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Kingsman • E3 • Gin Wigmore

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Issue 64 JUly 2015

Games Editor Paul Jones Creative Director Karl Lock DVD Consultant Jason Hewitt

ISSUE64 JUL '15

EDITOR’S LETTER I t’s been and gone for another year, but attendees of the half days. In recent years we have generally left the show mildly deflated, feeling that pre-show publisher promises have rarely been fulfilled. But not E3 2015. No, this show kept the tempo at a beat that was practically impossible to keep up with. From the monumental announcements at the press conferences that brought fully grown human beings to their knees in joy, to the exciting advancements in Virtual Reality technology, the video game show of shows did not disappoint. With the world looking on, the visionary industry creating the games for the new-gen consoles finally delivered a preview of the exciting future awaiting hardcore and casual gamers alike. Fortunately, STACK had someone on the ground in Los Angeles to cover the show, so grab a cup of tea, put your feet up, read on, and prepare to be excited about the future. It’s here! However, we haven’t forgotten about our film and music readers this month and as well as features on the likes of Kingsman: The Secret Service and SpongeBob SquarePants , we also have interviews with homegrown heroes such as Gin Wigmore , Avalanche City and Weta supremo Sir Richard Taylor . Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, would’ve undoubtedly left this year elated at what was presented to them over two and a

Games Consultant Sachi Fernando Production Manager Craig Patterson Social Media Manager Sally Carlier-Hull Contributors

Graham Reid, Judy Ewens, Gareth Thompson, Duncan Holland, Scott

Hocking, Jonathan Alley, Zoë Radas, Gill Pringle, Alesha Kolbe, Doug Wallen, Ryan Huff, Simon Lukic, Michael Dwyer, Chris Murray, Doug Wallen, Denise Hylands, Bec Rowlands Correspondence 31B Bertram Street Warkworth Auckland 0910

KINGSMAN • E3 • GINWIGMORE

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All information believed correct at time of printing. All images used for promotional purposes only. Copyright of respective owners is acknowledged. © 2015 Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher. Further details read fine print

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pg 21-28

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The large print giveth, the small print taketh away. RIPRufus (Jack) 2002–2014

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JB Hi-Fi has lined up a rather spiffing special Blu-ray edition of the blockbuster comedy spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service , which is out this month.The limited edition set includes a 24 page comic from Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons’ classic series The Secret Service , TAILORMADE FOR BLU

Deathgasm

the inspiration for director Matthew Vaughn’s box office smash. Vaughn and Millar previously collaborated on the cult action flicks Kickass 1-2 . For more, see p16. Kingsman: The Secret Service is out now

This year’s New Zealand Film Festival boasts a typically eclectic line-up. HOMEMADE SPLATTER AND ARTHOUSE FAVES

This year’s E3 in Los Angeles was one of the best yet, in terms of both content and hands-on access. Our team on the floor for the biggest videogame event on the calendar report that there’s plenty for gamers to look forward to in the next 12 months. Whether it be blockbusters such as Halo 5 and Star Wars Battlefront, or new IP such as Ashen , developed here in NZ by Aurora 44. Although the announcement that took everybody by surprise was the news that Xbox One will be backwards compatible with a huge range of games. HANDS ON AT E3

T he 2015 festival kicks off in

from this year’s festival, including Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’s surreal jury prize winner The Lobster , which stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, and the Taiwanese historical epic The Assassin , which earned Hou Hsiao-hsien the best director prize. Other Cannes favourites include the French drama The Measure of a Man , which earned Vincent

Auckland on July 16

and will run through to August 2. The Wellington dates are July 24 to August 9, followed by Dunedin (July 30-August 16) and Christchurch (August 7- 23); and then onto the regions. Although this year’s

Tale Of Tales

NZFF will see premieres for acclaimed Hollywood flicks such as crime drama A Most Violent Year and the sci-fi thriller Ex_Machina , the hottest tickets look to be an impressive line-up of films from this year Cannes Film Festival, together with some intriguing new homegrown productions. In the latter category, we’re particularly looking forward to Jason Lei Howden’s Kiwi heavy metal horror flick Deathgasm , in which two teenagers inadvertently summon up an ancient evil entity. It’s co-produced by Ant Timpson, who curates the ‘Incredibly Strange’ part of the NZFF and also had a hand in another flick screening in this year’s programme, the affectionate ‘80s throwback Turbo Kids , a Canadian BMX action comedy. Other NZ features to look out for includes Costa Botes’ and Sven Pannell’s uplifting doco Act of Kindness , Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema from critic Tim Wong, and Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses , which explores the case of a young Wainuiomata woman who died during a makutu lifting in 2007. From Cannes, NZFF has secured 17 films

Lindon the best actor prize, Matteo Garrone’s stylishly twisted fairytale anthology Tale of Tales , with Salma Hayek and John C Reilly, and Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld , the latest from maverick Japanese director Miike Takashi. Ex_Machina

For a full report on E3 2015, see pages 21-28.

