Out on 13 July and 20 July
Ryan Reynolds converses with his pets. Sharlto Copley voices a robot and its not RoboCop. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of X-Men: Days Of Future Past The Rogue Cut, The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension, 3 Women, Out Of The Clouds, Chappie, Housebound, The Woman In Black: The Angel Of Death, The Voices, Home, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films, Mommy, The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya and Invaders From Mars. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST THE ROGUE CUT
Is the future truly set? asks Ian McKellens Magneto at the outset of Bryan Singers time-bending return to the X-Men universe. No and nor is Days Of Future Past. This home-ent redux sees the return of Anna Paquins badger-striped Rogue. Barely glimpsed in the original theatrical version (also included here), Rogues storyline got snipped despite Paquin shooting for five days right at the beginning of the shoot. Now shes back, her 17 minutes fully restored mutating X-Men: DOFP to a whopping 142 minutes. As a rather self-contained episode, its easy to see why her segment was removed partly, says writer Simon Kinberg, because it didnt fit to the spine of his head-crunching, canon-altering riff on the classic 1981 X-Men comic arc. With the story bouncing between a future where mutants are endangered and 1973, when scientist Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) is on the verge of launching his mutant-hunting Sentinels, Rogues appearance adds another layer of complexity to a movie bursting with brain-bending moments. Rescuing Rogue from the cutting-room floor also allows more welcome Magneto time (in a story where McKellen is sadly relegated to wallpaper). In the extra footage, the mighty metal manipulator accompanies the ice-wrangling Bobby (Shawn Ashmore) on a mini-mission to locate Rogue in order to enlist her in the risky plot to send Wolverines (Hugh Jackman) consciousness back to the 70s to stop Trask. Where is she? Well, its worth watching the snipped footage to find out though it has an almost Jacobs Ladder feel to it. Beyond this, the new disc sets out to entice you to part with your hard-earned with a hatful of mini-features not seen on the previous home release. Among them, A Rogue Move explains in more detail about the excision/restoration including a neat revelation that Rogue can still be glimpsed, reflected in a mirror, in the theatrical cut (deliberately so, claim the filmmakers). Whats Next?, meanwhile, is a brief but mouthwatering teaser for next years 80s-set X-Men: Apocalypse, with Kinberg dubbing it a full-scale global disaster film, after the Cold War paranoia of X-Men: First Clash and the Vietnam-era politics of DOFP, and promising that Jennifer Lawrences blue-skinned shapeshifter Mystique will take centre stage. Alas, theres no explanation why J-Law is the only one not to appear in , an amusing round-table chaired by Singer and Kinberg, and featuring the majority of the cast (with Jackman even arriving halfway through, presumably after peeling Wolverines mutton chops off). The half-hour discussion spans First Class and DOFP, discussing everything from the gay subtext to Halle Berrys hair though Brett Ratners lacklustre X-Men: The Last Stand is barely mentioned. Just like the future, the past is also subject to change, it seems. EXTRAS: > Commentaries > Featurettes > Gallery Director: Bryan Singer Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 James Mottram
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION
Anybody who witnessed Jupiter Ascending will know that bonkers one-offs will sometimes escape the cookie-cutter patterns of the Hollywood blockbuster. The daddy of this sub-genre is Buckaroo Banzai, an action-comedy-romance-musical made by people seemingly unacquainted with standard studio practice. The challenge starts with Buckaroo himself, a half-American, half-Japanese neurosurgeon and adventurer who also moonlights as a musician, being dragged into a racial war between inter-dimensional beings who exist in the invisible spaces within matter. Writer Earl Mac Rauch and director W.D. Richter were determined to show off their depth of imagination, regardless of narrative coherence. Adjusting to the exuberance takes time, but the pay-off is a film of curiously immersive textures, bursting with daft running jokes and random subplots, like Ellen Barkin playing the identical twin sister of Buckaroos (unseen) ex. The