STACK #157 Nov 2017

REVIEWS CINEMA

DETROIT

ALSO SCREENING IN NOVEMBER

RELEASED: Nov 9 DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow CAST: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Will Poulter RATING: MA15+

Riot rocked city.

A new film from Kathryn Bigelow is always an event, and Detroit delivers the kinetic brand of filmmaking we've come to expect from the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker. Bigelow's first feature since Zero Dark Thirty in 2012 reunites her with screenwriter Mark Boal for a searing account of the riots that rocked the eponymous city in the summer of 1967. It's an intense experience shot with the same documentary style and verisimilitude as the hunt for Obama in ZDT. The urban segregation of whites and African-Americans in the Motor City created a pressure cooker situation that explodes

following a police raid on a late-night club. Looting and arson turns the city into a war zone for five days, and after depositing the audience at ground zero, the film turns its focus to the Algiers Hotel where a bit of foolishness involving a guest and a toy starter pistol sparks fears of a sniper, triggering a brutal and bigoted response from the attending police officers. Caught up in the motel mayhem are an aspiring Motown singer (Algee Smith), a security guard (John Boyega) and two white girls (Kaitlyn Dever and Hannah Murray), all of whom are powerless to stop a hotheaded young police officer (an excellent Will Poulter) from dispensing rough justice for a crime that wasn't committed. It's not hard to see why Detroit wasn't a hit in the States – the sensitive subject hits too close to home. Although much has changed since the events of 1967, the incident at the Algiers serves as a sobering reminder of a battle that wasn't won in a war that continues to be fought. Bigelow's powerhouse dramatisation doesn't pull any punches, nor should it. Scott Hocking The common denominator is that the victims are all in rocky marriages and have children, and a sinister snowman is left as a calling card at the crime scenes. The Snowman has all the ingredients for a great thriller. It’s Nordic noir, it’s got Fassbender and the director of Let the Right One In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , magnificent Norwegian snowscapes, and a fantastic supporting cast – Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, J.K. Simmons, Chloë Sevigny. But sadly, it’s glacially paced with a convoluted plot, and Fassbender spends the entire film looking glum, as though he’s just read the reviews for Assassin’s Creed . Sluggish when it should be suspenseful, a serial killer thriller with such a strong pedigree shouldn’t be this dull. Something obviously got lost in translation, and things may have been different had this not been an English- language film. If you’re looking for a quality Nesbø adaptation, check out the terrific Headhunters instead. Scott Hocking

JUSTICE LEAGUE

What do you get when you assemble Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, The Flash and Superman (but isn't he dead?) in one movie? Hopefully an awesome superhero outing. DC is back and gritty as ever with their equivalent of the Avengers. Earth is under attack and the assault is bigger and seemingly darker this time around, leading Bats and Diana to enlist help from other super-types to form a formidable fighting force. The League unite on Nov 16.

THE SNOWMAN

The puzzle here is how can maniac John Kramer be setting new death traps when he's been dead for ten years? Yes, the Saw franchise has returned, with the Spierig Brothers ( Predestination ) at the helm. And where there's Saw, there's gore. Nov 2 . JIGSAW

RELEASED: Oct 19 DIRECTORS: Tomas Alfredson CAST: Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson RATING: MA15+

Oslo detective Harry Hole is one of prolific Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø’s most popular creations, appearing in eleven novels to date – the seventh being The Snowman , which is also Harry’s movie debut. But if you haven’t read any Nesbø, this film isn’t the best introduction to the character. On screen he’s a bit of a cipher; a moody, vodka-swilling gumshoe (played by Michael Fassbender) who’s eventually spurred into action when the first winter snow brings with it a serial killer who decapitates and dismembers women. Likely to receive a frosty reception.

The Bad Moms are getting into the Christmas spirit(s), and have brought their own mothers along for the ride. As if they weren’t stressed enough already? The badness begins on Nov 2 . BAD MOMS 2

Kenneth Branagh sports a killer 'tache as super sleuth Hercule Poirot. He also directs this star- studded update of Agatha Christie's classic whodunit? All aboard on Nov 9 . MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

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