STACK #121 Nov 2015

DVD&BD

REVIEWS

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They did everything but delete it. SEX TAPE

Fecking feature-length fun. MRS. BROWN'S BOYS D'MOVIE

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Release Date: 27/11/14

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Release Date: 20/11/14

COMEDY

Sex tapes have brought embarrassment to many a celebrity, and now married couple Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz discover the folly of uploading their homemade porno (inspired by '70s manual The Joy of Sex ) to the cloud. With access available to friends and family in possession of Segel's old iPads, the race is on to delete their three-hour raunch epic before it goes viral. The leads reunite with their Bad Teacher director Jake Kasdan for a raunchy romp which can be considered a cautionary tale in the wake of the recent

Brendan O'Carroll's incredibly (some might say inexplicably) popular cross-dressing creation follows the likes of Mr. Bean and The Inbetweeners onto the big screen, with the series' slapstick improvisation, crude humour and fourth wall breaking intact. But does hilarity ensue? Let's just say that you either get this type of ramshackle comedy, or you don't. Suffice to say, Agnes Brown's attempts to save her Dublin market stall from greedy developers and Russian gangsters results in an onslaught of broad gags that

"fappening". Sex Tape desperately wants to be dirty, but it also wants to confront the serious issue of intimacy problems faced by married couples with kids. And it's not without a sense of irony that real-life sex tape veteran Rob Lowe turns up in a supporting role.

make the Carry On movies look restrained. Love her or hate her, Mrs. Brown is a bona fide phenomenon, and O'Carroll should be regarded as some kind of comic genius simply for getting so much mileage (TV series, stage show, movie) out of one joke.

The write stuff. AUTHORS ANONYMOUS

Love never dies. LIFE AFTER BETH

Release Date: 05/11/14

Release Date: Out Now

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Christopher Guest's shadow looms over this mockumentary that focuses on a writers' workshop full of dysfunctional, unpublished authors. These wannabe wordsmiths include American Pie guy Chris Klein, as a Fitzgerald fan; the late, great Dennis Farina, who fancies himself as the next Tom Clancy; a Bukowski-loving rebel (Jonathan Bennett) and a married couple (Dylan Walsh and Teri Polo). Then there's dumb blonde Kaley Cuoco, who hits the jackpot with a successful first novel, triggering

Following the funeral of his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza), grief-stricken Zach (Dane DeHaan) is horrified to discover that she's somehow returned from the grave and is being hidden by her parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon). After confronting them and learning the truth, Zach attempts to continue his relationship with Beth, but her violent mood swings and taste for human flesh mean things are going to get complicated. Plaza is terrific, lurching between sympathetic and

resentment in her peers. Although not in the same league as Waiting for Guffman or A Mighty Wind , director Ellie Kanner does provide an often amusing insight into the world of publishing and the chaos of the creative process.

scary, while DeHaan, having made a career out of playing troubled teens, brings the right amount of pathos to Zach, despite the absurd circumstances. Playing like a humorous take on TV's The Returned , Life After Beth proves there's still life in the zom-com.

NOVEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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