STACK NZ Summer #70

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ISSUE 70 SUMMER EDITION 2016

CHARLIE PUTH

The Martian • David Bowie • Zoolander 2

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ISSUE70 SUMMER EDITION 2016

EDITOR’S LETTER S o far it’s been a pretty unsettled Summer, so while we would all rather be outside enjoying the sunshine, it pays to plan ahead for those unwelcome days when you are stuck inside. As far as DVD and Blu-ray is concerned, there is certainly plenty to choose from this Summer at JB Hi-Fi and a good place to start is our film of the month, The Martian , which recently picked up two Golden Globes and is the sort of stirring adventure that will lift the spirits. Other hot new releases featured in this month’s STACK include the acclaimed thrillers Black Mass and Bridge of Spies , the feel-good comedy The Intern and the gloriously gothic fantasy Crimson Peak . And for those looking for more edgy, challenging fare, we recommend you check out The Duke of Burgundy and The Diary of a Teenage Girl . Elsewhere in our Summer Edition, Graham Reid pays tribute to the late, great David Bowie and hails his final album Blackstar , while on the games front, we look ahead to some of most eagerly awaited titles of 2016. Issue 70 SUMMER EDITION 2016

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

CHARLIE PUTH

Games Consultant Sachi Fernando Production Manager Craig Patterson Social Media Manager Sally Carlier-Hull Contributors Graham Reid, Judy Ewens, GarethThompson, Liam Gannicliffe, Scott Hocking, Zoë Radas, Gill Pringle Alesha Kolbe, Ryan Huff, Simon Lukic, Michael Dwyer, Chris Murray, Simon Winkler, Denise Hylands, Correspondence

THEMARTIAN • DAVID BOWIE • ZOOLANDER 2

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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. © 2016 Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the written permission of the publisher. For further details, read fine print.

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FINAL FALL CHAPTER Shooting has begun on the third and final season of the acclaimed BBC crime drama The Fall . Gillian Anderson reprises her role as the Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, who remains locked in a battle of wits with a serial killer Paul Spector ( 50 Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan). Also returning will be series regulars such as John Lynch and Aisling Franciosi, while new additions to the cast include Richard Coyle ( Crossbones ) and Ruth Bradley ( Humans ). Screening dates are still to be announced for the five part series, but it is likely to be broadcast in the UK towards the end of the year. For those who missed it first time around, the first two seasons are currently available at JB Hi-Fi. The Fall is just a number of new TV projects on the way from Anderson. As well as starring in a lavish

Not quite, but revealing new documentary on the duo debuts next month. Daft Punk Unchained was produced by the BBC’s French arm and offers a rare portrait of the notoriously secretive dance outfit. The film chronicles key moments in the camera, but the documentary does feature exclusive conversations with their friends and collaborators, including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rogers, Giorgio Moroder and cult French filmmaker Michel Gondry. DAFT PUNK UNMASKED?

new BBC take on War & Peace , she is also due back on screens opposite David Duchovny in the reboot of The X Files .

career of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, from their first school band in Paris to their acclaimed concert at Coachella in 2006, up to their 2014 Grammy triumph for their latest album Random Access Memories . Sadly, it doesn’t look as if the makers were able to convince Daft Punk to appear on

Daft Punk Unchained also boasts archive radio interviews with the duo and rare behind-the- scenes footage.

EXTRAS

Daft Punk Unchained is due out on February 17

ASTONISHING PROG THEATER Prog rockers DreamTheater have unveiled their most ambitious record yet – a 34 track concept album entitled The Astonishing . Due in stores on January 29, the double album tells the story of a retro-futurist dystopia controlled by a medieval style feudal ruler. However, a ‘Chosen One’ is destined to rise above the noise and defeat “an Empire defined by the endless drone of noise machines and the illusion of safety in bland conformity”. The Astonishing has been produced by DreamTheater’s founding guitarist John Petrucci and mixed by engineer Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush). The orchestral arrangements are courtesy of David Campbell, whose credits span artists as diverse as U2, Miley Cyrus and Beck.

The Martian will be the first of this year’s major Golden Globe winners to be available on DVD/Blu-ray, arriving in-store on February 3. Although bizarrely included in the musical/comedy category, Matt Damon deservedly took home best actor award and it also won best film. See review on page 22.

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N I N E T R A C K M I N D

F E A T U R I N G T H E S I N G L E S M A R V I N G A Y E

O N E C A L L A W A Y

& S E E Y O U

A G A I N (W I T H W I Z K H A L I F A)

O U T J A N 2 9

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SHARK SHOCKER NEXT FOR ROTH After the cannibal gore-fest The Green Inferno , Eli Roth is set to tackle a very different sort on man-eater in Meg .

M eg is based on the cult novel by Steve Alten and tells the story of a 70 foot prehistoric ancestor of the Great White – the carcharodon Megalodon – which is unwittingly unleashed from its home in the Mariana Trench. While giant sharks have been featured in a host of Z-grade movies of late, this will be a big budget studio production. And Roth has the perfect credentials to direct: as well as his proven genre credential, he’s also a bit of a shark fan, hosting the Discovery Channel shows S hark After Dark and Shark Week . Aside from Meg , other upcoming projects from Roth include a remake of his break through horror hit Cabin Fever (he is producing and may have a cameo in it) and a sequel to The Green Inferno – which is due here on DVD and Blu-ray next month – provisionally entitled Beyond The Green Inferno .

