Monday 18 March 2024

What's on Shudder in April

What's on Shudder in April

Here's everything streaming on Shudder on April.

SHUDDER ORIGINALS AND EXCLUSIVES 

Infested 

What's on Shudder in April

Streaming Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ 

Film Premieres Friday 26 April  

Director Sébastien Vanicek makes his feature film debut with a story that follows Kaleb, who is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over a matter of inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend.  

Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a bazaar and brings it back to his flat. It only takes a moment for it to escape and reproduce, turning the whole place into a dreadful web trap. 

Starring Théo Christine (Suprêmes), Finnegan Oldfield (Final Cut), Jérôme Niel (Smoking Causes Coughing), Sofia Lesaffre (Les Misérables) and Lisa Nyarko. 

Mute Witness 

Streaming Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ 

Film Premieres Monday 1 April  

From director Anthony Waller (An American Werewolf in Paris), A mute makeup artist working on a slasher movie being shot in Moscow, is locked in the studio after hours.  

While there, she witnesses a brutal murder, and must escape capture.  

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness 

Streaming Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ 

Film Premieres Monday 15 April 

On the 10th anniversary of the Australian found footage film The Tunnel, this documentary delves into the filmmakers endeavors to challenge how films are financed and  distributed, and the lasting impact The Tunnel had internationally. 

*The original film The Tunnel also available  on 15 April.

NEW ADDITIONS TO SHUDDER’S FILM LIBRARY 

April 1 

Vesper 

Struggling to survive with her father after the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem, 13-year-old Vesper must  use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the future.  

April 4 

Gateway 

In an ordinary abandoned house – on what could be your ordinary street – a gang of desperate  criminals have found something – or it has found them.  

April 15 

The Tunnel 

An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep  beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story, it quickly becomes clear  the story is hunting them.  

April 22  

13th Floor 

As a child, a girl witnessed her father electrocute a young boy. When she grows into an adult, the  ghost of the murdered boy appears to her, and together they set out to expose the crimes of her  father. 

Final Cut (aka Death Games) 

A reporter and his girlfriend follow around a famous actor/entrepreneur and discover some dirt on him  to be made public.  

Sunday 17 March 2024

Road House: Movie Review

Road House: Movie Review

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, Jessica Williams, Billy Magnussen
Director: Doug Liman

Much like a punch to the face, the 2024 version of Road House offers some vicarious hits in among the bruises.

A buffed up Jake Gyllenhaal brings a degree of charm and smarm to his ex-UFC fighter Elwood Dalton, a man who doesn't like to get angry and who is grappling with issues from his own past.

After a fight he is due to take part in is cancelled last minute, Dalton is approached by Frankie, (Williams) the owner of a road house in the Florida Keys and offered a job in security. Reluctantly he takes it, and finds himself slap bang in the middle of a war between the owners of the Road House and local real estate broker Ben Brandt (Magnussen) who wants to close down the establishment and take the land for nefarious reasons.

Road House: Movie Review

The thing with the 2024 remake of Road House is that it veers between tones with nary a moment of consideration for the viewers.

On the one hand, it's a film about a man dealing with his past demons; on the other, it's a film of cartoonish violence shot from a POV camera that feels like something from the 80s. Yet at the same time, it's possibly destined to become a guilty pleasure of a film, one that is solidly watchable in parts despite its absurdities.

Gyllenhaal is impressive as Dalton, and his obvious charisma and appeal is on show throughout. But his appeal becomes somewhat one dimensional as the movie goes on and his lack of any potential relationship with an ER doctor (Melchor) as hinted at earlier on, just fizzles out.

As for controversial UFC fighter McGregor, it's hard to know exactly what tone Liman wanted from his villain - other than "shoot for OTT and then go even further". After a memorable entrance, McGregor's character simply becomes a cartoon threat, one that's snarling and snapping and acting in a different film to everyone else.

There are moments when the fight choreography shines in its frenetic ways, but coupled with some poor lighting and some editing, it doesn't quite gel as perhaps it should. Certainly there's plenty of bone-crunching violence, but not the relevant amounts of gore to match what transpires.

Ultimately, the 2024 Road House is the kind of B-movie you'd probably watch after a few beers with some mates; it has a few pervasive pleasures, but feels like a movie that's confused by what it wants to be - an updated homage to the Patrick Swayze great.

Road House begins streaming on Prime Video from March 21.

Friday 15 March 2024

Win a Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire prize pack

Win a Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire prize pack

To celebrate the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in cinemas March 21, thanks to Sony Pictures New Zealand, you can win a prize pack.

About Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. 

Win a Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire prize pack

But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts

Inside each prize pack is:

Squishy keychain

Pencil case

Car window vinyl

Double pass to the movie

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in cinemas March 21

Thursday 14 March 2024

Skull and Bones: PS5 Review

Skull and Bones: PS5 Review

Developed by Ubisoft Singapore
Published by Ubisoft
Platform: PS5

Skull and Bones has had a long gestating pre-release period.