cast is a whos who of eccentric 80s character actors. (It surely says something when a pre-RoboCop Peter Weller is the still centre around which chaos swarms.) John Lithgow starts OTT and goes stratospheric, while Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Goldblum showcase their off-kilter rhythms. It ends with the promise of a sequel, Buckaroo Banzai Against The World Crime League. Were still waiting, but extras suggest plenty would still welcome it. Across a writer/director commentary, cast interviews, a visual essay and more, we learn that Rauch and Richter still act like the Banzai Institute is a going concern, and that the film has a real-life equivalent to Buckaroos loyal followers. Step forward the Blue Blaze Irregulars, aka superfans Wes Anderson and Kevin Smith, with the latter hosting a superb recorded Q&A with Weller and Lithgow. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Deleted scenes > Featurettes > Interviews Director: W.D. Richter Starring: Peter Weller, Ellen Barker, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum BD release: 20 July 2015 Simon Kinnear
3 WOMEN
Aa critical crescendo after M.A.S.H. , McCabe & Mrs Miller, The Long Goodbye and Nashville, Robert Altman took to the Californian desert to make 3 Women, a heavily improvised, abstract character study indebted to European art films most noticeably Bergmans Persona. Finding work in a spa, childlike waif Pinky (Sissy Spacek) becomes enamoured with co-worker Millie (Shelly Duvall), her admiration sliding towards obsession when the pair become housemates. But Millie is far from well-adjusted herself: she lives and decorates her life according to magazines, chatters incessantly though no one is listening, and talks of endless dates that never materialise. Then the two women swap personalities The third woman, Willie (Janice Rule), is the heavily pregnant owner of the apartment block where Millie and Pinky live, and of the bar they frequent; she paints mythic murals that inform the action and is all but mute, haunting the edges of the picture until coming into focus in the final scenes. The conclusion is perhaps too opaque. But 3 Women is mostly a dream of a movie, with Altman employing slow tracks and zooms, diffuse framing overexposed visuals and an atonal wind score to enhance atmosphere and ambiguity. Extras are scant, but a 40-minute interview with critic David Thompson is informative and the footage of Duvall smoking through an intimate press conference after winning best actress at Cannes is priceless. I did a lot of the writing myself, she grins when asked about her character. Bob allows you that freedom. EXTRAS: > Archive footage > Trailer > Featurettes > Interviews Director: Robert Altman Starring: Sissy Spaceyk, Shelly Duvall, Janice Rule BD release: 13 July 2015 Jamie Graham
OUT OF THE CLOUDS
Fast en your seatbelts for a diverting if not overly thrilling airport drama, set at a Heathrow where theres not a security queue, luggage scanner or angry looking armed copper in sight. An ensemble piece from Ealing stalwarts Basil Dearden and Michael Relph, it all looks a bit tame at first glance. But as Ealing expert Charles Barr notes in his introduction, theres no shortage of nostalgic period charm to enjoy. Much-loved faces pop up (Sid James, Katie Johnson, James Robertson Justice ) while a young Jewish couple meet in transit and fall for each other, lover-boy pilot Anthony Steel plays the field, and chief duty officer Robert Beatty keeps everything ticking over. EXTRAS: > Introduction > Stills Director: Basil Dearden Starring: Anthony Steel, Robert Beatty, James Robertson DVD release: 13 July 2015 Philip Kemp
CHAPPIE
Some critics greeted Neill Blomkamps sweetly scrappy sci-fi comedy with all the respect that dogs show for lampposts. Granted, after District 9s Apartheid allegory, and Elysiums wealth-gap space war, Chappies preference for cuteness and carnage over cultural commentary is a change of pace, its take on artificial intelligence frankly playful. And like its bodged-together hero an illegally A.I.