STACK #162 April 2018

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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Everyone wants a cut. ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

The Pentagon Papers make the papers. THE POST

Release Date: 18/04/18

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Release Date: 25/04/18

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Ridley Scott is often criticised for being a purely visual filmmaker. All the Money in the World is a reminder that he’s also a solid storyteller when given a good script. This dramatisation of the 1973 kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III, and his oil tycoon grandather's subsequent refusal to pay the ransom, is a captivating and artistic thriller with the period detail of American Gangster and the Italian flavour of Hannibal . The baggage of Kevin Spacey's replacement by Christopher Plummer as Getty Snr. will forever hang over the film, but the recasting

Before the Watergate scandal made headlines, the incendiary Pentagon Papers – revealing the US government was aware the VietnamWar was a lost cause – were leaked to the press in 1971. The Nixon administration won an injunction to prevent further publication of the damning evidence, but having obtained the top secret document, Washington Post owner Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and her executive editor (Tom Hanks) are determined to uphold the First Amendment. Effortlessly directed by Steven Spielberg with a focus on character and procedural

proved serendipitous. Plummer does a sterling job on such short notice and is seamlessly blended into the film (no obvious CGI substitution here). Watching his reptilian portrayal of the tightwad billionaire who values money over family, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better. SH

detail, The Post is a gripping newsroom drama in the tradition of All the President's Men , Zodiac and Spotlight . This suspenseful race against a looming deadline comes with the added novelty of seeing Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks together for the very first time onscreen. SH

Summer of love. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

We are meant for something bigger. DOWNSIZING

Release Date: 11/04/18

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Release Date: 11/04/18

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Elio (Timothée Chalamet) has his bookish world irrevocably changed by handsome and carefree American student Oliver (Armie Hammer), who arrives in Northern Italy to assist Elio's archaeologist father (Michael Stuhlbarg) with his research. Oliver quickly becomes an object of desire for Elio, and mutual attraction leads to an intoxicating summer of love. Hammer and Chalamet's onscreen chemistry is as authentic as the exotic setting, and it would be easy to pigeonhole Call Me by Your Name as this year's Brokeback Mountain . However, the

Miniaturising humans has been a sci-fi staple since Raquel Welch went on a Fantastic Voyage in the sixties. It’s also the plot device of Alexander Payne’s ambitious new film, in which Matt Damon is shrunk to five inches to begin a new life in a tiny community established to reduce environmental waste and combat overpopulation. However once he settles into smallville, his problems of course get bigger. Shrinkage to save the planet is a fantastic premise bursting with possibilities, and for much of its running time, Downsizing explores the rich

intense emotional bond that develops between the two transcends the category of queer cinema, and a beautifully written exchange of dialogue succinctly sums up the universal themes at the heart of this magnetic and remarkably affecting film. SH

potential of this high concept. The miniaturisation process itself also provides some terrific visual gags. A clever social satire that slots into the grey area genre of magic-realist drama (see also Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich ). SH

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APRIL 2018

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