STACK NZ May Issue #62

WIN - SEE INSIDE

.net.nz

Now with Cinema Reviews

ISSUE 62 MAY'15

Tom Hardy • Mumford & Sons • The Witcher III: wild hunt

OWN IT ON BLU-RAY ™ & DVD MAY 20

© 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

shop.jbhifi.co.nz

Founder Nic Short Editor John Ferguson Contributors

Issue 62 MAY 2015

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

EDITOR’S LETTER L et’s face it, the best way to watch TV shows is on DVD or Blu-ray. No constant disruption from noisy commercial breaks. No danger of your favourite show being relegated to a 1am time-slot because the ratings didn’t live up to expectations. And you get to see exactly what you want to watch, when want to watch it, without having to wade through a whole lot of other shows that you have no real interest in seeing but have to pay for anyway. So it’s good to have Sons Of Anarchy on the front cover this month: as with many long-running series, it’s had its ups and downs, but with a final series now just around the corner, the sixth season is a cracker. As well as being our DVD of the Month, overleaf we have a bit of news about SOA creator Kurt Sutter’s new TV creation The Bastard Executioner. Elsewhere in the May edition of STACK , there are features on the hit musical Into The Woods , the eagerly anticipated Witcher III: Wild Hunt and the Farrelly Brothers’ return to Dumb and Dumber , along with interviews with Mumford & Sons and Anika Moa, and much more. Enjoy!

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

RATINGS GUIDE

www.stack.net.nz

pg 26

Download the STACK App. It’s FREE!

pg 16

pg 12

pg 14

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

pg 20

pg 28

pg 22

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

THE COMPLETE SEASON ON BLU-RAY ™ AND DVD MAY 6

©2012TwentiethCentury FoxFilmCorporationandBluebushProductions, LLC.AllRightsReserved. © 2015TwentiethCentury FoxHomeEntertainment LLC.AllRightsReserved.TWENTIETHCENTURYFOX,FOXandassociated logosare trademarksofTwentiethCentury Fox FilmCorporationand its relatedentities.

EXTRAS

NEWS

visit www.stack.net.nz

MEDIEVAL ANARCHY

WIGMORE TO DROP NEW ALBUM IN JUNE Kiwi expat GinWigmore is readying the release of her highly anticipated third LP, which is due in-store on June 29. Blood To Bone was recorded primarily in her home base of Los Angeles with various songwriters including Joakim Åhlund from Swedish band Caesars and producer Stuart Crichton, who has written for the likes of Delta Goodrem. The first single, New Rush , was co- written with Alt J producer Charlie Andrews. According to Wigmore, it’s an album of many firsts for her: as well as co-producing, she also plays piano and even stretches her trademark gravelly voice into a falsetto. “The whole idea for this album was to write songs and rhythms that pushed far beyond what I had ever tried before,” she adds. “I spent

Sons Of Anarchy

New series from Sons Of Anarchy creator is set in 14th Century England.

S hooting began last month in Wales on The Bastard Executioner , which is set during the reign of

Katey Sagal, who will play the mystical Annora of the Alders, and Sutter himself who will play her guardian The Dark Mute. Australian actor Lee Jones will

King Edward I and tells the story of a warrior knight weary of war who is forced to pick up his sword again. The series marks a complete change of pace for Kurt Sutter, who wrapped up his long-running biker series Sons Of Anarchy last year;

take the lead role of Wilkin Brattle, once one of King Edward I’s most trusted warriors but who wants to follow a more peaceful path. Other familiar faces in the cast include Stephen Moyer ( True Blood ), Matthew Rhys (T he Americans ) and Sam Spruell ( Snow White and the Huntsman ).

the penultimate sixth season of the latter

show is out this month on DVD and Blu-ray. The Bastard Executioner

No word on screening dates here, but given the popularity of Sons Of Anarchy , it is sure to be picked up by one of the local networks.

features a number of

many hours, days and months listening to a wide variety of music including Portishead, Mos Def, Steely Dan and Alt-J. I was deeply interested in finding that groove and what it was about their songs that moved people on a cathartic level.” ROMANTIC DRAMA NEXT FOR ZOMBIE DIRECTOR Kurt Sutter Anarchy alumni, including lethal gang matriarch For more on Sons Of Anarchy: The Complete Sixth Season , see page 32

