We’ve come to expect the unexpected from the eclectic films of indie filmmaker Ben Wheatley, as his rule-defying style can twist and mould genre conventions to fit his dark directorial visions. His latest project, which he co-wrote with his wife Amy Jump, is 70s crime caper Free Fire. The action unfolds over just one night in a derelict umbrella warehouse in Boston, Massachusetts. When business associates Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley) team up with facilitator Justine (Brie Larson) for a dodgy deal with Vernon (Sharlto Copley), Ord (Armie Hammer) and their squad of gun-runners, the tension is palpable. Not even so-called allies fully trust one another, let alone enemies so when an argument breaks out, a brutal shoot-out ensues.
Category: DVD & Digital
Reviews of the latest UK DVD & Digital releases.
DVD review: Lady Macbeth
William Oldroyd’s creative background lies in the theatre, and in what is just his second film as director, he takes on the challenge of adapting Nikolai Leskov’s novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District into a British period drama. Simply shortening the title to Lady Macbeth, the plot follows young bride Katherine (Florence Pugh) who is forced into a loveless, violent marriage with Alexander (Paul Hilton). Trapped in the huge house she was bought with, she rebels against her wicked father-in-law Boris (Christopher Fairbank) and his rules when she embarks on a passionate affair with stable-boy Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), and goes to great lengths to escape the existence that has befallen her.
DVD review: Personal Shopper
Following on from the critical acclaim of his previous feature Clouds of Sils Maria, the French writer and director Olivier Assayas reunites with actress Kristen Stewart for psychological thriller Personal Shopper. Set in Paris’ fashion underworld, Maureen Cartwright (Stewart) scoots around the city in her Vespa, picking up glamorous items of clothing and jewellery for Kyra (Nora von Waldstätten), her materialistic model client. She is also a medium, grieving the recent sudden death of her twin brother and awaiting a sign from beyond the grave.
DVD review: Moonlight
Film narratives can often be broken down into what is known as the three-act-structure, split into the setup, confrontation and resolution, or more commonly the beginning, middle and end. In what is just his second feature, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, writer and director Barry Jenkins implements this storytelling composition in a very definitive way.
DVD review: The Lego Batman Movie
After the huge success of 2004’s Lego Movie written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the foundations were laid for a lucrative brick-built franchise. The pair return to produce the spin-off which focuses on the caped crusader voiced again by Will Arnett. With the directorial duties picked up by Chris McKay, the story sees Bruce Wayne adopt excitable orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) after some encouragement from his loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) to hang up his cape and cowl for good. However, when his arch-nemesis The Joker (Zach Galifianiakis) hatches a wicked plan that coincides with the appointment of new commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), he must take action to protect Gotham City from a gang of super-villains.
DVD review: Hacksaw Ridge
With his personal life shrouded in controversy in recent years, Mel Gibson’s on-screen outings have been few and far between and he hasn’t directed in over a decade. He makes his long-awaited return to the director’s chair for war drama Hacksaw Ridge, which tells the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, a pacifist World War II medic who refused to carry a weapon. We’re introduced to the him during a turbulent childhood in Virginia, and when a fight with his younger brother ends in a brutal attack with a brick, he is led to re-evaluate his religious principles. Years later, Doss (Andrew Garfield) enlists to serve for his country in Japan, much to the dismay of his doting wife Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) and father Tom (Hugo Weaving) a veteran who is mentally scarred from losing friends in the First World War.
DVD review: Mr. Right
After criticising the lack of originality in Hollywood, Max Landis’ latest screenplay intersperses the rom-com with the crime genre in Mr Right, directed by Spanish filmmaker Paco Cabezas. The plot follows wacky Martha (Anna Kendrick) who, after catching her boyfriend with another girl, goes on the rebound with mysteriously madcap Francis (Sam Rockwell), who charms and, quite literally, dances his way through life. What she doesn’t know is that Francis is a morally warped hit-man who instead of taking out his targets, kills off the people who hire him. What he doesn’t know is his former colleague and mercenary Hopper (Tim Roth) is hot on his trail, and on the hunt for the large bounty on his head.
DVD review: Manchester by the Sea
Casey Affleck has quietly avoided the mainstream throughout most of his career, but has consistently delivered excellent yet underrated turns that seem to slip under the radar. This is set to change thanks to family drama Manchester by the Sea, the latest feature from writer and director Kenneth Lonergan. Taking its name from the small scenic Massachusetts town in which it is set, the story follows lowly and lonely janitor Lee Chandler (Affleck) who is forced to return to his roots when his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) passes away. As the legal guardian of nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges), he offers his help and support whilst he wrestles with personal demons from his past that come back to haunt him.
DVD review: War on Everyone
In his third directorial feature, British filmmaker John Michael McDonagh takes his brand of dark comedy to America. Set in ‘breaking bad’ country Albuquerque, buddy movie War on Everyone stars Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña as police officers who regularly find themselves on the wrong side of the law. When the corrupt antics of Terry Monroe (Skarsgård) and Bob Bolaño (Peña) go too far, they cross paths with vicious Brit-gangster Lord James Mangan (Theo James) and things take a turn for the worse for the carefree detectives.
DVD review: Lion
In his directorial debut, Australian filmmaker Garth Davis brings an amazing true story to the cinematic stage with Lion, a stranger-than-fiction tale of a lost boy in India. The screenplay adapts the memoir entitled A Long Way Home written by Saroo Brierley, who is portrayed by Sunny Pawar initially and then Dev Patel as the story develops. At the age of five, caring Saroo wants to help his mother by providing in any way he can and after persuading his older brother Guddu (Abhisek Bharate) to let him accompany him to work, he falls asleep at a train station. When he awakens alone in the middle of the night, he searches for Guddu but drifts off again, this time on a train which takes him on a two day journey to Calcutta, almost a thousand miles from home. Twenty five years later, having been adopted by Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham), Saroo tries to track down his biological family, using Google Earth as his map.
Cinema Perspective 