STACK #146 Dec 2016

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CINEMA REVIEWS

ARRIVAL

ALSO SCREENING IN DECEMBER

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Denis Villeneuve CAST: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner RATING: M

The year's best sci-fi film has arrived.

First contact with alien life would change the world as we know it. But beyond the obvious scientific and theological ramifications, there's also the simple matter of how we would communicate with extraterrestrial visitors. Close Encounters of the Third Kind used a haunting five-note melody, China Mieville made it the subject of his brilliant novel Embassytown , and Denis Villenueve's sci-fi drama Arrival tackles the problem from a human perspective. Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is recruited by a US military colonel (Forest Whitaker) after 12 gigantic spacecraft appear in seemingly random locations across the globe. The alien visitors' intentions are unknown and with

China and Russia eager to fire the first shot, Banks faces a race against time to discover whether they are friend or foe. When she comes face to tentacle with the creatures – who aren't even remotely humanoid and dubbed "heptapods" – she discovers their vocabulary consists of inky smoke rings exhaled from their starfish-like extremities. Working with a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner), Banks realises that the recent loss of her young daughter could hold the key to deciphering the alien language. Reducing cities and major landmarks to CGI rubble are not on the agenda here; Arrival is a film about big ideas not big effects, although it has those too. The sight of a spacecraft wreathed in cloud as it hovers above a field like a giant Fabergé egg is truly breathtaking, and the alien designs are both elegant and eerie. The genre is at its best when exploring philosophical ideas and the human condition, and Arrival is as much about love, loss and the paths we choose in life as it is about making contact with an alien species. Villeneuve's films ( Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario ) are always very austere and emotionally resonant, and this moody ambience translates well to science fiction. Blade Runner 2049 is in very capable hands. Scott Hocking redneck psychos while on a road trip through the Texas badlands with his wife (Isla Fisher) and daughter. Through flashbacks to the early romance between the ‘real’ Susan and Tony, and the subsequent breakdown of their marriage, the two story strands slowly and subtly begin to dovetail. Adams gives a beautifully modulated performance as Susan, whose self-assured exterior begins to crack as memories and guilt bubble to the surface. Gyllenhaal is equally good in his dual roles, although Michael Shannon, as usual, steals every scene he is in as the laconic Texas lawman who helps the fictional Tony on his quest for justice. Fashion designer Ford, who triumphantly made the switch to filmmaking with his stylish debut A Single Man (2009), seamlessly knits the disparate strands of the film together and his cool, fluid visuals provide the perfect counterpoint to the melodramatics that unfold on screen. A thoughtful treatise on revenge and the life choices we all must make, the enigmatic ending also provides further food for thought, making Nocturnal Animals a film you will definitely want to watch again when it arrives on DVD and Blu-ray. John Ferguson

"During the battle, rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star." This reference from Episode IV's title crawl forms the basis of the first Star Wars spin-off feature, which is even more exciting to anticipate than The Force Awakens , thanks to its status as a true prequel. May the Force be with you on Dec 15 . ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Robert Zemeckis directs this World War II-set romantic thriller starring Brad Pitt as an intelligence officer who falls for a member of the French Resistance, played by Marion Cotillard. Sparks and bullets fly on Dec 26 . ALLIED

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Tom Ford CAST: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal RATING: MA15+

A thoughtful treatise on revenge and life choices.

This playful and elegantly dark melodrama is a Hitchcockian psychological thriller filtered through the post-modernist lens of David Lynch. Nocturnal Animals unfolds through two distinct and very different timeframes. In one, Susan (Amy Adams), a wealthy but jaded art gallery curator, is surprised to receive the proofs of a forthcoming novel written by her ex-husband, Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal). In the other, the story of his novel plays out in Susan’s mind, with Gyllenhaal also taking on the role of the book’s lead character (also Tony), who falls foul of some

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone channel the spirit of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and old Hollywood musicals in this acclaimed romantic drama. Dancing into cinemas on Dec 26 . LA LA LAND

This prequel to the Aussie smash hit is a coming-of-age tale about the friendship that develops between a boy and a red puppy, and also reveals the origin of the legendary “Pilbara Wanderer”. Winning hearts on Dec 26 . RED DOG: TRUE BLUE

DECEMBER 2016

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