The Green Inferno

FAR CRY GOES PRIMAL

EXTRAS

The Far Cry series has always been a franchise favourite in the STACK office. The last two entries in the first-person shooter series have taken gamers from sun-drenched tropical islands to the icy peaks of Nepal. Complete with a compelling story, a plethora of intriguing missions and smooth gameplay, the Far Cry titles have always been good performers for the French publisher. The next game in the franchise – released just over a year after Far Cry 4 - has taken everyone by surprise by ditching AK47s for bows, arrows and spears. A traditional contemporary setting has been swapped for

the Mesolithic period, or the Stone Age to you and I, where the protagonist, a hunter named Takkar, must craft weaponry, tame and ride animals and attempt to grow your very own tribe. With no multiplayer mode attached to Far Cry Primal and the absence of co-op gameplay, the challenge for Ubisoft will be to deliver a quality single player experience sufficiently different from what we’ve come to expect from the series. However, the thought of hunting a mammoth armed with nothing more than a bow, an axe or a spear has certainly piqued our interest.

Photo: Marina Chavez

Bonnie Raitt returns later this month with her 20th studio album Dig In Deep . The follow-up to 2012’s Grammy Award-winning Slipstream , the new LP was recorded with her touring band of the last two years and features five co-writes by Raitt, the most original compositions she has contributed to a record since 1998’s Fundamental . “I was really inspired to come up with some songs that went with grooves that I missed playing in my live show, and to dig deeper into some topics I hadn’t yet mined,” she says. “I don’t write easily and can get distracted, but remembering how satisfying it was to come up with something new of my own, and writing with guys I love.”

Dig In Deep is due out on February 26

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L ike many of his contemporaries, Portraying a senior intern at an online fashion site in comedy The Intern , he soon got up to speed, thanks to co-star Anne Hathaway. “He was still using a flip phone when we met,” teases Hathaway when Stack meets with the Oscar-winning duo. The veteran actor has been through something of a transformation since then. “I can use a computer and an iPhone, send emails, texts and Google,” says De Niro, 72. “I resisted for a while, until I was getting so many messages, I realised that it was easier to learn. It’s a little bit annoying that nobody talks on the phone any more, they just text. My own kids included.” Forever old-school, he adds: “But if I’m going to have a communication about something, and consummate it, I want to consummate it verbally and face to face.” For her role, Hathaway visited several major online shopping sites including Nasty Girl and Moda Operandi, happily admitting to her own shopping addiction. “Net-a-Porter was having a 70 per cent off sale this week and I was like ‘Nice! Time to buy the row!’” De Niro shakes his head and smiles. “I don’t do any of that. People in my office get stuff for me on the internet. I prefer to go see something and see if it’s right and that it fits.” ARE YOU TEXTING ME? Screen legend Robert De Niro picked up a few techno tips from his Intern co-star Anne Hathaway. Robert De Niro admits it's a struggle keeping up with technology.

BY THE NUMBERS Christian Bale learns the fine art of investment fund management in the financial crash comedy THE BIG SHORT.

EXTRAS

W ho better to explain the 2008 financial crisis than a naked Margot Robbie in a bubble bath? However, its Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Christian Bale who do the real heavy lifting in The Big Short , making a comedy out of the financial meltdown. Portraying real-life investment fund manager Dr. Mike Burry, Bale nailed every aspect of his personality, from his obsession with numbers to his passion for heavy metal drumming. In real life, Bale hasn’t a clue about finances. “I’m terrible with numbers, but a few years back, I had to figure out some investments. And I’m an actor, so I just pretended to be somebody who adores numbers, and I would go through and leave no page unturned, and I actually did pretty bloody well with them. But it didn’t last – I’m really somebody who couldn’t be less interested in that world. Fortunately my wife is very good at that kind of thing, so I leave it to her.” As ever, Bale relished

our chairs, we just talked non-stop. And it was fascinating, a really wonderful conversation, and I liked his company a great deal.” He did recognise some parallels between himself and Burry. “In terms of brain capacity, noooo. Not at all,” he smiles. “But what I believe we share in common is that I do what I do because I am obsessed with it, and I have a passion and a love and a hate for it, and never did I expect to really earn a living, let alone a very good living at it, but it all came from that motivation. And that’s what I see in Mike as well; as opposed to a clichéd Wall Street guy desperate for power and money, Mike came at it from a point of view of an obsession with numbers.” The real Dr. Burry made a fortune for his clients, despite the stress he endured when his clients believed he was making a risky bet. “He got very ill through that whole period, largely because of some of these relationships where people got furious at him, and even afterwards

Hathaway doesn’t mind admitting she’s still a little starstruck by her esteemed co-star. “When Robert talks, everyone is transfixed by him. He’s a legend for a reason.” Gill Pringle

when he had earned them a fortune and he was proven correct, they still remain furious. It’s confusion beyond belief. It really disillusioned him,” says Bale. Gill Pringle

studying the real Dr. Burry. “I love that part of the work. You get to ask questions and study people in a way that you’d be considered a creepy stalker under other circumstances. We actually sat together for about nine hours; we didn’t get up from

The Intern is out on February 10

The Big Short is in cinemas now

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NEWS EXTRAS

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a brutally honest and often funny story about a 15-year-old growing up in the ‘70s. By Gill Pringle

