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ISSUE 81 Feb ’17

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back • Nintendo Switch • T2: Trainspotting

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EXTRAS

Issue 81 FEBRUARY 2017

EXTRAS

All information believed correct at time of printing. All images used for promotional purposes only. Copyright of respective owners is acknowledged. © 2017 Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher. RATINGS GUIDE • Robert Scott on The Bats' new album; Poi-E: The Story of Our Song . Pg 4 CINEMA T2: Trainspotting: Sick Boy – aka Jonny Lee Miller – is back, along with a lot of personal issues he hasn't resolved, in this hotly anticipated sequel. Pg 6-7 DVD Jack Reacher: Never Go Back: Tom Cruise returns as Lee Child's lethal one-man army. Pg 08 Arrival: Denis Villeneuve ruminates on the challenges of communicating with an alien species. Pg 10-12 GAMES Nintendo Switch: Nintendo lifts the lid on its latest home console, the Switch. Pg 14-16 DVD/Blu-ray The Arrival , Fear the Walking Dead: Season 2 , The Light Between Oceans , Snowden , Hell or High Water, American Honey, Keeping Up with the Joneses, and more. Pg 18-20 GAMES Halo Wars 2, Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, Hitman: The Complete First Season. Pg 21 MUSIC T2: Trainspotting OST, Flaming Lips and more. Pg 22 FEATURES REVIEWS

PRIMAL FEAR

Felicity Jones drew critical praise for her performance in The Theory of Everything . Now she's getting ready to embark upon the role of a lifetime in a galaxy far, far away… Words Jake Taylor The filmmaker who introduced the notion of seeing dead people in The Sixth Sense explores Dissociative Identity Disorder in Split , with James McAvoy exhibiting 24 different personalities. Words Gill Pringle

A stickler for homework, M. Night Shyamalan has done much research into Dissociative Identity Disorder, otherwise known as Multiple Personality Disorder. DID is still the black sheep of the psychiatric world, many believing that patients invent their “multiples” to dodge prison sentences or that therapists actually “push” the DID diagnosis on fragile patients who may be suffering from other psychiatric disorders. When STACK meets with the director in Los Angeles, his eyes light up at the sheer numbers. “Oh there are as many as like 60 personalities [that have] been diagnosed in one patient. Tons! I mean even Sybil Dorset had 16 and the famous ones, like Billy Milligan, was 22, or something like that,” he says, referencing The Minds of Billy Milligan , a film treatment to which Leonardo DiCaprio has long been attached, while the former's story was told in the 1976 mini-series Sybil , starring Sally Field. For Shyamalan, however, the 1957 film The Three Faces of Eve , starring Joanne Woodward

in an Oscar-winning performance, really spoke to him. “I found it very moving," explains Shyamalan. "I just find this psychological disorder absolutely moving and tragic, and amazing too. Especially the science of it. Pretty much everything I do in the movie, with one exception, is true. “DID is a disorder that only happens to individuals who were consistently sexually or physically abused between the ages of one and five years old, which is when the brain is still developing and the brain actually starts different synapses, and starts a different area, and goes ‘We can’t deal with the fact that our uncle or mother, or whatever it is, is doing this, so we’re going to create a whole other existence’. "And then once it learns to do that during those years, it does it forever; it keeps on splintering over the course of time, so that these different personalities all become options for them.”

Split is in cinemas now.

Founder Nic Short Editor-In-Chief Paul Jones Editor John Ferguson Creative Director Karl Lock DVD Consultant Jason Hewitt Games Consultant Sachi Fernando Production Manager Craig Patterson Social Media Manager Sally Carlier-Hull

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STACK is published by Scribal Custom Pty Ltd (ACN 092 362 135). © Scribal Custom Pty Ltd 2016 All rights reserved.

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Contributors Graham Reid, Scott Hocking, Judy Ewens, GarethThompson,Tim Mackrell, Zoë Radas, Gill Pringle, Alesha Kolbe, Amy Flower, Ryan Huff, Simon Lukic, Michael Dwyer, Chris Murray, Denise Hylands, Simon Winkler, Adam Colby, Savannah Douglas

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How the Patea Maori Club's 1984 hit became New Zealand's unoffial national anthem. Words Adam Colby POI E: THE STORY OF OUR SONG

T he brainchild of musician and hip hop beats stayed in the NZ charts for 34 weeks and outsold smash hits like Thriller and I Just Called to Say I Loved You . Poi E resonated with young and old across the land, including writer/director Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion). “I grew up in Papanui in entrepreneur Maui Dalvanius Prime, the groundbreaking mix of Te Reo M ā ori and

Christchurch, where there wasn’t a huge Maori presence,” he recalls. “When I used to visit the whanau in Pukekohe, that’s where I felt strong and confident, but in Christchurch it was a different feeling altogether. “But when Poi E came out – I must have been 7 years old – I saw this young boy dressed in his maro, standing with his wh ā nau doing those actions and he looked so awesome! I felt like I saw myself. And then, as the video clip

actually came from a real place and from real people,” he adds. “This story is about a person [Dalvanius] who is going through a huge identity shift, dealing with the passing of his mother and adjusting to returning home from the bright lights overseas. And it’s these people who are suffering economically and wondering what’s the next step because the job that their families have done for the last 40 years is over. “So for me, it’s been getting to understand each of these places and all of the people involved that gives this song its place. It’s not just a story about a chart-topper, the first Te Reo M ā ori song that hit number one. It’s actually a story about what happened when all those people came together to create some magic.”

