STACK New Zealand December Issue 69

38 / 60

Light-heavyweight world champion Billy Hope (Jake
Gyllenhaal) has a big house, a loving wife (Rachel McAdams)
and a precocious daughter (Oona Laurence). Then tragedy
strikes, leaving him a widower, broke, and fighting to retain
custody of his little girl. Destitute and struggling to turn his
life around, he takes on a menial job at a local gym, where a
trainer with a heart of gold (Forest Whitaker) agrees to help
him make a comeback – in life and in the ring. Gyllenhaal is
fantastic; his hangdog features wear the character’s anguish
like a battered boxing glove, and his total commitment to the
role helps distract the viewer from the film’s more overwrought moments
and boxing movie clichés. Scripted by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter
and directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Southpaw, like The Fighter and
all the Rockys, reminds us that down doesn’t necessarily mean out.
Believe in Hope
SOUTHPAW
Release Date: 23/12/15 Format:
Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) upholds the family holiday
tradition begun by dad Clark in the ‘80s in this fitfully
funny sequel-cum-reboot to the comedy franchise,
which relies heavily on familiarity with the Chevy Chase
original. Lowbrow humour has evolved (or devolved?) in
the decades since the Griswolds first hit the road, so the
new Vacation takes its cues from the gross-out likes of
The Hangover, Horrible Bosses, et al; the misadventures
include bathing in raw sewage, a vomitous stop at a
sorority house and an exploding cow. However, most
of the laughs come from the goofy optimism of the genial Helms and a
scene-stealing Chris Hemsworth as the well-endowed Uncle Stone. Oh,
and original vacationers Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo show up in
inevitable cameos.
The next generation of Griswolds hit the holiday road
VACATION
Release Date: 23/12/15 Format:
The fourth attempt to bring Marvel’s 'First Family' to
the screen is as grim as its resident rock monster.
Unlike the cheesy 2005 film, this Four has gone over to
the dark side. Chronicle director Josh Trank's take on
Marvel’s awesome foursome has more in common with
Cronenberg’s The Fly than Whedon’s Avengers. It's a
cautionary tale about experimenting with teleportation
and the consequences of taking a drunken trip into an
alternate universe. This is superpowers as body horror,
which is probably why critics and audiences hated it. But
STACK begs to differ – keeping one foot in the real world and the other
in a comic book one, this is a superhero origin story that's distinctly and
refreshingly different from the CGI-laden candy-coloured adventures that
have become the genre's default.
Marvel's awesome foursome return
FANTASTIC FOUR
Release Date: 09/12/15 Format:
Horror fanboy turned filmmaker Eli Roth's latest is a change
of pace after delivering gorefests like Hostel and The Green
Inferno. Swapping gratuitous bloodletting for psychological
thrills, Knock Knock is a home invasion flick with a
difference. Keanu Reeves (nicely cast against type) plays
a family man home alone on a long weekend, who finds
himself tempted and tormented by a pair of sexy young
things who show up on his doorstep during a rainstorm.
The fun begins when these femme fatales (Roth's wife
Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas), whose weapons of torture
include Facetime and Facebook, proceed to turn his life and home upside
down. Although loaded with subtext, Roth's battle of the sexes is best
enjoyed as a crazy suspense thriller with a wicked sense of humour. And
let's face it, haven't you always wanted to see Keanu Reeves squirm?
Fifty shades of prey
KNOCK, KNOCK
Release Date: 09/12/15 Format:
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38 DECEMBER 2015