Meanwhile, the stories of two very different soul greats lead the music line-up for this year’s festival. Amy is Senna director Asif Kapadia’s

controversial portrait of the late British singer Amy Winehouse, whose family have already disowned the movie. The British singer’s tragically short-lived career is contrasted at the festival with Mavis! , a celebratory tribute to the legendary gospel and soul singer Mavis Staples. Other essential documentaries for music fans will be Lambert & Stamp , which profiles the managers of The Who, East End wide boy Chris Stamp – brother of Terence – and Kit Lambert, and From Scotland with Love , a vibrant collaboration between ex-pat New Zealand director Virginia Heath and prolific Scottish indie folksinger King Creosote.

US-conquering Kiwi hard rockers Like A Storm will release their second full length studio album Awaken The Fire on July 31. The follow- up to last year’s Chaos Theory Part One EP , it’s the Aucklanders first album for new label Another Century Records and arrives as the band continues to make in-roads in the US. The second single from the album, Wish You Hell , has become the song from a NZ act to crack the US Hard Rock Radio top 20.

Visit www.nzff.co.nz for full details

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DÉJÀ VU IN BLU AT JB! Comedy classics Groundhog Day and Tootsie exclusively on Blu-ray at JB Hi-Fi.

Murray also has a memorable supporting role in another JB Blu-ray exclusive out on July 15: the 1982 comedy Tootsie , which stars Dustin Hoffman as a struggling actor who disguises himself as a woman to land a role on a soap opera. Murray plays his playwright roommate, while Jessica Lange earned a best supporting actress Oscar as one of his show co-stars. Another must-have Blu-ray classic out this month through JB is Rob Reiner’s touching coming-of-age drama Stand By Me ( 1986). Based on a Stephen King novella, the film

follows four young boys – River Phoenix, Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman and an almost unrecognisable Jerry O’Connell – who set out to find the body of a kid hit by a train. JB Hi-Fi’s July collection of Blu-ray exclusives is completed by the cult comedy Joe Dirt (2001), starring David Spade in the title role and featuring Christopher Walken, Jaime Pressly and Kid Rock. The timing couldn’t be better, with most of the original cast having recently reunited for a sequel Joe Dirt: Beautiful Loser, which is set for release in the US this month.

Groundhog Day

Due out on July 15, the celebrated comedy from the late Harold Ramis stars Murray as an obnoxious weatherman who gets trapped in nightmarish time warp while on assignment in a sleepy small town. Every morning he wakes up, it’s Groundhog Day !

MORE DISNEY LIVE ACTION CLASSICS LAST LED ZEP REISSUES Jimmy Page is wrapping up his deluxe reissue programme for Led Zeppelin’s studio catalogue, with the last three sets due on July 31. As with the previous sets, the rock W alt Disney looks as if it is sticking with its strategy of re-making its animated with The Jungle Book (2016) and Beauty and The Beast (2017) set to be followed by the likes of Mulan , Winnie The Pooh and Pinocchio . Ironically, the one reboot we are

blockbusters, with the news that the studio has a sequel to Maleficent in development.

gods’ final studio albums Presence (1976), In Through The Out Door (1979) and the posthumous Coda (1982) will be available in a variety of CD and vinyl configurations, and will include a wealth of previously unreleased material. Coda may turn out to be the jewel in the crown, despite the fact that it was made up of previously unreleased recordings. For its deluxe reissue, Page has assembled another two discs worth of rarities including a frenetic blues jam entitled Suga Mama from 1968 and tracks from sessions the Led Zep guitarist and singer Robert Plant recorded in 1972 in India with the Bombay Orchestra.

unlikely to see for some time is the animated movie which started it all, the 1937 classic Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs; that’s probably

Although there has been no official announcements, the US trades report that a Maleficent 2 is on the cards and Angelina Jolie is likely to reprise her role. The success of the first Sleeping Beauty reboot and Cinderella has seen Disney greenlight a number of other live action remakes,

because there have already been two recent reboots, Mirror Mirror and Snow

White and the Huntsman. However, the good news is

that the ground-breaking original is reissued this month on Blu-ray . EVERETT NEW NEMESIS FOR MUSKETEERS

Rupert Everett has signed on as the villain for the third season of the BBC hit The Musketeers . Peter Capaldi played the show’s original bad guy Cardinal Richelieu in the first series, but his subsequent Doctor Who commitments meant that Marc Warren took over the mantle as Comte de Rochefort for the second series, which is out this month on DVD. Now it’s the turn of Everett – most recently seen as King George in A Royal Night Out

– who will play Marquis de Feron, the corrupt Governor of Paris and illegitimate brother to Louis XIII. “I’m very excited to be joining the cast of The Musketeers for the new series,” says Everett. “I love the show and am really looking forward to working with the team.” Shooting is currently underway, but screening dates are still to be announced.

