STACK #158 Dec 2017

DVD&BD REVIEWS

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Nothing is harder to track than the truth. WIND RIVER

Our greatest threat is our only hope. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

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Release Date: 13/12/17

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Release Date: 06/12/17

Writer-director Taylor Sheridan – who scripted the excellent Sicario and Hell or High Water – once again demonstrates his ear for crackling dialogue and eye for forbidding locations, with this snowbound procedural thriller. The frozen landscape of a Wyoming Native American reservation becomes a crime scene following the discovery of a teenaged girl's body. FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is called in to head up the investigation, joining forces with local tracker and game hunter Cory Lambert (Jeremy

The title might sound like just another inspiring true story but The Girl with All the Gifts is actually an intelligent, full-blooded zombie apocalypse thriller. A fungal infection is the culprit (shades of The Last of Us ), hijacking human brains and turning its hosts into carnivorous "hungries". The girl of the title is Melanie (terrific newcomer Sennia Nanua), who has managed to hold on to her humanity but still requires a Hannibal Lecter mask when in company. Glenn Close is the frosty scientist who sees Melanie as a potential cure and is

Renner), who has a personal interest in the tragedy and is determined to bring the killer(s) to justice. Tense and skillfully crafted, with a haunting score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Wind River is another triumph from Sheridan and comes highly recommended. AC

itching to dissect her, Gemma Arterton plays her sympathic teacher/ protector, and Paddy Considine is the military man upon whom their survival depends. It's been a good year for zombie movies and this Girl ranks alongside Train to Busan as a highlight of the genre. SH

BUSHWICK

A SILENT VOICE

47 METRES DOWN

THE LOST CITY OF Z

Release Date: 13/12/17 Format:

Release Date: 06/12/17 Format:

Release Date: 06/12/17 Format:

Release Date: 29/11/17 Format:

Mirroring current social and political unease in America, this real-time action-thriller speculates on the consequences of Texas seceding from the US and launching an invasion of New York City. The staging ground for this attack is the titular Brooklyn borough, where Brittany Snow and Dave Bautista join forces to fight their way out of a war zone, as the residents unite to defend the neighbourhood. Using its locations to maximum effect and shot in long unbroken takes to create a sense of immersion, Bushwick is a taut and tense look at a divided nation. SH (See page 38)

This animated Japanese box office hit also received high critical praise, winning Best Animation in the country's Movie Critics Awards. And for good reason. It's poignant and unflinching as it follows young man Shoya Ishida in his quest for redemption. In sixth grade he had been unrelenting in bullying Shoko Nishimiya, a shy and deaf classmate. So much so that she had to move to a different school. What he did comes to light, and Ishida in turn is ostracised. The animation is stunning, radiant at times, which further helps to underline the dark themes of adolescent isolation, told with grace. AC

In The Shallows it was woman vs. maneater, now it's Mandy Moore and Claire Holt who are about to discover how Hooper felt in Jaws . A cage dive in Mexico turns into a nightmare for two sisters after a fraying cable and a broken winch send them plunging to the eponymous depth. With their oxygen tanks almost empty, they need to make it to the surface, fast. Only problem is, there's a hungry Great White predator circling above. Arriving swiftly in the wake of last month's Cage Dive , if you need another excuse to stay out of the water (or a shark cage) over summer, this survival thriller is it. AC

The Lost City of Z features Charlie Hunnam’s best film performance to date. That might sound like faint praise, but there’s not a trace of Jax Teller in his portrayal of real-life British Army Colonel turned explorer Percy Fawcett. On a border-mapping mission to the Bolivian Amazon in the early 1900s, Fawcett discovers evidence of a lost civilisation hidden deep within the rainforest, and his two-year assignment turns into a lifelong obsession to find it. Alternating between period drama and jungle adventure, this adaptation of David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller is dreamily captivating but frequently patience testing. SH

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DECEMBER 2017

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