Out on 22 February and 29 February
Bond baddie Christoph Waltz authors all your pain. Saoirse Ronan gets homesick. Robert De Niro is the offices new intern. Yes, heres the new DVD and Blu-Ray releases coming out in the next two weeks. Click on for our reviews of SPECTRE, Audition, Over Your Dead Body, Brooklyn, The Intern, Nina Forever, Deathgasm, The Flintstones and A Walk In The Woods. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
SPECTRE
Following Skyfall was always going to be a Herculean ask for Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes. So much worked in the favour of Bond 23, from the very fact it wasnt Quantum Of Solace to its arrival coinciding with the 50th anniversary of 007 on screen. And thats even before you consider a cast-iron plot boasting the best villain in years and a significant death every bit as moving as Diana Riggs demise in On Her Majestys Secret Service. If SPECTRE never quite lives up to expectations, its not for want of trying. From the far-reaching narrative to the scope and scale of the locations and stunts, this 24th Bond outing is arguably the most ambitious of the Craig era. Like its predecessor, there are nods to 007 history though, as the title suggests, SPECTREs callbacks amount to more than just an Aston Martin stored in a lock-up garage. This is the return of Bonds oldest foe, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. Our first glimpse of the shadowy cell comes in the films pre-credits sequence in Mexico City a ring inscribed with the organisations ominous octopus insignia, wrenched from an operatives finger by Craigs James Bond as the two battle it out in a spinning helicopter over the Zcalo Square. Beginning with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytemas superb tracking shot as 007 stalks his target through revellers at the Day Of The Dead festival, via assassination, demolition and aerial mayhem, its a classic Bond opener, up there with the best. Ditto Daniel Kleinmanns wonderfully inventive titles, which set the scene for the SPECTRE organisations reach, suggesting its tentacled grip around Bond goes back to Casino Royale. Even Sam Smiths shrill-sounding golden globe winner Writings On The Wall plays far better in context than it does without the visuals (still, its not quite up there with Adeles thunderous Skyfall and after Radiohead released their own aborted theme, one cant help but wish theyd been given the go-ahead). Credits over, SPECTRE cracks along at a fair old pace, with the revelation that Bond was in Mexico following off-the-record orders to hunt and kill an assassin. Our heros trail of destruction leads him to be suspended from duty by the incoming M (Ralph Fiennes), whos already engaged in a heavy power struggle with the cocksure C (Andrew Scott). Head of the newly formed Joint Intelligence Service, C is looking to dismantle the 00 programme and sweep Britain into the Nine Eyes global surveillance/intelligence initiative. Bond is soon secretly hot-footing it to Rome, which leads to his first proper encounter with SPECTRE, via a clandestine meeting that allows Bond to clap eyes on the films real villain, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). All shadows and slow burn, its a memorably moody scene. Shame that it also features the worst door security since Tom Cruise muttered Fidelio in Eyes Wide Shut a lapse in logic thats only the first of SPECTREs vexing flaws. The much-hyped car chase through the streets of Rome, as Bond is pursued by near-silent hulk Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) in his super-sexy Jaguar, never amounts to much (it doesnt help that 007 is on the phone to Naomie Harris Moneypenny for most of the journey, hardly breaking a sweat). Likewise, Monica Belluccis blink-and-miss turn as widow Lucia is a criminal waste; arguably, shed have made a more interesting female lead than La Seydoux, who underwhelms in her role as a psychologist with a connection to Bonds recent past. Then theres the notion that Oberhauser the author of all your pain as he memorably tells Bond has been pulling strings since Casino Royale. Its not the first time the franchise has dabbled in interconnected villainy (Bonds first adversary Dr. No, an agent for the original SPECTRE, is mentioned in From Russia With Love), but the handling here is tenuous. As for Waltz, despite his best efforts, he never matches the thigh-rubbing menace of Skyfalls Raoul Silva. Still, SPECTRE has its highs Austrian mountaintops, an expanded role for Ben Whishaws gadgetmaster Q, a superb train fight and a torture scene to rival Goldfingers laser beam. Then theres Craig, cuff-straighteningly sublime in a role that now fits him like a Savile Row tux. Mendes, too, deserves credit for having the cajones to come back and take a second crack, particularly with a complex story that further delves into Bonds own backstory. By comparison, the extras feel disappointingly lightweight, suggesting that maybe a more deluxe version may follow later. Comprising several video blogs (music, action, cars, girls etc.) that debuted online during the making of the film, it hardly feels like an exclusive package although Blu-ray comes with a pacey 20-minute featurette on the Day Of The Dead opener. Still, you can always revel in the moment where the Bond franchise enters the record books, courtesy of 8,140 litres of kerosene. As Mendes puts it, all one shot, come up the stairs, line of dialogue, largest explosion in the history of movies, exit frame, cut. Maybe this was the only way to top Skyfall. In James Bonds world, size still matters. EXTRAS: Featurette (BD) > Video blogs > Gallery (BD) Director: Sam Mendes Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, La Seydoux Digital HD release: 19 February 2016 DVD, BD release: 22 February 2016 James Mottram
AUDITION/OVER YOUR DEAD BODY