Anna Kendrick just can’t get enough of music movies. Hot on the heels of Into The Woods , this month sees the DVD and Blu-ray release of Off-Broadway hit The Last Five Years , a bittersweet musical deconstruction of a love affair. And that will be followed in August by the return of Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the rest of the Bellas in the smash hit Pitch Perfect 2 ; she also confirmed last month that a third movie is due in 2017.

The Musketeers: Series

Two is due out on July 22

The Last Five Years is due out on July 9

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Damon Gameau’s experimental endeavour – to eat foods such as muesli bars, cereals and low-fat yoghurt, which are high in ‘hidden’ sugars – reveals a lot of horrifying surprises, most notably in relation to mental health in That Sugar Film .

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Q1 This classic American novel has been filmed four times for the big screen. Arguably, the (now rarely seen) 1949 version has been deemed the best adaptation. Title please. Q2 In 1955, an actor was lured back from his self-imposed retirement to star in a major movie. He then continued to star in films for the next eleven years. Name the actor and the 1955 movie. Q3 Which 1960 western was intended to be a race relations response to John Ford's 1956 classic The Searchers ? 

Q4 This 1998 movie detective is introduced to the audience dressed in a full size chicken outfit. Name the actor and movie title. Q5 Which film actor was an assistant lion- tamer during his teenage years? Q6 His 1987 directorial debut involved a psychiatrist becoming entangled with a confidence trickster. Name the director and his debut movie. Q7 This actor's final big screen appearance was playing a slum doctor caring for the poor in a decrepit neighbourhood. He received a

Best Actor nomination, which made a total of five nominations and one Best Actor Oscar he received during his film career. Name the actor and his final film. Q8 Why did Marsellus Wallace have Antwan Rockamora killed? Q9 Which siblings were told by a redneck bar owner that both types of music – Country and Western – were played there? Q10 In which movie does Gregory Peck's character suffer anxiety attacks at the sight of lines on a white background?

QUIZ

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(1987) A10. John Travolta in

(1955) A9. Planes, Trains & Automobiles

(1979) A8. The Minor and the Major

A7. The Warriors

A6. Michael Caine in

(1981)

Blow Out

(1942) and You're Never Too Young

Get Carter

A5. Sunset Boulevard

(1990) A4. Al Pacino in Revolution

A3. Dead Poet's Society

A2. Steve McQueen

A1. They all take place during a single night

(1950)

Quiz Answers June 2015 (Issue 63) -

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JB Hi-Fi has more than just blockbusters!

A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW Checking out the billboards for Magic Mike XXL , it’s easy to jump to conclusions given the close-up on the bulging underpants and suggestive “Coming Soon” tease.

Peaky Blinders: Series 2 July 3 In the second season of Britain’s answer to Boardwalk Empire , the razor-wielding gangsters set out to conquer London.

R eprising their roles as male strippers in this sequel, Channing Tatum and Joe Manganiello adopt their most innocent expressions when STACK asks them to explain the XXL suffix. “The ‘X’ is for all the Xtra stuff that you loved in the first one and then the ‘L’ is for laughter. Lots more laughter,” grins Manganiello. The fact is that before Tatum became a major Hollywood player, he actually did pay his rent as a male stripper, leading him to pitch a version of his own story for the first Magic Mike . Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie became a surprise hit. Equally surprising was how much the guys actually enjoyed playing their stripper roles, reuniting in XXL with original cast-mates Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash and Adam Rodriguez. Nobody wants to see a flabby stripper, yet filming on locations in Georgia and South Carolina – known for their high calorific culinary delights – was a form of torture.

“Working out is fun, especially when you can do it with buddies, but it's the dieting that sucks. No cake. But it's really good motivation knowing you’re about to get butt naked in front of thousands of people and

then more than that, because it's going to be on screens all over the world,” says Tatum, who looked to Manganiello to be the cheerleader in the gym. “Joe enjoys working out more than anyone else on this planet.” If one thing really chafed on XXL , it was the thongs. “Right before I have to get in a thong, I ask myself: Why did I want to do this movie again?" notes Tatum. "It doesn’t matter how cool you are on stage – as soon as you get into a thong, it knocks the cool right out of you. I’d hoped we wouldn’t do thongs this time round because most of the actual male revues use boxer briefs or tightie whities.” As proud as he is of his manhood, Manganiello is no fan of the thong either. “I was actually quite angry when I found out, post- Magic Mike , that apparently no-one has worn a thong since the ’80s.” Gill Pringle

It Follows July 29 A teen is stalked by malevolent, shapeshifting entity in one of the best horror flicks of recent years.

Magic Mike XXL is in cinemas on July 9 and reviewed on page 26

Top Five July 29 Chris Rock wrote, directed and stars in this hilarious comedy about a Hollywood star desperate to be taken seriously.

09

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Sound bites

gere’s passage to india Richard Gere checks in at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the hit sequel.

