STACK Feb Issue 124

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I t’s that time of year again – Game of Thrones time.
With the fifth season scheduled to screen on Foxtel
from April 13, there’s ample opportunity to bring
yourself up to date with current events in the kingdom of
Westeros with the February 18 release of The Complete
Fourth Season. Or if you’re new to George R.R. Martin’s world
of ice and fire (where have you been?), there’s a Season 1-4
box set. Fans can take solace in the fact that Martin won’t be
writing any episodes for the show’s fifth season – he has the
sixth book in the series to finish.
It may have missed out on a Best Picture nomination at the
Oscars this month, but in my humble opinion, Gone Girl (see
right) is one of the best movies you’ll see this year. If you
haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s bestseller – on which this David
Fincher film is based – avoid plot spoilers at all costs!
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood wasn’t overlooked by the
Academy however, receiving six nominations including
Best Picture and Director. Shot over a 12-year period and
seamlessly edited, this coming-of-age drama – charting star
Ellar Coltrane’s journey from childhood to adolescence – gives
new meaning to the term ‘slice of life’.
Now synonymous with the Taken franchise, Liam Neeson
gets a chance to remind us what a fine actor he is, playing a
gumshoe on the trail of a pair of serial killers in A Walk Among
the Tombstones . A grim homage to ‘40s noir, this gripping
thriller is based on the novel by Lawrence Block, whose
recurring character Matt Scudder has been previously played
onscreen by Jeff Bridges in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986).
Special mention must also go to Kevin Smith’s new film
Tusk, which provides veteran actor Michael Parks (who was
great in Smith’s Red State ) with another juicy role, this time
as a mad old man of the sea who proceeds to turn podcaster
Justin Long into a walrus. Is that a Beatles’ tune I hear?
David Fincher’s name on a film is enough incentive for
me to check it out. He’s only let me down once, with
the interminable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(hey, I even liked Alien3). I was unfamiliar with Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone
Girl before seeing Fincher’s adaptation, and ultimately glad I hadn’t read it
first. All I knew about the movie was that Ben Affleck’s wife goes missing
and he becomes a suspect. I also knew it took aim at the media’s power to
influence public opinion, but that’s about it. And that’s all you really need to
know too, other than the fact that Gone Girl is one of those mesmerising
and unpredictable thrillers – like the recent Prisoners – that’ll hold you in
a vice-like grip for 150 minutes. At times it will remind you of a Hitchcock
film, or even Basic Instinct, but it’s without doubt a David Fincher film.
The director’s predilection for the dark and moody is the perfect match
for Flynn’s blackly humourous take on a toxic marriage, and the casting
is excellent. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of Oscar-nominee
Rosamund Pike after this, and Affleck will need to shed a few kilos to fit
into the Batsuit for the upcoming Batman v Superman. Go get Gone Girl.
ON MY TO-WATCH STACK So much to view, so little time...
Exodus: Gods
and Kings
I should have seen Ridle
Scott’s biblical epic on a
massive cinema screen,
but my 50” plasma and a
BD will have to suffice.
Dracula Untol
After hundreds of
films, is there anythin
left to be told about
Bram Stoker’s iconic
vampire? Apparently
so. I’m all ears.
John Wick
Welcome back Keanu
Reeves, we’ve missed
you. Well, sort of. But
will this action-thriller
be the comeback vehicl
he really needs?
Horns
I loved Joe Hill’s
novel, but Daniel
Radcliffe appears to
be miscast as the
protag who begins t
resemble old Nick.
GONE GIRL
DISC of the month:
0XX
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