Even if youve never dared watch Audition, the 1999 J-horror that announced prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike to the western world, chances are you know of its reputation. Brace yourself as demure 24-year-old Asami (Eihi Shiina) does terrible things to tricksy middle-aged filmmaker Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) with needles, piano wire and the sing-song mantra kiri, kiri, kiri (deeper, deeper, deeper). Is it all in his head, male paranoia, or is she really taking revenge for his secrets and lies? Its impossible to say, and lines between fact and fiction are also blurred in Over Your Dead Body (available separately), a 2014 adaptation of the renowned 1825 kabuki play Yostuya Kaidan in which a samurais wife takes ghostly revenge on her husband after he abandons her for a younger woman. The twist, in Miikes update, is that three modern-day actors (Ko Shibasaki, Ebiz Ichikawa, Miho Nakanishi) are rehearsing the play and find their own lives paralleling those of their characters. Over Your Dead Body is Miikes first horror film and best film, period since Audition, and again tells a story of female vengeance in a style that is controlled and composed: the bursts of violence in both movies impact all the harder for coming from a place of poise. Given the films quality, the lack of extras is a shame. Not so the Audition Blu-ray, which comes with two commentaries, interviews and an excellent appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns. Its also a 2K restoration, meaning the scalpel-sharp visuals cut deeper, deeper, deeper. EXTRAS: Featurettes (Audition) > Commentaries (Audition) Director: Takashi Miike Starring: Various DVD (OYDV), BD (Audition) release: 29 February 2016 Jamie Graham
BROOKLYN
Based on Colm Tibns bestseller, and featuring a beautiful central performance from Saoirse Ronan, John Crowleys warm-hearted, triple-Oscar-nommed drama concerns a young woman caught between two worlds. Her home, in 50s rural Ireland, is too small to sustain her, so she emigrates, alone, to New York, a city too big to notice her. Soon shes torn between two mothers (Jane Brennan and Julie Walters), two suitors (Emory Cohen and Domhnall Gleeson), and two futures. Screenwriter Nick Hornby keeps the scale human, and the tone sweet, but the result feels slightly more parochial than it does profound. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Deleted scenes Director: John Crowley Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 29 February 2016 Matt Glasby
THE INTERN
Robert De Niro tries to turn his recent career lull into a career LOL with this sweet but problematic comedy by Nancy Meyers (The Holiday). He plays 70-year-old widower Ben who, to keep himself busy in later life, enlists in a senior-intern programme at a new, thriving internet business run by Anne Hathaways overworked Jules. De Niro packs tons of charm into his stoical gentleman role, while his chemistry with Hathaway brings the formulaic plot alive. But Meyers script is still all over the place, dropping the initial fish-out-of-water premise for tone-shifting silly capers and, come the films end, schmaltzy relationship drama. EXTRAS: Featurettes Director: Nancy Meyers Starring: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 29 February 2016 Matt Looker
NINA FOREVER
Beating out 70+ titles to Total Films Best Film award at FrightFest 2015, this debut feature by the Blaine Brothers (Ben and Chris) blends scuzzy social realism and bloody fantasy. Like Aussie breakout The Babadook, the most distressing things on show are grief and depression, as South London supermarket worker Rob (Cian Barry) tentatively begins dating colleague Holly (Abigail Hardingham), only for the broken body of Nina (Fiona OShaughnessy), his ex who died in a car crash, to configure in their bed like something out of Hellraiser. Mnage trois, anyone? A low-budget horror-comedy with high emotional intelligence. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Two commentaries Directors: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine Starring: Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, David Troughton DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 22 February 2016 Jamie Graham
DEATHGASM
The spirit of early Peter Jackson is alive and gorier than ever in a New Zealand horror-com thats funnier and sweeter than the title implies. Milo Cawthorne plays scrawny metal-head teen Brodie, who lives with his religious uncle. Bullied at school, Brodie meets cool, give-a-fuck Zakk (James Blake) and forms the titular band all good until they summon demons with some sacred sheet music from a reclusive rock legend. Gleefully gross (a dildos vs demons fight scene, projectile blood vom) and seriously silly, Deathgasm channels Shaun Of The Deads deadpan mundanity against an exploding satanic apocalypse. EXTRAS: None Director: Jason Lei Howden Starring: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley DVD, BD release: 29 February 2016 Rosie Fletcher
THE FLINTSTONES
Is the Earth flat? asks JoHn Goodmans winning Fred. No, but almost everything else is in Universals stab at chiselling the toon into a live-action franchise. The plot mistakes corporate embezzlement and evil boss Kyle Maclachlans manipulation of Fred for childs play, yet the painful stone-age puns and sexist skits (Halle Berrys saucy secretary Sharon Stone, Liz Taylors mother-in-law) are no better. A game cast (Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins) have a gay old time in a well-realised backdrop lobster lawnmowers, dino-pets but script and story groan with strain. Yabba dabba dont. EXTRAS: Commentary > Documentary Production notes Director: Brian Lavant Starring: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell DVD release: 29 February 2016 Kevin Harley
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Think Reese Witherspoon had it hard in Wild? Check out this hiking effort from Robert Redford and Nick Nolte at about twice her age, and twice her weight in Noltes case, the pair embark on the fearsome Appalachian Trail. A Walk In The Woods is a much mellower take on the hiking experience than Wild, with Redford playing real-life author Bill Bryson, who reunites with his gravelly-voiced, somewhat embarrassing old buddy Katz (Nolte). Their trip unfolds at an age-appropriately unhurried pace, but the leads chemistry smoothes the path to the finish line. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Interviews Director: Ken Kwapis Starring: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson DVD release: 22 February 2016 Stephen Puddicombe
