STACK #152 Jun 2017

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Contributors

Founder Nic Short Editor-in-Chief Paul Jones Film & DVD Editor Scott Hocking

Music Editor Zoë Radas StaffWriter Alesha Kolbe Creative Directors Justin Buxton, Michelle Black DVD Consultant Kerrie Taylor Games Consultant Andre Eivik Music Consultants Mike Glynn, Fleur Parker Chief Contributors Bob Jones , Gill Pringle Contributors Savannah Douglas, Graham Reid, Amy Flower, John Ferguson, Michael Dwyer, Jeff Jenkins, Simon Lukic, Chris Murray, Billy Pinnell, Denise Hylands, Simon Winkler, Adam Colby, Tim Lambert, Jake Cleland, Holly Pereira Social Media Manager Sally Carlier-Hull Production Manager Craig Patterson Accounts Coordinator Tracy Kingman

Issue 152 JUNE 2017

WELCOME Where do you stand on superhero movies? It’s a divisive genre, characterised by massive budgets and a predilection for world-building over storytelling. A seemingly inexhaustible conveyor belt of releases has become a dominant commercial force over the last ten years. The rise of Marvel Studios – the perfect foil to Disney’s other powerhouse franchise, Star Wars – has an enviable output, and while DC hasn’t enjoyed the same level of success as yet, comic book movies remain a massive business. But not everyone shares an unbridled enthusiasm for the genre. In a 2014 interview, Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu scornfully called superhero flicks “cultural suicide” and he’s not alone in declaring his disdain. Ridley Scott, John McTiernan, William Friedkin and David Cronenberg have all voiced ardent disapproval for these cinematic comic creations. But are film lovers also starting to experience superhero fatigue? Although box office might indicate otherwise, market saturation and audience familiarity has required a fundamental shift in the genre, which began with last year’s subversive Deadpool and is further refined in this month’s equally atypical Logan . Director James Mangold’s vision of the superhero movie as a gritty western noir is the first compelling comic book movie for adults, bereft of the hyperbole, overt fan service, clichés and CGI overload that has become a staple. The gauntlet has been thrown down for other filmmakers brave enough to take a creative risk and re-forge the template into something new and unexpected. Paul Jones, Editor-in-Chief

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