STACK Aug #154

CINEMA REVIEWS

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BABY DRIVER

RELEASED: June 13 DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright CAST: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Lily James RATING: MA15+ Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a taciturn getaway driver for heist mastermind Doc (Kevin Spacey). With a pair of sunnies and iPod earbuds affixed, Baby drives to his own playlist, which blocks out the tinnitus sustained in a childhood accident, and the inane chatter of the motley crews he expedites from crime scenes. Having squared a longtime debt with Doc, Baby adopts the mantra of the weary criminal-for-hire: “One more job. Then I’m done.” Moreover, he’s just found love with diner waitress Debora (Lily James) and the future’s so bright, he’ll still need those shades. But Doc doesn’t want to lose his valuable asset, and when the two worlds collide, well, nobody puts Baby in a corner… Edgar Wright has toyed with zombies, buddy cops, aliens and video games, but this particular Baby was born out of the British writer-director’s longtime desire to set a car chase to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms”. The result is an obvious labour of love and easily Wright’s best film to date; a fast and furious action-thriller with a sweet romance at its heart and a soundtrack that just won’t quit. Propelled by its own rhythm, with scenes and dialogue synced to the curated songs, Wright doesn't miss a beat, and neither does his cast. Elgort is perfect as the baby-faced protagonist with a killer glare, and a terrific Jon Hamm shakes off Don Draper to play a real madman. A relentless remix of The Getaway and True Romance , Baby Driver is a cool ride from go to whoa. Scott Hocking A MONSTER CALLS RELEASED: July 27 DIRECTOR: J.A. Bayona CAST: Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones RATING: PG A young British boy struggles to come to terms with the impending death of his cancer-stricken mother in this ambitious mix of terminal illness drama and fantasy. 12-year-old Conor (MacDougall) is having recurring nightmares, his mother (Jones) is sick from the chemo treatments and when the inevitable happens, Conor faces the prospect of living with his stern grandmother (Weaver). His absent father (Toby Kebbell) is relocating to LA, and he’s being bullied at school. Life’s dealt this kid a cruel hand. And then a monster calls in the form of a giant walking, talking yew tree (a spectacular CGI creation with the sonorous voice of Liam Neeson) whose, err, bark is worse than its bite. This mega- Groot, or arthouse Ent, becomes a benevolent companion to Conor, telling him three fables that parallel his current situation and demanding the boy provide a fourth tale in return, which must be the truth. There are shades of Pan’s Labyrinth in a fantasy creature conjured to shield a child from real world trauma, and director J.A. Bayona delivers the emotional punch and knockout visual style that distinguished his superb debut feature The Orphanage , while eschewing the overt sentiment of his second, The Impossible . A Monster Calls is an imaginative and affecting experience that fans of Guillermo del Toro and Tim Burton are advised to check out – and everyone else for that matter. Just be sure to bring tissues. Scott Hocking

RELEASED: July 20 DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan CAST: Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh RATING: M

DUNKIRK

Christopher Nolan's wartime drama is his best film to date.

S ome of the greatest British war films deal with the nation’s catastrophic failures in military history: A Bridge Too Far, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and now Dunkirk can confidently add itself to the list. Ostensibly, of course – the Battle of Dunkirk was spun into a victory at a time when morale in Britain was desperately needed; it now faced Hitler’s formidable Wehrmacht alone. But no propaganda campaign could conceal the truth; the Allied armies in Belgium and France had been utterly routed and driven to the French coastline by Germany’s dauntless panzer divisions. General Sir Alan Brooke famously wrote in his diary, “Nothing but a miracle can save the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) now.” Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is sparse in dialogue, relying instead on impactful visuals to guide the plot through its 106-minute duration – the director’s shortest film to date. Moreover, the blood and carnage of Hacksaw Ridge and Saving Private Ryan is noticeably absent. Instead, Nolan creates a relentless sense of tension to unsettle the viewer, which is intensified by an omnipresent Hans Zimmer score. It’s the fear of a screeching dive-bomber, the dread of a fizzing torpedo, and the inherent terror of soldiers trapped helplessly within the steel walls of a sinking

ship. On the beaches, shattered soldiers lurch between desperation and disbelief – zombies shuffling in the dunes. There are strong performances from the leading players. Kenneth Branagh is typically reliable as a resilient naval officer orchestrating the evacuation from a heavily targeted jetty. Mark Rylance is excellent playing a civilian sailor driven by a sense of purpose and duty to assist in the rescue of the hapless soldiers. And despite the economy of his lines, Tom Hardy’s Spitfire pilot is the soaring hope that anchors the chaos and despair below on the sea and beaches. The aerial combat sequences, sparing CGI for actual aircraft footage, deliver some of the most compelling sequences in the film. Ultimately though, it’s Nolan’s direction that will rightfully garner the plaudits. Working in the unfamiliar realm of historical context after a number of fantastical genre pictures, he demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of and respect for the subject he’s exploring, and you can sense his hand at every twist and turn. The sustained, and at times practically unbearable, level of anxiety he generates in Dunkirk is so unforgiving that the final credit roll is almost greeted with relief. Dunkirk is a masterclass in contemporary filmmaking and undoubtedly represents Nolan’s finest hour. Paul Jones

RATING KEY: Wow! Good Not bad Meh Woof!

AUGUST 2017

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21/7/17 11:56 am