STACK NZ Jun #63

DVD & BD

REVIEWS

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Back with conviction ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: SEASON TWO

MISS JULIE August Strindberg’s play has attracted a fair few screen adaptations over the years, even though it is a pretty uncinematic work of art. However, it does offer two very meaty roles for actors, hence its appeal. Directed by screen legend Liv Ullman, this version relocates the action to Ireland, with neurotic artistocrat Jessica Chastain setting out to seduce her servant, Colin Farrell. Stagey but absorbing. OUT: 10/06/15 ROSEWATER The directorial debut of current affairs comedy god Jon Stewart is no laughing matter – quite rightly, too, because this is the harrowing true story of an Iranian-Canadian journalist who was imprisoned and tortured for his media reports from his homeland (one of which involved Stewart’s The Daily Show ). Gael García Bernal is excellent as the reporter; Danish actor Kim Bodnia ( The Bridge ) is even better as his interrogator. OUT: 24/06/15 SHINE Scott Hicks's 1996 Australian classic helped kickstart a second filmmaking renaissance for the Aussie industry is also notable for Geoffrey Rush's breakout role as pianist David Helfgott, who overcame a debilitating mental breakdown to triumph on the world stage. Bonus features include interviews with Rush, Hicks, and composer David Hirschfelder. OUT: 24/06/15 Mortdecai Johnny Depp twirls an oversized moustache, adopts a posh British accent, and channels Austin Powers as Charlie Mortdecai, an art dealer, aristocrat and trickster enlisted by MI5 agent Ewan McGregor to locate a stolen painting that may hold a clue to the whereabouts of hidden Nazi gold. This globetrotting caper- comedy endeavours to capture the madcap spirit of the Pink Panther films, but the laughs are largely dependent upon how funny you find Depp's terrible 'tach. OUT: 03/06/15 ANARCHY Much has been made of the Shakespearean qualities of Sons of Anarchy , but director Michael Almereyda has gone one step further and reworked one of the Bard’s lesser known plays, Cymbeline, into a biker epic. The original pitted Ancient Britons against the Romans; here it’s drug-running bikers versus corrupt cops. The cast is headed by Ed Harris and Ethan Hawke, but Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson and Milia Jovovich don’t disgrace themselves either. OUT: 24/06/15 TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT The best of a pair of spin-off movies from the '90s TV horror anthology series, produced by Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver. Billy Zane plays a hellspawn who wreaks havoc in a small town whilst in pursuit of a key that holds the blood of Christ. Full of dark humour, gratuitous gore and practical creature FX, they don't make 'em like this anymore. A most welcome addition to the Cult Cinema range. OUT: 11/06/15

Release Date: 10/06/15

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Another critically acclaimed series to add to your growing stack of must-watches, Orange Is the New Black burst out of the gate in 2013 and quickly attracted fervent attention for its multi-layered storylines, fascinating characters and inventive flashback structure. Season three's drop is imminent, so it’s time to catch up on exactly what went down in season two of this addictive jail-time jag. As it opens, our heroine Piper (Taylor Schilling) wakes up in solitary confinement and is then transferred to a destination unknown; she has to make some educated guesses as to where she is, and for what purpose

she has been brought there. Meanwhile, we get numerous important flashbacks concerning Piper’s past, the inmates prepare a Valentine’s Day party, and Larry asks one of the women to be his mole, so that he can discover what’s really happening to the prison’s finances. Back in Black, baby!

The prisoner within CAMP X-RAY

Release Date: 11/06/15

Format:

Twilight star Kristen Stewart reveals herself to be a powerful screen presence in a sombre, thought- provoking tale of a US soldier, Private Amy Cole, who is stationed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba – the Camp X-Ray of the title. The soul-destroying monotony of life at the camp borders on despair, not just for those being held there but for those guarding them as well. As Amy starts to see how soldiers and detainees alike are dehumanised by the place, she begins to form a tentative friendship with one of the detainees, Amir

Ali ( A Separation ’s Peyman Moaadi). It is a relationship conducted almost exclusively through cell doors, but the two stars' eloquent performances make you care in a slow-building drama that sets out to show that life is not always as black and white as it first appears.

JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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