As reported last month, Guy Pigden’s first full length feature I Survived A Zombie Holocaust is released this month simultaneously on DVD and at cinemas. And the filmmaker is already looking forward to the release of his next film Older , which he describes as a comedy drama about sex, love and relationships. “It’s actually a romantic drama so it’s very, very different!” Pigden told STAC K . “It’s more of a love story and we shot it using crowd-funding and some of our own money. I’m editing it at the moment but hopefully it will

be debuting in festivals at the end of the year.” However, never fear, he is not giving up on the horror genre. “I would love to do a sequel to I Survived A Zombie Holocaust ,” he says. “I have got a great idea for it and I know everyone would be very eager to get back and reprise their roles. But I also have another couple of genre films that we are looking at lining up to see if we can make sometime next year.”

For more on I Survived A Zombie Holocaust , see page 20

I Survived A Zombie Holocaust

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

04

OWN IT ON 3D, BLU-RAY AND DVD MAY 6 TH ™

shop.jbhifi.co.nz

EXTRAS

NEWS

visit www.stack.net.nz

JackWhite teams withT Bone Burnett and Robert Redford on multi-platform American Epic project. EPIC DOCO FROM WHITE

T he three part documentary from American public broadcaster PBS and BBC Arena will examine the US music pioneers of the 1920s and 30s, who set out to record the music of ordinary people across the country. The series is directed by British filmmakers Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty, and is executive produced by Jack White, T Bone Burnett and Robert Redford. The filmmakers follow the trail of the groundbreaking field music producers to rediscover the families whose recordings would lead to the development of blues, country, gospel, Hawaiian, Cajun, folk and other strands of roots music. The remarkable lives of these seminal musicians are revealed through previously unseen film footage, unpublished

photographs, and exclusive interviews with some of the last living witnesses to that era. As well the documentary, there will also be a companion length film The American Epic Sessions , in which today’s musicians will record new versions of some of the songs using the newly restored original field recording equipment. In addition, Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings will release a companion series of archival recordings, featuring audio restoration of 1920s and 1930s records by Lo-Max Films, Nick Bergh and Peter Henderson; White’s Third Man Records will also release a deluxe box of vinyl records. Local release details are still to be confirmed; stay tuned for more announcements.

GUITAR HERO READY TO ROCK AGAIN Guitar Hero is back and and has been completely reimagined.

Activision Publishing last month unveiled their latest addition to the Guitar Hero franchise - Guitar Hero Live . The game brings a brand new approach to Guitar Hero, with players performing to real crowds that react to the way you play the guitar. Play well and they’ll go crazy, play badly and see real stuff get thrown at you. Think of the VR possibilities... Guitar Hero Live will also introduce GHTV, giving players the opportunity to rock out to a continually-updated collection of official music videos. As well as a new mode, a new controller will accompany the new game; this one features

COMEDIANS BECOME COMIC BOOK HEROES The Awesomes , a grown-up animated superhero series from Saturday Night Live alumni Seth Meyer and Mike Shoemaker, will make its NZ debut this month with the release of the first season on DVD. One of the first original programmes to be commissioned by US streaming giant Hulu, the series explores what happens when the most powerful members of the world’s greatest superhero team leave. As well as Meyers, who plays the young new leader of the Awesomes, the voice talent includes other SNL stars such as Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, Rachel Dratch and Paula Pell, along with Parks and Recreation ’s Rashida Jones. Other SNL stars such as Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Will Forte pop up in the second season; a third series is also due to go to air later this year.

a 2x3 button system that makes it easier for beginners but more challenging for experts. Coming Spring 2015, Guitar Hero Live will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and WiiU.

