STACK Magazine April 2015 Issue 126

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052 APRIL 2015 JB Hi-Fi
One of the most original films of the last 12 months,
Nightcrawler sees the chameleonic Jake Gyllenhaal
embodying a disturbing personage of youthful zeal covering
a cold and calculated gaze. The enigmatic and enterprising
Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) considers himself a maverick, willing
to put in the effort to make his own luck and bend accepted
ethics to get to the top of his brand new obsession: the
'nightcrawling' profession – trawling the streets of LA
for crime aftermath he can film and then sell on to rabid
television networks. Equally brilliant are Renee Russo
(director Dan Gilroy's wife) as cutthroat news network manager Nina Romina,
whom Lou bends to his will through a series of off-putting ultimatums,
and Riz Ahmed as Rick, the nervous and homeless young man whom Lou
employs as his navigator during their terrifying nocturnal chases. A must-see.
The night has a price.
NIGHTCRAWLER
Release Date: 01/04/15 Format:
If you're tired of watching The Ten Commandments and/or Ben
Hur every Easter, Ridley Scott's spectacular Old Testament
epic arrives just in time for the religious holiday. The parting of
the Red Sea has never looked so good in Scott's commercial
and accessible retelling of the departure of the Israelites
from Ancient Egypt, following the clash between Moses
(Christian Bale) and the Pharoah Ramses (Joel Edgerton, bald
and wearing eyeliner). Scott's penchant for ravishing visuals
is in overdrive here; the film is awash in CGI plagues and
majestic 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: 01/04/15 Format:
Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day return
for this sequel to the 2011 comedy hit – only this time,
they're the bosses. But are they horrible? Well, no;
that role goes to Christoph Waltz, as a dodgy investor
in their new 'shower buddy' business venture (which
is not what you think). When Waltz cancels a massive
order, the trio face bankruptcy, but rather than kill this
corrupt capitalist, they hatch a harebrained scheme to
kidnap his son (Chris Pine) and hold him for ransom.
Also back for seconds is Jennifer Aniston's trash-talking
dentist and Jamie Foxx's jailbird, as well as Bateman's former horrible
boss Kevin Spacey. Written and directed by Sean Anders (Hot Tub Time
Machine), this is that rare example of a comedy sequel being better –
and funnier – than the original, which was pretty horrible.
New crime. Same tools.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2
Release Date: 22/04/15 Format:
Bill Murray as a boozy old codger who mellows
after babysitting the kid next door might sound as
sugar-laden as a bottle of soft drink, but St. Vincent
never descends into outright schmaltz thanks to
the irrepressible appeal of its leading man. Murray
gene splices his Wes Anderson characters with DNA
from Stripes and Ghostbusters, and goes for broke.
Conversely, Melissa McCarthy delivers a performance
of surprising restraint as the boy's single mom, whose
long working hours allow her son (Jaeden Lieberher)
to bond with this irascible scene-stealer, for better or worse. Things
turn a tad mawkish when the kid uncovers some skeletons in Murray's
closet, but for most of its running time St. Vincent is the Murray
showcase we've been waiting for since Lost in Translation .
Love thy neighbour.
ST. VINCENT
Release Date: 29/04/15 Format:
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