STACK New Zealand May 2016 Issue

obody is ever surprised to hear of financial people

volved in dodgy stuff. But in the US during the mid-

0s they really pushed the envelope, causing a massive

ousing “bubble” which led to everyday people going

the wall financially and losing their homes. It was a

omplicated series of events that’s mercifully explained

uite clearly in this flick, which is based on Michael

ewis’s 2010 book of the same name. While we follow

ree separate people – an eccentric hedge fund manager

(Christian Bale), a trader (Ryan Gosling), and another hedge

fund manager (Steve Carell) – who all profit from the situation, we learn

fiscal intricacies from such experts as, erm, Selena Gomez and Margot

Robbie (in a bubble bath!). Such touches could detract, but instead they

add welcome respite from the movie’s very real drama.

Amy Flower

Show me the money

THE BIG SHORT

Release Date:

11/05/16

Format:

t’s not surprising that

Spotlight

received the Best Picture

scar this year: Tom McCarthy’s riveting account of

The

oston Globe

’s Pulitzer-winning exposé on child abuse

ithin the Catholic Church in Massachusetts is, to use

cliché, a story ripped from today’s headlines. As the

potlight team (comprising Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo,

achel McAdams and Brian d’Arcy James) doggedly

ursue leads, the sheer extent of the abuse and cover-up

ecomes apparent, and they realise they’ve uncovered a

monster. From interviews with victims to the potentially

explosive repercussions their story will have,

Spotlight

turns the minutiae

of investigative journalism procedure into compelling viewing. The film

doesn’t sensationalise the findings; it simply reports them as methodically

and thoroughly as its players.

Break the story, break the silence

SPOTLIGHT

Release Date:

04/05/16

Format:

Coming so soon after his Oscar winning turn as

Stephen Hawkings in

The Theory Of Everything

, the

odds were always against Eddie Redmayne repeating

the feat for playing another tortured real-life character.

But as good as he is as Einar Wegener/Lilly Elbe,

who in 1930 became one of the first recipients of sex

reassignment surgery, it's only right that it was Alicia

Vikander who took home an Oscar as best supporting

actress. The Swedish star gives a beautifully nuanced

performance as his wife Gerda, whose paintings of

him as 'Lilly' first puts him on the path to discovering his true sexual

identity and who then has to helplessly watch the man she loves

gradually transform into a different person. A touching, unconventional

love story, this is another must-see May movie.

John Ferguson

Portrait of a lady

THE DANISH GIRL

Release Date:

25/05/16

Format:

30 Rock

and

Parks and Recreation

are two of the

cleverest and funniest shows to ever hit TV, so when

their respective stars – Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

– team up, you know that things are going to be

wonderfully entertaining. Yes they’re playing sisters,

but if you didn’t know it you’d never guess. Maura

(Poehler) is the sensible sibling, while Kate (Fey) is the

wild child – complete with teenage daughter to show

for it. When they’re called back to their childhood home

to clean out their shared room, as their parents are

selling up, the memories start flowing. Kate convinces her sister that

they should throw one last party like in the good old days, but this

time Maura gets to finally let her hair down, while Kate is to take the

responsible reins. This isn’t going to end well...

Doing it for themselves

SISTERS

Release Date:

04/05/16

Format:

REVIEWS

DVD

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