Out on 7 September and 14 September
Anna Kendrick and the Bellas return for an encore. Russell Brand finds Paradise, except it's just the name of a bar. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Dog Day Afternoon, Pitch Perfect 2, Paradise, A Royal Night Out, Saragossa Manuscript, Unfriended, Mississippi Burning, The Forger, The Tribe, War Pigs, Girlhood and Citizenfour. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Why on Earth would I make another Avengers movie? sighs a weary Joss Whedon on the audio commentary for his superteam super-sequel. It was ill-advised, I see that now hes only half-joking after all, we are talking about the sixth-highest- grossing film of all time. There again, Whedon had made no secret of the toll Age Of Ultron took on him (to quote one interview, the hardest work Ive ever done). Following up 2012s barnstorming MCU cornerstone with a sprawling sequel full of self-doubt, bad dreams, stalled relationships and half-finished stories, AOU desperately wants to be this generations Empire Strikes Back. Opening with a battle in a snowy forest that throws our heroes, matinee-serial style, right back into the action, it almost looks like it might pull it off. Two hours and 20 minutes later, were left with a multi-million-dollar middle chapter thats very much a mixed bag: still gloriously entertaining, still sharp-edged and still riding on a series of giddy highpoints but too messy, too patchy and too over-crowded to really click. After eight years of marvel movies skirting the same formula (bad guy steals a shiny thing, good guys steal it back), Whedon does a great job of trying something different. After the opening ruckus, everything suddenly slows down giving plenty of time to chill with the old gang (the shield, the hammer you know their names) and introduce the new guys. Elizabeth Olsens fragile, conflicted Scarlet witch is crying out for her own standalone film, as is James Spaders Shakespearean terminator, Ultron, making a good case for the best big bad of the super-genre so far. Frantically swapping feet between the accelerator and the brake, the rest of the running time judders between eye-popping action and pages and pages of exposition. The Hulkbuster fist-fight, the Seoul street chase and the bonkers, Zulu-esque finale all easily eclipsed anything else at the cinema this summer, but the filler in-between (including a flatlining farmhouse intermission where everyone has to pretend that Hawkeye has a character) feels even more like deadweight on the small screen. The discs slim behind the scenes doc Inside Out skims the surface of the set-pieces, and no one really wants to watch a six-minute feature all about the cosmic macguffins (The Infinite Six) but the real pick of the extras is Whedons revealing commentary track. The directors clearly torn between love for what he made and resentment for what he could have; its an honest, insightful chat-track that delves deep into the decision-making process on both sides of the Disney boardroom. Calling the shooting style deliberately casual and comparing it to Much Ado About Nothing (as well as admitting that he felt like reaction shot Joe after the second-unit director took care of most of the special effects), Whedon paints a picture of himself hanging out with his favourite A-listers for a few months, getting all the good character material and leaving the big set-pieces to someone else. Thats not true, of course, but it goes some way to explaining why the film sometimes feels like its one thats slipping from its creators grip. His biggest sighs are saved for the deleted scenes. A longer version of the poignant Natasha/Bruce bathroom chat, some decent backstory building for witch and her twin sib Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and a full Thor side-quest make the plot holes look even bigger when you revisit the film without them. This is my goodbye to the world of Marvel, says Whedon as the credits roll, the third movie is someone elses problem. Clearly, Age Of Ultron was a hard film to make. And though it brings the curtain down on Phase Two in undeniably epic style, it nonetheless makes mistakes Whedon heroically managed to avoid first time around. With too many characters vying for attention, too many stories to tell and too many boxes that needed ticking, AOU feels frustratingly like five or six great marvel movies rolled into one good one. EXTRAS: > Commentary (BD) > Featurettes > Deleted scenes (BD) > Gag reel Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson DVD, BD, 3D, BD, DIGITAL HD release: 14 September 2015 Paul Bradshaw
