STACK #124 Feb 2016

DVD&BD

ED’S DESK

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GONE GIRL DISC of the month:

I t’s that time of year again – Game of Thrones time. With the fifth season scheduled to screen on Foxtel from April 13, there’s ample opportunity to bring yourself up to date with current events in the kingdom of Westeros with the February 18 release of The Complete Fourth Season. Or if you’re new to George R.R. Martin’s world of ice and fire (where have you been?), there’s a Season 1-4 box set. Fans can take solace in the fact that Martin won’t be writing any episodes for the show’s fifth season – he has the sixth book in the series to finish. It may have missed out on a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars this month, but in my humble opinion, Gone Girl (see right) is one of the best movies you’ll see this year. If you haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s bestseller – on which this David Fincher film is based – avoid plot spoilers at all costs! Richard Linklater’s Boyhood wasn’t overlooked by the Academy however, receiving six nominations including Best Picture and Director. Shot over a 12-year period and seamlessly edited, this coming-of-age drama – charting star Ellar Coltrane’s journey from childhood to adolescence – gives new meaning to the term ‘slice of life’. Now synonymous with the Taken franchise, Liam Neeson gets a chance to remind us what a fine actor he is, playing a gumshoe on the trail of a pair of serial killers in A Walk Among the Tombstones . A grim homage to ‘40s noir, this gripping thriller is based on the novel by Lawrence Block, whose recurring character Matt Scudder has been previously played onscreen by Jeff Bridges in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986). Special mention must also go to Kevin Smith’s new film Tusk , which provides veteran actor Michael Parks (who was great in Smith’s Red State ) with another juicy role, this time as a mad old man of the sea who proceeds to turn podcaster Justin Long into a walrus. Is that a Beatles’ tune I hear?

David Fincher’s name on a film is enough incentive for me to check it out. He’s only let me down once, with the interminable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

(hey, I even liked Alien 3 ). I was unfamiliar with Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl before seeing Fincher’s adaptation, and ultimately glad I hadn’t read it first. All I knew about the movie was that Ben Affleck’s wife goes missing and he becomes a suspect. I also knew it took aim at the media’s power to influence public opinion, but that’s about it. And that’s all you really need to know too, other than the fact that Gone Girl is one of those mesmerising and unpredictable thrillers – like the recent Prisoners – that’ll hold you in a vice-like grip for 150 minutes. At times it will remind you of a Hitchcock film, or even Basic Instinct , but it’s without doubt a David Fincher film. The director’s predilection for the dark and moody is the perfect match for Flynn’s blackly humourous take on a toxic marriage, and the casting is excellent. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of Oscar-nominee Rosamund Pike after this, and Affleck will need to shed a few kilos to fit into the Batsuit for the upcoming Batman v Superman . Go get Gone Girl .

ON MY TO-WATCH STACK So much to view, so little time ... Exodus: Gods and Kings Dracula Untold After hundreds of films, is there anything

John Wick Welcome back Keanu Reeves, we’ve missed you. Well, sort of. But will this action-thriller be the comeback vehicle he really needs?

Horns I loved Joe Hill’s novel, but Daniel Radcliffe appears to be miscast as the protag who begins to resemble old Nick.

I should have seen Ridley Scott’s biblical epic on a massive cinema screen, but my 50” plasma and a BD will have to suffice.

left to be told about Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire? Apparently so. I’m all ears.

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