STACK #160 Feb 2018

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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Once upon a time in America, pleasure became a business. THE DEUCE: SEASON 1

The three Doctors. DOCTOR WHO: TWICE UPON A TIME

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Release Date: 14/02/18

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Release Date: 07/02/18

New York City's 42nd Street was a dangerous place back in 1971 – a sleazy strip lined with adult cinemas, grindhouses and dive bars, attracting sex workers, pimps, drug dealers and the desparate like moths to a guttering flame. It was also the birthplace of the pornography industry in the US, with legalisation dragging it out of a brown paper bag. This X-rated world is the setting for the terrific new HBO series from The Wire producers David Simon and George Pelacanos – recreated with incredible detail and populated by a sprawling character ensemble

The 2017 Christmas Special gives you three Doctors for the price of one disc. It's the departure story for Peter Capaldi, who's facing a regeneration crisis together with his very first incarnation (brilliantly played by David Bradley, channelling William Hartnell). Then of course there's the introduction of Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor. But before we get to that historic gender switch, there's the matter of a disrupted timeline that has displaced a World War I soldier (Mark Gatiss), the appearance of a soul-harvesting spaceship called Testimony, and the seemingly impossible

(including James Franco as twin brothers and Maggie Gyllenhall as a prostitute looking for a way out), whose stories provide the dramatic impetus. Needless to say it's provocative stuff, with some of the '70s fashion crimes more confronting that the adult content. SH (See page 26)

return of Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie). Twice Upon a Time is a cracking regeneration episode, with the Christmas theme dialled down (thank goodness) but nicely integrated, and a poignant farewell speech from Capaldi. Now it's not a case of who's next, but what. SH

RAY DONOVAN: SEASON 5

THE STRAIN: SEASON 3

THE SINNER: SEASON 1

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON 3

Release Date: 14/02/18 Format:

Release Date: 07/02/18 Format:

Release Date: 28/02/18 Format:

Release Date: 28/02/18 Format:

Fear the Walking Dead shuffled about like a zombie for a while before finally finding a sense of direction. And dare we say it, Season 3 is a lot more eventful than what's been happening of late in its sibling series. A host of new characters shift the focus from the Clarkes, and the US-Mexico border location is another plus. Daniel Sharman assumes the Negan role of villain, and even in these early days of the zombie apocalypse, it's still the living that pose the biggest threat, with two camps of survivors fighting for limited resources; tensions running high and water running out. The thrilling, two-part finale is worth the wait. AC

Ray Donovan is definitely back on track after a disappointing fourth season. Hollywood's dependable fixer discovers some situations can't be repaired, when the opening episode delivers a major whammy. Ray (Liev Schrieber) is dealing with anger management issues, leading to conflict with the dysfunctional Donovan clan. Dad Mickey's (Jon Voight) screenwriting dreams have hit a snag, brother Terry (Eddie Marsan) is preparing to marry Maureen, and Bunchy (Dash Mihok) is robbed of the cash for a big business deal. Elsewhere, Susan Sarandon joins the show in a recurring role as a movie mogul who's being blackmailed, and in need of Ray's help. AC

The Strain has struggled to hit the full potential of the source novels, but the penultimate season of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's vampire apocalypse picks up the pace considerably and raises the stakes with a tighter, 10-episode count. The strigoi have overrun New York and time is running out, as the Master prepares his, er, master plan to bring on eternal night. Eph discovers his bioweapon may not be as effective as he'd hoped, while Setrakian and Quinlan look for answers in the Occido Lumen. Fans of the novels will get the show-stopping scene they've been waiting for in the game-changing final episode, The Fall . SH

It's clear from the outset that there's something not quite right about Jessica Biel's character in this intriguing murder mystery. Notwithstanding the fact that she impulsively stabs and kills a young stranger while on a family outing at the beach, with no apparent motive. That's just the start of a descent into a disturbed psyche and a past shaped by religious guilt, parental abuse, and hideous wallpaper. Bill Pullman plays the detective who becomes obsessed with the 'why?' of it all – and also has some strange tendencies himself. Biel is terrific in an (initially) unsympathetic role; you'll be well and truly hooked from the opening episode. SH

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FEBRUARY 2018

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