STACK NZ Oct #67

DVD & BD

REVIEWS

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Scientology and the prison of belief Going Clear

Clouds Of Sils Maria Putting the Twlight years well and truly behind her, Kristen Stewart deservedly won a French Oscar for her performance in this absorbing psychological drama, playing the assistant of ageing European actress Juliette Binoche (equally brilliant), who is weighing up a return to the stage in a play that launched her to stardom. A melancholic, but drily witty account of celebrity insecurity and midlife crisis. OUT: 14/10/155 Sharknado 3: Oh Hell, No! Syfy should be commended for stretching a one-joke premise into a franchise and offering a career lifeline to a host of has-been actors. ' Nado regulars Ian Ziering and Tara Reid are joined by Bo Derek and David Hasselhoff in this loopy third installment that rains maneaters down on Washington D.C. and Orlando, Florida. The joke has worn thin by now, but there's still fun to be had spotting the numerous celebrity cameos. OUT: 14/10/15 DANNY COLLINS Although not entirely convincing as a cheesy pop star, Al Pacino looks to be enjoying himself immensely in this redemptive musical drama. Realising that his career could have taken a very different path if he had received a letter John Lennon had written to him when he was just starting out, the titular character starts to write again, while trying to forge a relationship with his long estranged son (Bobby Cannavale). OUT: 07/10/15 DESCENDANTS The latest Disney Channel teen extravaganza is essentially Once Upon A Time – The Musical . The fairytale world’s best known baddies have been banished to an island prison and peace has reigned for years. However, Malificent (Kristin Chenoweth) and Co see the chance for revenge when her teen daughter (Dove Cameron), plus the kids of Cruella De Vil, Jafar and the Evil Queen, are invited to the good side of the kingdom. Fans of High School Musical will feel right at home. OUT: 21/10/15 Listen Up, Philip In this bleakly funny comedy, Jason Schwartzman plays a deeply insecure but thorough dislikable writer, who, on the eve of the publication of his second work, finds a soulmate in his favourite novelist, the equally misanthropic Jonathan Pryce. Elisabeth Moss helps offset the nastiness of the leads as Schwartzman’s girlfriend, a successful photographer who eventually tires of his erratic behaviour. OUT: 08/10/15 MARSHLAND Set in post-Franco Spain of the ‘80s, the period settings and the expansive landscapes have led this taut Spanish thriller to be compared with the first series of True Detective . There are similar tensions, too, in the relationship between these two cops – the idealistic Pedro (Raúl Arévalo) and Franco loyalist Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) – as they hunt a serial killer who preys on teenage girls from a impoverished rural backwater. OUT: 21/10/15

Release Date: 22/10/15

Format:

Oscar winning director Alex Gibney has never shied from controversial subjects – paedophilic priests, WikiLeaks and Lance Armstrong – but this might be his bravest work to date. That’s because he is taking on the Church of Scientology, which, as this superb doco illustrates, doesn’t take kindly to those who speak out against the cult. In fact, director Paul Haggis ( Crash ) and Jason Beghe ( Chicago PD ) are the only Hollywood types who appear on camera, although there is devastating testimony from plenty of former top people in the organisation. Going

Clear traces the history of the movement, from the weird life of founder L Ron Hubbard, to the ruthless regime of current leader David Miscavige. Needless to say, the world’s two best known Scientologists, John Travolta and Tom Cruise, don’t come out of it particularly well either.

The girl behind the name AMY

Release Date: 28/10/15

Format:

Through the smeared mascara, the skin-picking scars, and the vague expression on her face as she grappled with reality under the anchor of heroin, you can still see the innocence. From the director behind the brilliant doco Senna , Amy , as the name suggests, charts the tragic story behind the rise and fall of the exceptionally talented Amy Winehouse – the best vocalist Britain has delivered in a generation. Splicing together vintage home video and first-hand accounts of the players directly involved in the singer's life, we follow Amy through teenage ambition

to her fruition as an award-winning artist. Amidst the chaos of fame, the allure of substance abuse, and the misguided influence, it’s apparent that all Winehouse truly cared for was her music. When this becomes compromised, the inevitability is heartbreaking.

OCTOBER 2015

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