Arnold Schwarzenegger explains why Maggie is not your usual zombie movie. “This is something very new for me and for the zombie genre. At its core, it is a film about a father protecting his daughter.We’ve seen the zombie hordes and machine guns in other movies – it all seems like an unbelievable future. Maggie makes the disease real by shrinking the world of the movie to focus on one family, in the middle of nowhere, on their wasted farm.When I read it, I knew I had to do it. It is more vulnerable than any role I have played, more real, more emotional.This is the most human zombie film you have ever seen and it’s the most human role you’ve ever seen me take on. I’m proud of it.”

T hanks in part to a stellar line-up of British acting royalty, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel turned out to be one of 2011’s unlikeliest blockbuster hits, and helped usher in a wave of films aimed fairly and squarely at the older audiences. The original stars – Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy etc – have all returned for the much anticipated sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel , but this time there is an American in their midst, one of Hollywood’s favourite silver foxes, Richard Gere. And he found the invitation to be in the film irresistible. “I thought the first film was terrific,” he says. “You

“At times it’s almost like a Shakespearean comedy of manners, with all these human foibles on display,” he muses. However, the chance to work with Oscar winners like Dench and Smith was also an opportunity he wasn’t going to pass up. “It’s widely accepted that Judi and Maggie are royalty in the film industry,” he adds. “They’re such appealing individuals to see up on the screen, but in terms of who they are as people...they have wicked senses of humour!”

see fewer and fewer films about the real dilemmas of our lives. And then to see such a really good script the second time around; that doesn’t happen all that often.” Gere plays Guy Chambers, a mysterious American who turns up at the hotel for retirees, supposedly to work on a novel. However, hotel owner Sonny (Dev Patel) is convinced that Guy is actually an undercover inspector for the big US chain he is trying to interest in investing in his business. To Gere, the sophisticated wit of the script was one of the chief appeals of the project.

Maggie is out on July 15

The Second Best Exotic Marigold is out on July 22

Do you enjoy playing Campbell? In spite of the fact that he’s on the right side, ostensibly he’s a man who radiates malevolence. He’s like an awful radioactive pile, so he’s a lot of fun to play, as there is a side of him that’s extremely vulnerable too. There’s nothing pleasant about Campbell, but I feel I have feelings for him. To play a character, you don’t have to love your character but you must have some empathy with him and I certainly do for Chester Campbell. What can we expect in the second season? When we started off with Tommy Shelby, [leader of Peaky Blinders gang, played by Cillian Murphy] and his nemesis Campbell it was 1919. The show now moves to 1922 and their empire has expanded. All the Shelby’s interests have moved into London. The same things happen with Campbell; his

so I was immediately attracted to that. I was also immediately attracted to playing a character that’s so vivid and three dimensional – and so wrong. Do you enjoy working on these sorts of television dramas? I’ve personally got a great deal out of long form television. I like watching it and I like binge-watching TV shows that come in boxes. More than that, it’s great to tell a story over a longer time. To spend a decent period with a bunch of actors you really like, is fun. We’ve had some fantastic people on this show, people that you like and whose work you admire and you get to know them very well when you’re working on something for a long time like this.

concerns are much wider. He’s now no longer simply a policemen, he’s on the Irish desk at the secret intelligence service, which is MI6. He has bigger concerns than simply cleaning up crime in Birmingham; Ireland has become increasingly troublesome to the government. Campbell has a kind of mega plan for all of this, which eventually will involve the Shelby family. He still has unfinished business with Tommy so it’s a bigger game. What first attracted you to Peaky Blinders ? Probably the main reason was the language; there’s something about Steve Knight’s use of English that’s very appealing. They’re great words to wrap your mouth around, really beautiful, particularly Campbell’s stuff. There are scenes where it’s like he’s tapped straight into some vein that runs through the Old Testament and it’s very graphic,

The Kiwi screen icon returns as the villainous Chief Inspecter Chester Campbell in the second season of the period British gangster saga Peaky Blinders . Sam Neill

Peaky Blinders: Season Two is out on DVD and Blu-ray on July 1

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Sitting down with FElix Bushe gengahr

Q1/ How does one pronounce the name of the band, and how did it come about? It's 'Geng-ar' – we basically stole it from Pokemon and changed the spelling. We were called 'Res' when we put our demos online. When they started to attract some heat, we got an email from a rapper called Res saying ‘oh, I see you have the same name as me?’ So we had to change it. We gave ourselves two days to come up with a new name. We figured all the cool names had been taken and it had gotten down to putting two cool words together. That sounded pretentious, so we just thought we’d go with something silly; we weren’t taking ourselves too seriously. Q2/ You were all at school together: what bands did you grow up listening to? We were just told we’ll be playing with The Strokes at Hyde Park: if you’d have told 18-year- old me that I’d be doing that, I never would have believed it. My taste is more varied: I was into punk and metal. You can shed your skin entirely, that’s the nature of being young and playing music. I now listen to an array of stuff – Ariel Pink, Connan Moccasin, Kurt Vile, Deerhunter is a favourite. You am I, Tame Impala... people who do interesting things with guitars. Q3/ So lots of Australian and NZ music? We weren’t listening to much UK music when we were writing this album, we were listening to lot more US and Australian and NZ music. Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth were huge for us as well. We write pop, but it comes from a darker place. Q4/ You're all ex-art school mates, is that why the videos and artwork are so distinctive? We’ve got a strong handle on that side of things. It’s all meaningful. I work in a very visual way with the lyrics when I’m writing. It’s a privilege to make art and music at the same time. I’ve done the treatments for all our clips, except the first one that was done by a child. I just oversaw it. I met this smart kid Nico, at a summer camp where I was. I found his parents and asked if they'd let him make a video. He wrote the treatment out, cast all his friends, and shot it.