played on, I saw who I wanted to be: Joe Moana on top of the waka doing the bop. So, in this one video clip I saw myself.” Poi E the movie traces how the

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iconic song came to be and mixes archive footage and recordings of the late Dalvanius with new interviews with musicians such as The Topp Twins, Don McGlashan and Annie Crummer, who talk about the influence of the song on their lives and careers. There’s also contributions from the likes of Taika Waititi, who explains to Stan Walker what life was like back in the ‘80s, and the Patea Maori Club themselves; the song was released to aid a town devastated by the closing of the local freezing works. Kahi says one of the things he learned in making this film is that the song wasn’t manufactured, like a lot of today’s music. ”It

Poi E: The Story of Our Song is is due out on DVD on February 15.

RESITTING THE SOUND The Bats' Robert Scott on recording their new LP The Deep Set at Lyttleton's in-demand Sitting Room studio. Words John Ferguson

O n paper, the idea of Flying Nun icons The Bats recording at Ben Edwards’ noted Lyttelton studio – best known as a home for country acts like Marlon Williams and Tami Neilson – might seem a little odd. But it actually kind of makes sense. For starters, The Bats are based in the South Island. And while they are usually classified as an 'indie rock' act, there has always been a distinct folk/country flavour to their work. The Sitting Room’s laidback vibe has also been a drawcard for other artists and The Bats frontman Robert Scott agrees it was nice place to record. "[Ben] has obviously done good things with Marlon and the other people he has worked with,” he told STACK . “Yeah, it was pretty good there: it’s relaxing and there’s a great view.” Nevertheless, the new album The Deep Set is unmistakably a Bats album, stacked with their trademark jangle-y pop; as Scott notes:

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel.” Why would they? Formed in 1982 in the aftermath of the first break-up of The Clean, The Bats have quietly established themselves as one of Flying Nun’s best known acts and have retained the same line-up of Scott, Kaye Woodward (guitar), Paul Kean (bass) and Malcolm Grant (drums) throughout their 30-year-plus existence. Like The Clean (who Scott continues to play with), they not exactly prolific – The Deep Set is only their ninth studio album – but that’s probably one of the secrets to their success. “We’re very good at making sure we have lots of time off!” laughs Scott. “That definitely helps. It means we are very fresh when we come back for a project: it's been nearly five years between this and the last one. We definitely don’t live in each other’s pockets and tour all the time like some bands do.” However, Scott keeps busy during the

downtime. As well as The Clean, he has released a number of solo albums, the latest being The Green House (2014), which featured a number of collaborations with Tiny Ruin’s Holly Fullbrook. “The solo stuff gives me the chance to stretch out and try a few things that I wouldn’t normally do,” he says. “I take more chances with songs that won’t necessarily have to be played live. “I am looking at doing another solo record because I really enjoyed that process. There will possibly be some Clean action, but I can’t confirm anything about that [laughs].”

The Deep Set by The Bats is out now.

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)8//< 6,&. Sick Boy – aka Jonny Lee Miller – is back, along with a lot of personal issues he hasn't resolved, in the hotly anticipated sequel T2:Trainspotting . Words Gill Pringle

7 wenty years ago, a small Scottish indie movie announced the arrival of four future stars, catapulting Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor, Kevin McKidd and Robert Carlyle into the spotlight and likewise cementing the career of director Danny Boyle, who would later go on to win an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire . Although McGregor had already worked with Boyle two years earlier on Shallow Grave , the buzz didn’t really start until Trainspotting, which spoke to disenfranchised youth as well as rocking the best soundtrack of its day. “We were all pretty new apart from Robert – that’s why he had the ‘and Robert Carlyle’ credit,” laughs Jonny Lee Miller, 44, when STACK catches up with him in New York, where he films hit TV drama Elementary , having portrayed Sherlock Holmes for five years now. But Trainspotting was a seminal experience for all its cast, so Miller wasn’t entirely surprised when he received a postcard from Boyle 18 months ago, simply

STACK 's Gill Pringle with Jonny Lee Miller

very close with Robert as well but hadn’t seen him in ten years either, so it was amazing to come back together again. “It’s very surreal, but really wonderful to have that opportunity to do this all over again; to suddenly be able to reconnect as friends and colleagues as well,” adds Miller, whose Sick Boy was the only non-Scot among the main cast. Sick Boy, he says, has not fared too well in the two decades since we last saw him, having traded heroin for a full-blown coke habit. “I’m not ruling out heroin entirely but Sick Boy is now a bit of a cokehead. He’s still got a lot of personal issues and he really hasn’t moved on in his life. In the first film, they’re a group in the same situation, and here, they are four individuals in very different places.” If it was a given that Sick Boy was the cool one in the original Trainspotting , Miller isn’t so sure second time around.