Skull and Bones: PS5 Review
First touted back in 2017, the live-action RPG went through many iterations and was seemingly inspired by the naval battles of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. But finally bursting onto the waters of the 2024 release schedule, the game's been somewhat battered by underwhelming reaction to what really is a very solid tactical game.

Perhaps some of the issue is the fact this high seas adventure looks graphically a little weak, with very little sign that any of it has been fixed up for the next gen consoles. But in truth, some of that can be overlooked by very polished mechanics of boats at sea, plundering the waves, even if some of the game feels like a grind and feels a touch repetitive at times.

Skull and Bones: PS5 Review

From building craft to securing gold, upgrading cannon, it's a very realistic pirate experience that trades off a suspension of disbelief as well as a willingness to forego some of the moments where the game falls short.

Chiefly, the game does fall apart a little when it's played solo, as other players can take you down, and it feels in the early stages of it like it doesn't quite give you enough power to beat the combat at sea or avoid a fate in Davy Jones locker.

But pairing up with others provides spoils and plunders worth exploring and gives you a chance to build your boat up to a ferocious scurvy dog of the seas. Ship to ship combat is naturalistic and relies on your understanding of life on the water, from harnessing the best winds to make a speedy getaway or powering into combat with an all-powerful cannon.

Skull and Bones: PS5 Review

There's much here to engage in and while the game takes its time to unfurl its grip, some will say it's only an extension of AC: Black Flag. But for those not familiar with the Animus' water offering, Skull and Bones proves to be the foundation of a very solid RPG set on the sea - particularly with a year's worth of content roadmap all laid out.

Maybe its narrative is somewhat lacking, and the single-player campaign is not as engaging as it could be - but Skull and Bones proves to offer fertile rewards when played online, and with others. It's a solid start that lays down the promise of something further. 

Hopefully that future promise won't be lost at sea.

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Helldivers 2: PS5 Review

Helldivers 2: PS5 Review

Developed by Arrowhead Games
Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS5

Easily dismissed as Starship Troopers the video game, Helldivers 2's commitment to its own OTT language and visuals makes it a game that knows what it's doing and will have a damn good time doing it.

Helldivers 2: PS5 Review

A Sequel to the top down 2015 hit Helldivers, Arrowhead Games' latest sees you back in the thrall of the Helldivers as they head to the outer reaches of space to bring their own level of justice and colonisation to their exploration.

If you're not familiar with Starship Troopers, much of the game's opening sequence which seems like an updated satire on the alien invasion will be lost on you - but the game's fairly open about what it wants to achieve. It wants to send you down to an alien world with a desire to team up with others and to kill.

Helldivers 2: PS5 Review
From kitting out your crew member with the right kit, steeling them with strategems, and weapons, the game makes it pretty simple to face off against hordes of marauding aliens. But it's the element of strategy that comes largely into force with Helldivers 2 and the game's difficulty levels kick in the lower your ammo goes and the longer it takes for your various perks to cool down.

It also becomes harder to achieve the more simplistic tasks the further into the game you go, and while you level up as time goes on, so does the achievement levels you need to meet.

Helldivers 2: PS5 Review

From chunky feeling weaponry that kicks in via the DualSense to crisp graphics on foreign worlds, Helldivers 2 is the kind of multiplayer shooter that's all encompassing - even if it's better played with friends than online unknowns who have a tendency to abandon the team on successful completion.

All in all, Helldivers 2 offers a strong argument for a simple co-op concept, brilliantly executed.

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Wicked Little Letters: Movie Review

Wicked Little Letters: Movie Review

Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Hugh Skinner, Timothy Spall, Gemma Jones

Director: Thea Sharrock

Based on a true scandal that shocked 1920s England, comedic mystery movie Wicked Little Letters centres on the small town of Littlehampton as it recovers after the end of the war.

Wicked Little Letters: Movie Review

Colman stars as the pious and prim Edith Swan who begins to receive obscenity-filled letters and suspects they have come from her liberal neighbour Rose Gooding (Buckley). After getting the police involved, Rose is thrown in jail.

However, local constable Gladys Moss (Vasan) believes Rose is not to blame - and sets out to solve this perplexing case of curse words and vendettas.

Much of Wicked Little Letters' humour derives from the continual arrival of letters at the Swan house, complete with their language that feels like it's written by someone who doesn't really know how to swear or be obscene. There's plenty of mirth to be mined from the likes of Colman and an extremely uptight Spall as her father reading them out loud.

But scratch beneath the veneer of Wicked Little Letters' seemingly profane journey, and you'll find a story of societal tragedy.