A lexander Skarsgård fully understood the risk involved with playing the kind of bloke who would sleep with his girlfriend’s teenage daughter. “It could easily have been too predatory, where you just hate him from the first scene to the last,” explains the 39-year-old actor. Skarsgård plays Monroe, the slacker boyfriend of Kristen Wiig’s Charlotte, whose attention turns to the easy availability of her 15-year-old daughter Minnie. “I don’t think I could have done it if we hadn’t found the right young actress to play Minnie,” adds the True Blood star, who immediately shared chemistry with Brit actress Bel Powley, now 23, in The Diary of a Teenage Girl . “Bel was amazing. Without her, it would have been too easy for the audience to just sit back and go ‘Creep! Get away from him’, and that wouldn’t be interesting.” Set in San Francisco in the mid-70s, straddling the dying days of the hippy movement and the birth of punk rock, Powley relished her costumes, despite her severe bangs, high-waisted flares and turtleneck sweaters. “I couldn’t wait. I remember

going to some disco and then trying on the costume and starting to feel a bit more like Minnie,” says Powley. “Then sitting in a kitchen in the production office with a hairdresser and she hacked off my hair into a fringe. As soon as it happened, everyone was like ‘Oh, Minnie’s here’.” Meanwhile, Skarsgård grew a moustache. “I’d seen lots of photos of my dad during the ‘70s when he had a moustache, so that was my inspiration,” says the son of veteran Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. Despite the movie’s decidedly adult theme, Powley encourages teenage girls to sneak in to cinemas anyway. “I think it’s healthy for young women to see a normal young woman’s body on screen, a body that isn’t airbrushed, that isn’t tanned, that isn’t too skinny, and that makes them love themselves and their bodies. “Also I don’t want teenage girls to feel alone anymore in their sexual development. I feel like it’s such a taboo subject. Hopefully our film will open a conversation about it.”

EXTRAS

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is out now.

CLARKE’S KIWI EXPERIENCE Everest tells the harrowing true story of one of the worst ever disasters on Mt Everest, which

nervousness to begin with on their part.” Clarke also spent time climbing with Guy Cotter (played in the film by fellow Australian actor Sam Worthington), who survived the disaster and took over the running of Hall’s business Adventure Consultant after his death. “Guy was one of Rob’s best friends, and he’d known him and climbed with him for a long time,” says Clarke. “Finding a friendship with Guy, and finding a way to understand that New Zealand sense of humor, which is very different to Australia, really helped inform me.” For his part, Cotter was impressed by Clarke’s portrayal of his old friend. “Jason was very protective of Rob’s credibility and

saw eight die during a blizzard in 1996. Australian actor Jason Clarke plays the lead role of pioneering Kiwi mountaineer Rob Hall and he was determined to be as true as possible to the real-life character. First off, he traveled to New Zealand to meet Hall’s widow Jan – played in the movie by Keira Knightley – and their daughter Sarah. “It was quite extraordinary,” says Clarke. “We had two or three days together, and I’d never heard their side of the experience – and this was 17 years later. During those couple of days, we shared a lot, even though there was a lot of

Vinyl , which premieres later this month on Sky, is shaping up to be one of the HBO events of the years: the showrunner is Boardwalk Empire ’s Terence Winter, while the executive producers are Mick Jagger and Martin Scorseses; the latter, who worked with Winter on Boardwalk Empire , also directed the pilot episode and is keen to take a more hands-on approach with this television project. Bobby Cannavale ( Ant-Man ) heads the cast as Richie Finestra, a record company executive hustling to make a living in the diverse New York music scene of the ‘70s, while Olivia Wilde ( Love The Coopers ) plays his wife Devon. The ensemble also includes comedian Ray Romano, Juno Temple and Mick Jagger’s son James. Keep an eye out for it on DVD later this year.

his reputation,” Cotter says. “He wanted to make sure the film didn’t try and simplify the story for dramatic effect, and steer away from the real truth, because Jason felt particularly close to the character and did a great job of portraying Rob’s strengths and his approach to doing things.”

Everest is out now

on DVD and Blu-ray

09

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EXTRAS SOCIAL / COMPETITIONS / QUIZ

competitions THREE HALO: THE FALL OF REACH ON DVD Master Chief is back in Halo: The Fall of Reach and we have three DVDs to give away. Head to stack.net.nz to enter Thanks to Defiant! Screen Entertainment

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

SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD ON DVD Spy thriller Spooks:The Greater Good has landed in JB stores and we have three DVDs to give away. Thanks to Madman Entertainment

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. READER REVIEWS DVD | GAMES | MUSIC Got something to say?

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#JokeOfTheDay Why did Adele cross the road? To say hello from the other side.

QUIZ

Q1 The eponymous hero of this rock musical was in fact three years younger than his screen mother and three months older than his screen father. Name the movie. Q2 Who was the first writer to direct his own screenplay? Q3 Who was the first performer to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar-winner? Q4 Because of a successful lawsuit being brought against a movie studio, which was the first film to insert a disclaimer in the credits stating that 'this film is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental'? Q5 Who made his first appearance in a dream sequence from the 1948 movie Two Guys fromTexas ?

Q6 Which 2014 fantasy movie was based on a Stephen Sondheim musical? Q7 Listed amongst the 100 Worst Movies Ever is one that involves a lumbering NYC cab driver being taught to become a C&W singer. Title please. Q8 Which two actors teamed up for a number of motion pictures that were Warner Bros.' answer to Paramount's Hope & Crosby "Road" films? Q9 Which Oscar-winning movie's opening scene was filmed at West Sands, Scotland? Q10 A famous outlaw – living under an assumed name in South America – decides to return to the US. Name the 2011 movie?