recalls Miller, who just months later found himself reunited with McGregor and Carlyle in Edinburgh, along with original Trainspotting cast members Ewen Bremner, Kelly Macdonald and Shirley Henderson. With anticipation riding high for T2: Trainspotting , Miller admits to a certain level of anxiety. “It wasn’t anything that any of us took lightly. We were all quite nervous about it. And none of us had seen each other in ages. Ewan and I used to be very close but I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. Life just took us in different directions. And I was

If Sick Boy is cool then the credit has to go to screenwriter John Hodge, and his vision stating: “We’re going to have a go at T2. Will send a script when we have one.” A few months later the script arrived in the mail. “I thought it was pretty good and I heard the other guys liked it too,”

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FEATURE CINEMA

In the first film they're a group in the same situation, and here, they are four individuals in very different places

“If Sick Boy is cool then the credit has to go to screenwriter John Hodge, and his vision. I just show up and play it. I remember with the first movie, people were like ‘Oh, Sick Boy’s so f– ing cool’. And he was! The hair and everything. Now he ain’t so cool, at all. Because he’s kind of stuck, and it was very interesting to me to show that, like, if you get stuck, and he’s still trying to be that, but it’s not working. The whole film is interesting like that to me, because some of the characters are really stuck in place, and hopefully, I think that’s relatable to people. We’re not trying to recreate the cool vibe of Trainspotting , because what’s the point in doing that?” Miller also debunks the popular theory that T2: Trainspotting is a

things, for whatever reason, and things aren’t always black and white, and there’s not always right and wrong, and that happens in groups of people, and I think that was really relatable, so T2 looks at that,“ adds Miller, although his lips are firmly sealed regarding T2 ’s plot. “The first film didn’t have a plot,” he argues. “It’s just a group of friends interacting, and then at the end, they get some drugs, and go down and do a drug deal. That’s really the plot! That’s it! There’s no plot! And it’s kind of the same model for the second movie. It’s a group of people interacting, and how their actions have affected one another.” Returning to Edinburgh to shoot T2 was also surreal, he says. “First time round, we could run around doing whatever we wanted, and no one cared or bothered. But this time, people were freaking out and

literal translation of Irvine Welsh’s sequel novel, Porno . At the heart of T2 – just like the original – is the relationships. “I think that’s what people really identify with, and what was refreshing about the first movie is that the hero does that to his friends at the end – and he’s still sort of remembered as the hero of the movie,” he offers. “People let each other down all the time and they do selfish

trying to shelter our costumes and saying ‘Put your hood on when you get your hair dyed,’ and I was like ‘What’s the f–ing point?’ And it was Danny who said, ‘It’s like they’re f–ing Star Wars up there!’ But it’s true. It brings a lot of people, and a level of excitement which is quite alarming.” Wed four years to Angelina Jolie after they met on his first film, Hackers , Miller has had enough excitement to last a lifetime, today married to actress Michele Hicks with whom he has an eight-year- old son, Buster. “People liked to imagine I was like Sick Boy but I’ve never been that guy. In my spare time I like to run marathons,” he reveals. “I’m happy living in New York and I just wanted to continue doing Elementary for as long as they let us. Ride that one out and see what happens next. I’m a parent, so I’m just looking to raise my kid well.”

• T2: Trainspotting is in cinemas on Feb 23

we were getting followed by paparazzi, and they’re

+HUH V -RQQ\

From wedding Angelina Jolie to playing Sherlock Holmes, Miller has kept busy between Trainspotting films...

Miller plays Dade "Zero Cool" Murphy in this futuristic (well, for 1995) cyberpunk thriller that explores the hacker subculture. It also stars young Angelina Jolie in her first major film role, as Miller's fellow high school hacker and love interest. The pair wed the following year and divorced in 1999.

Miller was reunited with his Trainspotting co-star Robert Carlyle in this period action- comedy. The pair play 18th century highwaymen, with Macleane (Miller) the brains and Plunkett (Carlyle) the brawn. The film was a flop on its initial release but found a cult following on home video, thanks largely to its stars.

Miller starred as the eponymous San Francisco lawyer who is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm that causes him to suffer bizarre visions, which he interprets as signs. Convinced he has a higher purpose, he accepts hard luck cases for altruistic reasons rather than financial gain. The show ran for two seasons.

While Benedict Cumberbatch was reinventing Sherlock

(/(0(17$5< (2012– ) Holmes on British TV, Miller was doing the same thing Stateside, albeit partnered with Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Lui). Essentially transplanting the super sleuth into a New York-set police procedural, the series owes much of its success to Miller's portrayal.

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AMERICAN RONIN

Magnolia (1999) He may have won an Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July , but his fearless performance as a sleazy self help guru in Paul Thomas Anderson’s moving ensemble drama remains a career highpoint. Collateral (2004) Probably the closest he has got to playing a villain (albeit a sympathetic one), Cruise brought AN ACTION MAN NOT JUST Tom Cruise is best known for his action roles, but he occasionally steps outside his comfort zone.

