STACK NZ Summer #70

REVIEWS DVD & BD

The Hardy boys LEGEND

At the mansion of madness CRIMSON PEAK

Release Date: 17/02/16

Release Date: 17/02/16

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Tom Hardy does an Oscar-worthy double take as both Ronnie and Reggie Kray – the notorious mobsters who ruled London's East End during the 1960s. The Kray twins were two halves of the same brain – Reggie the sharp, energetic and charismatic street fighter with a movie star aura alongside Ronnie, the introverted psychopath akin to Frankenstein’s monster. Reggie's wife Frances (Emily Browning) provides further insight into the psyche of these bad boys via voice-over narration. Written and directed

If Mario Bava had directed Jane Eyre for Hammer studios it'd probably look like this ravishing fusion of gothic melodrama, romance, murder and madness from Guillermo del Toro. Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is swept off her feet by the charming Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), becomes his bride, and is taken to live in his crumbling family home – a cavernous mansion located atop a mine filled with scarlet clay that oozes through the floor. This decaying estate is also home to Sharpe's frosty sister (an unhinged Jessica Chastain) and full of restless

by Brian Helgeland ( L.A. Confidential ), Legend is a captivating experience; a character-driven crime drama that showcases Hardy’s incomparable talent as an actor. It's also one of the most entertaining and exciting gangster romps in years.

ghosts and sinister family secrets, which Edith must uncover to stay alive. Art directed to the max, this is a truly gorgeous looking movie, drenched in primary colours and the meticulous attention to detail that is del Toro's forte. Fans of old school ghost stories will love every sumptuous frame.

DVD & BD

BURNT

MACBETH

SICARIO

THE WALK

Release Date: 24/02/16 Format:

Release Date: 17/02/16 Format:

Release Date: 27/01/16 Format:

Release Date: 20/01/16 Format:

Talk about kitchen nightmares: Bradley Cooper channels Gordon Ramsay as an arrogant but brilliant chef on the comeback trail in this fiery food film. Having lost his Paris restaurant through his self- destructive activities, Adam Jones (Cooper) arrives in London newly clean and sober, and determined to gain a much-coveted third Michelin star. He duly takes over the running of a restaurant from the son (Daniel Brühl) of his old mentor, although his bullying ways take some getting used to. The kitchen scenes ring true and an extraordinary supporting cast (Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Emma Thompson, Alicia Vikander, Uma Thurman, Matthew Rhy) makes this a five star treat for foodies.

Michael Fassbender as Macbeth. Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. Snowtown director Justin Kurzel tackling Shakespeare’s great tragedy. If Macbeth isn’t already on your must-see list for these reasons, put it there, pronto. The Australian filmmaker has delivered another incredibly austere interpretation of material that demands a dark touch, and the best cinematic version of Shakespeare's play to date. The Bard’s works ultimately live or die on the strength of the performances and Fassbender was born to play the eponymous tyrant, whose ambition to ascend the throne leads to murder most foul, civil war and his ultimate downfall.

Denis Villeneuve’s blistering thriller actually manages to trump Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic as the best film to date about the US war against the Mexican drug cartels. Both of them star Benicio del Toro, although here he’s an enigmatic Colombian, who’s part of a black ops team led by Josh Brolin to locate and eliminate a key player in the drug trade. FBI agent Emily Blunt is recruited to the task force and soon discovers the morally dubious tactics that must be employed in order to beat the cartels. Sicario cranks up the tension to unbearable levels, with ominous atmosphere and some stunning cinematography that transforms Mexico into an alien landscape fraught with menace. Unmissable.

Instead of playing safe and crafting a respectful by-the-book biopic, director Robert Zemeckis has instead recast high wire artist Phillipe Petit’s amazing Twin Tower walk of 1974 as a playful fable. There’s an almost fairytale feel to the first half of the movie, which briskly covers Petit’s early career and fascination with the tower, while the final half has more in common with heist capers like Ocean's Eleven , as he and his team plot the artistic coup of the century. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is superb as Petit, perfectly capturing both his audacious sense of adventure and his occasionally annoying cockiness. And the recreation of the walk itself is truly breathtaking.

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