Avalanche City’s Dave Baxter on his much anticipated sophomore album. barker’s wild places

S econd albums can be daunting affairs for any artist. But when your debut included a Silver Scroll winning No.1 hit single, the weight of expectations are much bigger than usual. However, Dave Baxter – aka Avalanche City – sounds pretty relaxed about the release of his eagerly-awaited second album We Are For The Wild Places , the

As with his first, We Are For The Wild Places was written and recorded at the home studio he dubs ‘The Tree House. He also produces and plays most of the instruments himself, although some friends did help out on some of the tracks. However, when it came to mixing, he sought out the services of former Death Cab To Cutie guitarist Chris Walla.

follow-up to his top five 2011 debut Our New Life Above the Ground . The latter included the surprise smash Love Love Love , which spent 19 weeks – the first three at #1 – in the top 40 after being used as TV2’s signature theme tune.

“I sent over the tracks to him then I went over to Seattle, and we hung out while it was mixed. It was good to have him sit there

Having a different set of ears on the mix made me fall in love with the tracks all again

and try out different things, and get different

perspectives on the tracks. “I had spent so much time obsessing over the songs. You write it, you record it, you produce it, you think about every single aspect of it, and by the end of the process, you just end up hating the songs! So it was really, really good to have his outside opinion. Having a different set of ears on the mix made me fall in love with the tracks all again.”

However, he insists he hasn’t felt under any pressure to try and repeat the feat with his new record. “ Love Love Love was such a random thing to happen,” Baxter reflects.“I feel like it was only because of the TV2 thing that it went that big. So I try not to think about it too much – and you can’t approach songwriting from that perspective, otherwise it will mess with you. You could write the best song in the world but if it doesn’t make it, you will start wonder what is wrong with it.”

A Dream Outside by Gengahr is out now.

We Are For The Wild Places by Avalanche City is due out on July 3

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INTERVIEW

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A BREAK FROM HOUSE TARGARYEN Actress Emilia Clarke steps out from the wildly successful Games of Thrones to kick ass in the blockbuster Terminator Genisys .

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INTERVIEW

CINEMA

As Khaleesi in Game of Thrones.

scale Hollywood production was extremely daunting but also, of course, exciting. “This is the kind of iconic story that everyone grows up watching and ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed about making films like this,” she says. As a child, it’s unlikely she could have imagined how gruelling such an action-packed shoot could be: “I did a lot of weapons training and you also need to be strong to lift those guns,” she explains, recalling how she trained for up to six hours a day. “I did a lot of weightlifting and kickboxing that got me into the best shape of my life. I did a lot of weightlifting and kickboxing that got me into the best shape of my life.

Matt Smith, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney in T erminator Genisys

T he last episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones has come to a bloody, dramatic close – no spoilers here – and even Emilia Clarke, better known to GoT fans as Khaleesi, Daenerys of House Targaryen and Mother of Dragons, admits to worrying about her character’s fate at times. “You never know who's going to get killed!” she laughs. “It's part of the intrigue and mystique of the series that it surprises you and shows you what a dangerous world she lives in. You get very caught up in the constant sense of menace and the kind of threatening environment that is constantly providing audiences with all sorts of shocks.” At 28 years old, Emilia Clarke still appears flabbergasted by her fame. She joined the Game of Thrones cast a year out of drama school, and within no time, the series was being watched by millions per episode. Her old life was behind her. “I hated working in a call centre and I remember how thrilled I was that I didn't have to do that job anymore,” she recalls. However, being a leading actress in the series doesn’t necessarily mean job security, considering the producer’s willingness to kill off main characters with abandon.