Tom Cruise returns as the lethal one-man army in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back . Words Adam Colby

“I am that guy that sits there in the movie theatre Friday night with the popcorn,” Tom Cruise explains. “I’m like, ‘entertain me’, you know what I mean? With each different kind of genre style of film, that’s what I think about.” It’s a philosophy that has served the Hollywood superstar well over his 30-plus year career and explains why he had no hesitation in returning for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , the second film to be adapted from Lee Childs’ best- selling action series. This time around, Reacher gets drawn back into his shadowy military world to clear his name and not only uncovers a major government conspiracy, but a secret from his past that could change his life forever. Reacher is less a lone wolf hero

Cruise also relished the chance to face off against an equally lethal bad guy – the Hunter, played by Patrick Heusinger. “Each story needs a different kind of opponent. You need the obstacles and the bigger the obstacles, the more powerful the story is. I think that with the Hunter, you feel his physical ability, his intelligence, his ruthless nature – and they’re polar opposites.” At this stage, it’s not known whether there will be anymore Jack Reacher movies – Cruise is already preparing for Mission Impossible 6 – but he clearly is a big fan of the character. “What I love about Reacher is he’s off the grid, he’s a character that really, really has his own moral code” Cruise says. “He’s someone who has a great sense of what is right and what is wrong, and gets drawn into these situations and has to make those tough decisions that sometimes other people can’t make. “When I go to a movie, I like to get lost in the film, and I live vicariously through those characters. Jack Reacher appeals to such a broad audience [because] it is a wish fulfillment. When he beats a guy up, you enjoy the way that he hands out justice.”

in Never Go Back and we get to see another, more sensitive, side to his character. Consequently, Cruise believes Edward Zwick – who directed him in The Last Samurai – was the perfect filmmaker to handle both the action and the film’s more intimate moments. “Ed Zwick [is] someone who I greatly admire,” he enthuses. “It was such a privilege to be able to work with him again and have this kind of collaboration. Ed is great with actors [and] he looks and finds and mines these wonderful moments. You look at the movies that he makes: [they’re] epic films [but] they’re very personal. He’s a very personal filmmaker.” Nevertheless, Never Go Back doesn’t skimp on the action; Cruise worked closely with Zwick and the fight choreographers on the film’s exhilarating combat sequences. “I do my own stunts and we design them for me and really base it on the character and the tone of the movie,” he explains. “Reacher is a close-quarter fighter. He’s a bull, and I always tell people when we start approaching it, he’s just gonna go through you. Each fight has to be different, it has to progress the story and character, so that’s what we’re constantly looking at.”

both charm and menace to the role of a hitman who embroils an innocent cab driver in his latest assignment.

Tropic Thunder (2008) With his bald skull cap and paunch, the Hollywood heartthrob was almost

unrecognisable in this starry comedy, and almost stole the show as a

monstrous, hip hop

loving studio exec.

Rock of Ages (2012) Cruise had a blast as the debauched, egotistical rock star Stacee Jaxx – his versions of Wanted Dead or Alive and I Want to

Know What Love Is were pretty damned good as well.

• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is out on Feb 22

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Denis Villeneuve’s exquisite and thought-provoking Arrival ruminates on the challenges of communicating with an alien species, the likes of which we've never seen before on the screen. Words Adam Colby

F

subject of his brilliant novel Embassytown , and in Denis Villenueve's sci-fi drama Arrival , linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is called upon to decipher the visitors’ strange symbols, which resemble the stains left by a coffee mug on paper. It’s a unique and unconventional concept for a genre dominated by FX-laden blockbusters, in which aliens

irst 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 beings. Close Encounters of the Third Kind used a haunting five- note melody, China Mieville made it the

are more determined to reduce our world to rubble than initiate a dialogue. Consequently, both Villeneuve and cinematographer Bradford Young were determined to invest

I based the [spacecraft] shape on an asteroid, or small planet, called Eunomia that's in orbit in the solar system

looking [out the window] at the clouds – that kind of atmosphere, getting away from the scope of the huge movies. Getting away from the spectacle." "When Denis and I first

Arrival with an aesthetic that would differentiate it from those films, and complement a story that has a lot to say about humanity.

started talking about the film," recalls Young, "one of the things that we were really concerned about

is that, as filmmakers, we often inoculate the process with our own preconceived notions about what a genre could be. This genre was sci-fi but what we wanted was to be just as surprised when the aliens arrive as the viewer or the characters in the film are. We wanted to be as naive as the characters about what it means to interact with alien intelligence. That allowed Denis and I to

"We created an approach that we call 'dirty sci-fi' – which means that we were trying to create the feeling that this was happening on a bad Tuesday morning,” explains Villeneuve. “We wanted to create a sci-fi movie that [gave you a feeling] like when you were a kid on the school bus on a rainy day and you'd dream while

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These four Arrivals arrived before Arrival ...

deciding on a design that was unfamiliar and strange. “I came up with the idea that the spaceship should be shaped like a pebble, a little stone, ovoid. I based the shape on an asteroid, or small planet, called Eunomia [aka asteroid 15] that's in orbit in the solar system. The shape's insane,

take a step back from the process and decide that this film needed to be raw. It needed to be truthful. When the aliens and spacecraft arrive, we all feel surprise, and as frightened and compelled to be in contact with them as the characters in the film." Depicting the visitors’

