The Roxy , Wellington

Well Sunday was quiet in our household so drove to Mirimar from overcast Porirua to visit the California Garden centre. All went well and after a quick drive past the Weta Cave we decided to pop into the Roxy for a well deserved coffee. Wow what a stunning venue. We had a great coffee and my nearly three year old boy had a choclate fluffy and a complimentary mini chocolate egg.
The interior has a very art deco feel to it, with some stunning little touches such as the fish handles on the main door. The striking murial behind the main bar painted by the wonderful artists at Weta. We didnt get a chance to go upstairs, due to my boy being a little too energetic. But we did get to see the striking bronzed Gollum statue at the foot of the stairs. Here is a photo of the exterior

Little Darth Vader Volkswagon commecial

Little Thor

The Roxy and Wellington

Here is a link to a great article about Wellington over Easter with tips on places to visit, tours to take. I include it here due to it touching on Mirmars new cinema The Roxy. Take a look for a flavour of Wellington and for anyone viewing it locally for a few idea's of things to do over the Easter break.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10720085

Also if your are visiting over the break  The following events are taking place at the Weta Cave.


Friday 22 April 11am-12pm - Digital Painting Demo with Weta Concept Designer Paul Tobin

Saturday 23 April 11am-12pm - Make your own chainmaille with Weta Workshop Artist Philip Sharpe (Please note - there is a $7 charge for materials you will be using in this demonstration)

Sunday 24 April 11am-12pm - Digital Sculpting demo with Weta Workshop Designer and author Scott Spencer.

The Three and Four Musketeers

After seeing the new trailer for the latest incarnation of the Musketeers tale and having just purchased my favourite incarnation of the tale from Amazon I decided the time was right to remind myself as to why the 1973 version of this classic tale is my favourite  to date. Firstly it comes from the hands of Richard Lester a fantastic film maker who gave us a Hard days Night and introduced the cinematic landscape to my favourite pop group the Beatles.
Lester took Dumas tale and injected a healthy dose of ribald humour, and heaving bosoms.  Originally conceived as a single production producers Ilya Salkind and Alexander Michael saw an opportunity to split their production in two to increase their profits.

  It is arguable that the 1948 film is the most loyal to its source material, I love it, with its rich colour palette and Gene Kelly's impressive and acrobatic interpretation of D'Artagnan. But as a 7 year old visiting the Cardiff Odeon this was my first introduction to the tale and Michael York for a period until the arrival of Star Wars and Luke Skywalker was my swashbuckling hero of choice.  But the biggest impression was made by Oliver Reed as the Brooding Athos man of secrets and brawling prowess.
 Revisiting the tale this weekend I found it had aged well, sure it might lack urgency in the second film but Oliver Reed's brooding performance had me caught up in the tale yet again. From his messy fighting style part brawler and master swordsman, to the pained lover relating the sorry tale of his marriage to the evil Malady. Then there is York's  role a country bumpkin innocent to the ways of the world with a dream to be one of the Kings musketeers, and  dare I forget Frank Finlay and the late great Roy Kinnear as capable comic relief.
This is a film with rich villains ably played by Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee, with Faye Dunway memorable in her performance as the evil Milady.

The last Misfire was the 2001 edition produced by Disney which with a star studded cast of Kiefer Suntherland , Charlie Sheen , Oliver Platt deserved to be better than it was.
 No my favourite version in my mind has yet to be bettered. I will see the new version but I Paul W.S Anderson has yet to produce a film I can call great and satisfying. Most of his films though visually great lack something in the execution. My god I love Predator and he managed to take a great Stan Winston creation and screw  up its design in AVP . If you wonder why I am uncomfortable with the idea of him being at the helm of this latest incarnation then take a look at the trailer which is online at http://www.three-musketeers-3d.com/

Scream 4

This will be a short and sweet review, no spoilers. I enjoyed Scream 4 I didn't love it, its not the greatest in the series , It doesn't bring anything new to the table and its not the reboot they try to suggest it to be. Its a competent addition to the franchise, its not a game changer and its predictable, the opener is clever and fun but not the brilliant opener some reviews have suggested. I can't really say its scary, its too confined to the preceding films structures. But for this viewer its nice to be in the company of some familiar faces but I seriously hope it is not the start of a new trilogy because its more of the same I think its time to put this franchise to rest.

Rise of the Apes and The Hobbit video diaries

Well in a week of computer problems the end of the week was a goody bag of supprises courtesy of facebook.
First off Weta held an event on the Avatar facebook page that allowed a little peak at the work they have done for the new planet of the Apes movie. I have to admit I'm officially excited, their work looks to be promising and visiually exciting. The final ape design is good, but being only a taster of things to come promises a lot wether they can deliver on the final product I await with anticipation. I have to be honest as an Apes fan, I was taken aback when I learnt that the Apes would be digital. Tim Burtons take may have been a cinematic misfire but Rick Baker's makeup work was faultless. But I'm feeling much better about the whole proposition now I have seen the trailer but the final test will be on its release and whether they deliver on that early promise.

Closing off the week and again courtesy of facebook the first production video for the Hobbit and to truly spoil us it was available in HD. It was great to see old and new faces and some familiar locations. I can hardly call myself a Hobbit fan. I cannot quote names or events but Jackson has led the way with production diaries since Kong and the extra's on Lovely Bones. He is a master at drawing you into the production and leaving you feeling satisfied and at the same time not revealing too much that would spoil your enjoyment of the final film. A well produced opener emontional and revealing without spoiling. I await future postings on Peter Jacksons facebook page.