STACK #142 Aug 2016

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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The story before Snow White. The Huntsman: WINTER'S WAR

There's a new war next door. BAD NEIGHBOURS 2

Release Date: 04/08/16

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Release Date: 25/08/16

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The Brothers Grimm’s Snow White and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen collide in a fantasy fairy tale face-off that results in something akin to Frozen, albeit not so cute. A prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman , Kristen Stewart misses out, but with Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain joining returning stars Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth (looking abs-olutely smashing), that’s no cause for chagrin. The story? Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior mate Sara (Chastain) have to hide their love away, for Queen Freya (Blunt) has banned such mushy stuff from her ice palace

Since we last caught up with Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne), another bun has popped into the oven. This has led to some serious life decisions for the pair – most notably to sell up their home and shuffle off to the kiddie-friendly burbs. Everything looks on track and they have a buyer, but a 30-day cooling off period, and the arrival within this time of wild sorority Kappa Nu next door, leads Mac and Kelly to resort to desperate measures. How desperate? They call in an expert – former nemesis Teddy (Zac Efron), who initially

while she’s warring with her sister, Ravenna (Theron). You won’t be seeing this adorning little kids’ lunchboxes, pencil cases, torsos, beds or anything else that you can slap marketing on. But Winter’s War nails what fairy tales were originally about – being dark, broody and disquieting. AF (See page 32)

sides with the Kappa Nu sisters, until they turn on him. They hatch some devious schemes, but the girls aren’t so easily moved. As wonderfully dumb as the original, the addition of Chloë Grace Moretz rocks, but once again it's the loveably dumb dude-bro Teddy who steals the show. AF

Watch your assets. THE BOSS

Win or lose, always aim high. EDDIE THE EAGLE

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Release Date: 11/08/16

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Release Date: 03/08/16

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One day you’re the queen of the corporate world, with enough money to make Oprah green with envy. Then you’re done for insider trading, discover more about the inside via a prison stint, and re-enter the world with nothing – the result of stepping upon pretty much everybody on your rise to the top. This is the story of Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy), who subsequently lumps herself upon her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) and young daughter while she endures a bout of self pity, before tasting her host’s brownies and plugging back into her entrepreneurial

Olympic glory is something that many kids crave – many adults too, even when they’re past their prime. Young Brit Michael Edwards was no different, despite being hamstrung by woeful eyesight and a rather stodgy figure. But he persevered, and became quite a good downhill skier – yet not good enough for the Olympics. So, he decided to take on the dangers of ski-jumping instead – the first such English Olympian since the 1920s to do so. Taron Egerton steps up as Eddie, while Hugh Jackman plays his (fictional) louche American coach Bronson Peary. From childhood through

streak. Here we learn the lengths Darnell will go to in order to succeed – again. An interesting mixture of gross-out humour with a little heart folded in, The Boss has many laughs, although much like if you’ve scarfed a whole plate of brownies, you may feel a bit guilty afterwards. AF

training and onto the big event, Eddie the Eagle is a fabulous feel-good family flick all the way, in a similar vein to 1993’s true tale of Jamaican bobsledders Cool Runnings – which, incidentally, happened at the same Olympics. There must have been something in that lovely Canadian air, eh? AF (See page 34)

AUGUST 2016

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