DOG DAY AFTERNOON 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Arguably the standout film in a 55-year directorial career that contains several masterpieces (12 Angry Men et al), Sidney Lumets bank-heist movie generates urgency and suspense but emerges, ultimately, as a naturalistic and humanistic work. based on a job that went down in August 1972, it sees Al Pacino, a major star after the first two Godfathers, play Sonny Wortzik, who robs a New York bank with the help of a mate (John Cazale) in order to fund the sex-change operation of his lover Leon (Chris Sarandon). The event becomes a media circus, with a large crowd gathering on the sweltering streets and news teams turning sonny into a celebrity as they chronicle the unfolding hostage drama. So real is the portrayal of tumultuous events, Dog Day Afternoon became a tool in police training. The bonus material here is all imported from previous discs, but the four-part documentary, vintage on-set featurette, collection of interviews and Lumet commentary tell the whole story: the source article in Life magazine that said, It looks like a part for Al Pacino to play; turning an automotive repair shop into a bank to allow for a location shoot; Pacino, who risked his career by playing a gay man when such a thing just wasnt done, shooting the first day with the disguise of a moustache, only to shave if off and ask Lumet to start again; actors avoiding breath-mist by sucking ice before the outdoor scenes due to an autumn shoot Miraculously it all came together, with the triumvirate that two years earlier brought us Serpico (Lumet, Pacino and producer Marty Bregman) turning in a film that was nominated for best Picture alongside Nashville, Jaws, Barry Lyndon and eventual winner One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. And to think, the original working title was Boys In The Bank EXTRAS: > Documentary > Featurettes > Interviews > Commentary Director: Sidney Lumet Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, Charles Durning BD release: 7 September 2015 Jamie Graham
PITCH PERFECT 2
The Bellas are back, bitches, singing from the same hymn sheet but hitting enough high notes to merit their encore. Now all-conquering celebrities, our highly capable a cappella cadre are once more reduced to underdog status when a cunning stunt involving Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) shocks President Obama. The Bellas only chance of resurrecting their rep is to win the world championship but standing in the way is invincible German squad Das Sound Machine. Marking the directorial debut of Elizabeth Banks, who also returns as one half of the Christopher Guest-style commentator duo with John Michael Higgins, Pitch Perfect 2 re-masters everything that pepped up the original toe-tapping covers, girl power, a surprisingly bawdy sense of humour while introducing True Grits Hailee Steinfeld as a welcome addition to the Bellas. Subplots are provided for Fat Amy, whose fledgling romance is by turns salty and schmaltzy, and Beca (Anna Kendrick, improvising much of her dialogue), whose attempts to launch a producing career might mean having to leave the Bellas behind. Some of the elaborate stage sequences are so over-edited as to be cut to colourful ribbons, but the mechanised magnificence of Das Sound Machine, led by the fearsome Kommissar (Birgitte Hjort Srenson), is momentous. Its also a joy to see a multiplex movie that not only passes the Bechdel test with flying colours but boasts so many women as key creatives. Now thats worth singing about. Bumper Blu extras include a Banks-led chat-track, extended muscial turns and lots of featurettes with the word aca in the title. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Featurettes > Deleted/extended/alternate scenes > Gag reel Director: Elizabeth Banks Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow Digital HD release: 7 September 2015 DVD, BD release: 21 September 2015 Jamie Graham
PARADISE
