STACK #152 Jun 2017

DVD&BD REVIEWS

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Sometimes it's the deadliest sound. SILENCE

These girls have all the right stuff. HIDDEN FIGURES

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Release Date: 14/06/17

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Release Date: OUT NOW

A new Martin Scorsese film is always an event and this religious drama is a passion project for the director that has been gestating for 28 years. Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield star as Jesuit priests in search of their mentor (Liam Neeson) in the Japanese jungle, where proselytising to the locals is met with savage persecution. When Garfield is captured after setting out alone to find Neeson, it leads to a cruel game of cat-and-mouse with a wily old Samurai interrogator, who will do anything to get his prisoner to renounce

Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Hidden Figures is the incredible, untold true story of a trio of brilliant African-American mathematicians (Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Spencer) working in the segregated divison of NASA, who were instrumental in sending John Glenn into orbit back in 1962. At the same time, the achievements of these three women sent the quest for equal rights and opportunity rocketing forwards. Committed and heartfelt performances give these

his religion. A kind of spiritual successor to Scorsese's Kundun, Silence is all about stillness and artistic composition; it's a film to admire rather than love, but confirms once again that the veteran filmmaker remains in a different class than most of his peers. JF

unsung heroes of the space race a new voice – and the recognition that has until now eluded them. You'll be rooting for and applauding these girls for the entirety of this inspirational, feel-good drama. Highly recommended. AC (See page 28)

MISS SLOANE

LOVING

RINGS

COLLIDE

Release Date: 07/06/17 Format:

Release Date: 21/06/17 Format:

Release Date: OUT NOW Format:

Release Date: 07/06/17 Format:

As in Zero Dark Thirty , Jessica Chastain is a strong woman forging a path in a man's world. Except as the titular Washington lobbyist, there's a moral ambiguity absent from Maya's quest for the perpetrators of 9/11. A consummate insider, there are still some places Sloane won't tread – like when her firm wants to win women over to firearm use. Sloane jumps ship for a start up on the other side of the gun debate and that's when things get ugly with her former colleagues and the powers to be. Even if you're not a political junkie, this is a must-see for Chastain's compelling character and performance. All steely edges, with fascinating motives that hint at someone great. AC

Director Jeff Nichols ( Mud ) dramatises a landmark case

Samara returns in this rather halfhearted attempt to bring the J-horror franchise into the digital age. Set 13 years after the films starring Naomi Watts, a terrifying new revelation involving the notorious cursed videotape spells danger for high school couple Matilda Lutz and Alex Roe. Spanish director F. Javier Gutiérrez delivers the occasionally effective jump scare, and Vincent D’Onofrio is his usual enjoyably over-the-top self as a blind man who may hold the secret to the mystery. Rings adds a bit of backstory to the original tale, but the jury is still out on whether this is a direct sequel or a whole new chapter in the series. JF

You know the story. Boy meets girl, girl digs boy, boy works for drug lord, girl doesn’t do boys who work for drug lords. So, how will Casey (Nicholas Hoult) pursue Juliette (Felicity Jones)? Simple! The American ex-pat living in Germany will get together with the other American ex-pat living in Germany by quitting his shady gig. Romance blossoms and everything’s dreamy, until Juliette suffers a seizure. She needs seriously expensive surgery, but how to raise the megabucks needed? Yep, those three small words that are a crime/action flick staple – “one”, “more” and “job”... Stylish, if hardly original, Collide is worth admission just for Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley going at it bad guy style. AF

that invalidated local state laws in the American South banning interracial marriages. Richard and Mildred Loving (played by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) were legally married in Washington in the late 1950s, but forced to leave their home in Virginia after being reported to the authorities and threatened with a prison term. An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer takes on their case, but they face a long battle to win their fight to live as husband and wife in their home state. Nichols’ decision to focus almost entirely on the couple, not the legal machinations, gives this story a poignant, human face. JF

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JUNE 2017

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