-enabled police robot who goes rogue in Johannesburg its a film full of borrowed, bolted-on bits. Wall-E, Short Circuits runaway-robot plot, Spielbergs A.I., RoboCops paramilitary dystopia theyre all in the mix. Nonetheless, the films blend of cyber-comedy and high-octane action feels original, even risky. It was a passion project for Blomkamp, who developed the raucous, overstuffed script directly from his earlier shorts, Tetra Vaal and Yellow. Crammed to bursting, the story squashes together the lethal rivalry of robot engineers, a last-chance heist, and the Oliver Twist-ed tale of a robot reared in a thieves den. But bringing it all to unexpectedly tender life is Sharlto Copleys goofy, child-like, artlessly engaging bot Chappie, built up from agile motion-capture and expressive voicework. As a character, Chappie overshadows the cheerfully one-note contributions of Dev Patels obsessive creator, and Hugh Jackmans one-man-war-on-A.I. villain. But Sigourney Weaver, adding sci-fi cred in a weapons-magnate cameo, probably appears onscreen for longer in the skinny Making Of than she does in the film itself. Blu-ray includes eight featurettes, alternate ending and multi-part breakdown of the crime-spree set-piece. EXTRAS: > Making Of > Featurettes (BD) > Alternate ending (BD) > Extended scene (BD) > Photo gallery (BD) Director: Neill Blomkamp Starring: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 Kate Stables
HOUSEBOUND
With the unholy trinity of Bad Taste, Braindead and last years What We Do In The Shadows, New Zealand has arguably proved itself the horror-comedy capital of the world. But since Peter Jackson yomped off to Middle-earth (note to Jacko: now that youre seemingly done with Tolkien, wed love a Drag Me To Hell-style return to roots), could newcomer Gerard Johnstone be the man to take up the mantle? Written, directed and edited by this triple-threat first-timer, Housebound nails that delicate balance of jokes and jumps so few have managed to master (Sam Raimi, yes; Uwe Boll, no). The end result? Much more accomplished than PJs debut Bad Taste, if not quite as cherishably nuts as Braindead (the movie he made before respectability unexpectedly crept in with Heavenly Creatures). After a robbery gone wrong, Kylie (Neighbours star Morgana OReilly) receives a sentence worse than prison: eight miserable months at her mothers house saddled with an electronic tag preventing her from going beyond the front door. Its a fantastic set-up for a spook story, or a sitcom, and Johnstone is able to wring plenty of laughs from the way this street-smart goth girl is suddenly forced back into sulky teen mode, endlessly babied by her mum a spot-on comic turn from fellow soap veteran Rima Te Wiata (Arent you lucky, she beams at Kylie in one choice moment, having all that technology on your foot!). But there are genuine shivers too: something nasty and nameless lurking in the basement; a crazed neighbour with whom Kylie plays out a tense Rear Window riff; that insufferable Hello, Moto 1990s ringtone calling out from the darkness. With a game cast, multilayered script and eye for amusing detail, Johnstone appears to know every trick in the book, and hes not afraid to unleash them. You, on the other hand, might well be. EXTRAS: > None Director: Gerard Johnstone Starring: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru Blu-ray release: 20 July 2015 Matt Glasby
THE WOMAN IN BLACK: THE ANGEL OF DEATH
The people of Britain had worse horrors to worry about in 1941 than an old woman who pops out of mirrors and says boo, but this screen sequel to Susan Hills classic ghost story nevertheless moves the jump shocks to the middle of the Blitz. Escorting a group of (already terrified) evacuees from London, Phoebe Fox and Helen McCrorys city schoolteachers decide to billet the kids in a haunted house in the middle of a deserted island. Hammers standalone follow-up to its 2012 creeper drips with atmosphere, but its not much more than a box of cheap tricks with a depressing backstory. EXTRAS: > Featurettes > Deleted scenes Director: Tom Harper Starring: Helen McCrory, Jeremy Irvine, Phoebe Fox Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 Paul Bradshaw
THE VOICES
This bizarre black comedy sees Ryan Reynolds play Jerry, a disturbed factory worker whose hallucinations persuade him to kill women and keep their heads in the fridge. Naturally, they talk too. Shifting often from ghoulish winks to stark seriousness, director Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) wields unease powerfully, even if Michael R. Perrys (Paranormal Activity 2) script is, overall, unfunny. Still, the film is elevated by its cast (including victims Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick) and Satrapis surreal day-glo depiction of American psycho-hood. EXTRAS: > Interviews > Deleted scenes > Pet voice recording > Animatics (BD) Director: Marjane Satrapi Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 Stephen Kelly
