STACK NZ Mar #60

38 / 58

38 MARCH 2015 JB Hi-Fi
With his usual clinical efficiency, David Cronenberg dissects
the neuroses, egomania and mechanics of modern
Hollywood in this dark but frequently funny exposé. The
main players are Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), a scarred burns
victim and PA to fading star Havana Segrand (the brilliant
Julianne Moore); limo driver and aspiring actor Jerome
Fontana (Robert Pattinson); brattish teen idol Benjie Weiss
(Evan Bird), whose superstar status is threatened by his
co-star; and his father, Stafford (John Cusack), a Hollywood
therapist with more hang-ups than his clients. And there
are ghosts lurking on the sidelines, symbolising the guilt weighing heavily
upon several members of this ensemble. Screenwriter Bruce Wagner's
cynical look at Tinseltown is perfect material for the Canadian cult director,
who largely operates outside the Hollywood system.
Cronenberg goes to Hollywood
MAPS TO THE STARS
While at an auction in 2007, John
Maloof – who co-directs this
fascinating documentary – bought
a huge box of negatives belonging
to an unknown photographer
called Vivian Maier. Intrigued by
the lack of information about her,
he decided to dig deeper and
discovered that Maier had taken
more than 150,000 pictures during
her lifetime, but had never shown
her work publicly. Finding Vivian
Maier follows Maloof as he pieces
together the story of her life,
drawing mainly on interviews with
her bemused former employers
and wards. However, the real star
of the show are Maier's wonderful
photographs, which confirm what
a major talent she was.
Finding Vivian
Maier
Format:
Following an all-night bender, Ig
Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) wakes
up to discover he's beginning to
resemble the Devil, with a pair of
horns protruding from his forehead.
Moreover, people start to confess
their darkest desires to him, seeking
his permission to carry them out.
And Ig's girlfriend Merrin (Juno
Temple) has been brutally murdered,
and he's a suspect. Can he use his
strange new ability to find her killer?
This high concept horror can't quite
reconcile its light and dark shades,
but is a very faithful adaptation of
the cult novel by Joe Hill (son of
Stephen King) and ably directed
by Alexandre Aja, whose horror
credentials include remakes of
Piranha and The Hills Have Eyes .
HORNS
Release Date:
11/03/15
Release Date:
11/03/15
Format:
Release Date: 25/03/15 Format:
ride is one of those uplifting Brit flicks – like The Full
onty and Brassed Off – that don't so much tug at the
eartstrings as rip them from your chest. And yes, it's
ased on a true story, and Bill Nighy is in it. This time
und the underdogs unite when a group of London
ay activists rally in support of striking miners, who've
owned tools in protest over pit closures during the
hatcher era, circa 1984. A group of angry Welsh
iners and the gay community is a volatile mix, and
the film doesn't shy away from the inevitable issue of
homophobia. But solidarity ultimately proves crucial for both parties
if they are to strike a blow for the working class and marginalised
alike. This crowd-pleasing chronicle of an unlikely (and historically
significant) alliance is pure formula, but a winning one.
Underdogs unite
PRIDE
What happens when you take
a bunch of actors, put them in
suits of armour, and tell them to
pretend they’re in a video game?
Halo: Nightfall. It's not often that
we see filmic adaptations of
video games turn out exceedingly
well, but this one makes the
grade. Nightfall is set between
the events of the fourth and
fifth Halo games and follows a
group of soldiers as they fight to
eliminate a newfound Covenant
weapon. This live-action series
is comprised of five episodes at
around 20-something minutes
each. Although based on a
video game, if you’re a die-hard
Halo fan – and you should be –
Nightfall is essential viewing.
HALO: NIGHTFALL
Release Date:
12/03/15
Format:
Recent Keanu Reeves' comeback
vehicle 47 Ronin failed to revive
his superstar status, but this
robust crime thriller looks set to
bring him back up to, er, speed.
Although the plot rehashes the
tired old chestnut of 'ex-hitman
comes out of retirement', this
is the badass action movie The
Equalizer should have been. After
his wife and dog are killed and
his prized Mustang is stolen,
Keanu's eponymous assassin
reverts to his lethal ways, waging
war against his former boss
(Michael Nyqvist) and Alfie Allen
from Game of Thrones in a candy-
coloured gangster underworld of
exclusive nightclubs and hitman
hotels.
JOHN WICK
Release Date:
04/03/15
Format:
Release Date: 04/03/15 Format:
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