STACK #148 Feb 2017

CINEMA REVIEWS

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SPLIT

ALSO SCREENING IN FEBRUARY

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan CAST: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy RATING: M

Night falls.

M. Night Shyamalan might be cinema's greatest one trick pony. After making an auspicious debut in 1999 with The Sixth Sense and an Oscar nomination for Best Director, it's been all downhill ever since with a series of films predicated on twist endings ( Signs, The Village, The Lady in the Water, The Happening ) that became progressively more preposterous. Nothing has changed – his latest film, Split , is quintessential Shyamalan and the twist here is that he hasn't learned from past mistakes. James McAvoy plays a guy named Kevin, and Dennis, and Barry, as well as a prim woman named Patricia and a lisping child called Hedwig. These are just five of the 23 personalities inhabiting this sufferer

of Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder), who has abducted a trio of students (Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula) and imprisoned them in a basement for some sinister purpose. Split resembles a bad Dean Koontz novel or a rejected X-Files script, with the narrative alternating between the girls' encounters with Kevin's different personas – appealing to the benevolent ones, inciting the wrath of the more malicious – and the revelation uncovered by his elderly psychiatrist (Betty Buckley) concerning the nature of his disorder and the possibility that a 24th personality is struggling to emerge. Then there are the flashbacks to Taylor-Joy's childhood involving a hunting trip with her father and uncle, that may have some significance to her present predicament. And who or what is the mysterious 'Beast' that's so ominously name- dropped throughout, and will it actually show up? Assembling Shyamalan's enigmatic jigsaw of a plot and attempting to pre-empt the inevitable climactic reveal is ultimately an exercise in futility – Split is all set-up with little payoff, and the coda smacks of conceit. McAvoy, however, is enormous fun and his blatantly showy performance is almost worth the price of admission. Scott Hocking edit of the piece. The story is unconventionally structured, jumping between Jackie's distress following the shooting in Dallas, her confiding in a priest (John Hurt), and a recreation of the 1962 documentary on the White House refurbishment that showcases her public persona. It's the scenes aboard Air Force One in the wake of the tragedy and Jackie's subsequent return home that resonate most strongly – wandering shell- shocked through an empty White House with her husband's blood still splashed across her pink outfit, her grief is palpable. With her striking physical resemblance and distinctive diction, Natalie Portman nails it, personifying a woman both fragile and strong, and fiercely resolute in her desire to preserve the Kennedy legacy. Frequently shot in extreme close-up, Jackie keeps us in the immediate sphere of its subject and the result is an extremely melancholic experience that runs contrary to expectations for a film of this type. There's a scene in the aforementioned White House doco where John F. Kennedy states its purpose is to offer a more intimate look at the people behind the legends, and that's exactly what Larrain's remarkable film does. Scott Hocking

"Choose looking up old friends.... Choose watching history repeat itself..." It's been too long – 20 years in fact – since we last hung out with Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begby in Danny Boyle's Brit-classic. Choose your seats on Feb 23 , but for now, turn to page 14 for our interview with star Jonny Lee Miller. T2: TRAINSPOTTING

JACKIE

And hopefully fifty shades sexier. After a surprisingly tame introduction to Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the first film, a Fatal Attraction -like sub-plot promises to turn up the heat. Opens Feb 9 in time for Valentine's Day. FIFTY SHADES DARKER

RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Pablo Larraín CAST: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard RATING: MA15+

Portrait of a First Lady.

Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain's portrait of iconic First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is less a biopic than an intensely intimate character study. There's a lot of life to cover so Jackie narrows its focus to the week following the assassination of JFK and its devastating impact upon his widow. Noah Oppenheim's exquisitely layered screenplay is informed by an interview conducted by LIFE journalist Theodore H. White (played by Billy Crudup but unnamed in the film), and begins with an initially frosty reception between the two as Jackie lays out her terms, which includes a final

Matt Damon and the guy from Game of Thrones are recruited to defend the Great Wall of China from a monstrous invasion force that threatens the historical site on Feb 16 . THE GREAT WALL

Set thirteen years after the films starring Naomi Watts, the curse of Samara is updated for the internet age as a viral video. But will it still be as scary as that terrifying tape? Find out, if you dare, on Feb 23 . RINGS

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FEBRUARY 2017

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