HappyBirthday Kurt Cobain born on 20th February, 1967. Had he survived, the lead singer of Nirvana would be 49 this year. Did you know? Kurt Cobain's suicide note was addressed to his STACK ’s Fave Movie Quote: “Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father told him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract...” Michael Corleone, The Godfather, (1972) childhood imaginary friend, Boddah. #STACKBirthday

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A10. The Four Feathers

instead of Daniel Craig

(1951) A9. Jerry Bruckheimer cast Clive Owen in

A8. James Arness, who starred in

(2004)

King Arthur

Gunsmoke , also played The Thing from Another World

Ballard A6. The Angel and the Badman (1947) A7. Jennifer Jones (real name Phyllis Isley). She won Best Actress Award for

(1943)

The Song of Bernadette

(1969) A5. Lucien

A4. Marooned

A3. Ida Lupino directed (uncredited)

Not Wanted

61st Academy Awards (albeit they changed it back to the original line in 2010)

A2. 1989 at the

A1. They all starred as the female protagonist in the three versions of

A Star is Born

Quiz Answers December 2015 (Issue 69) -

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CINEMA, DVDs, GAMES & MUSIC

CINEMA INTERVIEW

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CINEMA

IN VOGUE Fifteen years after male supermodel Derek Zoolander brought the fashion world to its knees with a single flash of Blue Steel, the strutting sensation is staging a comeback. His alter ego Ben Stiller explains how the timing couldn’t be better…

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INTERVIEW CINEMA

Meet the Parents

model look, but admits to feeling the pressures of aging in Hollywood. He jokes that within the fashion industry, Hansel and Derek would be considered ‘ancient relics’ but says it was vital they factored this into the film. “Being able to finally make this movie and I'm this age, I had to understand how I could feel like it made sense for the movie. In Derek and Hansel's minds, they are still models and how do models think of themselves at this age? For me, that thing of Derek and Hansel trying to figure out how they belong in this new world is something I could really connect with.” Unlike his alter ego though, Stiller is far from over the hill. In his 28-year career the native New Yorker has written, starred in, directed and/or produced over 50 films. From awkward, family comedy Meet the Parents to great tale of

Zoolander 2

CINEMA

redemption Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story , Stiller is a formidable comedic force and it looks highly likely 2oolander will be a runaway, runway success.

• Zoolander 2 is in cinemas on Feb 11 and is reviewed next issue

Dodgeball: ATrue Underdog Story

D uring 2015 Paris Fashion Week there was an incident on the catwalk that shocked both the film and fashion world. During the finale of the Valentino show, two runway superstars returned

2oolander, or "two-hundred-Lander?" as Derek says in the teaser, promises plenty of big laughs, fashion espionage and celebrity cameos, including Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, unrecognisable as non-gender specific supermodel ‘All’. “Benedict

after a 15-year hiatus: Derek Zoolander and Hansel, aka Hollywood heavyweights

The lead up to it was pretty wild because we were hiding for three hours backstage, the models didn't even know...

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, gatecrashing the fashion show to

Cumberbatch is great, he was so game and so excited. I felt really fortunate that people who were fans of the first movie wanted to come on board and be a part of it. There is definitely a few surprises in there,”

announce the long awaited Zoolander sequel. “That was really exciting and scary because it was a big surprise – you can't trip and

it was a big thing we worked on for about a year to get to that point

says Stiller. He does, however, admit to

and keep it a secret, and Anna [Wintour, US Vogue editor] was a big part of making that happen too. The lead up to it was pretty wild because we were hiding for three hours backstage, the models didn't even know...” says Stiller, who plays the hapless male model and also directed and co-wrote the film which is due out in February.

feeling frustrated at having to reveal so much before the film’s release, saying that he wishes "everything could be a surprise" – a statement now all the more poignant since Cumberbatch’s character has caused controversy among the transgender community, some of whom find his portrayal offensive. At 50, Stiller still manages to pull off the male

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Guillermo Del Toro talks about his favourite gothic fiction and films, and why his latest fantasy opus Crimson Peak is not your usual haunted house movie.

What inspired you to make Crimson Peak ? Guillermo DelToro: One of my favorite gothic novels is written by Sheridan Le Fanu, and it’s called Uncle Silas, and it’s so great because there is a very innocent character trapped in a very wicked place. For Crimson Peak , I fell in love with the idea of a mountain that becomes red in the winter – the snow becomes red as blood. It’s a very powerful image, and that’s where the movie came from. What I wanted was to do a very classic gothic romance, but with a couple of things that were very, very modern. So there are a few violent sequences – graphic, brutal – and a sexual element that is quite raw; no nudity or explicit content but strong taboo breaking. Although there is a strong supernatural element, is it fair to say to it's closer in spirit to movies like Rebecca rather than The Haunting ? The Haunting has a very different architecture, and I tried to not reference other movies in the same genre. Rebecca is very much a gothic movie. But Rebecca is actually very, very close to Jane Eyre , and then Jane Eyre is very close to Dragonwyck or Uncle Silas ! Gothic novels have recurring elements: the distressed dark, brooding hero, the innocent heroine coming to a crumbling mansion, the hostility of the mansion or its inhabitants. I think the idea is to create something that comes from my own sensibility. That’s what Kubrick did in The Shining . He took the haunted house genre, and he made a hotel that looked modern and somewhat clean and full of really modern shapes on the rug and the walls, and he made it become really, really menacing. How else do you think Crimson Peak differs from other gothic classics of the past? Tonally, it is different than most gothic stories; there is quite a drive to the mystery and a use of ghosts and apparitions that is quite unique. Visually, I am trying to create a sense of scope and grandeur and – in some instances – fashioning an elegant Technicolor

