The USA in the 1980s is regarded as the decade
of excess, not least for the masses of cocaine that
caressed nostrils. That particular phenomenon was
basically due to one enterprising fellow, Colombian
drug entrepreneur Pablo Escobar (portrayed with
admiral restraint by Wagner Moura). This 10-episode
first season of
Narcos
blends crime-thriller with
biography to deliver a fascinating view of the rise of
cocaine demand in the States, as seen through the
eyes of a fictional DEA agent, Steve Murphy (Boyd
Holbrook). While
Narcos
can be uncomfortably funny, it contains
an air of documentary, making it an educational, exciting and often
unnerving rush. Available as a limited edition with over 40 minutes
of behind-the-scenes features, exclusive to JB Hi-Fi.
AF
There's no business like blow business.
NARCOS:
SEASON 1
In between directing fantastic
films, the supremely talented
Guillermo del Toro penned a
vampire book trilogy with Chuck
Hogan, which is now a major
TV series. He also directed the
pilot episode, in which a 747
lands at New York's JFK airport
with all onboard dead on arrival.
Or are they? CDC doctor Eph
Goodweather (Corey Stoll) soon
discovers an ancient evil with
a hunger for blood has been
unleashed upon the city. Ostensibly
The Strain
does for vampires what
The Walking Dead
did for zombies,
only this time we get to see the
apocalypse as it unfolds. And these
vamps are definitely not
Twilight
hunks! Gruesome and gripping.
SH
THE STRAIN:
SEASON 1
Release Date:
24/08/16
Format:
American Horror Story
creators
Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy
bring their distinctive brand of
demented horror-comedy to this
sassy series that pays tribute
to the '80s slasher film cycle –
complete with original scream
queen Jamie Lee Curtis. A college
campus is stalked by a serial killer
in a red devil costume, who's
targeting members of the exclusive
Kappa Kappa Tau sorority house,
led by abrasive queen bitch Chanel
(Emma Roberts). Closer in tone to
Glee
than
AHS
,
Scream Queens
knows its target audience and
gives them exactly what they want,
like guest roles for popsters Ariana
Grande and Nick Jonas. Horror fans
will enjoy all the in-jokes, too.
SH
SCREAM QUEENS:
SEASON 1
Release Date:
24/08/16
Format:
Release Date:
23/08/16
Format:
Stephen King's massive 2011 novel of the same
name, about a time traveller's attempt to prevent the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy on the
titular date, has been turned into an eight-episode
mini-series produced by J.J. Abrams. Jake Epping
(James Franco) is the guy who goes down the
temporal rabbit hole and eventually finds himself in
Dallas, 1963, with the opportunity to change history.
Jake shadows Lee Harvey Oswald and falls in love
along the way to the fateful date, and of course there
are the inevitable paradoxes and future repercussions to consider
should his mission prove successful. The concept alone makes this
a must-see, and the series thankfully trims much of the novel's fat.
The combination of King and Abrams is the icing on the cake.
SH
A King-sized time travel tale.
11.22.63
Let’s go way back to the year
872 AD. We’re in what we now
know as England, but then it was
a collection of seven kingdoms,
which the Danes had an irritating
habit of invading and conquering.
This plundering leaves young Saxon
Uhtred orphaned, so the Danes take
him in and raise him. As he matures,
his loyalties become torn between
his ancestry and those who have
looked after him, hindered even
more by the fact that the Danes are
still busily conquering his homeland.
A rousing eight-part adaptation
of Bernard Cromwell’s
The Saxon
Stories,
a series of historically based
novels, any
Game of Thrones
fan
would be mad to miss out on this
sword-wielding bounty.
AF
THE LAST KINGDOM:
SEASON 1
Release Date:
04/08/16
Format:
“Aussie” and “sci-fi” aren’t words that
go together often enough, so when a
superb entry enters the sparsely-filled
fray, it’s cause to get excited – and
six-parter
Cleverman
is exciting. Set
in a near-future Sydney where a
new species of super-strong hirsute
humanoids are discovered, and
quickly shuttered into a small ghetto
labelled “The Zone”, the concept is
plucked from tales of the Dreaming
– as is the series’ titular hero (Hunter
Page-Lochard). The Cleverman
is basically a conduit between
the Dreaming and the present,
and possesses powers such as
regeneration when injured. Touching
upon themes from brotherhood to
racism, border protection and beyond,
Cleverman
really is clever, man.
AF
CLEVERMAN:
Season 1
Release Date:
24/08/16
Format:
Release Date:
10/08/16
Format:
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REVIEWS
56
jbhifi.com.auAUGUST
2016
DVD&BD