An elderly gent is rejuvenated after he's taken over by an alien parasite and transformed into a vampire that feeds on estrogen. Also known as The Unwelcomed , which is an equally unimaginative title given the subject matter. THE ARRIVAL (1991)

It's about a fresh look at how

like a strange egg. That strange, perfect [shape] felt ominous, mysterious, frightening to me." The enigmatic, shell-like craft that park themselves over twelve seemingly random locations on

simple and raw life can be for human beings on Earth, and how simple and raw it could be for an alien intelligence

otherworldliness was also crucial to the film’s success and presented

Before he was making Riddick movies, writer-director David Twohy helmed this X-Files inspired conspiracy thriller in which Charlie Sheen uncovers an alien plot to change the Earth's climate. THE ARRIVAL (1996)

Villeneuve with the challenge of creating unique alien designs beyond audience preconceptions. The director notes that he wanted the creatures – called ‘heptapods’

Earth are as alien as their inhabitants, but they also have a symbolic significance, according to Villeneuve. "There was a relationship with life, with birth, that was perfect for the idea behind the spaceship," he explains. "We thought… that the spaceship should be made from matter that's not from Earth. It's not a shiny spaceship. It's not white, or made of metal or plastic, it's made of a strange stone. We aren't sure what this is exactly. We can't even guess." "Every time they enter into the spaceship," adds Young, "as a viewer you want to go back there, because it's the one space in the film where you can see things, where you can understand what it means to watch human beings evolve. The other place is a little bit darker, a little bit dirtier, as Denis and I would call it. There's a visual trajectory about starting

in the film – to possess a strong sense of presence and intelligence, like a whale or an elephant. Moreover, their spacecraft and technology also had to be unlike anything we had seen before. "Oftentimes in sci-fi films human beings have so much influence on our interpretation of what alien intelligence is," says Young. "This is about backing away from that. What if human beings never had contact with aliens? Would they have alloys? Metals? Would they arrive with all the things that we assume because we, as human intelligence, have access to these things? "It's about a fresh look at how simple and raw life can be for human beings on Earth and how simple and raw it could be for an alien intelligence. We wanted to scale it down and make it very personal – that's been our focus from the beginning, making a very innocent, personal film but with scale." Villenueve notes that he initially conceived the alien spacecrafts as spheres, before

Patrick Muldoon continues half-brother Charlie Sheen's efforts to expose the aliens among us in this sequel to the 1996 film. Also known as The Second Arrival , despite the fact that the aliens are already here. ARRIVAL II (1998)

in a dark place, which is the unknown, and ending in a place that's a little more elevated, which is about enlightening oneself and coming to a realisation of who we are as human beings."

ABBA – ARRIVAL

• Arrival is out on Feb 22

Featuring hits like "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Money, Money, Money", the Swedish popsters' 1976 album is one of their most successful records. (That's enough arrivals, time to depart – Ed.)

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CHOOSEMUSIC

T2 Trainspotting ORIGINALMOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

In Stores 10 Feb Featuring Iggy Pop High Contrast Young Fathers Wolf Alice Blondie Queen Underworld

GAMES FEATURE

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Last month, we got hands-on with Nintendo’s latest console – the Switch. Words Alesha Kolbe

T he last entry into the home entertainment market from the makers of Mario was the Wii U back in 2012. In the lead-up to the reveal of its new hardware in October last year, rumours were circulating and pundits predicting just what Nintendo had in store for its next foray into the console market. Formerly known under its working title of NX, the Nintendo Switch is a console designed for use both in the comfort of your own home and on the run. Boasting a 6.2” touchscreen and two detachable Joy-Con controllers (yeah, they’re actually called that), the console is as innovative as it is daring. But does it work? In short, the answer is yes. The Switch has Nintendo’s brand written all over it, from the A/B/X/Y button configuration to the coloured – and appropriately named – Joy-Con controllers. The press event held in Melbourne filled a room with everything Nintendo had to offer us, along with over 100 media and industry representatives eager to see – and play – the Switch. Directly inside was an intriguing giant glass case ( 1-2-Switch – we’ll get to that later) and

despite unfortunately not being bundled with the console. The Switch's screen itself is comparatively small, however thankfully doesn't quite reach the overwhelming size of the Wii U GamePad. When swapping the console fromTV to handheld, the split between screens is almost seamless. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is, as expected, a heap of fun. It’s a port of 8 from the Wii U with all the DLC included, and even sees the return of Battle Mode; longtime fans of the game will particularly enjoy this touch of nostalgia. The Joy-Cons in this game are comfortable enough, but we can see the edges becoming irritating after long periods of time. Before you ask – yes, there is a wheel. A pleasant surprise (following its underwhelming reveal trailer) was Arms . If you’re having trouble imagining it, think Wii Sports Boxing meets Street Fighter. You have a roster of characters to choose from, each with varying manoeuvrability, whose gloves you can then customise to each hand. In-game, you use the Joy-Cons to pummel your opponent to oblivion, providing quite the cardio workout. Arms ’ appeal lies in its absolute absurdity, and

