by hutchwp

Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016 – Day 1

So day one of the Staw Wars Celebration Europe in London is complete and it has been a ridiculously good day. 

Whilst the highlight was the Rogue One trailer reveal and panel discussion, the rest of the day was literally a joy for all those in attendance.

Cosplay Competition

Cosplay is a mixture of costume dress-up and role playing, and has become a permanent fixture of the Celebration events and similar weekenders.

The cosplay competition was this year won by an excellent 9ft take on Grungar. I spoke to the creators and it took over 100 days to complete. In many ways, it is better than the costume from the movie, which itself couldn’t stand up and be moved around.

Across the board, it was phenomenal to comprehend how much time had collectively been poured into the competition. Even those that weren’t in the top 3 in their categories were great efforts, especially a near-perfect Kylo Ren.

An Hour With Mark Hamill 

An hour with Hamill was never going to be enough and it was sad to see him go. The format was simple – he just had people line up and ask him questions until we ran out of time.

There were some fascinating questions, not just about Star Wars but also his successful voice acting career, and his responses were candid and revealing.

At one point he confirmed the long-standing rumour that the opening scene of Episode VII was his hand floating through space holding a lightsaber. Cool? I think so.

I hope the whole discussion is made available some day soon.

Freebies

Want cool free things? Just walk around. There’s plenty there. My favourite was a Dengar Top Trumps card. I’m evidently easy to please.

I did spend some money too. I’ll be wearing my awesome German-language The Empire Strikes Back (or is that Das Imperium Schlägt Zurück?) t-shirt tomorrow for day two!!

by hutchwp

What did we learn from the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel?

The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel took place earlier today at the Star Wars Celebration in London, and it has opened the floodgates on a plethora of information on the upcoming standalone film.

Here we run through some of the highlights.

What are the character names and who are they?

Jyn Erso

Felicity Jones as Sergeant Jyn Erso


Felicity Jones takes the leading role as Sergeant Jyn Erso. Jyn was described by Jones as a lead character distinct from the others in the Star Wars universe in that she is already an established character and as such we don’t go on a journey of discovery with her. This is perhaps because it’s a standalone film and there simply isn’t time to develop a serious character arc whilst delivering an entertaining blockbuster film.

Jones is most famous for her Oscar-winning role as Jane Hawking in the 2015 film The Theory of Everything, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She also featured in Like Crazy, Breathe In and Cemetery Junction

Cassian Andor

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor


Diego Luna will play a prominent role as Cassian Andor. We learned today that he is a Rebel Intelligence officer. It appears that he will be the second-in-command to Jyn within the film. He has a close relationship with droid K-2S0.

Eagle-eyed viewers may remember Andor’s small but powerful role as Jack Lira in Milk.

K-2S0

Alan Dudyk as K-2S0


One of the most entertaining discussions was with Alan Tudyk, who features as the now-obligatory droid in the film. He is a former Imperial droid that has been reprogrammed by Cassian. However, the reprogramming hasn’t really taken 100% and he has quite a few gaps in his personality. One scene showed him refusing to carry Jyn’s luggage because it wasn’t in his new protocol.

Also, it’s not K-250, it’s K-2S0. Subtle difference.

Tudyk has a rich history as a voice actor for animated films, including Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia and Frozen, as well as starring in Firefly.

Bodhi Rook

Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook


We knew Riz Ahmed’s character name a long time ago, after he accidentally leaked it on his online CV. Bodhi is an imperial craft pilot who is also a member of the rebel alliance. His explanation of this caused much hilarity from the crowd: “You know, people work at big organizations… but they don’t agree with everything they do.”

Ahmed is one of Britain’s finest young actors, having excelled in roles in Four Lions, Ill Manors and Nightcrawler. His presence in this film will doubtless be a huge enhancement to the conviction of the rebel team.

Chirrut Îmwe

Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe


“I can’t see but I can feel with my heart and believe in the Force,” said Donnie Yen of his character Chirrut Îmwe. The clips showed him kicking-ass in some beautifully-choreographed fight scenes, with a distinct hint of Jediism in his grace. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t a Jedi.

