STACK NZ Nov #68

REVIEWS

DVD & BD

Grass roots rugby rules The Ground We Won

Memories of murder DARK PLACES

Release Date: 18/11/15

Release Date: 04/11/15

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The cheesy reality shows that dominate the television schedules have given the fly-on-the-wall documentary a bad name, but this terrific homegrown feature is the real deal. Superbly shot in black and white by director Chris Pryor, The Ground We Won is an affectionate and wonderfully earthy salute to grassroots rugby. Pryor and his producing partner Miriam Smith spent a year in the sleepy rural backwater of Reperoa, unobtrusively following the local team of farmers as they endeavour to complete an unbeaten season in their regular club

Libby Day (Charlize Theron) was the only survivor of the "Kansas Prairie Massacre" 28 years ago, which claimed the lives of her mother and two sisters, and saw her brother (Corey Stoll) convicted for the murders. Desperately in need of cash, she reluctantly accepts an invitation to meet up with 'The Kill Club', a group of ex-cops, PIs and amateur sleuths who believe that the police got the wrong man. Although Libby remains convinced of her brother's guilt, she agrees to launch her own investigation into the case. Based on the novel

competition. The grind of lower league rugby and the macho antics of the team – beware, there are a lot of drinking and hazing sessions – are contrasted with the everyday harsh realities of farming and the bleak beauty of the rural landscape. Highly recommended.

by Gone Girl 's Gillian Flynn, this dark whodunit offers numerous twists and turns, an occult angle that gives it a True Detective vibe, and a great cast including Theron's Mad Max: Fury Road co-star Nicholas Hoult, Chlöe Grace Moretz and Christina Hendricks ( Mad Men ).

COOTIES

THE VOICES

Return To Sender

PARTISAN

Release Date: 18/11/15 Format:

Release Date: 11/11/15 Format:

Release Date: 11/11/15 Format:

Release Date: 12/11/15 Format:

A diseased chicken nugget unleashes a zombie virus in an elementary school where aspiring horror novelist Elijah Wood has taken up a substitute teaching position. With the students craving human flesh and the faculty under siege, the scene is set for a hoot of a zom-com that confirms that children can indeed be little monsters. The script by Leigh Whannell ( Insidious , Saw ) and Ian Brennan ( Glee ), who also star, adds a ridiculous new twist to a ubiquitous genre as well as a slew of old jokes that still work. The opening sequence alone is guaranteed to turn your stomach.

Beneath a comic veneer of talking pets and awkward workplace romances lurks a dark tale of madness and murder. Ryan Reynolds is terrific as a dorky worker at a bathtub factory who suffers from mental illness and inner voices – the latter externalised by his dog and cat, and later the severed heads in his fridge when he inadvertently becomes a serial killer. Reynolds is supported by a quality cast including Jacki Weaver as his therapist, and Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick as his co-workers and love interests. Striking an even balance between the humour and horror, this kooky gem is destined for cult status.

The sleeve leaves no doubt to the direction in which this thriller is heading, but this is actually alot more than subtle than your standard rape revenge flick. Rosamund Pike plays a single- minded nurse whose comfortable existence is torn apart when she is raped in her own home. She decides that the only way she will be able to rebuild her life is to get to know the man responsible (Shiloh Fernandez), who is now languishing behind bars for the crime. Nick Nolte provides solid support as her dad, but this is Pike's show and she gives a finely nuanced turn as a victim who may just have a few surprises up her sleeve.

There’s a dreamlike quality to Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan , perhaps because it unites Australian cinematic sensibilities with a European setting and cast. Within the confines of a closed compound on the outskirts of a derelict European city, Gregori (Vincent Cassel) presides over a cult-like colony, the only man amidst a community of women and children. He fosters an atmosphere congregation that he shepherds for his own financial gain. Kleiman’s filmic space is fantasy, but Partisan has that pensive timelessness that Sofia Coppola accomplishes so effortlessly. of fear and dependence, all the while exploiting the very

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