DVD & BD

The house in Crimson Peak deserves more than a passing mention.The set you built is magnificent, and the house itself is a character. There is great beauty in shooting in a real place, on a real set, and it informs the way the actors behave and the way you set the mood with the camera. I think it’s good to build sets like this, for that. The set was four stories high, with running water, bathrooms, bedrooms, working chimneys, etc. and encompassed most of the house and a piece of exterior.

look. What I mean is, when you see the images, they have very strong color and it’s sort of the way the Italian filmmakers used to do colour gothic. I adore Mario Bava’s sense of color and his sense of atmosphere. He worked on camera and he used a lot of primary colors. So we are trying to do our take on ‘Technicolor gothic.’ Do you believe in ghosts? Well, I’ve had two experiences, so I do believe they exist. I had one in New Zealand and one in Mexico. In New Zealand, I rented a haunted room in a hotel. In the middle of the night, I heard horrible screams - like someone being murdered - and the hotel was empty for the season. And I heard the ghost of my uncle sighing in my ear after he died. I think that the fact that I believe in ghosts makes me treat them with a personal perspective as a filmmaker.

Are you going to take anything home from the set?

Some key props and books, yes. It’s my favorite set, I wish I could live in the library. I honestly wish the Crimson Peak house could be my house!

• Crimson Peak is out on February 17

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DVD & BD Q&A

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Like his first feature Berberian Sound Studio , British director Peter Strickland’s new film The Duke Of Burgundy pays homage to cult European cinema of the ‘70s. The story of a sadomasochistic relationship between two women, the film was inspired by the softcore flicks of directors such as Jesús Franco. But despite the subject matter, Strickland explains why the film is not as lurid as it may sound.

DVD & BD

Sidse Babett Knudsen as Cynthia? The casting of Cynthia was difficult, we were trying other people and the casting agent suggested Sidse. Living in Hungary I wasn’t really aware of Borgen , but I knew her a little bit from some Danish films like After The Wedding . So I met her and she really responded to the script, which was great. She really transformed herself and she inhabits that character. Sidse also has great comic timing , albeit in a very dry sense for this film. But all those small gestures and tics, which add so much colour, are completely down to her. I have to applaud her taking such a risk on a contentious subject matter and a relatively inexperienced director. Berberian Sound Studio did eventually find huge acclaim. Did this put any pressure on you for this follow up? There is pressure , but the longer you leave it the harder it gets, the best way is to just get on with it. But it was great to have that positive response to Berberian especially when I thought no one would like the film. I wouldn’t say they’re autobiographical films but they are

With this and Berberian Sound Studio , you nail the atmosphere and mood of cult European films of the ‘70s but sidestep sleazier aspects… It’s weird, I think a lot of that’s subconscious. It was never meant to be cleaned up, but it’s turned out that way. I always enjoyed the sleaze element, it’s not as though I’m a prude. But also a lot of the visual extravagances have been done, you have to think up ways to get that strong reaction

Talk us through the origins of this film, how did you arrive at such a concept? I met [producer] Andy Starke the day we got rejected from Cannes for Berberian Sound Studio . His partner Pete Tombs, was talking about this idea Andy had of doing a remake of Jess Franco’s Lorna The Exorcist . I was quite into it, to be honest, but then we mutually decided it might not be such a good idea. But then we decided: why don’t we just do something in the style of Jess Franco, taking a lot of what I liked about his movies, ones like A Virgin among the Living Dead and other things like Bunuel’s Belle de Jour , stuff like that. The idea was to take the genre aspect of it but not necessarily tick all those boxes . What is it about these European films of that era you find so alluring and inspiring? I suppose in general I’ve always liked disreputable films, films that were kind of brushed off. A lot of it goes back to The Scala [a now-closed London cinema], because I didn’t go to film school, so there wasn’t this thing like Bergman and Hitchcock are god and everything else is trash. You could see films by Fassbinder, Russ Meyer, Herschell Gordon Lewis and some really unhinged directors. A lot of those films are completely unpolished but there’s always something just incredibly strange and brilliant and mesmerising. It’s never about watching a perfect film; it’s about finding moments.

from someone watching it, but not necessarily laying it all out on the table. So with Berberian not showing blood and this one not showing nudity. I enjoy the violence, I enjoy the sex in those films but I also enjoy the soundtracks, the set design. Franco was really just a starting point, but his influence is still quite strong in there.

very personal. That’s the thing, as long as you make personal films, even if no one else likes them, I like them. I think filmmaking has to be a selfish act otherwise you’d go nuts.

