Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

DVD releases: Trainwreck & Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Amy Schumer, left, takes the lead role in Trainwreck
Amy Schumer, left, takes the lead role in Trainwreck

TRAINWRECK (15)
4 stars
At nine years old, Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer) learnt a valuable lesson about human relationships from her embittered father (Colin Quinn): “Monogamy isn’t realistic.”

Twenty-three years later, Amy has taken those words to her booze-soaked heart, enjoying numerous anonymous sexual encounters, while dating a musclebound hunk (John Cena).

When she isn’t picking up men in bars, Amy works at lifestyle magazine S’Nuff with kooky best friend Nikki (Vanessa Bayer). Out of the blue, editor Dianna (Tilda Swinton) assigns Amy to pen a profile on sports doctor Aaron Conners (Bill Hader). Amy knows almost nothing about sport but she obliges and sparks an unlikely romance with the kind-hearted medic that threatens to unravel the tattered fabric of her bed-hopping existence.

Trainwreck is a potty-mouthed comedy penned by leading actress Schumer that raises its skirt to political correctness and gleefully flashes sexual inequality. Judd Apatow’s film is a wicked delight that asserts independent, single women have the same right as men to enjoy carefree sexual escapades without being labelled a hussy.

On-screen chemistry between the two leads simmers beautifully. Throughout the uproarious two hours, Schumer is the butt of her
own expertly targeted jokes, and she generously shares sparkling one-liners around the excellent ensemble cast. There’s a thin glaze of sweetness to pivotal moments between female characters and an emotionally raw scene at a funeral that deftly tugs the heartstrings. Yet, for its adherence to rom-com tropes, Trainwreck is laced with sufficient biting wit and self-effacement to drink The Hangover and its crude imitators under the table – and seal victory with a rousing belch.

 

DVD DVD Reviews 133031
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION (12)
4 stars
CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) succeeds in shutting down the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). Subsequently, the hunters become the hunted when a shadowy organisation known as the Syndicate, fronted by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), targets IMF for extinction.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) covertly reunites with colleagues William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and computer hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) to bring down The Syndicate using every gadget, disguise and turbo-charged vehicle at their disposal. The operation brings Hunt into close contact with undercover MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), her slippery handler (Simon McBurney) and a sadistic henchman known as the Bone Doctor (Jens Hulten).

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a stylish and slick fifth instalment of the action-packed franchise, bolted together with brio by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton (Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service). Leading man Cruise certainly puts on a show. He clings to the side of an airplane as it takes flight, slaloms at dizzying speed on a motorcycle and performs death-defying leaps himself, allowing writer-director McQuarrie to capture every pulse-quickening second in thrilling close-up with minimum digital trickery. Pegg steps up in a pivotal supporting role while Ferguson’s ice maiden might not thaw under Cruise’s smouldering gaze, but she does snap several limbs and necks in impressive hand-to-hand combat sequences.

Humour is used sparingly to diffuse tension, leaving us hungry for another explosion of IMF antics to the pulsating rhythm of Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme.

A five-disc box set comprising the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and the four sequels is also available.