Unfortunately, a huge spoiler was dropped about this character by co-actor Jiang Wen. I won’t perpetuate it here.

Yen may be vaguely familiar to Western audiences following small roles in Blade II and popular martial arts film Hero, though he should be more fondly remembered for Ip Man.

Baze Malbus

Jiang Wen as Baze Malbus


Baze has a big gun. That’s the line Jiang Wen took when he decided he wasn’t going to reveal much about his character. Yes Wen, keeping the eventual fate of characters close to your chest is very much a good idea when dealing with such a huge franchise.

Wen doesn’t have much in the way of credits that are familiar to the West, other than a directorial position for a segment of ‘New York, I Love You’. If you’re desperate to see him in action, 2011’s The Lost Bladesman would be a perfect place to start as it co-stars fellow Chinese actor Donnie Yen.

Saw Gerrera

Forest Whittaker as Saw Gerrera


Forest Whittaker is a man who needs no introduction, but I’ll give him one anyway. At just 55, he has had a career spanning four decades and has received plaudits throughout his career for mesmerising turns in the likes of The Last King Of Scotland, Platoon and The Butler. His credentials are certainly not in doubt.

Saw Gerrera is a character that has featured heavily in The Clone Wars TV series. His character was very headstrong and a natural leader, regardless of whether or not this was wanted by those around him.

Galen Erso 

Mads Mikkelson as Galen Erso


Mads Mikkelson stars as Galen Erso, whom it was revealed is Jyn’s father. He is also a scientist that “invented something so beautiful, so fantastic, that it might change the universe.” Whatever that means.

Mikkelson will be familiar to anyone that enjoyed Casino Royale back in 2006, though he is perhaps better known for his lead role in TV series Hannibal, which has been around for 3 years.

Orson Krennic 

Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic


Australian Ben Mendelsohn is currently troubling the Netflix airwaves with his starring role in Bloodlines, which recently won him an Emmy. He also featured in The Dark Knight Rises and Starred Up, the latter of which is well worth a watch.

His character is the main protagonist in the film, trying to become the Emperor’s new right hand man at the expense of Darth Vader.

What else did we learn?

Familiar characters?

Alan Dudyk was chatting about how nice it was to meet Anthony Daniels once at the Episode VII wrap party, to which the Rogue One cast were invited. That indicates that C-3P0 is not in film, or they would have more than likely met at some point in the filming or script reading process. 

Whilst this may mean that our favourite droids and other original trilogy characters have been left out this time, we did get a glimpse of Darth Vader at the end of an exclusive short trailer. James Earl Jones will return to voice him. It was very cool.

Familiar Faces?

Warwick is a big fan favourite and has been all over the Celebration event, hanging out with fans and keeping people happy. It was a great moment when he was glimpsed in the behind-the-scenes footage, much like the brief appearance a couple of years ago by Simon Pegg in the Episode VII sneak preview.

That takes his film tally up to four, which means he still has some catching to do to overtake Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels.

Gareth Edwards likes George Lucas…

… And so should we. It was great to see him offer his support to Lucas, whose name has been mud for the last 17 years. It’s easy to forget that he created this massive universe and has brought joy to millions of people worldwide for the last 40 years.

by hutchwp

Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016

I’ve just arrived at the Star Wars Celebration Europe event in London, a weekend of fun for anyone who loves all things Jedi!

It was a bit of a rush this morning but we’ve managed to get on site, pick up our tickets and get wristbands for two popular events:

– An Hour With Mark Hamill

– Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

With about an hour to go until the pandemonium that is the opening of the hall, we couldn’t be more excited. Our group is setting each other small trivia questions, most of which result in a correct answer (eventually). Apart from any answered by me – I couldn’t even tell a Magnaguard from an Imperial Guard.

I just feel sorry for the guy who came dressed as adult Anakin for the cosplay event. Why?!