• The Duke Of Burgundy is out on February 11

How did you come to cast Borgen star

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in 2016

WE'RE LOOKING FORWARDTOTHISYEAR

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE Set 20 years after the events of ID4, Earth utilises technology salvaged from the alien ships to repel a new invasion. Liam Hemsworth joins the fight alongside Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, but Will Smith is MIA. June STARTREK BEYOND With J.J. Abrams having swapped Trek for Wars, the future of the rebooted franchise is now in the hands of Fast & Furious director Justin Lin, who's swapped fast cars for warp-speed starships. The third installment looks to capture the campy tone of the original series; it's Trek via Guardians of the Galaxy and Galaxy Quest . July SUICIDE SQUAD Evil superheroes is a concept we dig, and director David Ayer has assembled a formidable bunch of badasses for this DC Comics spectacular. Jared Leto's Joker is poised to top Heath Ledger's portrayal in the psycho stakes. Aug 4 ASSASSIN'S CREED With Michael Fassbender, Marion Cottillard and Macbeth director Justin Kurzel onboard, and Ubisoft's insistence in retaining creative control over their flagship franchise, the AC movie could well rewrite game-to-film-adaptation history. December ROGUE ONE - A STARWARS STORY Easing the wait for Episode VIII is the first of the live-action SW spin-offs, involving the mission to steal the Death Star plans prior to the events of A New Hope . December

DEADPOOL Ryan Reynolds' passion project – involving a terminally ill, trash-talking mercenary whose treatment turns him into the eponymous crimefighter – could be the most controversial and unconventional superhero movie to date. Kick-Ass meets The Dark Knight? Feb 11 STEVE JOBS Michael Fassbender and director Danny Boyle banish the bad aftertaste left by Ashton Kutcher's rotten Apple with a new insight into the father of iTechnology, scripted by Aaron Sorkin ( The Social Network ). Just don't call it a "biopic". Feb 4 ZOOLANDER 2 15 years after he introduced killer looks Blue Steel and Magnum, fashion icon Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is back. Expect a catwalk full of celeb cameos including Benedict Cumberbatch and Kim Kardashian, and the assassination of Justin Bieber! Feb 11 BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE Batman's a guy in a suit and Superman's an all-powerful alien. So unless Ben Affleck has some Kryptonite up his sleeve, it's going to be a very one-sided contest. But Zack Snyder will blow lots of stuff up, and there's also Wonder Woman. March 24 X-MEN: apocalypse Apocalypse is both the name of the very first mutant and what this ancient, godlike being promises to unleash on the human world. The First Class cast are faced with their greatest challenge yet, under the guidance of returning director Bryan Singer. May 26

CINEMA

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2016

Uncharted 4: AThief's End

So what does 2016 have in store for gamers? Plenty! Here are 20 games we’re very excited about.

Star Fox Zero After playing Zero at E3 last year, this polls highly in the anticipated release stakes. Last seen four years ago on the 3DS in Star Fox 64 3D , all the characters from the classic Star Fox series are back for this Wii U exclusive.

Deus Ex – Mankind Divided Two years after Human Revolution , Adam Jensen is back and ready to use stealth, a good weapon and augmented body parts to undo a new wave of terrorism. Mankind Divided will land in August.

GAMES

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End In terms of blockbusters, they really don’t come much bigger than this. The concluding part of one of the most compelling series ever to land on the PlayStation platform, A Thief’s End arrives in March. Dishonored 2 This was the announcement that excited us most during the

No Man’s Sky Who isn’t talking about this game? This

Bethesda press conference at E3 last year. Play as either Corvo Attano or Emily Kaldwin, Dishonored 2 kicks off 15 years after the events of the original – a game that we still rave about today.

procedurally generated title, with a purported 18 quintillion planets to explore, takes ambition into a whole other universe.

Star Fox Zero

Dreams Media Molecule, the brilliant minds behind LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway, are supplying the tools to create in this innovative title. It’s down to the user to decide how imaginative the world in which you play in – and let others enjoy – is.

No Man's Sky

Dark Souls 3 A series that defines the word 'challenging', the Dark Souls story continues in 2016 on new-gen consoles and PC. We suggest that you start training for it right now.

Dreams

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FEATURE GAMES

original trilogy, and is set to deliver a brand new space opera. Details are scarce, but with the erudite writing skills associated with the studio, the story is likely to be a belter. The Last Guardian How old were you in 2007? Well, that’s how long this game has been in development. Little is known about it at this point, but when you have the studio behind Shadow of Colossus and

Street Fighter V

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Announced over two years ago, The Division has been a perennial slipper. From what we’ve played, we’re hopeful the wait will be worth it. Battleborn From the studio behind Borderlands

Dark Souls 3

Horizon: Zero Dawn Guerrilla Games thankfully kicked Killzone into touch and instead invested their creative talents in a brand new IP set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with robotic dinosaurs. Could you possibly want anything more?

comes a new sci-fi-themed IP that pits 25 different characters from a range of different classes in a MOBA-style first-person shooter.

The Last Guardian

Ico working on it, the outcome is likely to be particularly special. Far Cry Primal

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Is the prehistoric era the developer’s new black? It would appear so, but to be honest, wherever the Far Cry franchise goes, we’ll be prepared to give it a shot. It’s survival at all

GAMES

Battleborn

The Legend of Zelda

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

With each passing year since the Wii U released comes the promise of the Zelda game we’ve all been waiting for. The good news? We’ll be able to play it this coming year. Probably. Quantum Break

Is it a reboot, a reimagining, a sequel? Who cares – Mirror’s Edge is back and our favourite parkour weaponless warrior Faith returns on PS4 and Xbox One.

costs here in an open-world extravaganza where you’ll rub shoulders with sabre-toothed tigers, et al. DOOM DOOM is back and reimagined for a totally new audience to enjoy. Resurrected from the ashes of DOOM 4, players who like their games imbued with gore and a twist of nostalgia will feel right at home here.