I may not be as tough as my character, but at least I felt that I could handle the physical demands of working on the film.” While she’s ready for life as an action hero,

Clarke warns that getting ready for a round of red carpet promotion is an entirely different story. “There are no captions on red carpet photos that say, 'This girl trained for two weeks, she went on a juice diet, she has a professional hair and

In her next starring role away from the franchise, Clarke ditches the long blonde wig, becoming Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys , a reboot of the legendary franchise co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney. "This is such an amazing project and I'm proud to become part of the legend that is already in place and be able to create something new... Every day, you're like, 'OK. It can't get any more insane, or big,

makeup person, and this dress was made for her.' I just wish they'd say, ‘It ain't the truth.'"

or epic, or exciting,' and it just does," she says. Clarke admits that working on such a large

Terminator Genisys is in cinemas on July 1

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THE SECRET'S OUT Rising UK stars Sophie Cookson and Taron Egerton talk about joining KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE with Ryan Huff.

C omic book films seem to be everywhere nowadays, but while capes and tights might reign supreme at the box office, new release Kingsman: The Secret Service does more than just hold its own – it holds its own by stabbing about with a poison-tipped tweed print umbrella and letting off a few rounds from a Barrett M82 anti-tank rifle for good measure. Pure and utter madness and indulgence from start to finish, Kingsman is what you get when Quentin Tarantino and Ian Fleming have a bastard child. The film is the marriage of director Matthew Vaughn's visual stylings and the levels of ultraviolence found in the works of comic book scribe Mark Millar – as seen in the pair's previous screen collaboration, Kick-Ass . Sophie Cookson (Roxy) justifies the almost comical level of violence in the film by describing it as "incredibly stylised”, to which Taron Egerton (Eggsy) adds, “the whole thing is rooted in the ridiculous. We're not dealing with real life, it's a comic book film”. Speaking further on comic book films, he adds, “it's so in vogue, there's a voracious global appetite for comic book films. The great thing about Kingsman is that it's so much more reverent than others”. Action is just as important to a comic book film as any other component, and Egerton describes his training for the film as relentless. "I worked with an incredible stuntman and gymnast named Damian Walters, who would learn everything that needed to be done in the film and then teach it to me," he explains. "Anything that was deemed too dangerous by the insurance company, he would double me for”. Cookson didn't get off lightly, either. “Everything you see on screen, I did myself, apart from the skydiving. There was a lot of gymnastics training, a lot of core training and learning to use the rigs that Cirque Du Soleil use”. Speaking of the extended cast, including Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine, Egerton says, “I think the film lives and dies on the fact that Colin is the last person you'd expect to be playing this part, and that's what makes this film work, in my opinion. He's the secret to this film, there from the

a gentleman seems to be a global perception of Britishness, but it just doesn't exist. They may exist but they're off locked in towers or running the country. Most British people are just like me and Soph. It's an idea that's slightly outdated, but one that's still popular and romantic”. As for the film's tagline, "Manners Maketh Man", Egerton says “it's a universally great thing and I believe it. My mother always taught me that, although not so concisely, manners are incredibly important”. As for the villainous Gazelle's legs, prosthetics with razor sharp swords where her walking gear should be, Cookson reluctantly confirms that it was all an illusion. “Well, they are just green screen legs,” she reveals, while Egerton rubs salt

very engendering of the project.” "As soon as Colin's name was mentioned, everyone else just jumped on," offers Cookson. An overarching theme in the film relates, surprisingly, to manners. The art of being a gentleman may not seem to be the likely lesson from a film wherein approximately eight kajillion people die, but Cookson appreciates the thought that “anyone can be a gentleman, it's not about class – it's an attitude”. Egerton, on the other hand, doesn't seem to believe that the fabled gentleman, as portrayed in the film, truly exists. “The whole idea of being The whole idea of being a gentleman seems to be a global perception of Britishness, but it just doesn't exist.

into the wound. “What'd you think, they just chopped off her legs for four months then reattached them?” Sure I did. Movie magic is a marvellous thing.

• Kingsman: The Secret Service is out on July 1

JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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PROJ ECT ALMANAC

AVAILABLE FROM JULY 8 TH

AVAILABLE FROM JULY 8 TH

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AVAILABLE FROM JULY 22 ND

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©2014 FURTHUR FILMS, INC.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

© 2015 FOX.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

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BOTTOM’S UP! Nickelodeon’s most absorbing cartoon character returns in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water .

K rabby Patties might be closer to reality than we thought. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water heralds the underwater fry cook’s first true visit to dry land, for his most super-heroic adventure yet. Life in Bikini Bottom (if you don’t think too much about the name) seems blissful enough, until Spongebob (voiced by Tom Kenny) and his pals – Patrick Star (Bill Faggerbakke), Squidward Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass), Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence), and Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) – embark on a wild 3D escapade when the top-secret Krabby Patty recipe is stolen. Consequently, SpongeBob must join forces with nemesis Plankton for a trip through time and space, harness internal superpowers and battle fiendish pirate Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas), who has his own plans for the Krabby delicacies. “It's everything you want in a movie," promises director Paul Tibbitt. "We've taken familiar characters and pushed them in completely new directions – it's a road movie, a superhero movie, and a post-apocalypse movie, and it's all in 3D!" After years of working within the constraints of a television, the movie allowed the creative team to explore crazy new possibilities for the series' classic characters. "From the beginning, we knew we needed