See you around here.

by hutchwp

Game review – Star Fox Zero (Nintendo, 2016)

Star Fox Zero may seem like it has the potential to be a great game, but it certainly doesn’t deliver. Unfortunately for Nintendo, a disappointing release does nothing but expose the cracks on a project that has been doomed for many months.

As previously discussed in my post “Where is the Nintendo’s Wii U console right now?”, the struggling console is caught somewhere between a failed experiment and a disaster threatening the gaming behemoth’s position and reputation. There are so few games left on the horizon for Wii U owners, owners are left wondering how many more hours we’ll get to spend on it. I suspect that figure has now dropped into double figures, with the next console – provisionally titled NX – slated for a Spring 2017 release.

One thing that Nintendo had left up its sleeve to appease Wii U owners – and the word appease is spot on given they’ve semi-abandoned the previously exclusive Zelda game by announcing it will launch on the current and next-gen console simultaneously – is release an updated version of one of their biggest franchises to date, Star Fox.


This was met with excitement by the many fans of the series. It meant there was a reason to hang onto the console for a few more months and get a great exclusive title that an increasingly smaller but dedicated community would be able to enjoy.

Unfortunately for fans of the series, this isn’t really a revolutionary HD reboot to the franchise, but rather a remake of Star Fox 64 (despite supervising director Shigeru Miyamoto’s protestations to the contrary). Indeed, it is a hugely disappointing remake, plagued with controller issues and a criminally short total game time.

I decided to hold back from posting this for a few months and hope that giving it a chance to grow on me would change my mind. Unfortunately, the dreadful controls are something that simply can’t be ignored. Yes, they are very much integral throughout (who’d have thought?). The crafts are slow, their turning circles are the size of a small moon and the agility required to complete levels is far beyond their abilities. The worst thing is the inability to lock on to enemy crafts, made infuriatingly difficult by the gyro controls that can’t be fully turned off. It’s what happens when you try to shoehorn a controller that doesn’t work onto a game that doesn’t need it.

Additionally, the graphics are stuck in a rut somewhere between faithful reproduction of N64 graphics and a full HD realisation. What we’re left with is some clunky polygons with neatly drawn skins. This is a combination that has never looked good.

The one saving grace is that the familiar story mode is done and dusted in about ten hours of gameplay. Sure, they added in some frivolous reasons to replay the levels but the game is such a huge letdown I can’t bring myself to do it. So whilst it’s frustrating, disappointing and repetitive, at least you won’t have to suffer for very long.

Star Fox Zero was an instant failure and giving it time to grow on me just didn’t help at all. 

Funnily enough, I recommend buying a new copy of this and keeping it sealed. So few copies will ship that they will be collectors’ items in years to come.

by hutchwp

Film review – A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)

A New Leaf, the 1971 debut feature film from Elaine May, tells the story of Henry Graham (Walter Matthau), a wealthy man who finds himself broke through misfortune and bad money management. Striking a deal with his rich uncle Harry, he borrows $50,000 to help facilitate a temporary extension to his rich lifestyle, with the hope that in the time he has to pay Harry back he can find a rich single woman to marry and regain financial security. He happens upon Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May), a shy and clumsy botanical professor who may well provide the solution to his problems.

The film is definitely a black comedy, even though its light on the latter. Much of the humour here is based on Matthau being in situations of discomfort or unfamiliarity. Initially suicidal after realising he has now money, then more so at having to say farewell to his favourite upper class haunts, his pain is worsened by having to act like he has feelings of affection and compassion for a woman he has little interest in. Driven solely by money, he is shocked at how poorly her finances are managed, sacking her entire house staff team in one memorable scene.

The film plays out like an extended and scripted episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s hard to think that Larry David hasn’t seen this and been influenced by it in some way, though admittedly the comedy in David’s work is much more realised.

