

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Incoming - May 22

Bryan Singer brings the mutant gang back together to battle the robot Sentinels in a world where all mutants are hunted. Professor X (Stewart) and Magneto (McKellen) send Wolverine (Jackman) back in time to his younger self - X-Men meets The Terminator? Game on!!

EDGE OF TOMORROW

Incoming - May 30

One of my favourite directors - Doug Liman - gets to direct Tom Cruise who plays Lt. Col. Bill Cage who is part of the army's future PR department - but getting KIA complecates things and then he finds himself 'replaying' events in a time loop - bring the carnage!

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Incoming - July 17

More monkey business as humanity has been devastated by a virus and apes, led by baddie Caesar (Serkis) must find a way to either work with the humans or fight to the death!?

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Incoming - August 1

Excited to see what James 'Super' Gunn can bring to the Marvel cannon. Guardians sees an A-Team like bunch of heroes meet in prison and team up to break out and go after a treasure... Going to be fascinating to see such weird and wonderful comic book material brough to the big screen.

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Incoming - August 29

Another three graphic novel stories bring together Frank Miller's crime-em-up hard boiled characters that include Dwight (Brolin), Ava (Green), Nancy (Alba), Hartigan (Bruce Willis) - who died in the first film!? and Johnny (Gordon-Levitt) all embroiled in dastardly doings - in super stylised black and white style!

THE EQUALIZER

Incoming - October 10

Denzel Washington and Chloe Grace Moretz make this a 'must see' adaptation as Robert McCall (Washington) quits his CIA post and decides to right wrongs in pursuit of redemption. A young prostitute, Teri (Moretz), asks him for help. When he agrees it brings him up against the Russian mafia and brutal fixer.

INTERSTELLAR 

Incoming - November 07

A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. This will be superb - it's a Chris Nolan film after all!!

THE RAID 2: BERANDAL

Incoming - not confirmed

Gareth Evans follow up his superb original and has hero of pt 1 Rama going into prison to establish an undercover identity in order to try an infiltrate a vicious mob family - things are unlikely to go smoothly so expect copious action and violence!


What are you looking forward to??

Darkmatters Review: Anchorman 2 - The Legend Continues

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (15)

Dir. Adam McKay

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“I’m kind of a big deal!”

In the fickle world of news media – true legends are few and far between but in this dog-eat-dog, ego-centric world, one name stands magnificently aloof at the top of the pile… That man is Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell)!

We catch up with the least PC newsman on the planet who is rocking the co-anchor newscaster role at Channel Four News, alongside his hot wife Veronica (Christina Applegate). But when it is she rather than Ron who is picked for the top nightly news anchor role by the retiring media boss Mack Harken (a superb cameo by Harrison Ford) – Ron is let go.

Having lost both his job and his family, Ron hits rock bottom working through a drunken stupor at a SeaWorld resort but after a failed ‘cry for help’ suicide attempt he's given the chance to rebuild his news career along with his infamous team —Champ Kind (David Koechner) - who has set up a fried chicken franchise where they serve bats ‘chicken of the cave’, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) who has become a leading cat photographer, and socially inept Brick Tamland (Steve Carell).

"every girl crazy bout a sharp dressed man"

Global News Network (GNN) is the pioneer of 24-hour news – this is set in the early ‘80s after all and whilst given the 2am ‘graveyard’ slot, Ron and team go about creating the dawn of ‘not real news.’ This new format allows Champ's sporting coverage to be quick edits accompanied by his trademark yelp of "Whammy!" while Brick gets to report on weather ‘live on the scene’ and Brian is given journalistic licence to put together pieces about sexy women… Will America embrace this new news?

Anchorman 2 is an absolute blast of sexist, racist, non-PC jokes, many miss the mark but some are so funny that people were crying with laughter in the screening I saw this at. The sheer joy of seeing Ron bumble his way through his new career – doing crack live on air, getting caught up in an ill-advised feud with rival newsman Jack Lime (James Marsden) and finding himself in an even larger, more spectacular hand to hand media battle against the likes of ESPN (represented by Will Smith), CBC News (Jim Carrery) , the BBC (Sacha Baron Cohen) and History Channel (Liam Neeson) to mention just a few.

"Mo-vemberlous!?"

Everything you’d want from a Anchorman film is here – I’m glad to report that the Legend Continues stays classy and is by far the funniest film of 2013!!


Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö1/2

(4.5 - Stay Classy Out There)...

Awesomeness öööö – When it hits - it hits hard!

Laughs ööööö – very very funny!

Horror öö – more inapporpriate than horrible

Babes öö – Christina Applegate, Meagan Good and Kristen Wiig

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – don't stop believing

Recommended Hashtags: #StayClassy #BigDeal #Black

In the spirit of Ron Burgundy - here are the women of Anchorman 2 - who's your favourite:

Applegate ?

Good ?

Wiig ?