Once again we’re helping you navigate the world of direct-to-home-video films and reissues, serving up our thoughts and other helpful review comments on this month’s releases. Some film fest faves make their way to your living room, along with a few others that we’ve been looking forward to, a Christian money-spinner, and some must-see classics.
Draft Day
In a nutshell: Ivan Reitman (No Strings Attached, Ghostbusters) directs Kevin Costner in this drama, approximately the 43rd sporting film in Costner’s career (sorry Kevin, we’re just kidding – but you have made a few). Costner plays the general manager of the Cleveland Browns NFL side, faced with tough decisions and a public backlash when the team is offered the first overall draft pick at the beginning of the season. Yeah, that didn’t make any sense at all to us either, but that’s the NFL for you.
The buzz: 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. Grantland send out mixed messages, saying “It’s a sign of Costner’s enduring stardom that he can skate through a movie this hyperactive and dull, yet still have you like him”; more reassuringly, Village Voice reckon “You may think you’re not interested in a sturdy little dramatic comedy about the intricacies of the NFL draft process. But with Draft Day, you’re in the hands of a master.”
Reason to watch: Maybe the sport itself isn’t relevant to Kiwis, but sports in general are. Just think Kirwan instead of Costner.
OUT NOW – Read more/check purchase options
Enemy
In a nutshell: Jake Gyllenhaal and the director of Prisoners reteam for this psychological thriller about a man who is startled to see another man in a movie who looks exactly like him – and seeks out to find the doppelganger. With Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon and a ton of weirdness along for the ride, check out what weirded out audiences at the NZ International Film Festival earlier this year.
The buzz: 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Gloriously enigmatic” say Village Voice. Using a few more words, Hollywood Reporter state “As hauntingly strange as it is inconclusive and frustrating, Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Incendies), is one of the more head-scratching additions to the doppelganger genre. Yet it will certainly have its fans.”
Reason to watch: Like Gyllenhaal? You’re getting two for the price of one. Don’t worry, this ain’t The Two Jakes.
OUT NOW – Read more/check purchase options
The Summit
In a nutshell: K2 is the dramatic setting for this documentary about 2008’s fatal disaster, in which 11 mountaineers died on the world’s second-highest mountain. Director Nick Ryan pieces together what happened on this doomed expedition that captured world headlines – helped by reports that some climbers had left others to die on K2’s slopes.
The buzz: 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times call it “A pulse-pounding success”. Time Out New York state “As you watch these actors, you appreciate the endeavor the climbers went through all the more-and as triumph turns to tragedy, you feel the grief winding its way through your shaken nervous systems.”
Reason to watch: Watching Sir Edmund Hillary scale Everest in Beyond the Edge was awe-inspiring – death and disaster on the slopes of K2 is going to be terrifying.
OUT NOW – Read more/check purchase options
Afflicted
In a nutshell: Diseases and body horror. These are but a few – ok, two – of our favourite things. Winning Best Horror Film, Screenplay and Director at Fantastic Fest 2013, Afflicted follows a couple of blokes whose OE goes a bit weird when one of them starts transforming after a rough one-night stand.
The buzz: 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hollywood Reporter says “There’s life yet in the found-footage horror genre”; Variety calls the film “A nifty found-footage thriller that marks a promising debut for writing-directing duo Clif Prowse and Derek Lee.”
Reason to watch: Since this sounds a bit like Cronenberg meets found footage, if it’s the best of both then totally worth a look.
OUT SEPT 17 – Read more/check purchase options
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden
In a nutshell: Documentary exploring the curious goings-on when a Berlin doctor and his mistress dropped out of society and resettled in the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s. Followed by others who were inspired by the pair’s exports, they lived a strange, remote existence until some of the new arrivals disappeared and allegations of murder began to swirl in the air.
The buzz: 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Move over, Charles Darwin, when it comes to great tales about the Galapagos, you’ve got company” says the Los Angeles Times, while the Seattle Times weigh in, opining “Though the pace occasionally flags during its two-hour running time, The Galapagos Affair is a fascinating look at a place of great beauty and remoteness, and at the kind of people drawn to live there”.
Reason to watch: The idea of moving half a world away is a damn fascinating one, and so are true crime tales in general.
OUT SEPT 24 – Read more/check purchase options
Heaven is for Real
In a nutshell: Giant money-spinner in the U.S. – making over $100 million from a budget of just $12m – this is the allegedly true story of a four-year-old boy who has a near-death experience, after which he can recount events that happened before his birth, things he couldn’t possibly know… Oh yeah, and he also saw Jesus.
The buzz: 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. Entertainment Weekly pontificate “There’s no antagonist, no resolution, and no real climax – just a series of mildly charming scenes in which Colton shares heavenly knowledge while his family reacts with awestruck tears”. AV Club sermonises “Unfortunately, Heaven Is For Real isn’t really a movie about religion so much as an attempt to appeal to the broadest possible audience of conservative evangelicals.”
Reason to watch: Apparently much better than most recent efforts targeting ‘the faith audience’, professional curiosity dictates we should know what’s going on with this lucrative sub-genre that’s exciting the bean-counters.
OUT SEPT 24 – Read more/check purchase options
They Came Together
In a nutshell: Amy Poehler (TV’s Parks & Recreation) and Paul Rudd (Anchorman) star in this rom-com satire from comedy director David Wain (Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer). Chasing every gag possibly squeezed out of the genre, and co-starring Cobie Smulders, Michael Shannon, Melanie Lynskey, Ed Helms, Ken Marino and more.
The buzz: 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. New York Magazine reckons “Wain’s film is both a takedown and a tribute: As with his summer-camp-movie spoof Wet Hot American Summer, you walk away with a renewed love for the genre”; while AV Club score points with us by saying “An enthusiastically zany comedy, made in the reality-bending tradition of a Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker production.”
Reason to watch: Ever watched a rom-com when you haven’t wanted to? Ever thought they don’t really make sense? Ever thought they actually contain some deeply disturbing human behavior? Good.
OUT SEPT 24 – Read more/check purchase options
Reissues of the Month
Hey look, it’s Kevin Costner in a sports movie! Maybe not really a fair description of Field of Dreams, admittedly…
Peter O’Toole is a sinister film director employing a fugitive as a stunt man in… The Stunt Man
It’s turned 40, but not many of the characters made it that far in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