However, as a one-trick pony the joke tends to wear thin as we progress towards the inevitable climax of the film. According to the extensive liner notes – a gift we come to expect with the Masters of Cinema releases – there was a much extended version of A New Leaf (running at a whopping 180 minutes) that never saw the light of day, and probably never will. Whilst it’s always a shame to think a director’s vision hasn’t been fully realised, and the normal response from film enthusiasts is that the director’s cut is the ultimate version of a film, it appears that what we do have access to is probably as good as it gets. Indeed, Matthau preferred the shortened version, which cuts out a murder subplot and provides a happy resolution at the end.

That’s not to say that May’s vision is unworthy of viewing. Certainly, as a writer-director-star she succeeded in creating a solid picture. Her character in the film is by far the most interesting. She is a scientific professor, despite seemingly not needing to work (having inherited her wealth). She is essentially a philanthropist if we look at the way she treats her overpaid and underworked house staff. She is a loving and dedicated wife to her new husband, despite getting nothing in return for her devotion. In many ways, despite her introverted geekiness and inherent clumsy nature, she is a strong female role model. Subtly, the plot of the film is a slight on men in general, which was unusual for the era.

Unfortunately, however, it’s a little known film for a reason. It’s not groundbreaking or unique enough to warrant any kind of extensive praise. It has its fans and at times we are watching vintage Matthau, but the pacing, lack of a cutting script and predictable plotline undermine what could have been a much better end product.

by hutchwp

Film review – Elvis and Nixon (Liza Johnson, 2016)

The one-off meeting between President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley is a story that deserves a dramatisation, such is the bizarre nature of how it came about. Elvis and Nixon does a good job of it, partly due to some fanciful embellishment, but fails to realise its full potential due to a number of unforgiveable flaws.

The background is fairly straightforward. Elvis Presley (played by Michael Shannon), on the morning of 21st December 1970, showed up unannounced at The White House and requested a one-to-one meeting with Preseident Nixon (Kevin Spacey). He had one request: to become a Federal Agent-at-Large and receive a badge for his efforts. This would help him fight an undercover war on drugs that he felt was a huge issue in USA at the time. At first resistant to the idea, Nixon eventually gave in and the monumental meeting took place.

elvisandnixonscreen1

The first thing you’ll be disappointed about with this film is the lack of Elvis on the soundtrack. It seems like a simple point to get around, but every time the music kicked in I was left wanting the real deal, a constant reminder that the contents of the film presumably weren’t endorsed by Graceland. The soundtrack certainly evokes the era, making good use of Creedance Clearwater Revival and Otis Redding, but Elvis is Elvis.

Secondly, whilst Spacey does a wonderful impression-cum-caricature of President Nixon, Shannon fails to invoke even the slightest hint of The King. A fantastic actor in his own right (see Revolutionary Road, 99 Homes), I couldn’t help feel like this was a miscast. Visually, his appearance is far from the mark, with the angry and aggressive facial expressions implying an Elvis unfamiliar to most of his fans. This is compounded by a scene with an Elvis impersonator that’s played for laughs but left me thinking “Well, go on then Michael… Do your impression.” I appreciate that singing isn’t the point here, but Elvis is an iconic artist and the film’s success rests on how convincing the portrayal is. At least, that’s the case for the first half of the film.

Which brings us to the third and final shortcoming of the film – the criminal underuse of Kevin Spacey. The editors realised he wasn’t in it enough and tried to patch a bit of a scene with him in at the beginning, but essentially he doesn’t re-appear until well beyond the halfway point of the film. By this point the film was already at risk of being a complete failure. Spacey, somehow, succeeds in rescuing the film with a performance that’s truly exciting, the play-off between him and everyone he interacts with proving to be the film’s one major saving grace. It is just a shame we didn’t get to see more of him. There’s a time and place to leave Kevin Spacey out of your film until the climactic scene and this isn’t it.

So, whilst I was pleasantly surprised that I left the cinema having enjoyed this film, there were three fatal flaws too many to leave me wanting to recommend this to anyone but the most ardent blockbuster avoider. There are simply too many good films out at the moment to see this taking flight.

by hutchwp

Film review – Il racconto dei racconti / Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone, 2016)

Tale of Tales is a film that merges three fantasy tales from Italian storyteller Giambattista Basile’s book Pentamerone. The results are mixed.

