STACK Jun #128

32 / 108

032 JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi
COMING SOON Hitting the JB shelves in July
Project
Almanac
Hot Teen Time Machine.
Physics student invents
temporal device, leading
to an excellent adventure
of the hand-held variety.
Kingsman: The
Secret Service
007 meets Kick-Ass
best describes this old
fashioned British spy
thriller dressed up in
cool new threads.
Run All Night
Need more Liam Nees
action? Get Taken on
a Non-Stop nocturnal
chase through New Yo
City in this guns-and-
gangsters thriller.
It Follows
A throwback to the
'80s, when John
Carpenter ruled
supreme, this is the
best horror film you'
see this year. Period
Wearing a rubber nose doesn't
necessarily guarantee you an Oscar.
Nicole Kidman got one for her
prominent proboscis as Virginia Woolf, but Ian
McKellen didn't as Gandalf. Neither did Steve
Carell, whose beak-like hooter in Foxcatcher
helped transform him from funny to frightening.
Nasal jokes aside, it's Carell's spellbinding
performance as eccentric millionaire and
wrestling coach John du Pont that makes Bennett
Miller's tragic, true-life sports story an absolute
must-see – we'll leave you to discover the grim
details of what transpired on the Foxcatcher
ranch, when du Pont secured the services of
Olympic Gold Medal-winning wrestler Mark
Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his brother Dave
(Mark Ruffalo) to train a team for the 1988 Seoul
Olympics.
The theme of a naive youngster being seduced
by wealth, drugs and success recalls both
Boogie Nights and Behind the Candelabra, and
a disturbing and uncomfortable tone saturates
this intense character study; a mood heightened
by Carell's incredibly creepy portrayal (full of
awkward silences and calculating stares) of a
man stewing in his own emotional repression.
While Carell's transformation is a highlight,
Channing Tatum undergoes an equally impressive
metamorphosis from hunky rom-com regular
and Jonah Hill comedy sidekick
to brooding and bitter former
champion consumed by a
similar sense of self-loathing.
Ruffalo (always good)
received the film's
supporting actor Oscar
nom, but it was Tatum who
really deserved it.
Foxcatcher offers much
more than just watching two
Hollywood stars playing against
type – it's the antithesis of
all those feel-good, formula
American sports films, and
that alone is worth the
FOXCATCHER
DISC of the month:
You’d think that someone
whose trademark is his
“vindictive Vulcan eyebrows”
would have very little else to
brag about – what could top
that? Nevertheless, Nicholas
Hoult is building up quite the
portfolio of films, most of
which aren’t only thanks to
his brows
Catching his big break at age 13 in the 2002
rom-com About a Boy, alongside Hugh Grant, this
young Brit's star potential was actually recognised
ten years earlier. Spotted in a theatre audience, the
director suggested to Hoult’s mother that if he could
concentrate on a play, then he could star in one.
Guest spots onTV's Casualty, The Bill and Holby
City paved the way for bigger things, including Hoult
winning the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award
for Best Performance by aYouth in a Leading or
Supporting Role (in About a Boy).
Skins was the next breakthrough for Hoult; after
starring in 19 episodes of the teen drama series, his
next movie gig was as Eusebios in the Clash of the
Titans remake, in the company of SamWorthington,
Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. As a perhaps
unconventional casting choice, Hoult was also added
to the video game Fable III as a voice actor.
Arguably his most famous role to date is that of
Hank McCoy (better known as Beast) in the X-Men
films First Class and Days of Future Past – a role he
will reprise in X-Men: Apocalypse , due for release in
cinemas around this time next year.
Along with his mutant escapades, Hoult also
had a brush with the walking dead, as the confused
zombie love interest (yes, you read that right) of
Teresa Palmer in Warm Bodies, and also played the
buyer-of-the-magic-beans in Bryan Singer's Jack the
Giant Slayer.
The long-awaited Mad Max reboot, Fury Road,
features a bald Hoult as Nux, theWarboy who
usesTom Hardy's Max as a blood supply and hood
ornament.
He is also set to star in Drake Doremus’ Equals
with Kristen Stewart and Guy Pearce, as well as
action-thriller Autobahn alongside Ben Kingsley and
Felicity Jones, both pegged for release later this year.
About a Boy (2002)
Skins (2007–2008)
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Warm Bodies (2013)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
NICHOLAS HOULT
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