STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

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28 SUMMER EDITION 2015 JB Hi-Fi
visit REVIEWS DVD&BD
fter his faithful adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon
attoo, director David Fincher tackles another classy
estseller. And once again he doesn’t put a foot wrong:
one Girl is a deliciously dark thriller that will delight fans
f Gillian Flynn’s original novel (she wrote the script) and
eep everyone else on the edge of their seats. Ben Affleck
lays Nick, an amiable bar owner with a seemingly happy
arriage and a perfect wife Amy (Rosamund Pike). When
he vanishes from their home after what appears to be
a violent struggle, the media and local community rally
behind him. However, all that changes when it becomes apparent that their
relationship wasn’t quite as idyllic as it first appears and Nick comes under
increasing scrutiny from the police. Both an immaculately twisted thriller and
a wittily jaundiced dissection of modern marriage, make sure you save one
of your Christmas vouchers for 2015’s first essential purchase.
A collapsing House of Cards
GONE GIRL
riter-director David Ayer moves from the urban jungle of
raining Day and End of Watch to the battleground of World
ar II with this impactful combat film that possesses the
ame sense of authenticity that distinguished his earlier cop
ramas. Brad Pitt plays Sgt. Don Collier – aka Wardaddy –
ho commandeers a Sherman tank christened Fury, leading
is band of brothers (Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Michael
eña) and a rookie driver (Logan Lerman) in an attack on a
erman platoon behind enemy lines. There are echoes of
Pitt’s Nazi-killing turn in Inglourious Basterds in Wardaddy,
and the supporting cast are equally impressive, with Lerman’s newcomer
providing a crucial conduit into the hell of war for the viewer. Ayer deftly
balances the chaos of the battlefield and the camaraderie of the tank crew
within the claustrophobic confines of the war machine, delivering one of the
most visceral war movies since Saving Private Ryan.
Band of Brothers
FURY
obert Downey Jr takes a break from big budget action
eroics for this more intimate legal drama, the first from
is new production company. He plays Hank Palmer, a
rilliant but arrogant lawyer who reluctantly returns to his
mall-town family home for the funeral of his mother. Hank
as long been estranged from his father Joseph (Robert
uvall), a flinty local judge who pretty much treats his kids
s if they appearing before him in the courtroom. When
he judge is arrested for the hit and run killing of a recently-
released murderer he had sent to prison, Hank insists on
representing him, but cannot understand why his father seems intent on
sabotaging his defence. More a family drama than a legal thriller, The Judge
will nevertheless go down a treat with a John Grisham fans, with Downey Jr
and Duvall making for a formidable double act.
Duvall and Downey Jr. in the dock
THE JUDGE
Inspired by Alan Snow’s children’s book Here Be Monsters!,
The Boxtrolls is the latest stop motion marvel from
animation studio Laika (Coraline, ParaNorman). And like
those films, this is a gorgeously realised fairytale with a
sense of the macabre, in which a human boy finds himself
caught between two worlds. Set in the quintessentially
English town of Cheesbridge, the eponymous cardboard-
wearing creatures live beneath the cobblestone streets,
having built their home with the things that humans
leave behind. The Boxtrolls is ultimately a tale about the
importance of finding your place in the world, where the monsters are the
good guys and the humans the baddies – the villainous Archibald Snatcher
(voiced by Ben Kingsley) has made it his mission to exterminate the
Boxtrolls. Pure eye candy for kids and adults alike.
Here be Monsters!
THE BOXTROLLS
Format: Release Date:11/02/15
Format: Release Date:11/02/15
Format: Release Date: 21/01/15
Format: Release Date: 21/01/15
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