st225

CONTENTS

ISSUE 225 JULY 2023

MOVIES & TV 6 Take 5 and On the Radar 7 Charts and What do you do? 8 All eyes on Barbie and Mission: Impossible 10 The Mario Bros. Level Up 11 Merch of the Month 12 Beyond Evil Dead Rise and Adapting The Last of Us 14 Scream 6 : Slice’n up the Big Apple 15 Liam Neeson: Hollywood Gumshoe and A Jurassic Race Against Time 16 New from Imprint Films 17 Out this month 18 The latest on 4K MUSIC 20-26 The Music Room: Maisie Williams, PJ Harvey and more 28 Vital Vinyl: Midnight Oil, Dr. Dre and more 29 This month @ JB 30 Cover feature: The Decade of Decadence 32-34 Album reviews GAMING 36 Take 5/Game changers! 38-44 So, you want to get into PC gaming? 46 Sonic Origins Plus 48 Out this month/ Wham, bam, game exam! 50 Fast forward/Q5 TECH FLIP MAG AND READ FROM BACK 4 Intro and Take 5 6-8 Audio tech buying basics 10 Noise cancelling and why you need it 12 Sound all around with spatial audio 18-19 All you need to know about earbuds 20 Exercise essentials: Fitness earbuds 22 Bluetooth speakers to go 24 Get speaker smart 26 Power a party with big sound 28 We check out the new Bose Pro S1+ 32-35 Turntables and speakers to match 36 Groove on the move with the Sound Burger 38 Studio gear for homemade music 40-41 New Mini LED TVs and a Sony OLED 42 Smart locks and why you need them 44 Get rapt with the Dyson Airwrap Multi-styler 46 New tech at JB 14 Breaking down Bluetooth 16-17 Headphone highlights

WELCOME

The stigma surrounding movie adaptations of video games may be no more following the runaway success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie , coming to JB in July. Nintendo’s iconic mascot previously appeared in a dubious 1993 live-action movie (played by Bob Hoskins), but his return in Illumination’s new animated feature has received a resounding thumbs-up from fans. With $1.3 billion in global box office to date, it’s the second-highest-grossing animated movie of all time and the most successful video game adaptation. And speaking of games, look out for HBO’s acclaimed adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us , also out this month. It’s that time of year again! Our comprehensive and essential guide to audio tech has you sorted for sound, from buying considerations and devices to suit all budgets and lifestyles to an in-depth look at noise cancelling and how spatial audio adds an extra dimension to your music. We also check out the latest audio gear hitting JB this month, along with the new range of Mini LED TVs. In music, we get witchy with Maisie Peters, untangle the lore behind PJ Harvey’s latest, dive into the decade of decadence (the ‘80s, of course), and review new LPs from Ian Moss, Jess Hitchcock, Tina Arena, Grian Chatten, and Queens of the Stone Age. And last but by no means least, we take a deep dive into PC gaming, and, with the release of Sonic Origins Plus , we check in on – appropriately – the origins of Sonic the Hedgehog. Paul Jones, Editor-in-Chief

jbhifi.com.au/stack

Founder Nic Short Editor-in-Chief Paul Jones Tech Editor Scott Hocking Music Editor Zoë Radas

Music Consultant Mike Glynn Marketing Manager Fleur Parker

Social Media Manager Glenn Cochrane Production Manager Craig Patterson Correspondence STACK editor@stack.com.au

Chief Contributors Gill Pringle, Bob Jones Contributors Bryget Chrisfield, Jeff Jenkins,

Games & Online Editor Amy Flower Movie & TV Editor Glenn Cochrane Creative Director Gary Siewert Movies Consultant Kerrie Taylor Games Consultant Sachi Fernando

Simon Lukic, Billy Pinnell, Denise Hylands, Simon Winkler, Jake Cleland, Holly Pereira, Adam Colby, Bec Summer, Dan Nicholson, Alex Deutrom, Michael Irving, Jacqui Picone

RATINGS GUIDE

Parental guidance recommended

Recommended for mature audiences

Not suitable for people under 15. Under 15s must be accommpanied by a parent or adult guardian

Restricted to 18 and over

General

Disclaimer STACK is published by Scribal Custom Pty Ltd (ACN 092 362 135). © Copyright Scribal Custom Pty Ltd, 2023 All rights reserved. All material appearing in this publication is copyright unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material or advertisement. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of Scribal Custom Pty Ltd. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of advertisements or information. Whilst care has been taken in the research and preparation of this publication, the publishers, writers or anyone else associated cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, injury or hardship arising from the content contained herein or reliance therefrom, howsoever caused, and it remains your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any such content. Views expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher or the editor. By the very nature of this publication, things change daily and we cannot take responsibility for any changes or inaccuracies that occur subsequent to going to press.

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