Whats in a name? When Diablo Codys directorial debut was released Stateside in 2013, it was titled Lamb Of God; reviews suggested that the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno had been sacrificed on the altar of a critical backlash. Two years later, sneaking out here straight-to-disc, its called Paradise; has Cody achieved cinematic nirvana in the interim? Sadly not, though this isnt bad so much as frustratingly imperfect. Codys story follows Lamb Mannerheim (Julianne Hough), a sheltered daughter of a religious community who renounces God after surviving a plane crash and heads to Las Vegas to indulge in the worldly pleasures shes hitherto been excluded from. So far, so satirical, as Cody looses the kind of Middle American-baiting barbs not seen since Saved! (2004). Yet Paradise soon takes an unexpected swerve as Lamb meets two unlikely tour guides, bartender William (Russell Brand) and chanteuse Loray (Octavia Spencer), who reveal that the tacky Strip actually resides in a locality called Paradise and resolve to show her the real thing. Similarly, Lambs soft-hearted sincerity soon bulldozes the films snarky exterior, making this Codys most heart-on-sleeve statement of her themes. While her quirky sensibilities remain (notably Spencers off-kilter rendition of Radioheads No Surprises), the story favours a likeable but limp study of female self-empowerment and comradeship among lifes walking wounded. The casting of Brand exemplifies Codys misplaced ambitions; hes absolutely right for the writers soundbite dialogue but is required here to dial down the hedonism as his would-be Lothario is shaken free of cynicism by Lambs unshakeable decency. Extras are confined to a fistful of desultory cast and crew interviews. EXTRAS: > Interviews Director: Diablo Cody Starring: Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Octavia Spencer VOD release: 31 August 2015 DVD release: 14 September 2015 Simon Kinnear
CITIZENFOUR
With Oliver Stone currently cutting his Edward Snowden biopic, heres a refresh of the real thing. Laura Poitras Oscar winner about the NSA whistleblower is about as immediate as documentaries get. This is no bog-standard recap of Snowdens situation, but a film where the cameras were present for one of the biggest news stories of the decade, as Snowden fled the US to leak classified docs about illegal mass government surveillance. As Snowden relays his findings to Guardian writer Glenn Greenwald, the paranoia is very real; no espionage thriller can match this for tension. Director: Laura Poitras DVD release: 14 September 2015 James Mottram
A ROYAL NIGHT OUT
Aping the plot of Roman Holiday, Julian Jarrolds film imagines what it would have been like if, as rumoured, the future Queen of England (Sarah Gadon) had escaped anomalously into the night to celebrate VE Day with the common folk. Unfortunately her character lacks the charisma and pathos Audrey Hepburn brought to her role and, although the euphoria of the street celebrations are effectively realised, all the wouldnt it be fun if the princess... jokes grow tiresome. Neither is it easy to swallow the idea that Elizabeths plight as a princess is somehow comparable to those fighting in the trenches. EXTRAS: > Making of Director: Julian Jarrold Starring: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powley, Jack Reynor, Rupert Everett, Emily Watson DVD, BD, VOD release: 7 September 2015 Stephen Puddicombe
THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT/THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM
Wojciech has made films that were as difficult to categorise as they were unique. Hourglass uses a mans visit to a sanatorium to see his father as a frame for a series of bizarre vignettes riffing on Polish history, while Saragossa delves into a series of tales within tales from a manuscript found mid-battle by a Napoleonic officer. Theres no room for further description, but it would be useless anyway; both eerie and comic, these are visually dazzling films. EXTRAS: > None Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has BD release: 7 September 2015 Andrew Lowry
UNFRIENDED
Standing out from the deluge of identikit studio horror movies, Unfriended intrigues with its ingenious gimmick of taking place entirely on its protagonists (Shelley Hennig) computer screen. She and her schoolmates are casually hanging out on Skype (YouTube, Facebook and instant messenger are also skilfully woven into the narrative) when a mysterious account begins to threaten them. The form does prove limited in its ability to elicit scares, but makes for a durable storytelling device thanks to the many smart ways her idle browsing is utilised. And this is one film that benefits from being watched on a laptop rather the big screen. EXTRAS: > None Director: Leo Gabriadze Starring: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Renee Olstead, Will Peltz DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 7 September 2015 Stephen Puddicombe
MISSISSIPPI BURNING
