STACK NZ Magazine April 2015 Issue 61

46 / 64

46 APRIL 2015 JB Hi-Fi
ssell Crowe has worked with some of the best filmmakers
the business, so it’s not surprising that he’s decided to
p behind the camera for a shot at directing. Here, Crowe
o stars as farmer Joshua Connor, who honours a promise
his late wife to bring home the bodies of their three sons,
o were killed in action at Gallipoli. Travelling to Turkey four
ars after the battle, he’s confronted with the seemingly
possible task of finding and identifying his sons’ remains
the post-war chaos, but finds an unlikely ally in a Turkish
ajor (Yilmaz Erdogan). Comparisons with Peter Weir’s
classic Gallipoli will be inevitable, but Crowe’s film is an altogether different
beast that also looks at the war from the enemy’s perspective. Production
values, period detail and cinematography are all top notch, too, makingThe
Water Diviner an assured debut.
The sons of the father
THE WATER DIVINER
Release Date: 24/04/15 Format:
you're tired of watching The Ten Commandments and/
r Ben Hur every Easter, Ridley Scott's spectacular Old
estament epic arrives just in time for the religious holiday.
he parting of the Red Sea has never looked so good in
cott's commercial and accessible retelling of the departure
f the Israelites from Ancient Egypt, following the clash
etween Moses (Christian Bale) and the Pharoah Ramses
oel Edgerton). Scott's penchant for ravishing visuals is
overdrive here; the film is awash in CGI plagues and
ajestic landscapes, while elsewhere, Bale talks to a
burning bush and carves out ten stone tablets. Following the recent Noah
(from the Book of Genesis), Exodus could be viewed as the second film in
an unofficial, chronological adaptation of the Bible, as told by Hollywood's
most visionary filmmakers; although Leviticus has yet to be announced.
The Prince of Egypt
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS
Release Date: 29/04/15 Format:
rget about Jake the Muss – he wouldn’t stand a chance
ainst Lawrence Makoare's The Warrior, the fearsome star
this brutally brilliant Maori martial arts flick. Shot entirely
te reo – it was our official entry in this year’s Oscars’
reign film category – the latest film from Toa Fraser (No.
Dean Spanley) is a triumph, a mythical saga stacked with
ne-crunching fight scenes. Boy star James Rolleston is
cellent as Hongi, a callow warrior who travels into the
rbidding Dead Lands to seek the help of its bloodthirsty
ardian (Makoare) in avenging the murder of his father
ibe at the hands of a mohawked war party led by Wirepa
(the equally impressive Te Kohe Tuhaka). However, Makoare steals the
show, investing his lethal warrior with both a sardonic line in dark humour
and an almost Shakespearean melancholy.
Once were warriors
The Dead Lands
Release Date: 15/04/15 Format:
dith Viorst’s popular kids’ book gets a bit of a Freaky
iday makeover in this refreshingly old-fashioned family
medy. The original story stuck mainly to detailing the
isfortunes that befall an ordinary young boy in the
urse of one day; in the film version, after a spectacularly
d day Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) makes a birthday
ish that his parents and siblings – who all seem to be
joying blissfully happy lives – to get a taste of what he
periences on a regular basis. To his amazement, his
ish comes true, with the rest of the family suffering a
succession of humiliations on his big day. The slapstick will go down a treat
with kids, while grown-ups will appreciate nicely-judged turns from Steve
Carell and Jennifer Garner as the parents, plus cameos from the likes of
Community’s Donald Glover, Dick Van Dyke and Jennifer Coolidge.
Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Release Date: 08/04/15 Format:
visit REVIEWS DVD&BD