Microsoft’s first-party software assault continues with the third-person shooter Quantum Break , a game where players manipulate time to their strategic advantage. Originally announced two and a half years ago, QB is due in April.

TotalWar:Warhammer

Total War: Warhammer Swapping the traditional historical setting for one of the best-known fantasy worlds was a masterstroke that has gifted Creative Assembly a great set of principles to work with. Crackdown 3 If third-person open-world behemoths are your bag then you’ll want to be all over this Xbox

DOOM

Street Fighter V Promising new characters and a host of new features,

Quantum Break

Capcom’s illustrious Street

Mass Effect Andromeda BioWare’s superb Mass Effect series moves away from the

Fighter franchise returns in February. It’s a console exclusive on the PlayStation 4, but SFV will also release it on PC.

One exclusive. An action-packed cops versus crime lords adventure set in a futuristic city. Hold onto your hats.

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MUSIC REVIEWS

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GOODBYE SPACEBOY Graham Reid looks back on a career unlike any other

He was a scene- borrowing chameleon in his early years as a young Mod, or playing that generically English take on black rhythm and blues. But he didn’t stand out until “ground control to Major Tom” (on the same album as some pretty ordinary hippie-dippy stuff). He found his confidence and soon was referencing

D avid Bowie frequently changed his musical colours, but to call him a chameleon — as many have done since his unexpected death just days after the release of his stunning new album Blackstar — is wrong. A chameleon blends into the colours of the background, Bowie took the colours and used them to stand out. In the early 70s he leapt past Marc Bolan of T. Rex to become the glam-rock Ziggy star; three years later he adopted the sounds of Philadelphia for cocaine-fueled soul on Young Americans which he took to chic nightclubs and the top of the charts; he relocated to austere Berlin and assimilated German electronic landscapes for the groundbreaking Low/Heroes/ Lodger trilogy . . . But in every incarnation he made “David Bowie music”, and for decades it was a hallmark of quality. Even when presenting challenging music as on Low and Heroes he

Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan, and writing, “Oh you pretty things, you’re drivin’ your mamas and papas insane . . .” (on Hunky Dory ). Suddenly Bowie – then Ziggy – connected with his audience and, despite some lesser selling albums (like Dylan, Lou Reed and others he often sold fewer records than his influence might suggest), he took his followers on the journey.

• Blackstar by David Bowie is out now via Sony

1.Outside (1995) with Brian Eno which sprung The Heart’s Filthy Lesson and Hallo Spaceboy (remixed by the Pet Shop Boys). Over disconcerting sonic beds from Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabriel, jazz drummer Joey Barron and others, Bowie declaims a cyberworld in decline. For his overlooked Earthling (1997) he embraced drum’n’bass, jungle and industrial sounds (Trent Reznor on hand for I’m Afraid of Americans ) but most people only remember the distressed Union Jack(et) he wore on the cover. By the patchy Hours (1999) many fans had moved on so missed the excellent Heathen (2002) which included the fascinatingly melancholy Everyone Says “Hi” . That album and the uneven Reality (2003) reunited him with producer Tony Visconti who also got the call for the spiky The Next Day in 2013 and the unexpectedly different Blackstar . Now the changeling — a more appropriate description than chameleon — that was David Bowie is no longer with us. But – as he sings on Lazarus on Blackstar — “Look up, I’m in Heaven”.

MUSIC

could toss out hit singles ( Sound and Vision, Beauty and the Beast, Heroes ) which didn’t compromise art to get on the charts. Bowie’s career was multi- faceted and enticingly textured. The expansive David Bowie Is exhibition — an art gallery overview full of photos, artwork, films, fashion, videos and much more — proved you could remove the music component and still be in the presence of a unique artist who brought together mime, stage presentation, gender-bending style, elegance, costumes, sophistication, gritty clips, oddball films, painting . . . introduce himself to the world, and you might say music was the same for Bowie. But it took a while for him to find the persona and vehicle to do it. Muhammad Ali once said boxing was just the way to

He picked up the gay, straight and androgynous; could appear on Soul Train for a black audience up dancing and take Heroes to earnest Europeans in the shadow of the Cold War; referenced himself with style ( Ashes to Ashes ) and filmed Let’s Dance in the Outback. He sometimes seemed a bit lost (Tin Machine seems unlikely to undergo any major reconsideration) but was always interesting. He brought together high art and low culture, and wrapped them in songs which imprinted themselves on people across almost five decades. He left on a high with Blackstar and its sheer difference drives you into his last 20 years for hints that this might have come. There’s nothing. But a search allows a rediscovery of the underrated