...designed for use both in the comfort of your own home and on the run

dotted around the outside of the room were the rest of the highly-anticipated titles. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had a queue no matter when you walked past – and rightly so. Having checked this out in a Wii U build previously, it was refreshing to finally see it on what appeared to be the platform it was designed for. The Pro controller is the more comfortable control scheme for Breath of the Wild ,

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Very mild violence, online interactivity

GAMES FEATURE

continued

Milk

Quick Draw

Arms' appeal lies in its absolute absurdity... a trend amongst Switch games

interpretation as to what you need to do to pass. Overall, Nintendo made

how much of an idiot you look like while you’re doing it – something of a trend amongst Switch games. Which brings us to

it clear throughout the day that its ultimate aim with the Switch is to bridge the divide between home console and mobile gaming. The

1-2-Switch . This is shaping up to be the Wii Play of the Switch, with a bunch of mini- games showcasing the HD Rumble

Switch is undeniably innovative, with its "pick-up-and-play' portability likely to be a hit with children and those with active lifestyles. The software line-up at launch is looking a little light – if you're not a Zelda fan, that is –

Pak in the Joy-Cons. Other games of note include Ball Count, Milk , and Quickdraw – the titles of which are self-explanatory. Ball Count uses the Joy-Cons to let you try and guess how many balls are inside the controller simply

NES

Advanced Video System SNES

but Nintendo have promised there's more to come later in the year. With little commitment from third-party publishers at this stage, outside of a selection of ports (is FIFA really a good fit for Switch?), we're hoping there will be some major

by moving it around, while Milk involves milking a cow, which is downright hilarious to watch. Quickdraw is a title likely to be popular with gamers; essentially a Mexican stand-off that allows you to psych out your opponent before shooting them. Probably the best part about

Super Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo 64 GameCube Wii Wii U Nintendo Switch

Project Reality Dolphin Revolution Project Café NX

• The Nintendo Switch is out Mar 3

software announcements at the E3 press conferences in Los Angeles this coming June. As far as the hardware is concerned, the Joy-Cons are a good addition, but it's disappointing that the Pro isn't included in the box and the small size of the Joy-Con controllers is unlikely to appeal to everyone. Despite the omission of new Mario sandbox Super Mario Odyssey , the event provided a comprehensive look at the Nintendo Switch and a great opportunity to get some time with it ahead of the March release. Switch is an exciting new concept and we're looking forward to seeing how publishers will utilise it.

1-2-Switch is the noticeable lack of need to look at the screen – all you have to do is listen, allowing you to stare down your opponent in-game. We even got to Octopi [apologies - Ed] our time with Splatoon 2 (which should definitely be called Spla2oon ). The sequel for the Switch is similar to the first game but with new weapons; and still just as much fun. One of the presentation's stand-outs was Snipperclips , a co-op puzzle platformer. You play as either Snip or Clip and the object of the game is to cut bits off each other to navigate the game world and solve puzzles. Don't expect any help from the game though; hints are kept to a minimum, leaving it open to your own

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Close encounters of the lingual kind. ARRIVAL

Release Date: 22/02/17 Format:

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Xenolinguistics: Understanding Arrival Eternal Recurrence: The Score

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Acoustic Signatures: The Sound Design

Nonlinear Thinking: The Editing Process Principles of Time, Memory and Language

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is recruited by a US military colonel (Forest Whitaker) after 12 shell-like 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, she faces a race against time to discover whether they are friend or foe.

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DID YOU KNOW...

A fully functioning, visual, alien language was created for the film, along with a “logogram bible,” which included over a hundred different, completely operative logograms – seventy-one of which are actually featured in the movie.

Working with a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner), Banks realises that the 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 sci-fi genre is at its best when exploring philosophical

themes and the human condition, and this haunting addition is as much about love, loss and the paths we choose in life as it is about making contact with an alien species. Denis Villeneuve’s films ( Incendies , Prisoners , Sicario )all possess a moody ambience, which translates well to science fiction – Blade Runner 2049 is in very capable hands. SH

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Cruising for a bruising. JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK

Release Date: 22/02/17

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Reacher Returns No Quarter Given: Rooftop Battle

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An Unexpected Family Relentless: On Location in Louisiana Take Your Revenge First: Lethal Combat Reacher in Focus: With Tom Cruise and Photographer David James Never Go Back is based on the eighteenth Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. ‘One Shot’, the basis of the first film, Jack Reacher (2012), is the ninth book in the series.

Cops show up at a diner where a brawl’s gone down, with one guy taking down all comers. That guy is Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), and he’s not the one who’ll be leaving the scene in handcuffs... A former US Army major, Reacher’s living a transient life as he tries to get things together. A dinner date with current major Susan Turner ( The Avengers ’ Cobie

DID YOU KNOW...

