STACK #138 Apr 2016

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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Whale of a tale. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

Alien games. THE 5TH WAVE

Release Date: 06/04/16

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Release Date: 21/04/16

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Ron Howard's ambitious, seafaring adventure concerns the events that inspired Herman Melville to pen literary classic Moby Dick – the sinking of the whaling ship Essex by an albino leviathan in 1820. This whale of a tale is told in flashback to the author (Ben Wishaw) by the Essex 's now elderly cabin boy (Brendan Gleeson), and includes the surviving crew's subsequent ordeal aboard a lifeboat, where they resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Howard obviously wanted to make a spectacular, CGI-laden remake of Moby

The 5th Wave is another post-apocalyptic YA adventure adapted from a best-seller (by Rick Yancey). Independence Day meets The Hunger Games when extraterrestrials launch a devastating attack on the Earth in, you guessed it, a series of waves – an EMP, earthquakes, tsunamis, and an avian-borne virus. Unlucky survivors are used as hosts for these body-snatching "Others" who want our planet, while children are rounded up and recruited by the military (led by Liev Schreiber) in the fight against the

Dick under the guise of an origin story, but instead delivers a low rent version of Master and Commander . It's a visual feast, but you'll find yourself rooting for the whale and caring little about the characters or their respective fates, even if one of them is Chris Hemsworth. SH

invaders. Chloë Grace Moretz is the feisty young heroine who goes AWOL to rescue her little brother, and finds herself torn between a hunky saviour (Alex Roe) and her high school crush (Nick Robinson). Who said saving the world would be easy? SH • See page 32

More 'munk madness. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP

The story of an underdog. And his dog. SNOOPY AND CHARLIE BROWN: THE PEANUTS MOVIE DVD&BD

Release Date: 06/04/16

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Release Date: 31/03/16

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Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable comic strip characters, it’s been two generations since Snoopy last hit movie screens. But he’s back, complete with hapless owner Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang – and it’s like they’ve never been away. This lovingly and faithfully crafted tale sees Snoopy donning his World War I Flying Ace persona to get the girl and kill the baddie (curse you, Red Baron!), while Charlie Brown is on his own quest. He’s fallen (no surprise there) for a new kid in town – simply known as

Prepare for some uptown ’munk, as Alvin, Simon and Theodore hit the road. Their guardian Dave (Jason Lee) has a girlfriend, Samantha. That’s not so much of a problem, as she’s cool. But her son? That’s another matter entirely! So when Dave announces that he’s taking Sam with him on a job in Miami, and the boys find a ring in his luggage, they freak and plan a road trip with one aim – listen all of y’all, it’s a sabotage! They get motoring, with many singing and dancing stops along the way (you haven’t experienced anything until you’ve

the Little Red-Haired Girl. As smitten as smitten can be, things look grim for our young hero when he can’t even summon the courage to speak to her. But then something happens that makes him the most popular kid in school – could this be Charlie Brown’s coming of age? AF

encountered animated chipmunks letting loose on Sir Mix-a-Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back’), making friends and enemies in their inimitable high-pitched style. Packed with more puns on ‘chip’ and ’munk’ than is likely healthy, these critters remain masters of, erm, showmanchip. AF

APRIL 2016

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