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REVIEWS
DVD
&
BD
DVD&BD
The Brothers Grimm’s
Snow White
and Hans Christian
Andersen’s
The Snow Queen
collide in a fantasy fairy tale
face-off that results in something akin to
Frozen,
albeit
not so cute. A prequel to
Snow White and the Huntsman
,
Kristen Stewart misses out, but with Emily Blunt and
Jessica Chastain joining returning stars Charlize Theron and
Chris Hemsworth (looking abs-olutely smashing), that’s no
cause for chagrin. The story? Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior
mate Sara (Chastain) have to hide their love away, for Queen
Freya (Blunt) has banned such mushy stuff from her ice
palace while she’s warring with her sister, Ravenna (Theron). You won’t be
seeing this adorning little kids’ lunchboxes, pencil cases, torsos, beds or
anything else that you can slap marketing on. But
Winter’s War
nails what
fairy tales were originally about – being dark, broody and disquieting.
AF
The story before Snow White
The Huntsman: WINTER'S WAR
Given that the original BBC show is one of the best British
sitcoms of all time, many fans were no doubt filled with
trepidation about this big screen remake. The good news
is that writer Hamish McColl and director Oliver Hardy
have stayed true to the warm humour and gentle charm
of the original series, and the result is a lovely walk down
memory lane. Toby Jones is the equal of Arthur Lowe as
the pompous, bumbling Captain Mainwaring, whose Home
Guard unit are charged with an important mission on the
eve of D-Day. The likes of Bill Nighy (Sergeant Wilson), Tom
Courtenay (Corporal Jones), Michael Gambon (Godfrey) Bill Patterson (Fraser)
and Blake Harrison (Pike) are also note perfect, while Catherine Zeta Jones
enjoys herself as the glamorous femme fatale who everyone in the platoon
becomes besotted with.
John Ferguson
Who do you think you're kidding Mr Hitler, if you think we're on the run...
DAD'S ARMY
One day you’re the queen of the corporate world, with
enough money to make Oprah green with envy. Then you’re
done for insider trading, discover more about the inside via
a prison stint, and re-enter the world with nothing – the
result of stepping upon pretty much everybody on your rise
to the top. This is the story of Michelle Darnell (Melissa
McCarthy), who subsequently lumps herself upon her
former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) and young daughter
while she endures a bout of self pity, before tasting her
host’s brownies and plugging back into her entrepreneurial
streak. Here we learn the lengths Darnell will go to in order to succeed –
again. An interesting mixture of gross-out humour with a little heart folded
in,
The Boss
has many laughs, although much like if you’ve scarfed a whole
plate of brownies, you may feel a bit guilty afterwards.
AF
Watch your assets
THE BOSS
Release Date:
10/08/16
Format:
Olympic glory is something that many kids crave – many
adults too, even when they’re past their prime. Young Brit
Michael Edwards was no different, despite being hamstrung
by woeful eyesight and a rather stodgy figure. But he
persevered, and became quite a good downhill skier – yet
not good enough for the Olympics. So, he decided to take
on the dangers of ski-jumping instead – the first such English
Olympian since the 1920s to do so. Taron Egerton steps up
as Eddie, while Hugh Jackman plays his (fictional) louche
American coach Bronson Peary. From childhood through
training and onto the big event,
Eddie the Eagle
is a fabulous feel-good family
flick all the way, in a similar vein to 1993’s true tale of Jamaican bobsledders
Cool Runnings
– which, incidentally, happened at the same Olympics. There
must have been something in that lovely Canadian air, eh?
AF
Win or lose, always aim high
EDDIE THE EAGLE
Release Date:
24/08/16
Format:
Release Date:
03/08/16
Format:
Release Date:
24/08/16
Format: