STACK January 2017 Issue 147

REVIEWS

DVD&BD

repare for fidelity, infidelity and low fidelity in Woody

llen’s latest romantic dramedy. Set in the 1930s,

revolves around young Bobby Dorfman (Jesse

isenberg, although you just know that he’d be played

Allen if he wasn’t now 81 years old). Tired of

wellery work for his father, he leaves the Big Apple

r the glitziness of Hollywood. He’s given odd jobs by

s uncle Phil (Steve Carell), who’s a big wheel down at

e movie factory, and instantly falls for his pretty but

pretentious secretary, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). She

has a boyfriend, but they make for great pals. Naturally feelings grow

and one heck of a bizarre love triangle soon comes into play. Very

much a Woody Allen flick – jazz, neuroses, jazz, family dynamics, jazz –

Café Society

may not be

Manhattan

, but it’s definitely L.A.

Woody's latest serves up 1930's Hollywood.

CAFé SOCIETY

12 years is a long time, and

much has changed both inside

and outside Calvin’s Barbershop

since we last caught up. The

titular proprietor (Ice Cube) has

allowed the former man cave to

go unisex, with Angie (Regina

Hall) moving her salon right on

in. But times in the ’hood are

hard, so the cutting crew must

band together to help save the

shop and their community...

With all the original major cast

returning, plus the addition of

names such as Common and

Nicki Minaj, we could say that

this long-awaited threequel

is a cut above – and we will!

Thought-provoking and genuinely

funny, it’s worth making an

appointment with.

BARBERSHOP:

THE NEXT CUT

Release Date:

04/01/17

Format:

Suspiria

meets

Mulholland

Drive

in Nicolas Winding Refn's

über stylish slice of hipster

horror. A fashion house

giallo

set in a sinister L.A., Elle

Fanning stars as the doe-eyed

ingenue who has "that thing"

required to make it big in the

cutthroat modelling business.

That's if she can survive sleazy

photographers, a scumbag hotel

owner (Keanu Reeves), and her

jealous peers (Jena Malone and

Bella Heathcote) who want to

devour her glamour – literally,

given eating disorders include

cannibalism. Refn assaults

the viewer with hypnotic and

surreal visuals at the expense of

narrative and pacing, but at least

it's a feast for the eyeballs.

THE NEON DEMON

elease Date:

8/01/17

ormat:

Release Date:

18/01/17

Format:

As technology moves quicker than the Road Runner with

one of Wile E Coyote’s rockets lodged firmly up its clacker,

it can be difficult to keep up with associated security

concerns. That’s why you need an IT guy (or, of course, gal).

Aviation tycoon Mike Regan (Pierce Brosnan) knows this

well, so when IT guru Ed Porter (Aussie James Frecheville)

helps save an important business meeting from completely

glitching out, he thinks he’s found his perfect geek. He

even lets him check the internet in his super-connected

smart home, which his daughter keeps whining about being

slow. But when Ed subsequently tries to inveigle his way into the Regans’

personal lives, and Mike shuts him down, our computer-savvy boffin

becomes anything but user friendly. A distracting techno-thriller,

I.T.

serves

as a reminder to NEVER piss off your IT person.

Your life is not secure.

I.T.

Deliverance

meets 1970s

exploitation by way of Quentin

Tarantino in this horror/thriller

mash-up from Mickey Keating,

the guy behind

Pod

and

Darling

It all begins with a botched

bank job, a gunshot wound

and a hasty escape to the

middle of nowhere. Or, more

specifically, the middle of a

property owned by one Wyatt

Moss (Pat Healy), an ex-military

sniper and certifiable yokel sicko.

Bullets fly, blood spurts and our

heroine, Vivian (Ashley Bell),

appears, having been kidnapped

and jammed in the boot by the

wannabe bank robbers. So begins

a cat and mouse game between

Wyatt and Vivian with only one

thing missing – banjos!

CARNAGE PARK

Release Date:

18/01/17

Format:

Alcoholic carpenter Walt (Clive

Owen) is called upon to look

after his eight-year-old son

when his ex-wife and new beau

are heading off on a Catholic

retreat. Anthony’s a good kid

who’s being indoctrinated in

the ways of religion. Walt? Well,

not so much. As their first day

together careens from bad to

worse – a broken down pickup,

an eviction notice, a valuable

toolbox required for a much-

needed job stolen – something

good actually happens, as

hunting for the tools leads to

much father and son bonding,

even if the squeaky clean

Anthony does pretty much

break every commandment

ever written along the way!

THE CONFIRMATION

elease Date:

1/01/17

ormat:

Release Date:

05/01/17

Format: