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Founder Nic Short Editor John Ferguson Contributors

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

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EDITOR’S LETTER T his is the 60th issue of STACK and to celebrate, we have introduced a few changes. We have added cinema to your essential home entertainment magazine, with reviews and features about the latest theatrical releases giving you advance warning on what DVD and Blu-ray titles to look out for at JB Hi-Fi. And instead of dividing the magazine into DVD, games and music sections, from now on we’ll be grouping all the features and all reviews into two easy-to-navigate sections. But as usual, STACK will remain your essential guide to all the latest film, TV, music and video game releases. So what’s inside this month? Well, as well as reporting on the latest installment in the blockbuster Hunger Games saga, Mockingjay – Part 1 , there’s interviews with Margot Robbie and Richard Linklater, a guide to WOMAD, and profiles of Australasian singer-songwriters

Games Consultant Sachi Fernando Production Manager Craig Patterson Social Media Manager Sally Carlier-Hull Contributors Graham Reid, Ricardo Kerr, Robin Martin, Judy Ewens, Gareth Thompson, Duncan Holland, Scott Hocking, Jonathan Alley, Zoë Radas, Doug Wallen, Ryan Huff, Emily Kelly, Simon Winkler, Chris Murray, Dan Rule, Denise Hylands, Bec Rowlands Correspondence 31B Bertram Street Warkworth Auckland 0910

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EXTRAS

NEWS

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The dark comedy Birdman – due on DVD in May – was the big winner at this year’s Oscars. A s well as the best director statuette for Mexican filmmaker in the end had to settle for just one Oscar – a Best Supporting Actress gong for Patricia

Alejandro Iñárritu, Birdman was named Best Picture and also won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. The film is due to land on DVD and Blu-ray at the end of May. It is expected to be followed in June by the two films that scooped the top acting prizes: as expected, TheTheory of Everything star Eddie Redmayne took home the Best Actor award, while Julianne Moore scooped the Best Actress Oscar for Still Alice. However, a few of the other winners are in-store now. Richard Linklater’s epic coming-of-age tale Boyhood (see feature on page 18-19) had been expected to dominate this year’s event, but

Arquette. Also just released on DVD and Blu-ray is Whiplash , which deservedly earned J.K. Simmons a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel finished equal with Birdman in the Oscar take, winning four Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Make- up and Hairstyling, Costumes and Production Design. It was released last year, along with the Best Foreign Film winner Ida . And keep an eye out next month for Disney’s Big Hero 6, which scooped the Best Animated Film award. Meanwhile, Citizenfour, which won the Best Documentary Oscar, is expected on DVD around July.

Belle & Sebastian main-man Stuart Murdoch’s indie musical will get its DVD debut next month. Written and directed by Murdoch, God Help the Girl tells the story of three young musicians – Emma Browning ( Sleeping Beauty ), Hannah Murray (currently appearing as the Wildling girl Gilly in Game of Thrones ) and Olly Alexander ( Bright Sta r) – who hook up in Glasgow and decide to form a band. God Help the Girl premiered last year at the New Zealand Film Festival and is due out on April 1. Belle & Sebastian, who were one of the standout acts at this year’s Laneways, have just released their ninth studio album G irls in Peacetime Want to Dance.

QUEUE FOR CRUE!

It’s long overdue but Kiwi fans are finally going to get see metal icons Mötley Crüe. The legendary hair rockers have been on an extended final tour since 2014, with their final ever gig scheduled for New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles. However, last month Mötley Crüe confirmed their first ever – and probably last – NZ show at Auckland’s Vector Arena on May 9 and are bringing along shock-rocker Alice Cooper as very special guest. Bassist Nikki Sixx says: “It’s the Final Tour but it’s not a farewell because our music will live on long after we’ve stopped touring. We can’t wait to see everyone out there in May.” .

A long forgotten member of The Jam and new prog rockers Syd Arthur are among the contributors to the latest studio album from Paul Weller. Saturn’s Pattern is the Modfather’s 12th solo album and will be released on May 8 through his new label Parlophone. Written and recorded at his de facto HQ, Black Barn Studios in Surrey, it was produced by Jan “Stan” Kybert and Weller himself. As well as longtime members of his touring band – Steve Cradock, Andy Crofts, Ben Gordelier, Steve Pilgrim – it features a surprise appearance from Weller’s old Woking pal Steve Brookes, who played guitar. MODFATHER RETURNS

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

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NEWS

EXTRAS

LOVING THE ALIEN

In his first film, David Bowie is perfectly cast as an alien from a drought-ridden planet who travels to Earth in search of water. Using his advanced technological know-how, he quickly becomes a billionaire but struggles to comprehend human nature. Made in 1976, The Man Who Fell to Earth was directed by visionary British director Nic Roeg, who also gave Mick Jagger his first big screen break in the cult favourite Performance (1970). The film is available exclusively on Blu-ray from JB Hi-Fi on March 4, along with two David Bowie classic The Man Who Fell to Earth debuts on Blu-ray – exclusively at JB Hi-Fi.

They were one of the four featured acts on Flying Nun’s seminal 1982 Dunedin Double EP – reissued on vinyl last year – but unlike The Chills, Sneaky Feelings and The Verlaines, the cheekily named Stones didn’t last long and split the following year. Frontman Wayne Elsey went on to form the Double Happys with Shayne Carter, but died tragically in a train accident in 1985. However, the riotous sounds of the iconic Dunedin three-piece – Elsey (guitar/vocals), Jeff Batts (bass/vocals) and Graeme Anderson (drums) – are celebrated in a new compilation from Flying Nun, Three Blind Mice , which brings together The Stones’ tracks from the Dunedin Double and their 1983 EP Another Disc, Another Dollar , along with nine previously unreleased live tracks. With liner notes from Carter and artwork from Alec Bathgate and Chris Knox, this essential Kiwi reissue is out on March 6. MORE MISSING The gripping British crime drama The Missing – due out next month on DVD – is set to return at the end of the year, with a second series getting the greenlight from the BBC. However, at this stage, it doesn’t look as if the show’s original stars James Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor will be on board, with the Beeb saying it will feature a new cast, characters and locations. In the first series of The Missing , Nesbitt and O’Connor play distraught parents whose life falls apart when their young son disappears during an enforced stopover at a sleepy French village. Meanwhile, for more on the latest UK TV DVD releases, check out our new ‘Best of British’ section on page 40. STONES ROLL

other cult ‘70s films: Dustin Hoffman’s satirical western Little Big Man (1970) and Walter Hill’s masterful crime thriller The Driver (1978), which was a big

influence on Ryan Gosling’s acclaimed thriller Drive (2011). The new High-Def range is rounded off by Black Snake Moan , a sweltering Deep South melodrama starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake.

halo 5 described as ‘jaw-dropping’

If you own an Xbox One, chances are there is one game in particular you can’t wait to play this year: Halo 5: Guardians , a sequel to 2012’s Halo 4 , developed by 343 Industries and due at the end of 2015. In a recent The Inner Circle podcast, Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Global Director of Games Marketing, described the game as a ‘marketer’s dream’. “The game is just super-innovative,” he said. “I think this is a title that 343 has dreamed of making, and they’re innovating in ways that our jaws are dropping. It’s such a deep story.” The game will feature two protagonists, including fan-favourite Master Chief.

Meanwhile, JB Hi-Fi has lined up a cool exclusive edition of the latest Halo live-action TV spin-off Nightfall , which lands on March 12. Both the DVD and Blu-ray sets include five collectors cards.

It’s not quite over yet but Peter Jackson’s epic Tolkien odyssey is nearing its end. March 24 sees the release of the final film in The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies ; we will have more about the film in the April issue of STACK, but it’s reviewed on page 36.

07

TECH

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SUHD As if High Definition weren’t enough, Samsung unveiled

Dremel 3D Idea Builder 3D printing is one of the latest crazes to hit the market, and Dremel

their SUHD televisions, with quality 64 times that of a standard TV. Taking onboard ‘quantum dot technology’, these curved screens are available from 48” all the way up to a whopping 88”. Home cinema, anyone? Comfort Shell Referred to at the expo as the ‘shell of silence’, Selentium’s Comfort Shell is just that – a dome that blocks out background noise. Using the very best noise-cancellation tech, the shell is able to block out background noise whilst still allowing the user to hear any conversations they may be a part of. The best part – it even plays hold music. with LG announcing a new wave of HomeChat appliances that you can send text messages to. I know, right. The new system will allow users to, for example, ask “How many beers do I have in the fridge?” and receive a response from said fridge. Goodbye shopping lists. Epson Cinema 600 New to the projector scene is the Epson Cinema 600, offering three times the brightness of competitors’ models. It also features a variety of colour modes to best suit what you’re viewing, including a Game mode; think life-size video games. LG’s HomeChat The future really is now,

jumped right on the bandwagon with its Idea Builder. The home-friendly model comes ‘ready to go’ and is extremely user friendly, coming with the ability to upload your own designs and see them come to life.

Held in Las Vegas, the International Consumer Electronics Show is the worldwide hub for all things tech. Here’s a few of our favourites from the show.

Smarter Coffee Machine Arguably the best thing at the expo was the coffee machine to rule them all by Smarter.

Connected to the IoT, the machine can be remotely activated by a smartphone or tablet, and can be set to start making you a cuppa when your alarm goes off in the morning, or when you return home from work. It even grinds the coffee beans for you. Exciting times. Panasonic’s Genius Prestige Plus Microwave Panasonic have delivered what the people have always wanted; a microwave that heats your food all the way through, the first time. Using ‘Cyclonic Wave Technology’ combined with the turntable, food is cooked and reheated much more evenly, finally removing the need for multiple stints in the microwave. Hallelujah.

Reemo Joining the ever-

expanding market of all things wearable,

the Reemo band is much more than just a watch. Connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), the band uses motion and gestures to control anything from home security and alarms to televisions and air conditioning. Clever. OSHbot Say goodbye to the daunting task of having to talk to shop assistants. Fellow Robots’ new OSHbot will come equipped with a 3D-sensing camera that it can use to identify any items brought in by customers, and help to locate them on the shelf, hassle-free.

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09

JB Hi-Fi has more than just blockbusters!

The Skeleton Twins Out Now Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader are terrific in this moving but very funny flick about dysfunctional siblings.

Obvious Child Out Now In this quirky comedy, aspiring stand-up Jenny Slate grapples with an unwanted pregnancy.

Tusk Mar 11 Wonderfully twisted shocker from cult director Kevin Smith about a man who is turned into a walrus.

Rake: Series 3 Mar 11 Bad boy barrister Cleaver Greene is back and is as reckless, funny and bloody-minded as ever.

NoGoodDeed Mar 11 Taraji P. Henson is tormented by escaped convict Idris Elba in this creepy home invasion thriller.

Kill The Messenger Mar 11 The true story of how a journalist (Jeremy Renner) exposed the CIA’s role in the crack cocaine trade.

Fat Tony & Co Mar 11 The original Underbelly gang return for the definitive account of drug kingpin Tony Mokbel.

Finding Vivian Maier Mar 11 Fascinating doco about a revered photographer, whose work was only discovered after her death.

The Remaining Mar11 Following the Rapture, those left behind find themselves under siege from demons lurking in the streets.

Get into JB and grab a copy today!

For details on how to enter all our competitions, head to www.stack.net.nz

EXTRAS

SOCIAL / COMPETITIONS / QUIZ

competitions

STACK SOCIAL Listening to you lot chatting and interacting with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is all kinds of awesome! Make sure you get involved and follow us on: STACK Magazine NZ @STACKMag stackmagazine What you've been loving on social this month:

One Huge HALO Prize- pack up for grabs and 10 runner-up prizes!

With JB Hi-Fi's release of Halo: Nightfall this month, we are offering STACK 's Facebook community the opportunity to take home a Halo prize-pack, valued at over $1000 and including: a SEIKO Sportura Kinetic Direct Drive and Halo Blu-ray, PLUS 10 runner-up prize. HAIL HALO!

Thanks to Anchor Bay and Seiko

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Win a Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Prize-pack

Featuring the much-loved Jennifer Lawrence, Mockingjay – Part 1 is the second last film in the Hunger Games franchise. Hunger Games fans, rejoice - we have an awesome prize-pack up for grabs!

Head here for more shenanigans...

Thanks to Roadshow

STACK 's Top Tip: If you're watching GoT 4 back-to-back with someone, make sure you're the one facing the TV. #JokeOfTheDay I decided to sell my Vacuum cleaner. It was just collecting dust. @RealTimVine Happy 75th Birthday Chuck Norris! (March 10) Happy 60th Birthday to STACK 's most avid UK reader - the lovely Suzy B Tell us what you'd give Chuck Norris for his Birthday? #STACKBirthday

Got something to say? If you fancy yourself as a writer, or want to share your thoughts on a DVD/Blu-ray, Game or CD, then post your own reviews online for any title on the website. The best ones win $ 25 JB Hi-Fi Vouchers! What are you waiting for? Enter at stack.net.nz READER REVIEWS | DVD | GAMES | MUSIC

Sweet Pair of JBL E50BT Wireless Headphones, Exclusive to JB Hi-Fi

Check out these uber cool, next generation headphones: they've even got Bluetooth connectivity for music sharing... and they look hot! Head to stack.net.nz for your chance to win a pair

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in

W

Q1 Who was the Canadian-born film director who, not being impressed with the script of a very British spy movie, called a full production meeting on the first day of shooting and calmly set fire to his copy? Q2 This classy b/w British crime drama concerns a group of misfit Army veterans, each with a unique skill set, who plan and execute an almost perfect bank robbery. Title please. Q3 Name the 1995 high school movie which was a very clever update of Jane Austen's classic novel Emma .

Q4 Spencer Tracy, Charles Bickford, Barry Fitzgerald, Gregory Peck, Karl Malden and Philip Seymour Hoffman. What is their unique link? Q5 A former biker and junkie finds God and travels to war-torn Sudan to save displaced children. Title of the movie please. Q6 The voice of these two cartoon cats belonged to a singer who was once the vocalist with the Benny Goodman orchestra. Name her and the two cartoon cats. Q7 A beautiful wild stallion by the

name of Outlaw is the real star of this 1954 Western. Title please. Q8 Which RKO b/w horror movie begins and ends with the epigraph from the first Holy Sonnet by John Donne? Q9 Who in 1971 portrayed a successful singer songwriter who, suffering a mid-life crisis, worries about ageing and loneliness? Q10 Who is to reprise his role as a Vietnam veteran in the fifth of a film series that began in 1982?

QUIZ

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A10. Night of the Demon

(1993) A8. Rollercoaster (1977) A9. Titanic (1998) Both Kate Winslett and Gloria Stuart played the same character – Rose

(1957)

(1989) and Sleepless in Seattle

Mermaids (1990) A7. Nora Ephron nominated for the screenplays of

A5. Killer Joe (2011) A6. Emily Lloyd was originally cast as Cher’s daughter in

(1977) A4. Ransom starring Mel Gibson

Silkwood (1983); When Harry Met Sally

Goodbye Girl

Witchfinder General A3. Quinn Cummings, nominated for her role in

A2. Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins in

A1. Ward Bond appeared in eleven nominated movies for Best Picture MARCH 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.nz

The

Quiz Answers Jan/Feb 2015 (Issue 59) -

10

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LETHAL WEAPONS Battlefield Hardline heads into JB shelves this month

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CINEMA

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MARGOT ROBBIE: IN FOCUS

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interview

CINEMA

With Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese on the set of The Wolf of Wall Street

With Will Smith in Focus

Margot Robbie is currently taking Hollywood by storm. With the talent, the looks – her legs alone were scene-stealers in The Wolf of Wall Street – and the drive to climb the ladder of LaLaLand, the Aussie native moved from the Gold Coast to Melbourne, aged 17 and determined to act professionally. Before long she was securing small roles in feature films before the call up came from Neighbours , the starting block for many a local starlet. Since leaving behind her soap alter ego Donna Freedman, the past few years have seen Robbie frolic nude with Leonardo DiCaprio, work her wings as a stewardess in Pan Am, and hit the big screen with Will Smith in the upcoming comedy-thriller FOCUS.

Margot Robbie will next been seen as the last woman on Earth in the post- apocalypse drama Z for Zachariah , based on the 1974 young adult novel by Robert C. O'Brien. Farm girl Anne Burden believes she is alone, sheltered from the nuclear armageddon by an idyllic mountain valley. But she soon has company, when a pair of male strangers (Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor) emerge from the forest.

of Angels. "I've met quite a few people from back home in Los Angeles and it's been good for me to be able to talk to other actors about their experiences of coming to LA and establishing themselves," she says. The actress also admits, "I prefer living in London, although I've spent a lot of time working in the US," – she was based in the English capital filming the upcoming Tarzan . I got to be pretty good at stealing a watch while someone's wearing it

"I 'm enjoying every moment of this time in my life,” says Margot Robbie. "I've been working pretty much non-stop and it's been so much fun." Her current work is what she's "spent years preparing for", and even as a dramatic child she had a loyal home audience. "I was always performing for my mum," she laughs. "I spent a lot of time watching videos and memorising scenes that I would re-enact in the kitchen while my mum was wondering what I was going on about. But that discovered when filming her latest blockbuster, Focus . The blonde actress plays Jess Barrett, an ambitious young pickpocket who receives on-the- job training from Will Smith's Nicky Spurgeon, a conman planning a big heist. Not one to slack off during work hours, Robbie took it upon herself to learn the tricks of the trade. "I got to be pretty good at stealing a watch while someone's wearing it," she grins. "I don't know if that's necessarily a talent you should be proud of, but every film teaches you something!" Robbie's work has taken her far from home, but she's found an Aussie community in the City was my early training and I just kept at it." Practice makes perfect, as Robbie also

in a commercial for the company when acting took over. "I was really good at Chicken Teriyaki and Meatball subs. I take great pride in my sub skills and whenever I go to Subway and watch someone else prepare my sandwich, I'm always tempted to go behind the counter and show people how to do it properly!" she laughs. When it comes to acting, however, Robbie turns to Cate Blanchett for a role model. "She's done such excellent work and been in so many great films while being able to enjoy a very quiet private life,” she explains. “You never read anything about her in the tabloids and I would like to follow that approach and keep my personal life as private as possible." Blanchett is indeed an admirable role model – but what are her sandwich skills like?

While life today is "a very different kind of life from what I was used to in Australia," if she's ever between jobs, Robbie knows there's one trans- continental company with whom she's already got experience – anyone fancy a Subway? "I was a sandwich artist!" she reveals, and she even starred

Focus is in cinemas on March 5

13

DVD & BD

FEATURE

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ENDGAME Fresh from her second stint in the Hunger Games arena, Katniss Everdeen is thrown headfirst into District 13, where she becomes the face of the rebellion in Mockingjay – Part 1 . By Alesha Kolbe

H aving destroyed the Capitol's arena, Katniss is transported to the supposedly nonexistent District 13, where she discovers she is part of a much bigger plan than to just stick it to the man. Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – previous head Gamemaker – appears to have aligned with the "rebellion" all along, and has teamed up with President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) in the hopes of igniting the Girl on Fire. The penultimate film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' wonderful YA novels diverges from the gaming arena and into the dark heart of Panem. Katniss must decide who she should trust and who she shouldn't, as well as what it really means to be the "Mockingjay" – the face of the rebellion. District 13's claustrophobic, subterranean

setting gives the film a real edge, and as you watch you are brought unknowingly into the story and forced to fight alongside the rebels in their war. Katniss herself becomes part of a series of "propos" – propaganda videos – designed by President Coin to instil fear into the Capitol, and specifically, President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Her own personal film crew follows her around in an attempt to capture her spontaneous reactions to the decimation of the land and the wholesale slaughter of its people by the Capitol. “She goes into the propos feeling like a pawn, like the Mockingjay is just a symbol she’s not connected to or passionate about,” explains Jennifer Lawrence. “The whole idea of the propos is to get people fired up, to band together – so Katniss faking at being something

that she’s not doesn’t work. It’s only when she sees the human cost in District 8 that a true spark is ignited. The more she sees, the more it becomes a personal fight for her.” "If we burn, you burn with us" is Katniss's empowered message to the president of Panem, as she acknowledges the destruction wrought by his army. When the Mockingjay visits the Districts throughout the land, she is an "emotional foreigner", damaged by both the Games and by the loss of Peeta. "This is the time when she realises she can’t stand by and do nothing,” says director Francis Lawrence. “There has been too much deception and the people Katniss loves are in danger. She will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. “It’s incredibly complex to track somebody who is going through so much emotionally,” he

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

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DVD & BD

FEATURE

NEW PLAYERS President Coin The leader of District 13 and the rebellion against the Capitol and President Snow, Alma Coin (Julianne

and spark the war against the Capitol and its totalitarian regime. Embracing her role as the "reluctant hero", Jennifer Lawrence brings Katniss’s conflicted emotions bubbling to the surface, as she attempts to come to terms with her

Moore) is driven and determined.

influence over the people. “In the first movie she wanted to save her family. In the second, she tried to save her friends and herself. Now, she starts to realise the impact she has on the wider world and that she has a choice to lead this battle for what is right,” the actress explains. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 also deals with Panem’s descent into barbarism in the wake of the literal shattering

She appears to be a benevolent leader of

her people, but it's soon apparent that she will do almost anything to see her cause triumph, whatever the cost.

Cressida Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer appears as the head of Katniss's camera crew throughout the filming of the "propos". Wise and

J. Law and J. Moore

resolute, she plays a large part in shaping the Girl on Fire into the figurehead she must become.

Castor Having had his brother Pollux turned into an Avox, Castor

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is out March 18

(Wes Chatham) is the cameraman for Coin's propaganda crew and eventual close friend to Katniss.

adds. “Katniss has incurred a lot of damage, and now here she is trying to figure out where she stands in the world, whether or not she trusts the people in District 13, and whether she wants the responsibility of becoming a part of the rebellion. Jen has done the most amazing job with every nuance. “She felt almost like an entirely different character because she is so stripped down and feeling so empty. It’s something that truly does happen to people after traumatic events like she’s been through. Katniss still has the same core, but she’s in a completely different place inside and out.” The Girl on Fire must now embrace her position at the frontline of the rebellion

of their coveted Hunger Games, at the same time identifying how the characters deal with the rapidly changing world around them. Perfectly capturing the emotional nuances of the novel, Francis Lawrence adds a whole extra layer to the plot – Panem is now a land of unpredictability, as opposed to its once sound and resolute state. War is fast approaching, and the side that is most prepared will emerge victorious. “The stakes have always been high in The Hunger Games but now the entire world opens up,” the director explains. “The Games themselves are gone, but threat of oppression now permeates all of Panem. This chapter gave us a chance to reveal entirely new locations with amazing action sequences. It’s a gigantic movie.”

Boggs Coin's righthand man, Boggs (Mahershala Ali)

appears to be slightly more

devoted to Katniss than to his beloved leader. Selfless to a fault, he becomes the Mockingjay's bodyguard.

and as the symbol for all the Districts, unite the people in a way only she can,

15

DVD & BD

FEATURE

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Visionary director David Cronenberg charts the seamy underbelly of Tinseltown in the black comedy Maps To The Stars .

FAME GAME

Like Bruce Wagner, John Cusack is from a showbiz family; in fact, the pair actually first MET when they both appeared in the 1986 teen comedy One Crazy Summer . So he is no stranger to the dynamics of the Hollywood lifestyle and the challenge of coping with fame while a teenager – something that his screen son Evan Bird struggles to cope with in Maps To The Stars . However, Cusack admits that the current obsession with celebrity has now reached a whole new level. “Back when I was starting out, things were different,” he recalls. “It never seemed to be about who was the highest paid or what films grossed over the weekend. People weren’t that interested in stalking celebrities to the level of what they had for breakfast or what mean things they said to someone else. “That kind of celebrity-obsessed culture was only born 10, 15years ago. If you wanted to know things about an actor, you would look into his work, the films he had made - the admiration was a reflection of an actor’s work, not his status.” and was completely unafraid. Once she had her hooks into this character, she required just the slightest bit of guidance here and there.” Unlike the characters in Maps To The Stars , Cronenberg will probably always remain something of a Hollywood outsider. However, he nevertheless understands its addictive power. “The gravitational pull of Hollywood is incredible,” he says. “It is like an incredibly dense planet with crushing gravity. And the closer you get to it, the harder it is to escape from it. That is exactly the key to the movie, the pull of LA – and Hollywood in particular – on these characters. It grabs them, it magnetises them, it sucks them in – and they can’t escape.”

• Maps To The Stars is released on March 25

“I kind of had a subliminal desire not to do a movie about movie making, never mind Hollywood, because I am not really a Hollywood filmmaker,” says director David Cronenberg with considerable understatement of his latest work Maps To The Stars , a dark and

the years and the end result is a modern Hollywood Gothic that tells the interconnected lives of a fading star Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore), her sleazy New Age therapist (John Cusack) and his two children: his estranged daughter (Mia Wasikowska), who has just become Moore’s PA, and his teenage son (Evan Bird), the monstrous star of a tween movie franchise. “I just think he’s a brilliant writer and we have been looking to get together to do something for years,” says Cronenberg of Wagner. “It’s a story that is really of the moment we are living in, culturally, pop-culturally, technologically and in every way, which I really admire. I think that is Bruce’s strength. He is not afraid.” The director is also full of praise for the fearless performance of Moore as the movie star haunted – literally – by her actress mother and the realisation that her career is on the slide. According to Cronenberg, a lot of actors don’t like playing actors, but he says Moore enthusiastically embraced the role. “She’s created a kind of glorious monster, an earthy, unashamed monster,” he continues. “She was never intimidated by Havana

wickedly funny take on La La Land. Although he has had some modest mainstream success over his long career – horror hits like Scanners

When he read his original screenplay Maps

and his oddly moving remake of The Fly , the brooding crime thriller A History Of Violence –

To The Stars , he was immediately hooked

the visionary Canadian auteur has largely pursued an independent path with his twisted tales of obsession, and physical and mental decay. However, Cronenberg has long been a fan of novelist Bruce Wagner and his acidic tales of Hollywood, so when he read his original screenplay Maps To The Stars , he was immediately hooked. The origins of the story go back to the 1990s when Wagner - then a struggling actor/writer working as a limo driver, not unlike Robert Pattinson’s character in Maps to the Stars - began a screenplay encapsulating his experience of Hollywood. He continued to refine the story over

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Acclaimed from the second it rolled into theatres, BOYHOOD has just been decorated with six Academy Award nominations. Zoë Radas spoke to director Richard Linklater about how he put this beautiful, ingenious film together. R ichard Linklater has the kind of patience and measured stride we don’t normally associate with wildly creative

types. Through features such as Slacker (1991), Dazed and Confused (1993), and Waking Life (2001), the director has proven his agile penchant for linking together small subtle moments, which focus far more on the philosophical and understated nature of life than deliberately moving a story forward. In his Before trilogy ( Before Sunrise from 1995, Before Sunset from 2004, and Before Midnight from 2013), we learned that he is perfectly happy to revisit characters years after their initial meeting – literal years. For his latest, wondrous epic Boyhood , the filmmaker worked over the course of 12 years. That timeframe means, of course, Linklater produced several other projects in between filming – but continuity of tone was never something which worried him. “I really thought my job was to tell one story; that film I saw in my head was one movie and it didn’t really change,” he explains. “The only thing that changed in it was the people – they got older. But I really saw a sameness, I was going for nothing that would draw attention to itself. I wanted it to feel like you’re just floating through

life. We go through life and the world around us changes suddenly, or the look of the world changes a little bit, not that much, and we change within it. The other nine or so films that I did in this 12-year period, there was plenty of room to express myself in those other stories, but this was one film that I tried to adhere to very closely.” The regular annual meet-ups with actors Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and lead Ellar Coltrane were something the director

describes as “incremental”, and is quick to point out the distance between Boyhood and the documentary series which several critics have compared it to, 7UP . “I love that series, I think it’s a huge cinematic achievement. But it’s funny how the people in it are so bloody self-conscious about themselves... it defines their lives in a really uncomfortable way for the majority of them.” That component makes the series much more like a previous project of Linklater’s, the

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filmmaker believes, over Boyhood . “I would think the Up series is probably close to my Before trilogy in that I have a nine-year gap in time to see how much time changes you,” he explains. “[ Boyhood is about] a fictional character we’ve created, so it’s more artistic; it’s not like an intrusive camera asking you about your life and your aspirations and what you did the last seven years.” The central character in the film is Mason Evans, Jr., played by Ellar Coltrane, whom Linklater cast when the actor was just six years old. “That was certainly the wildcard moment of the whole movie,” he chuckles. “Casting him was going to set the tone for the whole movie. It was such a big decision. I just went with the thoughtful kid, the kid who was excited about storytelling, the kid who could tell you everything about music and movies and wasn’t trying to be too cute. He was just himself.”

• Boyhood is out now

“There was a moment early on where I’d kind of given up on it as a film, because of the limitations

you just mentioned,” he says. “I thought, well, this is more like a novel. This isn’t a movie, I’m in the wrong medium here. But, when I actually sat down to write that novel, I swear to God as soon as my hands hit the keyboard this idea popped into my head. I’d solved my problem after a couple years of thinking about it. I just saw Boyhood in my head, the movie, and everyone was aging, you know, gradually. So there it was. I’d solved my problem.” And once the idea had come to him, he says, he couldn’t imagine proceeding in any other fashion, which is why he simply could not get frustrated with the process. “We looked at time as our companion, as our asset rather than our enemy,” he says. “Time was something to be collaborated with. This unknown future that rolls every second right before us – that was our friend. It was going to be the secret sauce that made this movie work.”

plenty to say about the world and himself, art and culture. Along the way I think he became a very good actor; it was fun to see

It must have been difficult not to spend many anxious hours trying to foresee what this boy could potentially turn into, as an actor, but Linklater went with his gut. “He just had wonderful qualities, and I think that’s largely the young man he is today: a very thoughtful, sensitive guy with

that craft get honed over the years, working with myself, Ethan and Patricia.” Linklater admits that initially, he was stymied about how to portray a load of time passing without utilising clumsy techniques like wrinkly make-up or an older actor portraying the same, younger character.

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With the release of the penultimate season of Hell On Wheels , showrunner John Wirth talks about the challenges of location shooting and deciding on which characters will live or die.

In Season 1, the focus was Cullen‘s search for vengeance for his family. Now it’s the search for his family. Did you go back and study Season 1 when planning Season 4? JOHNWIRTH: In life, we sometimes go in circles when we don’t necessarily want to. It is a common theme that runs through the series. Cullen’s search for his family now is more about healing himself and becoming a whole person, as opposed to just trying to get the anger and anguish out. Do you know what will happen to each character by season’s end, or do you allow the characters a chance to develop with the storyline as the season progresses? The writers have a lot of lead time before we begin production, so we have a pretty good road map before we get started. We have an idea of where we want to take them over the course of the season because we develop themes and storylines for each character, but we’re always open to things that pop up. We start watching the film as we make it, and start seeing actors working together and certain onscreen dynamics sometimes dictate the story. That’s always a fun discovery. After four years of Hell On Wheels , it’s clear that no character is safe from the dangers of life on the frontier. How do you decide who gets killed off ?

What are the most challenging aspects of producing and filming Hell on Wheels ? For me, the challenge is to figure out a satisfying story that will sustain over the entire season, and to get the scripts out in a timely fashion. For the producers and crew in Calgary full-time, the rain, mud and cold is probably the most challenging, physically. Two years ago, I remember standing on the bank of the river when The Swede killed the Dutson family [in Season 3]. That very afternoon, we were all evacuated because of thunder and lightning. The river rose so far, and by the next day, the place was no longer there! Have you started to get sentimental about the show entering its final season – and can you give us any hints about what to expect in Season 5? I am getting sentimental. Both Anson [Mount, who plays Cullen] and I spoke about the bittersweet nature. We all feel gratified that we’ve had this many episodes to tell this story and that we’ll be able to tell it through to the end. I can tell you what the end to the story is: pounding the golden spike at Promontory. I can also say that we’ll be exploring the Central Pacific side of the railroad next year, including the Chinese laborers; Cullen will be searching for his family; we’ll see a lot more of Huntington and his relationship with Cullen; and we’ll be dealing with building the railroad through the mountain, which may perhaps involve tunnelling. That’s about all I can say!

The advent of cable television allows us to put people in situations where their lives are in danger all the time. In our world, Hell on Wheels is a dangerous place. Cullen Bohannon and Thomas Durant – being a historical person who didn’t die [then] – are probably the only two people who are safe. It’s not an easy thing to kill somebody off. It requires careful thought, consultation and respect for everyone involved, including the actor.

It’s not an easy thing to kill somebody off. It requires careful thought, consultation and respect for everyone involved, including the actor.

Hell On Wheels: Season 4 is out on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24

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“ 2 ”and “PlayStation” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Also, “ - ” is a trademark of the same company. The Order: 1886™ ©2013 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Created and Developed by Ready At Dawn LLC. “The Order” is a trademark or a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved.

D I S COVE R H I S TORY ’ S DARKE S T S E CR ET OUT NOW

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Whether it is the heavy throb of an M60, the roar of an exploding Stinger, or the rapid crack of a an AK47, the weapon audio in the Battlefield franchise has always eclipsed its competitors. Battlefield Hardline heads to the JB shelves this month, and we spoke with lead multiplayer designer Thad Sasser about capturing the bang. Lethal weapons

weapon balance? Do you use a specific formula? We start with a general philosophy that guides us in our decision making – it’s important to have constraints that players can understand. For example, this class of weapons is the best at THIS specific job, that class of weapons does a different job, etc. This is easy to understand when you compare extreme roles like sniper vs. shotgun, for example – but it’s more granular, and you get into weapon roles like SMG vs. carbine, where the differences are smaller but still noticeable. A good way to start thinking about initial balance is that there is an “archetype” for each weapon class. We develop that archetype first, and then all weapons of that class diverge from that baseline. This allows us to tune more quickly and easily than having everything all

How many guns will feature in Battlefield Hardline ? Battlefield Hardline has over 50 firearms featured at release. This includes a number of awesome new additions that match the cops and robbers flavor of Hardline . What's the selection criteria in terms of weapons for a game like Battlefield Hardline ? How do you determine what guns will be used in the game? That’s a good question! One thing we look at is – does this weapon fit the setting? Things like super-rare and hard-to-come-by fully automatic Chinese weapons are not likely to be used by US police forces, for example. Another factor is the job of the weapon – we don’t want a lot of weapons that all do the same thing. We also consider appearance: does this weapon look exactly like the other weapons we have in the

game? If so, its value is somewhat lower; most players don’t want 20 variants of the AR-15 in the game, even if it’s realistic. A final factor is the fan popularity of weapons – if the players love weapon X, Y, or Z, and it fits the other criteria, it becomes much more important to put in the game.

What considerations are taken in terms of

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take the care to make sure that you can hear the bolt carrier group (BCG) sliding back and forth in a noisy fashion in the right weapons, if you know what to listen for. When I sit in an audio review and listen to the sounds as they describe the work involved, I’m always in awe at how much thought and detail is put into it. I should mention that Frostbite is an amazing tool – it really unlocks the power of the artists and designers, allowing us to quickly prototype and iterate on a wide range of things – it’s especially powerful for weapons, with a hundred values per gun that can change the feeling and experience in-game. How do you capture the sound of an RPG? Is this something you borrow from accumulated audio from other Battlefield titles? As you can imagine, it is tricky to capture the sound of an RPG. We didn’t capture a new sound for this game, but rather are using one captured for Medal of Honor – with some new tweaks to it, to make it sound great for our game. Will all the same weapons be available in both single and multiplayer? Yep! There might be some different mechanics in where you find them available for use, though, and of course AI are rarely as creative in their strategies as players are. I have several favourites – because of the weapon differentiation, it’s not “one size fits all”, and if you take the wrong gear into the fight, let’s just say you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. Luckily, in Hardline we have multiple Loadout slots on the customise screen so that you can create several presets to save your favourite configurations. When playing the game, do you have a favourite weapon, or weapon combo you like to use? Personally, I sometimes go for style in addition to substance – I like to roll the AKM bare-bones as my catch-all, with the wooden foregrip and ironsights only, because I think it looks badass (and I can go 5:1 with it). If I’m in a close-quarters situation, I love to use the FMG with a red dot and silencer – it’s a terror and looks wicked. If I’m out in the open, I prefer a DMR like the Saiga to pop shots off at distant targets, maybe with a compensator to manage the recoil. Finally, for a variety of settings like a solid battle rifle like the HK51 to handle enemies at

over the place. It also allows us to give each weapon a specific character, as the other weapons in that class do things like change their effective damage per second (DPS), their engagement range, or other attributes. The most important step is probably iteration, however. We play these over and over and over, and constantly tweak them based on player feedback until they both feel right and we see the right data reflected in the collected metrics. We’ve made a couple of changes from BF4. We’ve modified the recoil on the weapons, making them more skill-based, but at the same time making it easier to understand the effects of your shots. We’ve made your selections of weapon attachments more crucial than ever, with more differentiation between the attachments. We’ve increased the power of submachine guns as a category, truly making them a viable close quarters option. And there are a few more changes hidden in there, as well, but you’ll have to find those for yourself. Do you recruit weapons experts to brief the team on the functionality and abilities/ restrictions/limitations of each weapon? Absolutely. There are a few of us on the team with extensive experience and training. Luckily, this kind of expertise is acquired in addition to our other skill sets, so it’s not required to have a full-time expert available for consultation. Throughout the course of our careers, we have consulted many firearms experts – the guys who actually know and use these things – and have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge from a practical perspective. One of our designers is even a certified armourer. Do any of the devs undergo weapons training to familiarise themselves with how guns react when fired? Not specifically for this project, but yes, in general it’s a requirement for designers to understand how weapons work, feel, and are handled – Battlefield is known for its authenticity,

• Battlefield Hardline is out March 20

In general it's a requirement for designers to understand how weapons work, feel and handle

and we have to uphold that tradition. Not only that, but our job as designers is to bring you experience you might not otherwise be able to have, and recreating all of the details as perfectly as we can greatly helps immersion. We've had a taste of the weapon audio at E3 last year and with the recent beta, and it was certainly impressive. What is involved in creating the audio for the game? Are the weapon sounds simply accessed via a sample bank? There’s a lot involved in recording weapons. From capturing the sounds of live fire in all modes – single, burst, automatic – to the impacts and ricochets, and all of the sounds of the action (reloading, bolt carrier group movement, and so on), suppressors, etc, there’s a ton of recording that has to be done. Our audio engineers then take all of the pieces and make sure they sound great in game – gunshots don’t transfer directly or easily to game space. They

different ranges – I flick between semi-auto and

fully automatic to help manage the recoil of this beast, but always try to roll the stubby grip on it.

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