Smulders) may help him turn his life around, but when he discovers that she’s been accused of espionage and detained – and if that isn’t enough, he also learns of a possible ghost from his past – it’s time for this ex-military man to do his thing. This involves everything from going on the lam with Turner to prove her innocence, to a spot of

teenager babysitting, time in prison, and a rollicking rooftop rumble. If – despite innumerable Mission: Impossible flicks – you still can’t quite buy Cruise as an action hero, then Jack Reacher: Never Go Back isn’t likely to change your mind. But if you can open it a little, you’ll discover a disarming and often genuinely exciting action romp. AF

FURTHER VIEWING

Jack Reacher

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REVIEWS DVD&BD

The sum of all fears. THE ACCOUNTANT

Blowing the whistle on a whistleblower. SNOWDEN

Release Date: 15/02/17

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Release Date: 01/02/17

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Looking for somebody to do your tax? You might begin a search with ‘A’ –“Hmm, ‘Aardvark Accounting’? Sounds promising!” But ‘ZZZ Accounting’? That’s having a laugh. Actually it’s just because Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) needs a legit-looking front for his accounting business, which is decidedly non-legit in that he cooks books for nefarious types. Having avoided the law for years, Chris, whose numerical abilities stem from high-functioning autism, finds himself pursued by Treasury Department hotshot J.K. Simmons (and if you’ve seen Whiplash , you

Many encounter injustice and turn a blind eye. Edward Snowden, who joined the CIA (and later the NSA) after having to leave the army due to a gammy leg, saw it and did something about it – at great personal sacrifice. This is the story of his whistleblowing ways, as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and told by Oliver Stone. We begin in Hong Kong with journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo), both of whom Snowden trusts to get the story of US surveillance overreach out. We

know you don’t want J.K. on your tail). Let the battle of wits begin... Sorry numbers people, but a movie simply about accountancy would be tedious. Mercifully, The Accountant sees intrigue piled upon intrigue, and more blistering action than you’d reasonably expect from a crime drama. AF

flashback to Snowden’s army days, and variously through events which led him to ultimately make his bold decision. Those of a conspiratorial bent may be suspicious of Stone’s motives, but when he makes a flick this enthralling, we’re happy to sit back and indulge him. AF

Love demands everything. THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

A chip off the old Scott. MORGAN

Release Date: 08/02/17

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Release Date: 15/02/17

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Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender) has just made it back fromWWI alive, but he witnessed many atrocities. Wishing for a sea change he goes all out, taking a solo job keeping a lighthouse on a tiny island off the Western Australian coast. After some long distance flirting, he’s later joined by Isabel Graysmark (Alicia Vikander) and they set about starting a family – hey, it isn’t like there’s much else to do when the piano’s broken! After suffering two traumatic losses it appears that they’re not meant to be parents. But then a baby washes up

Imagine being the kid of a renowned director. Now imagine being the kid of a renowned, genre-defining sci-fi director and making your own sci-fi movie. That’s the pressure cooker task that Ridley’s son Luke Scott has taken on with this sci-fi meets slasher flick, and we reckon daddy would be proud – if not itching to give the kid a few pointers. It kicks off with risk assessment specialist Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) heading to a remote location to investigate an issue with an artificial human prototype. It chucked a massive tantie and injured one of

in a rowboat. They take her in as their own, but the decision will have consequences... Adapted from M.L. Stedman’s 2012 novel and directed by Derek CIanfrance ( Blue Valentine ), this tear-jerking drama is bolstered by classic Aussie acting muscle like Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown and Garry McDonald. AF

the site’s workers, yet everybody here seems completely enamoured of the robo-being, who despite having a young woman’s body is only five- years old. In the face of much opposition, Lee has to decide whether to continue with the experiment, or have it terminated... AF

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Justice isn't a crime HELL OR HIGH WATER

Death knows no borders FEAR THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON 2

Format:

Release Date: 08/02/17

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Release Date: 08/02/17

What do you do if the bank’s screwing you around, itching to foreclose on your family’s ranch? Well, if you’re Texan brothers Tanner and Toby Howard (Ben Foster and Chris Pine) you’d rob some of their branches, launder the money and then pay off what’s owed to the bank with their very own funds, setting your estranged kids up for life – especially as oil’s recently been found on the land. That’s the gist of this western-tinged heist thriller, which finds beauty in the desolate landscapes of post-GFC times where everybody’s struggling – we

With the episode count upped from six to fifteen, and a mid-season break in between, the second season of this prologue to the zombie apocalpyse emerges from the shadow of its more popular sibling series, although it does share some of the problems that continue to plague TWD – namely cheats involving the fate of some of the characters, who'll begin to grow on you after an alienating introduction in season one. FTWD season two charts a different course, with Madison (Kim Dickens), Travis (Cliff Curtis) and family setting sail for a safer port – zombies

lost count of properties for sale and billboards flogging quick loans. Add a pair of staunch, acerbic Texas rangers in Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham, superb writing, the odd LOL moment and an ending that comes all too soon, and you've got one terrific Texan treat. AF

can't swim, right? – only to encounter a different kind of peril on the ocean (have none of them seen Dead Calm ?). Much of the second half takes place in Mexico, where every day is the Day of the Dead. AMC have renewed the show for a third season, which is due to air this year. SH

OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL

AMERICAN HONEY

CARNAGE PARK

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES

Release Date: 08/02/17 Format:

Release Date: 22/02/17 Format:

Release Date: 01/02/17 Format:

Release Date: 08/02/17 Format:

