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The cheesy reality shows that dominate the television
schedules have given the fly-on-the-wall documentary
a bad name, but this terrific homegrown feature is the
real deal. Superbly shot in black and white by director
Chris Pryor,
The Ground We Won
is an affectionate and
wonderfully earthy salute to grassroots rugby. Pryor
and his producing partner Miriam Smith spent a year
in the sleepy rural backwater of Reperoa, unobtrusively
following the local team of farmers as they endeavour
to complete an unbeaten season in their regular club
competition. The grind of lower league rugby and the macho antics of
the team – beware, there are a lot of drinking and hazing sessions – are
contrasted with the everyday harsh realities of farming and the bleak
beauty of the rural landscape. Highly recommended.
Grass roots rugby rules
The Ground We Won
A diseased chicken nugget
unleashes a zombie virus in
an elementary school where
aspiring horror novelist Elijah
Wood has taken up a substitute
teaching position. With the
students craving human flesh
and the faculty under siege,
the scene is set for a hoot of
a zom-com that confirms that
children can indeed be little
monsters. The script by Leigh
Whannell (
Insidious
,
Saw
) and
Ian Brennan (
Glee
), who also
star, adds a ridiculous new
twist to a ubiquitous genre
as well as a slew of old jokes
that still work. The opening
sequence alone is guaranteed
to turn your stomach.
COOTIES
Release Date:
18/11/15
Format:
Beneath a comic veneer of talking
pets and awkward workplace
romances lurks a dark tale of
madness and murder. Ryan
Reynolds is terrific as a dorky
worker at a bathtub factory
who suffers from mental illness
and inner voices – the latter
externalised by his dog and cat,
and later the severed heads in
his fridge when he inadvertently
becomes a serial killer. Reynolds
is supported by a quality cast
including Jacki Weaver as his
therapist, and Gemma Arterton
and Anna Kendrick as his
co-workers and love interests.
Striking an even balance between
the humour and horror, this kooky
gem is destined for cult status.
THE VOICES
Release Date:
11/11/15
Format:
Release Date:
18/11/15
Format:
Libby Day (Charlize Theron) was the only survivor of
the "Kansas Prairie Massacre" 28 years ago, which
claimed the lives of her mother and two sisters, and
saw her brother (Corey Stoll) convicted for the murders.
Desperately in need of cash, she reluctantly accepts
an invitation to meet up with 'The Kill Club', a group
of ex-cops, PIs and amateur sleuths who believe that
the police got the wrong man. Although Libby remains
convinced of her brother's guilt, she agrees to launch
her own investigation into the case. Based on the novel
by
Gone Girl
's Gillian Flynn, this dark whodunit offers numerous twists
and turns, an occult angle that gives it a
True Detective
vibe, and a great
cast including Theron's
Mad Max: Fury Road
co-star Nicholas Hoult,
Chlöe Grace Moretz and Christina Hendricks (
Mad Men
).
Memories of murder
DARK PLACES
The sleeve leaves no doubt to
the direction in which this thriller
is heading, but this is actually
alot more than subtle than your
standard rape revenge flick.
Rosamund Pike plays a single-
minded nurse whose comfortable
existence is torn apart when she
is raped in her own home. She
decides that the only way she
will be able to rebuild her life is to
get to know the man responsible
(Shiloh Fernandez), who is now
languishing behind bars for the
crime. Nick Nolte provides solid
support as her dad, but this is
Pike's show and she gives a finely
nuanced turn as a victim who may
just have a few surprises up her
sleeve.
Return To
Sender
Release Date:
11/11/15
Format:
There’s a dreamlike quality to
Ariel Kleiman’s
Partisan
, perhaps
because it unites Australian
cinematic sensibilities with a
European setting and cast. Within
the confines of a closed compound
on the outskirts of a derelict
European city, Gregori (Vincent
Cassel) presides over a cult-like
colony, the only man amidst
a community of women and
children. He fosters an atmosphere
of fear and dependence, all
the while exploiting the very
congregation that he shepherds for
his own financial gain. Kleiman’s
filmic space is fantasy, but
Partisan
has that pensive timelessness that
Sofia Coppola accomplishes so
effortlessly.
PARTISAN
Release Date:
12/11/15
Format:
Release Date:
04/11/15
Format:
DVD
&
BD
REVIEWS
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