It's everything you want in a movie – it's a road movie, a superhero movie, and a post-apocalypse movie

miss. "We've always written to make ourselves laugh," says SpongeBob writer Stephen Hillenburg. "Thankfully, what makes us laugh is appropriate for children. It's always great to hear adults say they can stand to watch our show." Now, for the first time, fans of the SpongeBob television series will get to see their favourite characters rendered in three dimensions. "The show has always had an element of animation and live action; animated characters in Bikini Bottom and a few live action segments in our world," says Hillenburg. "But we've never done anything on this level." Bill Fagerbakke adds, "In the past, our characters have been stick figures outside of the water, but this time around, the visual presentation is completely new. Everything is different. It's like they're going to Oz.” It seems as though the occurrences in this film aren’t all that different from the goings-on in Oz, either. From time travel to talking dolphins, and everything in between, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is pretty much exactly

to do something big," Tibbitt says. "We're used to having these huge ideas for stories which we'd inevitably have to scale back in some way. But for the film, we

time to ponder the franchise's legacy. "When the show first started airing, my daughter was in kindergarten," recalls Clancy Brown. "Now she's in college. Both of Tom's kids were born during the run of the show. You start to associate parts of your life with [SpongeBob], because it's become such a huge part of our lives."

realised we could bring the studio (Paramount) a crazy new idea, and they'd give us the latitude to make it happen. Nothing was off the table." After 15 years of SpongeBob, the cast and creative team have had

As far as the humour goes, there’s no holds barred when it comes to the in-jokes that the kids might

• The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is out July 29

what you’d expect from a sponge that wears pants and a squirrel that lives underwater in a space suit. Are ya ready, kids?

JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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Q&A

DVD & BD

NO SUGARCOATING THE TRUTH In That Sugar Film , Australian actor/director Damon Gameau set out to discover just how much of the sweet stuff is contained in what we assume are healthy foods. He tells STACK that everyone was surprised by the results.

STACK : For those who haven’t seen the film, tell us a little bit about it. DAMON GAMEAU: Basically I go on a sugar eating binge for 60 days, eating 40 teaspoons a day – which is what the average Australian is eating – but only found in perceived 'healthy' foods like low fat yoghurt, cereals and juices. No junk food was allowed. What prompted you to make the film? I was aware of the constant ambiguous messages around sugar in the media – some of which is deliberately done by the food industry as I discovered – and so want to find out the truth for myself. Plus we had a baby on the way, so that upped the ante. That Sugar Film shares some similarities with Morgan Spurlock’s acclaimed documentary Super Size Me . Are you a fan of that film? I was a big fan and actually spoke to Morgan early on in the hope that he could be in the film as some kind of 'grand master lab rat' who would oversee my adventure. I knew there would be comparisons, but I didn't know how else to find out the truth; I couldn't ask someone else to do the experiment. The main difference in the films is that I don't think many people eat McDonalds three times a day, whereas billions of people are eating the foods I consumed every day.  Were you surprised how quickly your diet affected your physical condition? Everyone was, especially the doctors and scientists. No-one has ever done a fructose eating experiment before and so developing fatty liver disease in just 18 days was a shock for all. What was the hardest part of following the eating regime?

screenings for staff. They are all aware the scientific evidence is mounting and that a change is coming. Being a capitalist structure, they will want to adapt in order to survive. What do you hope viewers will take away from the film? That they will be empowered to make smarter food choices for themselves and they families. They don't have to 'quit' or cut out sugar, they just need to be aware of where it is hiding so they know how much they are actually having. The World Heath Organisation recommends just six teaspoons a day for optimal health… we are a long way from that as a population. I think what people need to realise is that sugar does most of its damage on the inside. The weight gain is one aspect but the links to type 2 diabetes and heart disease is far more frightening. Are there an extra or additional features on the DVD and Blu-ray edition? Well, the first cut of the film was three hours and 45 minutes, as there is so much to tell of the sugar story. The DVD has 12 extra short films on a range of topics plus an interview with Stephen Fry about his struggles with sugar and most importantly, a karaoke version of the sugar song!

Definitely the mental toll. I felt lethargic and the constant roller coaster of sending my insulin spiking up and down throughout the day was very difficult. I think many may live like this and not be aware of it. Did you ever get to the stage of thinking “I don’t want to do this anymore”? Absolutely, especially towards the end. The main concern was that my lady was eight months pregnant and I had a real fear of being stuck in the US filming, fat and grumpy.