Even the most genuinely clairvoyant would have been hard-pressed to have foreseen a second movie based on the Ouija board game being made, yet here it is! Taking us back to 1967 Los Angeles – complete with classic Universal logo – we set about ticking things off the checklist. Widow? Yep. Older daughter? Uh-huh. Younger daughter ripe for possession? You bet. A priest? Duh! Evil spirits? Naturally! We may sound dismissive, for Ouija: Origin of Evil certainly goes for the tropes, but following a gradual build involving the family’s shonky fortune-telling business becoming all too real, it really lets loose some scare-tinged, M-rated popcorn pleasure. AF

British filmmaker Andrea Arnold ( Fish Tank ) adopts the voyeuristic style favoured by Harmony Korine for this episodic road trip into the American heartland in the company of a group of impoverishered youths flogging magazine subscriptions to people who don't want them, or can't afford them. The focus is on newcomer Star (Sasha Lane), who joins the team after locking eyes with Jake (Shia LaBeouf) in a Walmart – their fractious relationship providing the dramatic impetus in lieu of a narrative. Measured but captivating, American Honey is raw and real; a breath of fresh Midwestern air after being suffocated by so many superheroes and special effects. SH

Deliverance meets 1970s exploitation by way of Quentin Tarantino in this horror/thriller mash-up from Mickey Keating, the guy behind Pod and Darling . It all begins with a botched bank job, a gunshot wound and a hasty escape to the middle of nowhere. Or, more specifically, the middle of a property owned by one Wyatt Moss (Pat Healy), an ex-military sniper and certifiable yokel sicko. Bullets fly, blood spurts and our heroine, Vivian (Ashley Bell), appears, having been kidnapped and jammed in the boot by the wannabe bank robbers. So begins a cat and mouse game between Wyatt and Vivian with only one thing missing – banjos! AF

Move over Brangelina and shuffle sideways Jackie Chan, for it’s Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher’s turn to don their Agent 86 and 99 hats as Jeff and Karen Gaffney, when spies move into their cosseted cul-de-sac. They’d be Tim and Natalie Jones (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot), although obviously they’re not shouting their career choice from any rooftops. Instead they’re trying to inveigle their way into the aerospace company that employs Jeff and most of the suburb. It’s your everyday everyman and everywoman become spies and travel-the-world action comedy, but with many laughs and much charm. AF

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PREVIEWS GAMES

GENRE: RTS PLATFORM: XBO RELEASE: 21/02/17 MULTIPLAYER: YES

HALO WARS 2

While PC users have no shortage of great real time strategy games, those who’ve hitched their wagons to consoles have been left wanting. As such, 2009’s Halo Wars on Xbox 360 was a shining beacon for fans of the genre – not just because it existed, but because it was also really good! Total War people Creative Assembly have been drafted for this sequel that’s (obviously) set in Halo’s sci-fi universe. It’s the year 2559, twenty-eight years on from the events of the first Halo Wars and not

long after those of Halo 5: Guardians . As part of the UNSC Spirit of Fire crew (should you wish to be on the side of all that’s good, of course), you awake from cryosleep to discover that as far as the UNSC is concerned, your entire ship is MIA, presumed dead. Much has changed; with the Covenant defeated there’s a new enemy in the Banished, led by big Brute Atriox. The main campaign mode deals 13 missions, and co-op gameplay is go. That’s not the only multiplayer

option though, as up to six players can battle online. From the card-influenced sorties of ‘Blitz’ to ‘Deathmatch’, ‘Skirmish’ ‘Stronghold’ and ‘Domination’, there’s plenty to keep master strategists coming back for more.

If you liked this, you may also like... XCOM 2, Tropico 5

POOCHY & YOSHI'S WOOLLY WORLD

HITMAN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

GENRE: PLATFORMER PLATFORM: 3DS RELEASE: 04/02/17 MULTIPLAYER: YES

GENRE: ACT/ADV PLATFORM: PS4 | XBO RELEASE: OUT NOW MULTIPLAYER: NO

In 2015, Mario’s favourite dinosaur made a welcome return to starring roles after almost 20 years of avoiding home consoles. Despite portable cameos, much conjecture flew regarding his whereabouts during that time – and we won’t add to it. What we will say though, is that this outing for he-of-the-hyperextending-tongue sees that wild and

People have long mused about the convergence of movies and games. Not content with that, Agent 47 has followed many a fine actor in realising that episodic exploits are where it’s at now. This compilation of the six episodes of the first “season” of last year’s Hitman rebirth is a great way to binge play if you missed their first airing. Oh, and if you did miss them, you may like to know that this sandbox sneak-’em-up is set seven years after Hitman: Absolution ,

wonderfully woolly Wii U platformer shrunken to fit perfectly on the 3DS – but with more content! Yes, that Poochy in the title – no relation to Itchy & Scratchy’s ratings-courting hipster pal – is a super cute pup who stars in bonus ‘Poochy Dash’ levels. Add new animations, extended Amiibo support and optional hints, and this is one fabulous yarn!

and continues the exploits of everybody’s fave genetically-enhanced, stealthy slaphead assassin. Close range, long range, sneaky or overt, you decide how to make each seemingly unrelated hit stick.

If you liked this, you may also like... Kirby: Planet Robobot, New Super Mario Bros. 2

If you liked this, you may also like... Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2

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