STACK NZ Oct #67

REVIEWS

DVD & BD

Move over Bond! SPY

Back to the grind MAGIC MIKE XXL

Release Date: 07/10/15

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Release Date: 21/10]15

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Writer-director Paul Feig and actress Melissa McCarthy, who hit the jackpot with Bridesmaids and The Heat , have teamed up again for this comedy crime-caper. And even if you disliked their two previous collaborations, you’ll doubtless find something to love in Spy . Feig’s story – about a jovial deskbound analyst (McCarthy) in the FBI who ends up having to go undercover when two field agents are compromised – is still full of dumb and hilarious absurdities, but manages to transcend its Big Momma’s House -like premise with the most rewarding

Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 male stripper opus was a Boogie Nights -like peek into an adult industry via a rites of passage story. Gregory Jacobs’ sequel is more of a road movie, set three years later when Mike (Channing Tatum) has settled into his own furniture removal business and is keeping his clothes on. When he receives a message from his beefcake buddies (Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, et al) to join them for a stripper convention (yes, apparently there is such a thing), Mike is initially reluctant. But when an epiphany whilst welding leads to some serious dance

script McCarthy (who ain’t no Martin Lawrence) has ever run with. Moreover, it’s the best opportunity she’s had to showcase her winning mix of dry and slapstick humour, not to mention her ability to wring real empathy from the viewer.

moves in the workshop, Mike joins the boys for one last strip. Matthew McConaughey and Soderbergh are sorely missed here, and the guys don’t really get their gear off until the final reel, but Magic Mike XXL boasts enough six-packs to keep a hens’ night rowdy.

Insidious: Chapter 3

WOMAN IN GOLD

Shaye-ing power

Justice is priceless

Release Date: 28/10/15

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Release Date: 07/10/15

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With James Wan defecting to the action genre to helm Fast & Furious 7 , Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell takes the reins for the third chapter of their post- Saw horror franchise. Chapter 3 actually takes things back to the beginning, with a prequel that introduces medium Elise Rainier, played by the fabulous Lin Shaye. As the reluctant psychic enlisted to contact the deceased mother of high school kid Stefanie Scott, Shaye goes for broke; moving her centre stage was a stroke of genius and reason enough to check out Insidious Chapter 3 . Whannell

Helen Mirren sinks her teeth into another tasty role in this real-life account of the attempt to return a masterpiece of art to its rightful provenance. Mirren plays Maria Altman, who discovers some revealing letters in her late sister’s belongings regarding a painting of her aunt, Adele Bloch- Bauer, which was stolen by the Nazis and now hangs in an Austrian gallery. Maria heads to Vienna with a young lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) in tow, and will stop at nothing to restore her family’s past – even if it means taking the Austrian government to court. And really, would anyone

and buddy Angus Sampson are also back as ghostbusters, Specs and Tucker, and the former’s familiarity with the material allows him to expand the series’ mythology, while retaining all the requisite jumps and spooky apparitions we’ve come to expect.

say no to the indomitable Dame Helen? Woman in Gold isn’t some stuffy movie about art, it’s a buddy movie, a courtroom drama, and another fine showcase for Mirren, who’s as adept at accents as Meryl Streep.

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