For more reviews, interviews and overviews by Graham Reid: www.elsewhere.co.nz

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CINEMA, DVDs, GAMES & MUSIC

REVIEWS BEST OF

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DVD of the MONTH

THE MARTIAN After being stranded on a planet in another universe in Interstellar , Matt Damon again finds himself as an astronaut cast away, albeit this time closer to home. Left behind on the Red Planet after his shipmates are forced to make an emergency lift-off, Damon is faced with the predicament of how he’s going to survive – and more importantly, to contact NASA to arrange a rescue mission. It’s his optimistic outlook, resourcefulness and determination to “science the sh*t” out of his dilemma that makes The Martian so damn entertaining. This is an atypical Ridley Scott movie: the spectacle and detail is present and correct, only this time there’s also a sense that the director knows he’s making a big, crowd-pleasing sci-fi blockbuster; it feels more like a Ron Howard film than one from the man who gave us Alien and Blade Runner . The Martian is more than just Robinson Crusoe on Mars without the monkey – like Saving Private Ryan it never lets us forget that “the mission is a man”. A survival story that celebrates the endurance of the human spirit without the obligatory spoonful of sugar, it’s got all the right stuff. Scott Hocking

Out on February 3

David Bowie

ALBUM of the MONTH

Although we had almost half a century of the unexpected from the late David Bowie, few – if any – could have anticipated his remarkable new album , AKA Blackstar . What we now know was Bowie’s farewell statement bears no resemblance to its brittle and abrasive predecessor The Next Day of three years ago, and scant reference to anything in his vast catalogue of diversity. Perhaps its closest reference point might be the stuttering electro-shivers of FKA twigs, except Bowie is more musically ambitious, and deploys jazz musicians to paint in the widescreen subterranean bass and astonishing drum work from players who shift emphasis and tempo. At times it’s as if Bowie has called up the spirits of jazz musicians like Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, but brought in an academy-trained drum’n’bass crew and taken them on a left turn into art music. Some of the seven songs have appeared previously: the 10 minute, shapeshifting title track which opens the album and moves from a claustrophobic mood over skittering drums through languid sax and onward; Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) , was on 2014’s Nothing Has Changed collection, however this new, more aggressive version has splinters of guitar piercing it; and nd its B-side on a 12’’ ‘Tis A Pity She’s a Whore has also undergone a revision for Blackstar . But none of these prepare you for the breathtaking scope of Bowie’s musical and lyrical vision here. The extraordinary final song I Can’t Give Everything Away (with a tellingly lengthy pause before the final word) sounds the closest to anything he’s done previously – a little of his Wild is the Wind vocal from Station to Station as filtered through a melody akin to Psychedelic Furs’ Sister Europe – but in truth this is all new territory. And what’s he on about on Blackstar ? Themes of alienation, religion and fear abound, but close reading isn’t rewarding because it sounds like he’s using the cut-up method. But with his passing just days after the album’s release, you can pick up many references to death, notably on Lazarus – such a telling title – where the opening lines are, “Look up here, I’m in Heaven...”. Graham Reid

Out Now

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REVIEWS DVD & BD

The lawyer who came in from the cold BRIDGE OF SPIES

Gangster No. 1 BLACK MASS

Release Date: 24/02/16

Format:

Release Date: 17/02/16

Format:

Part courtroom drama, part Cold War thriller, Steven Spielberg’s classy new film tells the fascinating tale behind the shooting down of a US spy plane over Russia in the 1960. The story actually begins in 1957, when humble Brooklyn lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is given the next to impossible task of defending Russian spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Unsurprisingly he loses the case, but when US spy plane pilot Gary Francis Powers is captured by the Russians, Donovan becomes the middleman in a

Much has been made of how this intense gangster epic heralds a major return to form for Johnny Depp – and make no mistake, he’s back to his very best here as notorious Boston mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who is allowed to build a criminal empire while acting as an informant for the FBI. However, this is very much an ensemble effort: Joel Edgerton almost steals the film as compromised FBI agent John Connolly, slowly sliding into a pit of corruption, while there are terrific supporting turns from an A-list supporting cast that

high stakes prisoner swap deal. Working from a script co-written by the Coen Brothers, Spielberg brings his usual visual excellence and immaculate pacing to the proceedings, while Hanks is in his element as mild-mannered but dogged lawyer.

includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard. Suffused in the slate grey tones of the great crime movies of the ’70, Scott Cooper’s muscular direction completes a perfect package.

DVD&BD

End of the line for found-footage franchise? Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

The Drac pack is back Hotel Transylvania 2

Release Date: 24/02/16

Format:

Release Date: 03/02/16

Format:

After the left-turn that was the fifth Paranormal Activity movie – The Marked Ones was more spin-off than sequel – The Ghost Dimension returns to the core story of possessed sisters Katy and Kristi for what is billed as the final installment in the found-footage franchise. A family move into their new home, where dad Ryan (Chris J. Murray) discovers an old video camera that can see images from an otherworldly dimension, and a box of cassettes featuring recordings of the scary siblings from 1988, which seem eerily linked to the

Even Adam Sandler’s most devoted fans would have to admit he’s been on autopilot of late. However, this fun Addams Family -esque animated sequel finds the star/ co-writer back in sparkling form and this is arguably the best Sandler movie since 2009’s Funny People . This time around, Drac (voiced by Sandler) is gradually coming around to the fact that his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) is now married to a human (Adam Samberg), and is delighted when they provide him with a grandchild. However, when the boy shows no sign of

present. Before long, an amorphous black mass is hovering in the house, with demonic designs on daughter Leila (Ivy George). Although it doesn't stray too far from the established formula, the 3D ensures that Paranormal Activity 6 lives up to its subtitle.

becoming a vampire, Drac and his pals resolve to bring out the monster within him. The direction of Genndy Tartakovsky – creator of Samurai Jack – fizzes with hyperactive energy, while grown-ups will appreciate the accomplished comic playing of Sandler’s regular repertory company.

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