STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

DVD&BD

REVIEWS

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Vlad’s not all Bad DRACULA UNTOLD

Welcome to the Dollhouse ANNABELLE

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Release Date: 10/12/14

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Release Date: 11/02/15

Format: DRAMA HORROR

Dracula as a good guy? Hard to believe but that’s the premise of this new origin story, which takes its cues from the opening scenes in Francis Coppola’s 1992 version of the vampire classic. Set in the Middle Ages, Vlad The Impaler (Luke Evans) is looking forward to ruling Transylvannia peacefully, having already proven his loyalty to The Ottoman Empire. However, when this former childhood friend Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper) demands 1,000 children – including his own son (Art Parkinson) – be conscripted into his army, Vlad rebels. Knowing he won’t be able to defeat the Turks, he turns to a demonic creature (Charles Dance) for help. Dracula Untold is actually closer in spirit to fantasy reboots like Red Riding Hood than traditional vampire tales, albeit with a much higher body count. It’s all a bit silly, if truth be told, but the intriguing final scene hints that a new monster franchise might be in the works.

The creepy titular doll that had a supporting role in James Wan’s 2013 supernatural hit The Conjuring gets its own spin-off-cum-prequel in this moderately scary spookfest. The setting this time is LA in the late ‘60s where newly-weds Ward Horton ( The Mighty Macs ) and Annabelle Wallis ( Peaky Blinders ) are expecting their first child. Wallis is a doll collector and is delighted when her husband buys her the rare Annabelle doll for which she’s been searching. However, after a violent home invasion by two members of Manson-like cult,

she begins to wonder if the doll has become possessed by an evil spirit. Director John Leonetti, who worked on both The Conjuring and another Wan horror franchise Insidious , serves up plenty of jumps and frights, although it must be said these sort of haunted house flicks are becoming a little too predictable.

A Literal Coming-of-Age Story BOYHOOD

Dambusters NIGHT MOVES

Release Date: 25/02/15

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Release Date: 25/02/15

Watching characters grow up on screen is not uncommon on television, whether on soap operas or long-form dramas like Mad Men or The Sopranos . But it’s not something that would seem to be possible for a feature film… until now. The new film from indie icon Richard Linklater ( Dazed & Confused , the Before trilogy) was shot over 12 years and charts a young boy’s progress from a six-year-old to late adolescence. Ellar Coltrane is a revelation as the kid who literally comes of age on screen, and he is well supported by Linklater

In her most recent work Meek’s Cut Off , American indie director Kelly Reichardt put her own distinctive stamp on the western; here she takes a similarly unconventional approach to the thriller genre, and the result is an unsettling and thought-provoking drama about eco- terrorism. Jesse Eisenberg plays a young organic farmer who together with his girlfriend (Dakota Fanning) and an ex-marine (Peter Saarsgard) set out to blow up a hydro- electric dam. Although it works well as a suspenseful thriller, Reichardt is more interested in exploring the

regular Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as his estranged parents; incidentally his sister is played by the director’s own daughter Lorelei. By focusing on the ordinariness of life, Linklater has fashioned an enthralling and utterly believable family saga – forget reality TV, this is the real deal.

paranoia and misplaced idealism of her trio of amateur terrorists, particularly in the tragic aftermath of their mission. Eisenberg is great in an unlikable role, while Fanning cements her growing reputation as one Hollywood’s brightest young talents. A slow-burning triumph.

SUMMER EDITION 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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