HOME
The best idea in this cheery animation about a friendly alien invasion is casting Jim Parsons as the voice of Oh, a mistake-prone E.T. who gets exiled from his race after one too many gaffes. As otherworldly as his Big Bang Theory geek Sheldon, Parsons is a joy (as is Steve Martin, as Ohs cowardly leader). The worst idea is casting songstress Rihanna as Tip, the little girl who reluctantly teams with Oh while looking for her mother. With her music slapped all over the soundtrack, it leaves this otherwise sweet-natured story feeling somewhat like a tween-grabbing record company promo. EXTRAS: > Deleted scenes (BD) > Drawing tutorials (BD) > Featurettes > Music videos Director: Tim Johnson Starring: Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Steve Martin Blu-ray release: 20 July 2015 James Mottram
ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS
They were responsible for some of the schlockiest, low-budget actioners of the 80s; their Ken Russell-style The Apple has been called the Mount Everest of bad musicals; and America 3000 actress Laurene Landon detests the movie so much she sets fire to her only copy on camera. Yet theres no denying that what Cannon Films producer-hustlers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus lacked in taste they more than made up for with genuine passion and, on occasion, genuinely great films (1985s Runaway Train), as chronicled in this affectionate, frequently hilarious tribute. EXTRAS: > None Director: Mark Hartley Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 Ali Catterall
MOMMY
Brazen wunderkind Xavier Dolans fifth feature is an explosively emotive, turned-up-to-11 domestic melodrama boasting vivid turns from Antoine-Olivier Pilon and Anne Dorval as, respectively, a wild-eyed, foul-mouthed teen suffering from severe ADHD and, yes, his mother. Together they bawl, brawl and have a ball, the French-Canadian filmmaker, still only 26, finding buckets of joy and compassion to douse the roaring pain. Dolans direction may be too ostentatious for some at one point, Pilon reaches out to forcefully widen the films frame but its this very lack of restraint that makes Mommy so exhilarating. EXTRAS: > Interviews > Deleted scenes Director: Xavier Dolan Starring: Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Anne Dorval DVD, BD release: 13 July 2015 Jamie Graham
THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA
After The Wind Rises mechanical flying machines, Kaguya sees Studio Ghibli return to pastoral fantasy for a touching adaptation of a Japanese folk story. A bamboo cutter discovers the eponymous miniature princess inside a bamboo shoot, caring for the speedily-developing child until an otherwordly intervention sees her raised as a proper princess. Directed by the studios other legendary co-founder, Isao Takahata, Tales visuals are a salve for CGI-weary eyes. For a slight story its overlong. But its beautiful backdrop is one youre only too happy to wallow in. EXTRAS: > Film completion announcement > Trailers Director: Isao Takahata Starring: Chlo Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary SteenburgenDVD, BD release: 13 July 2015 Matt Maytum
INVADERS FROM MARS
In 1953, William Cam eron Menzies created a scary anti-Commie allegory: Martians land in an all-American backyard and turn a kids parents into emotionless zombies. Tobe Hoopers remake plays for more laughs. Karen Black works up fine hysteria as the school nurse whos the kids (played by her son, Hunter Carson) only ally, and Stan Winstons extraterrestrials are splendidly growly and lumbering. But Hooper dissipates the paranoia with clumsy action and tin-eared dialogue, and the double-twist ending is silly. EXTRAS: > None Director: Tobe Hooper Starring: Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms Blu-ray release: 13 July 2015 Philip Kemp
THE ROBERTO ROSSELLINI INGRID BERGMAN COLLECTION
Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergmans affair was one of the biggest showbiz scandals of the 50s; lucky for us, their collaboration resulted in some great movies, too. Journey To Italy feels decades ahead of its time, Stromboli is incredibly powerful, and blackmail drama Fear is wildly underrated. The BFI has pulled out all the stops on the extras theres an embarrassment of riches here. EXTRAS: > Commentaries > Documentaries > Video essay > Short film > Bonus film > Alternative cut of Journey To Italy Director: Roberto Rossellini Starring: Various BD release: 20 July 2015 Andrew Lowry