Shot directly after Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning sees director Alan Parker swap voodoo-riddled New Orleans for 1964 Mississippi. In the heart of Ku Klux Klan country, FBI agents gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe probe the disappearance of three civil rights workers. Put simply, the film reeks of class: headlined by two of the best actors of their respective generations, it also boasts some high-quality support from Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif and Michael rooker. How it was overlooked for all but one of its seven Oscar nominations it lost to Rain Man for Best Picture is yet another Academy crime. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Interviews Director: Alan Parker Starring: Gene Jackman, Willem Dafoe DVD, BD, Digital HD release: 14 September 2015 James Mottram
THE FORGER
John Travolta stars in a comatose thriller about an art thief pulling one last job to try and stay out of prison long enough to spend time with his dying son. Crime, cancer and crotchety old grandpas collide in a melodramatic mire of subplots that add up to four or five shoddy movies for the price of one. Travolta mumbles his way through a role thats a confusion of tough-guy and art-aficionado clichs, upstaged by his ridiculous fountain of hair, a distracting bit of chin-fluff and co-stars Christopher Plummer and Ty Sheridan whos easily the only good reason to keep watching to the end. EXTRAS: > None Director: Philip Martin Starring: John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Abigail Spencer DVD, BD release: 7 September 2015 Paul Bradshaw
THE TRIBE
Set in a boarding school for deaf teens in Kiev, this shocking drama tracks the induction of a new student (Grigoriy Fesenko) into a gang of bullies who shake down weaker pupils and pimp two girls at the local truck stop. Performed in sign language with no subtitles or incidental music, its a tough watch but worth it, a tad exploitative perhaps but reminiscent of Michael Haneke in its ferociously dispassionate technique. Theres a post-Soviet subtext if you want it, but one thing is crystal clear: debut writer-director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky is a real talent. EXTRAS: > None Director: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy Starring: Hryhoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Roza Babiy DVD release: 14 September 2015 Jamie Graham
WAR PIGS
Its World War II, and disgraced captain Jack Wosick (Luke Goss) and French Foreign Legionnaire Captain Peter Picault (Dolph Lundgren) must train a ragtag group of misfits to go deep into Nazi territory... yep War Pigs is The Dirty Dozen on a shoestring, its dodgy effects and limited set as cheap as they are glaring. Of course, such a financial disadvantage can be made up elsewhere. yet despite endearing turns from Goss and Lundgren, and a series of bizarre cameos from Mickey Rourke, War Pigs script is hollow, proving just as expendable as its titular leads. EXTRAS: > None Director: Ryan Little Starring: Luke Goss, Dolph Lundgren DVD release: 14 September 2015 Stephen Kelly
GIRLHOOD
Cline Sciammas coming-of-age drama combines ennui and energy to electrifying effect, as 16-year-old Marieme (Karidja Toure) joins an all-girl gang for a summer of self-discovery and petty crime in a Paris banlieue. Though specific in place, gender and race, its a universal tale, Sciamma saying, Its Jane Austen in a contemporary setting on one of the two interviews (the other is with the street-cast Toure). Linking Girlhood to her ace previous movies, Water Lilies and Tomboy, the director talks of a loose trilogy: It gives me a common point with George Lucas! EXTRAS: > Interviews Director: Cline Sciamma Starring: Karidja Toure, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh DVD release: 7 September 2015 Jamie Graham
THE LADYKILLERS 60TH ANNIVERSARY
There were only five of is, Ale Guinness would-be criminal mastermind sighs sorrowfully, on being up against the terrifying nemesis whos put paid to his gangs cunning heist. That nemesis? Well, never underestimate sweet little old ladies (especially in the shape of sublime Katie Johnson), as The Ladykillers makes clear. What an absolute delight Ealings blackly comic noir is, 60 this year, with future nods to everything from Python to Shallow Grave. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Commentary > Interviews > Gallery > Documentaries Director: Alexander Mackendrick Starring: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker BD: 7 September 2015 Ali Catterall
