STACK NZ Jan/Feb Summer Edition Issue 70

om Hardy does an Oscar-worthy double take as both

onnie and Reggie Kray – the notorious mobsters

ho ruled London's East End during the 1960s. The

ray twins were two halves of the same brain –

eggie the sharp, energetic and charismatic street

ighter with a movie star aura alongside Ronnie,

he introverted psychopath akin to Frankenstein’s

onster. Reggie's wife Frances (Emily Browning)

rovides further insight into the psyche of these bad

oys via voice-over narration. Written and directed

by Brian Helgeland (

L.A. Confidential

Legend

is a captivating

experience; a character-driven crime drama that showcases

Hardy’s incomparable talent as an actor. It's also one of the most

entertaining and exciting gangster romps in years.

The Hardy boys

LEGEND

Talk about kitchen nightmares:

Bradley Cooper channels Gordon

Ramsay as an arrogant but brilliant

chef on the comeback trail in this

fiery food film. Having lost his

Paris restaurant through his self-

destructive activities, Adam Jones

(Cooper) arrives in London newly

clean and sober, and determined to

gain a much-coveted third Michelin

star. He duly takes over the running

of a restaurant from the son (Daniel

Brühl) of his old mentor, although

his bullying ways take some getting

used to. The kitchen scenes ring

true and an extraordinary supporting

cast (Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Emma

Thompson, Alicia Vikander, Uma

Thurman, Matthew Rhy) makes this

a five star treat for foodies.

BURNT

Release Date:

24/02/16

Format:

Michael Fassbender as Macbeth.

Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

Snowtown

director Justin Kurzel

tackling Shakespeare’s great

tragedy. If

Macbeth

isn’t already

on your must-see list for these

reasons, put it there, pronto.

The Australian filmmaker has

delivered another incredibly austere

interpretation of material that

demands a dark touch, and the best

cinematic version of Shakespeare's

play to date. The Bard’s works

ultimately live or die on the

strength of the performances and

Fassbender was born to play the

eponymous tyrant, whose ambition

to ascend the throne leads to

murder most foul, civil war and his

ultimate downfall.

MACBETH

Release Date:

17/02/16

Format:

Release Date:

17/02/16

Format:

If Mario Bava had directed

Jane Eyre

for Hammer

studios it'd probably look like this ravishing fusion of

gothic melodrama, romance, murder and madness from

Guillermo del Toro. Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is

swept off her feet by the charming Thomas Sharpe (Tom

Hiddleston), becomes his bride, and is taken to live in his

crumbling family home – a cavernous mansion located

atop a mine filled with scarlet clay that oozes through the

floor. This decaying estate is also home to Sharpe's frosty

sister (an unhinged Jessica Chastain) and full of restless

ghosts and sinister family secrets, which Edith must uncover to stay alive.

Art directed to the max, this is a truly gorgeous looking movie, drenched

in primary colours and the meticulous attention to detail that is del Toro's

forte. Fans of old school ghost stories will love every sumptuous frame.

At the mansion of madness

CRIMSON PEAK

Denis Villeneuve’s blistering thriller

actually manages to trump Steven

Soderbergh’s

Traffic

as the best film

to date about the US war against the

Mexican drug cartels. Both of them

star Benicio del Toro, although here

he’s an enigmatic Colombian, who’s

part of a black ops team led by

Josh Brolin to locate and eliminate

a key player in the drug trade. FBI

agent Emily Blunt is recruited to the

task force and soon discovers the

morally dubious tactics that must

be employed in order to beat the

cartels.

Sicario

cranks up the tension

to unbearable levels, with ominous

atmosphere and some stunning

cinematography that transforms

Mexico into an alien landscape

fraught with menace. Unmissable.

SICARIO

Release Date:

27/01/16

Format:

Instead of playing safe and crafting

a respectful by-the-book biopic,

director Robert Zemeckis has

instead recast high wire artist

Phillipe Petit’s amazing Twin Tower

walk of 1974 as a playful fable.

There’s an almost fairytale feel to

the first half of the movie, which

briskly covers Petit’s early career

and fascination with the tower,

while the final half has more in

common with heist capers like

Ocean's Eleven

, as he and his team

plot the artistic coup of the century.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is superb as

Petit, perfectly capturing both his

audacious sense of adventure and

his occasionally annoying cockiness.

And the recreation of the walk itself

is truly breathtaking.

THE WALK

Release Date:

20/01/16

Format:

Release Date:

17/02/16

Format:

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