The Herald - The Herald Magazine
DVDs of the week
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (CERT PG) £9.99 THE EQUALIZER 2 (CERT 15) £9.99
Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) is a workaholic efficiency manager in the luggage division of Winslow Enterprises run by Old Man Winslow (Oliver Ford Davies) and his slippery son Giles (Mark Gatiss). Times are tough and Winslow Jr orders Christopher to deliver 20 per cent cuts across his team in time for a board presentation on Monday morning. Christopher cancels a weekend in the country with his neglected wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) and young daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael) to concentrate on balance sheets. Magically Winnie-the-Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) materialises in London and convinces Christopher to return to the Hundred Acre Wood to track down Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Kanga (Sophie Okonedo), Roo (Sarah Sheen) and Owl (Toby Jones).
Retired Marine Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) patrols the streets of Boston as an on-demand taxi driver. He also acts as mentor to a gifted artist called Miles (Ashton Sanders), who needs to distance himself from a circle of friends comprising drug dealers and gun-toting gang members. In the midst of playing good Samaritan, McCall receives devastating news about one of the few people to know his location: former CIA associate Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo). She is investigating the murders of a Belgian couple and a web of intrigue propels McCall back into the orbit of his ex-partner Dave York (Pedro Pascal). Bullets fly, friendships implode and McCall shields Susan’s husband Brian (Bill Pullman) from a merciless hired assassin (Jonathan Scarfe). The Equalizer 2 is a blood-spattered sequel to the 2014 action thriller.
THE FESTIVAL (CERT 15) £9.99
Self-obsessed twenty-something Nick Taylor (Joe Thomas) goes into emotional meltdown during his university graduation after he is unceremoniously dumped by girlfriend Caitlin (Hannah Tointon). Lovable best friend Shane (Hammed Animashaun) persuades Nick to accompany him to a music festival where superstar DJ Hammerhead (Noel Fielding) is due to play a headline set. Nick dutifully packs his wellington boots, a tent and some underwear for three days of music, merriment and alcoholic excess. En route, the two friends encounter festival veteran Amy (Claudia O’Doherty), who is full of handy tips and information. Soon after Nick arrives at the crowded campsite, he encounters Caitlin and her well-to-do chums. The Festival is a filthy-minded comedy of awkward sex, recreational drugs and rock’n’roll shot on location at last year’s Leeds Festival in Bramham Park. The Bafta Award-winning creators of The Inbetweeners continue to suckle on the teat of puerile, laddish humour.