The first, The Enchanted Doe, stars Salma Hayak as the Queen of Darkwood, who is struggling to have a child with her King, played by John C. Reilly. Taking the advice from a necromancer, the King sets off to capture the heart of a sea monster for his Queen to eat. Doing so brings her the child she desires, but this comes at a cost.

The second tale, The Flea, stars Toby Jones as a king seemingly reluctant to find a husband for his daughter Violet (Bebe Cave). Secretly, he is nurturing a flea in his chambers, growing it to an enormous size, but in doing so neglects his daughter. 

The final tale, The Flayed Old Woman, stars Vincent Cassel as a king with an insatiable lust for all women he lays eyes on. He is attracted by one woman (Hayley Carmichael), however, that he cannot see but can hear. As she sings a beautiful lament from the shadows of the streets of his kingdom, so begins an addiction to seeking her out to fulfil his desires. Fearful of him seeing her true form, she tries to push him away, only for his desire to grow stronger.

The three stories run entirely separately until the final scene, which is sort of a throwaway tidbit that attempts but fails to tie it all together. The overall result is something akin to a highbrow fantasy take on ‘Love, Actually’, whereby several separate storylines weave in and out of one another without significantly benefiting from it. Indeed, the sum may well be less than the parts.

The opening scenes concentrate almost exclusively on Salma Hayak’s unfolding story, to the point where when we first see Vincent Cassel it’s confusing to work out how he fits into the rest of the story. A few moments later it becomes obvious (sort of) that he’s the king of another kingdom, though we have to deduce that ourselves. Perhaps I’m just used to being spoon-fed too much, but I was confused.

The Flea segments are painfully slow, with Toby Jones feeling a little wasted as he tries and fails to inject some life into a largely lifeless story.

Hayley Carmichael rises above the dross to give a starring turn as the old woman Dora, with segments largely full of wit and humour. Vincent Cassell adds a lot to these scenes, lifting them with a knowing amount of irony that just about makes the film bearable.

It is interesting that the director Matteo Garrone has stated that he had worked on ideas for a few other stories from the same source material. In my opinion, these tales would work significantly better broken up and serialised. There is some good work here but it’s hard to get sucked in by one faltering tale, let alone three.

A visually stunning film that fails to ignite the interest, an issue I blame mainly on poor editing and a disappointing adaptation of some highly respected source material.

by hutchwp

Film review – Journey to the Shore (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2015)

‘Journey to the Shore’ won director Kiyoshi Kurosawa the Un Certain Regard prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. It is also the Masters of Cinema label’s latest foray into the new release market; the label is more frequently associated with the restoration of forgotten classic cinematic releases but has enjoyed success with the likes of ‘Listen Up Philip‘ and ‘Life of Riley‘ in recent years.
The film tells the story of Mizuki, a young female piano teacher mourning the death of her husband Yusuke, who we learn has drowned at see three years prior to the start of the film. However, when his ghost appears mysteriously at home one day, she is less surprised at his presence and more annoyed as he has forgotten to take his shoes off.

The reunited couple set off on a journey together as he takes her to visit the people who have helped him journey home from his point of death, with Mizuki’s resulting spiritually cathartic journey being the focal point of the story.


It’s a story that is rooted in Japanese culture, with the human grieving process following the death of a loved one a typical starting point for its fair share of Japanese films in recent years. Where this sets itself apart is in the very blatant separation from reality afforded by the seamless interaction between the living and the dead. There doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rule about who can talk to whom, nor does there seem to be any surprise or shock experienced by the living seeing a close departed friend or family member. Indeed, Yusuke is portrayed as a living, breathing being with he ability to fully interact with his surroundings. It’s a unique spin on the matter (pun intended).