How have the various food companies reacted to the film – no threats of legal action? We had five lawyers look at the film prior to release and made sure we weren't crossing any lines. We have actually been approached by quite a few large companies who have wanted

• That Sugar Film is out on July 9

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NO STRINGS ATTACHED

important to balance the practicality of the visual effects with the expectations of today’s young viewers. “I’m a passionate animatronics and puppet maker – I’m constantly championing using puppets instead of digital effects. But in a series like this, playing to young children, where you want the Tracy boys to get out in the vehicles and take part in the rescues, the most skilled puppeteering in the world is not going to do that to the level of dynamics and believability that kids need today. There was unfortunately no possibility for us of doing it with puppets, because we just didn’t think we could ever get it good enough. “All of the world is models with digital vehicles and characters. But we have done some pretty unique things to make sure that the vehicles feel model-like, and the models integrate with the digital world. I think people will be pleased to see that the vehicles are not over-polished CG models – they have a real ‘model-making’ quality to them. “The heart of the Thunderbirds, even if you only subliminally appreciated it as a kid, is the uncelebrated heroism of those boys, and I just love the thought that we’re making a show that represents that to the youth of the world again. When we’re all seeking our five minutes of fame these days, it’s nice to think there’s a show that tells you that you don’t need to.” Taylor promises that the storylines for the new episodes will be all new, but expect to see a couple of classics refreshed. “I think people will enjoy seeing much-loved vehicles, like Fireflash, come back,” he adds, “and characters we loved to hate in previous episodes coming back as well.” As a longtime Thunderbirds fan and one of the world’s best at his craft, Taylor is the perfect man to relaunch the Thunderbirds; his passion for the programme guarantees the new series will be faithful to the original in both look and tone. “I’ve never been more anxious about anything we’ve been involved in because of my deep love of the original and my desperate desire not to upset people like myself,” he says. “I’m exactly the right age group for a kid that grew up on Thunderbirds. And the DNA of our company is instigated by the Thunderbirds, so the thought of making something

Fifty years after their television debut, THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO once again, as International Rescue is relaunched for a whole new generation. Scott Hocking caught up with Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor to find out what we can expect from the new series.

A joint venture between ITV Studios and New Zealand’s Pukeko Pictures, in collaboration with the world-renowned Weta Workshop FX house, Thunderbirds Are Go is a dream project for Weta founder, executive producer and longtime Thunderbirds fan Richard Taylor. Gerry Anderson’s blessing,” he explains. “He didn’t know me from a bar of soap, but I went and asked him. He didn’t own the rights at that time, but I felt that it was inappropriate to try and pursue it if he didn’t give me his blessing. He did. I then managed to take Sylvia Anderson on a date [laughs] and had an amazing evening with her at the London premiere of The Lord of the Rings ; we became friends and I got her blessing as well.” Taylor agrees that there will inevitably be complaints from hardcore fans about the characters now being CGI, not puppets. But in bringing Thunderbirds to a new audience, it was “It’s an odyssey that started 12 years ago when I flew to the UK and actually managed to get

that people didn’t appreciate was very concerning to us. But we couldn’t have tried harder to make sure we’ve stayed faithful to that original DNA and bring the best spirit of the original show through.” Such was ITV’s faith in the new series, a second season was given the green light before the first had been aired. “I believe it’s the first time that ITV have ever done that,” Taylor grins. “We feel

• Thunderbirds Are Go – Volumes 1 & 2 are out now

extraordinarily fortunate – we were doing backflips of joy when we heard that!”

JULY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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FEATURE

GAMES

A Show To End All Shows? Was E3 2015 good? You bet. We had boots on the ground in Los Angeles to cover it and tell you why it was the best show in years.

a beeline to Take Two, moving around a large crowd snapping pictures of the life-sized Battleborn figurines standing guard on the corner of the booth. During the Battleborn presentation, Gearbox announced that there would be 25 playable characters in this MOBA-styled title, which features single-player story missions and multiplayer modes to boot. Best of all, we got to try it out, jumping into a five-player co-op game. Selecting Oscar Mike, a character that most players of first-person shooters will recognise (I know, it’s a predictable selection to make, but he looked so cool), our 20-minute session felt like it was over in five. It’s colourful, varied, and

I t's customary for attendees of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, held annually in Los Angeles, to conduct a post mortem once the doors have closed on another year of showcasing the video games and related tech we can expect to be playing over the next twelve months and beyond. Journalists, retailers and industry analysts dissect the highs and lows of the show that, in recent times, has failed to deliver on pre-event promises. This year, however, was different. Aside from the most ardent pessimists, there would be few who wouldn’t agree that it was one of the best in recent memory. The rumours leading up to E3 suggested that publishers would be all about content, content, content; and it needed to be. Big generation-defining releases for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have been lacking since the consoles launched in 2013, so anticipation (and demand) for quality new-gen titles was at fever pitch.

features a cracking score. Although Gearbox have yet to reveal too much of the game, again, it’s a title we’ll be keen to play on launch.

Still buzzing from the rousing media conferences, and equipped with a decent pair of trainers and a bag of lollies to assuage the jet lag, we hit the floor literally running at midday, following the crowds surging onto the show floor like the Encierro in Pamplona. First up was

Last year, the final game we played at E3 was Rainbow Six: Siege and it left a lasting

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