Wicked Little Letters: Movie Review

From Edith's utter terror from her father's dominance in his house as he remonstrates against everything and everyone to Moss' frustration at her place as a woman police officer in a male-led environment and the subsequent prejudice, there's a social commentary going on here that's hard to ignore.

Yet most of the vicarious joys come from seeing the pairing of Colman's uptight God-fearing and darkly snobby woman pitched against Buckley's free-spirited honest immigrant. It's an odd couple story, a tale as old as time, a slight on gossip and malice in small towns, (and also social media tittle-tattle) given a fresh coat and tarted up for 2024.

From Colman's subtle facials, twitching at every salacious crumb that she overhears, delighted in the attention her situation has received through to Buckley's initially brash but gradually softening salt-of-the-earth mother, the two leads function excellently on the screen. Perhaps the only damp squib moment of the film is how Vasan's police officer suffers a little in amongst this boisterous triumvirate as she becomes confined to the sidelines and more part of a screwball detective spin-off.

Overall Wicked Little Letters coalesces into something that's a veritable crowd-pleasing affair, one that's simply deliciously told and pitch-perfectly executed. 

Monday 11 March 2024

Oscars 2024: The Full list of winners

Oscars 2024: The Full list of winners

Here is the full list of winners from the Academy Awards 2024.

Oscars 2024: The Full list of winners

Best Picture

  •  American Fiction
  •  Anatomy of a Fall
  •  Barbie
  •  The Holdovers
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Maestro
  •  Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Past Lives
  •  Poor Things
  •  The Zone of Interest

Director

  •  Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
  •  Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
  •  Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Actor in a Leading Role

  •  Bradley Cooper, Maestro
  •  Colman Domingo, Rustin
  •  Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
  •  Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Actress in a Leading Role

  •  Annette Bening, Nyad
  •  Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
  •  Carey Mulligan, Maestro
  •  Emma Stone, Poor Things - WINNER

Actor in a Supporting Role

  •  Sterling K Brown, American Fiction
  •  Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Ryan Gosling, Barbie
  •  Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Actress in a Supporting Role

  •  Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
  •  Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
  •  America Ferrera, Barbie
  •  Jodie Foster, Nyad
  •  Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers - WINNER

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  •  American Fiction - WINNER
  •  Barbie
  •  Oppenheimer
  •  Poor Things
  •  The Zone of Interest

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  •  Anatomy of a Fall - WINNER
  •  The Holdovers
  •  Maestro
  •  May December
  •  Past Lives

Cinematography

  •  El Conde
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Maestro
  •  Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Poor Things

Film Editing

  •  Anatomy of a Fall
  •  The Holdovers
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Poor Things

Animated Feature Film

  • The Boy and the Heron - WINNER
  •  Elemental
  •  Nimona
  •  Robot Dreams
  •  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

International Feature Film

  •  Io Capitano
  •  Perfect Days
  •  Society of the Snow
  •  The Teachers' Lounge
  •  The Zone of Interest WINNER

Documentary Feature

  •  Bobi Wine: The People's President
  •  The Eternal Memory
  •  Four Daughters
  •  To Kill a Tiger
  •  20 Days in Mariupol - WINNER

Music (Original Score)

  •  American Fiction
  •  Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Oppenheimer - WINNER
  •  Poor Things

Music (Original Song)

  •  'The Fire Inside', Flamin' Hot
  •  'I'm Just Ken', Barbie
  •  'It Never Went Away', American Symphony
  •  'Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)', Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  'What Was I Made For?', Barbie - WINNER

Sound

  •  The Creator
  •  Maestro
  •  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
  •  Oppenheimer
  •  The Zone of Interest - WINNER

Production Design

  •  Barbie
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Napoleon
  •  Oppenheimer
  •  Poor Things - WINNER

Makeup and Hairstyling

  •  Golda
  •  Maestro
  •  Oppenheimer
  •  Poor Things - WINNER
  •  Society of the Snow

Costume Design

  •  Barbie
  •  Killers of the Flower Moon
  •  Napoleon
  •  Oppenheimer
  •  Poor Things - WINNER

Visual Effects

  •  The Creator
  •  Godzilla Minus One - WINNER
  •  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
  •  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
  •  Napoleon

Documentary Short Subject

  •  The ABCs of Book Banning
  •  The Barber of Little Rock
  •  Island In Between
  •  The Last Repair Shop - WINNER
  •  Nai Nai and Wài Pó

Animated Short Film

  •  Letter to a Pig
  •  Ninety-Five Senses
  •  Our Uniform
  •  Pachyderme
  •  War Is Over! Inspired By the Music of John and Yoko - WINNER

Live-Action Short Film

  •  The After
  •  Invincible
  •  Knight of Fortune
  •  Red, White and Blue
  •  The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - WINNER

Very latest post

What's on Shudder in April

What's on Shudder in April Here's everything streaming on Shudder on April. SHUDDER ORIGINALS AND EXCLUSIVES  Infested  Streaming Ex...