There are some really effective cinematographic techniques employed to reflect the mood of the scenes, most notably in the dimming of the lights when a darker story is being retold. The credit here lies with director Kurosawa and his cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa. It was subtle enough to have an impact before I realised what had happened, as key characters revealed their darkest of memories, and it added considerably to the picture.


Whether it really works as a whole is something I’m still not totally sure about. Certainly it is delivered with conviction, though the overall effect is something entirely morose. There seemed to be a relentlessness to the depression involved that, whilst perhaps reflective of the mood of the characters involved, seemed to offer nothing in the way of a positive escape for anyone watching looking to be guided by the grieving process.

The film achieves its aims and carries everything off to perfection. It’s just not a very pleasant experience to sit through.

by hutchwp

Musical Mistakes #02 – U Krazy Kats

One of the things that sticks out from my childhood is my constant bickering with my brother over who got priority on the much-coveted cassette player in our parents’ cars. My brother had hatched a well-thought-out plan by feigning travel sickness, which for years meant he automatically got to sit in the front seat, no questions asked. He had a massive advantage that was difficult to compete with.

Fortunately, we ran a democracy and our mum and dad did their best to make sure we had a fair stab at selecting the music to soundtrack our long journeys around the UK to various family members.

One particular occasion that sticks out was when we were on holiday in Perth in Scotland. We visited a local record store. I’m going to guess it was Concorde, but I’m not 100%. Our two musical choices were actually released on the same week, though if my memory serves me correctly this would have been the following summer. My brother’s musical purchase that day was the seminal Oasis album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”, an album that has cemented itself as one of the greatest of all time, certainly a high point for music in the Britpop era and one that, for my then 12-year-old brother, has proved to be an early indication that he knew what he was talking about.

My purchase that day was PJ and Duncan’s less-than-seminal “U Krazy Katz“, a cassette single that by the time we were in the shop was a bargain at just 29p. 

Needless to say, the history books proved me to be wrong that day in Perth, but my parents did the fair thing and gave us equal billing on the cassette player. Even if it was probably the wrong thing to do.

by hutchwp

Game review – Miitomo (Nintendo, 2016)

Around three months ago I was on holiday in Japan. Whilst over there, I was excited because it meant, completely by chance, I’d be given early access to Miitomo, Nintendo’s first foray into the smartphone apps. 

I was fairly excited about this, even if I couldn’t share that with anyone I knew in the real world. Or, for that matter, online. I suppose the news hadn’t made its way to Britain yet, but I was certain it would come out in the wash when it was released.

So it’s three months down the line now and I can’t help but wonder what exactly this app is supposed to do. I diligently logged in every day throughout March and April to make sure I got my daily prizes, which ranged from in-app coins to in-app game tokens. These could be spent in the shop on new clothing items or in the arcade on the various versions of Miitomo Drop – a game where you hold your Mii in a crane and drop it over a pinball-type area and hope it lands in a prize that isn’t the totally redundant bag of sweets.


The app itself isn’t awful. It functions well, with a few minor bugs (if I collect all my prizes I get an erroneous error saying I can’t collect them all, even though I have done). The main issue is the lack of people using the app. I’ve synced up Twitter because I don’t mind it posting on my behalf on Twitter. Usually nobody reads my tweets and if something was posted I’d just delete it. I’d never synchronise Facebook because I know it would post something on there that I’m either not keen on sharing or that none of my friends would care about.

So since I can’t search for friends I know, my app consists entirely of someone I follow on Twitter that I don’t know. We log in occasionally and ask each other questions. Sometimes we answer, sometimes we don’t. He hasn’t been online for a while. I don’t know who he is and the Miitomo name doesn’t match his Twitter name, so I’ve genuinely got no idea how to work out who he is. I sent a friend request to someone else I know but they never accepted, presumably because they aren’t using the app.


That’s pretty much it. I’ve got a cool Link outfit on and loads of Miitomo coins in the bank. I take a Miifoto every day. And that’s it.

A big disappointment.

Miitomo is the first of many smartphone apps developed by Nintendo, the next two of which will be respectively based on Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem. I truly hope they offer more than this.