STACK NZ Apr #72

First page Previous page 28 Next page Last page

DVD & BD REVIEWS

visit stack.net.nz

Who's your daddy? DADDY'S HOME

Greed is good 99 HOMES

Release Date: 27/04/16

Release Date: 14/04/16

Format:

Blended families aren’t new – nor is the situation where children in such arrangements don’t exactly take to their step-parents. Sometimes it’s because, well, they’re arseholes, but this isn’t the case with good natured radio exec Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell). He’s married Sara (Linda Cardellini), inherited two great kids in Megan and Dylan, and he’s finally making great progress with them. Then their biological dad, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg), rocks up. He’s the anti-Brad, all machismo, muscles and motorcycle, but despite being intimidated, Brad does his best to make the

Channeling the ‘greed is good’ mantra of Wall Street ’s Gordon Gekko, Michael Shannon is at his reptilian best as the real estate broker from hell in this bleak but gripping drama. Set against the backdrop of the collapse of the American property market following the global financial crisis, Shannon plays Raymond Carver, an estate agent who specialises in snapping up the foreclosed properties of the people he evicts on behalf of the banks. Andrew Garfield is Dennis Nash, a struggling single father who loses his family home to Carver but reluctantly agrees to work for him in order to win

guy feel welcome. It’s a dumb idea, for Dusty’s come with one aim – to wrest Sara and his kids back from Brad. But the stepdad isn’t going down without a fight. Ferrell and Wahlberg’s rapport, as first seen in The Other Guys , makes this often surprisingly raunchy comedy well worth a look. AF

back his house. The bewildered heartbreak of ordinary people who have lost everything because of the financial meltdown is sensitively brought to the screen by director Ramin Bahrani – and the ongoing property explosion here makes this a sobering and timely release. John Ferguson

SUFFRAGETTE

THE LEFTOVERS: SEASON 2

BANSHEE: SEASON 3

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION

DVD&BD

Release Date: 20/04/16 Format:

Release Date: 06/04/16 Format:

Although the UK’s most famous suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst makes a brief appearance here (in the guise of Meryl Streep), one of the best things about this handsome period drama is that it zeroes in on the contribution made by ordinary working class women in the battle for equal rights. Carey Mulligan is excellent as the laundry worker who becomes radicalised as her eyes are opened to the injustices around her. She is well supported by Anne-Marie Duff as a fellow rebel workmate, and Helena Bonham Carter as a middle class veteran of the movement. An important and uplifting slice of modern history. JF

As we learned in the first season of this superb drama, on 14 October 2011, two per cent of the world’s population just vanished. Here, after a head- scratching prologue involving a cavewoman, we’re spirited to present day Jarden, Texas. Or, to be more accurate, ‘Miracle’, so renamed as the town suffered no departures back on that fateful day. As such it’s become a Mecca for those wanting answers, including Kevin (Justin Theroux), Nora (Margaret Qualley) and Jill (Carrie Coon). Another perplexing but captivating season that could only have emanated from the delightfully twisted mind of Damon ( Lost ) Lindelof. AF

After the left-turn that was the fifth Paranormal Activity movie, The Ghost Dimension returns to the core story of possessed sisters Katy and Kristi for what is billed as the final installment in the found-footage franchise. A family move into their new home, where dad Ryan (Chris J. Murray) discovers an old video camera that can see images from an otherworldly dimension, and a box of cassettes featuring recordings of the scary siblings from 1988, which seem eerily linked to the present. Although it doesn't stray too far from the established formula, the 3D ensures that the final (for now) PA movie lives up to its subtitle. SH

In the latest season of this gleefully excessive crime series, ex-con sheriff-imposter Lucas Hood (Kiwi star Antony Starr) has his hands full with a hulking Native American on the warpath, the arrival of the real sheriff's son threatening to blow his cover, a siege at the station, and of course being regularly pummelled by badasses. But there's still time to pull off a daring heist on a military base with partners in crime Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) and Job (Hoon Lee), which leads to conflict with a vengeful Colonel. For a small town there's a LOT going on, and this season the bodycount is massive. Pure pulp fiction, Banshee remains an absolute blast. SH

APRIL 2016

jbhifi.co.nz

Made with FlippingBook