STACK NZ Jun #74

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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Last meal for Lecter and co HANNIBAL: SEASON 3

The truth is still out there THE X FILES: The event series

Release Date: 01/06/16

Release Date: 16/06/16

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Following the bloodbath that concluded season two, Will Graham and Jack Crawford are nursing their wounds while Lecter has fled to Florence in the company of Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. Given this is the final season of Hannibal, there's a lot of ground still left to cover in the world created by Thomas Harris. The first half gets off to a surreal start, incorporating elements from Lecter's early years ( Hannibal Rising ) before covering the events chronicled in Hannibal (the book and film) – namely Inspector Pazzi's attempts to apprehend

The long awaited return of The X-Files kicks off in traditional style with a convoluted twist on the show's overriding mythology involving alien abductions and government conspiracies. Fortunately the mythos arc merely bookends the six episodes that comprise this "Event Series" (or more appropriately, Season X), allowing for some nostalgia-laden standalone stories like the brilliant Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster , as well as mutant children and a creepy creation known as 'Trashman'. Creator Chris Carter is back at the helm

Lecter in Italy, and faceless former victim Mason Verger's plan to feed him to pigs. The second half delivers a gripping retelling of Red Dragon , culminating in the final showdown between Will and his nemesis. A fitting swan song for this stylish and nightmarish series. SH

along with many of the original writers and directors, while David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson slip back into their signature roles as though they've never been away. It may be too short a season, but a cliffhanger finale suggests the truth is still out there. More please! SH

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

TALE OF TALES

SON OF SAUL

DVD&BD

Release Date: 08/06/16 Format:

Release Date: 01/06/16 Format:

Release Date: 09/06/16 Format:

Release Date: 09/06/16 Format:

Unleashing the living dead on Regency England and Jane Austen’s beloved characters is a joke that should be frightfully witty. And it is. But writer-director Burr Steers’ decision to play it straight actually results in a surprisingly good adaptation of Austen’s novel rather than an out-and-out zom- com. Set in an alternate England in the grip of a zombie apocalypse, the Bennet sisters are martial arts maidens packing daggers beneath their corsets, but still in the mood for marriage. The casting is dead- on: Lily James and Sam Riley make a fine Elizabeth and Darcy, while former Doctor Who Matt Smith hams it up as the bumbling Parson Collins. SH

Mary Shelley’s classic horror tale comes back to life through the eyes of Harry Potter, who we first encounter as a nameless, hunchbacked circus clown. However, Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) sees genius in this apparently hopeless human being and liberates him from his miserable life. It isn’t long before Frankenstein and his newly christened assistant Igor (Daniel Radcliffe) are re-assembling the body parts of various creatures into re-animated abominations – including that infamous monster. A mixture of action, sci-fi and a touch of romance, essentially this does for Shelley’s tale what Guy Ritchie did for Sherlock Holmes. AF

Best known here for the Mafia drama Gomorroah , the first English language feature from Italian director Matteo Garrone couldn’t be more different. A dark compendium of interwoven fairytales, this sumptuously surreal feast is definitely not for kids: in one story a king (Toby Jones) falls in love with a flea, another has a queen (Salma Hayek) going to incredible lengths to conceive, while the third tale features a debauched ruler (Vincent Cassel) who is tricked into sleeping with an old crone. Fans of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam will find much to like here, although it’s closer in spirit to the disturbing fantasies of cult director Walerian Borowczyk. John Ferguson

Winner of this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Film, this Hungarian Holocaust drama is the closest you'll get – and ever want to get – to the horrors inside the Nazi death factory. It's also the closest thing to a found-footage Holocaust film, with the camera following protagonist Saul (Géza Röhrig) throughout, as he attempts to find a rabbi who can conduct a proper burial for a young boy. With a soundscape to match the tight visuals, it's a sensory experience, an intimate, over-the-shoulder descent into hell. However, Saul's resolve in his mission and the risks involved bring a humane perspective to an inhumane world. Highly recommended . SH

JUNE 2016

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