STACK NZ Magazine December Issue 58

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32 DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
visit REVIEWS DVD&BD
Six months after their misadventures in Greece, the
lads head Down Under in their second big screen OS
trip. Jay (James Buckley) is on “a mental gap year in
Australia” and convinces buddies Simon (Joe Thomas),
Neil (Blake Harrison) and Will (Simon Bird) to join him.
Cue rampant innuendo regarding “going bush” and
backpacking, as the boys hit the Outback, Byron Bay
and other iconic Aussie locations – if you thought Mrs.
Brown’s one-liners were obvious, you haven’t met these
guys. The Inbetweeners 2 set an opening day box office
record for a UK comedy on its home turf – not bad for a movie whose
major set piece involves faeces and a water slide, which pretty much
tells you what to expect from this adolescent romp. Do you need to
have seen the first film or the TV series? Not really; the toilet humour is,
after all, universal.
Going Down... Under
THE INBETWEENERS 2
The original Planes movie was the first major theatrical
release from DisneyToon Studios, which until then was
best known for its video premieres. And there is still
a bit of direct-to-DVD feel to this fast-tracked sequel,
even though this has taken more than $1.2 million at the
local box office. However, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a big
improvement on the first movie, being less of a Cars
cash-in and more a cheery, action-packed adventure yarn
in its own right. This time around, plucky crop-duster and
racing champ Dusty (once again voiced by Dane Cook),
is devastated to discover he may never be able to compete again when
his gear-box suffers major damage. He decides to lend his flying skills to
a fire and rescue unit, but soon learns that fighting forest fires is much
more of a team effort. Little kids will love it – particularly boys seeking a
break from ice-bound Disney princesses.
Dusty’s all fired up
PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE
Lasse Hallström is the master of these middlebrow
comic dramas and his latest smash finds him revisiting
the themes of one of his most popular flicks Chocolat.
Helen Mirren plays the snooty owner of a Michelin-
starred restaurant in a sleepy village in the South of
France, who is appalled when the empty restaurant
opposite her establishment is converted to an Indian
by a newly arrived family from Mumbai. Om Puri
(East Is East) is the equally stubborn family patriarch
who refuses to back down, while caught between
the feuding pair is his son Manish Dayal, an untrained but immensely
talented cook who becomes fascinated with the idea of merging
the best of French and Indian cuisines. As a cinematic meal, it lacks
substance, but a tasty treat all the same.
Master chefs
THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY
Brendan O’Carroll’s incredibly (some might say
inexplicably) popular cross-dressing creation follows
the likes of Mr. Bean and The Inbetweeners onto the
big screen, with the series’ slapstick improvisation,
crude humour and fourth wall breaking intact. But does
hilarity ensue? Let’s just say that you either get this
type of ramshackle comedy, or you don’t. Suffice to
say, Agnes Brown’s attempts to save her Dublin market
stall from greedy developers and Russian gangsters
results in an onslaught of broad gags that make the
Carry On movies look restrained. Love her or hate her, Mrs. Brown is a
bona fide phenomenon, and O’Carroll should be regarded as some kind
of comic genius simply for getting so much mileage (TV series, stage
show, movie) out of one joke.
Fecking feature-length fun
MRS BROWN’S BOYS D’MOVIE
Format: Release Date:17/12/14
Format: Release Date:10/12/14
Format: Release Date: 10/12/14
Format: Release Date: 17/12/14
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