The Riot Club team of director Lone Scherfig and Sam Claflin (pictured) are reuniting for the Second WorldWar comedy Their Finest Hour And A Half . Currently in pre-production, the Danish director’s latest project is described as a “romantic comedy imbued with the screwball repartee of classic Hollywood”. Hunger Games hunk Claflin will star alongside Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy in the film, which is due out next year. For more on The Riot Club , see the review on page 38

The Awesomes: Season 1 is out on May 14

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

06

T H E COMP L E T E F OUR T H S E A S ON OU T NOW ON B L U - R AY ™ AND D V D

© 2014TwentiethCenturyFoxFilmCorporation.AllRightsReserved. © 2015TwentiethCenturyFoxHomeEntertainment LLC.AllRightsReserved.TWENTIETHCENTURY FOX, FOXandassociated logosare trademarksofTwentiethCentury Fox FilmCorporationand its relatedentities. TO

DUMB DUM ERB AND

UNLEASH THE DUMB ON BLU-RAY ™ AND DVD MAY 6

© 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

shop.jbhifi.co.nz

EXTRAS

NEWS

visit www.stack.net.nz

UNLIKELY HEROES

Ant Man , in cinemas July 16

Our Idiot Brother

dude from Knocked Up , Wet Hot American Summer and I Love You, Man ? Ant Man is out at the cinemas July 16. Jesse Eisenberg In much the same way that experiencing Jack McBrayer as Felix in Wreck-It Ralph renders one uncomfortable watching 30 Rock , envisioning

Chris Pratt Until 2014, he was best known as adorable goofball Andy Dwyer on TV's Parks and Recreation . And much like his character, who became an entertainment sensation as the host of a show called Johnny Karate , Pratt himself Paul Rudd is the latest in some unconventional casting for superhero blockbusters.

Fantastic Four , in cinemas August 6

Suicide Squad

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Suicide Squad – having heard him as Blu the bird in Rio – produces similar feelings of unease. Nevertheless, we're sure his experience in Zombieland will come in handy at some point. Right? Ryan Reynolds Having starred as the unwilling fiancé of Sandra Bullock in The Proposal , 'Party Liaison' Van Wilder , and a snail called Turbo , you might think Ryan Reynolds is venturing out of his comfort zone as the sassy Deadpool in this upcoming Marvel movie. But let's not forget that he's already played the character (briefly) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine , and has lit up the big screen as Hal Jordan in DC's Green Lantern . So this role at least is a perfect fit! And if you want to check out a serious side of Ryan Reynolds, make sure you check out Atom Egoyan's disturbing thriller The Captive , in JB Hi-Fi this month, and reviewed on page 52.

has become a superstar following a breakout 2014. Sure we could imagine him as the voice of

Billy Elliot

movie of the same name. We can only hope that Bendandsnap Carrotstick can bring his trademark witty indifference to this arcane role. Jamie Bell He started out as a young boy with a love of ballet in Billy Elliot , and was also the voice of the eponymous comic character in The Adventures of Tintin . There was also an edgy dalliance in Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac: Vol II. Now Bell is set to get hardcore in a different way, as The Thing in the latest revamp of Fantastic Four. A Thing with the twinkle toes of Billy Elliot ? We'd like to see that! Fantastic Four is in cinemas August 6. Paul Rudd

Parks and Recreation

Emmet Brickowski in The Lego Movie , but we weren't expecting a ripped Pratt as one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. With the lead role in Jurassic World (as a professional velociraptor trainer), and rumoured to be a reincarnation of Indiana Jones (should we ever need one), it seems Pratt is a wanted man in more ways than one. Benedict Cumberbatch Burgerking Scratchnsniff earned his keep after being cast in the BBC's surprisingly successful Sherlock . Apparently this translates into superhero material, because Buckingham Cheddarcheese has now been introduced as Doctor Strange, in Marvel's upcoming (2016)

VanWilder

Seemingly destined to be 'that guy' who stars in rom-coms his entire life, Rudd will take his comedic prowess to a whole new level, literally, as the pint-sized Ant- Man, another superhero in the seemingly vast Marvel pantheon. Can this really be the same

Deadpool

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

08

JB Hi-Fi has more than just blockbusters!

Manny Out Now Acclaimed documentary about Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao.

I Am Ali Out Now This revealing portrait of the legendary boxer boasts a wealth of footage from his personal archive.

Everly May 13 Sexy Salma Hayek is in full Kill Bill mode, facing off against a gang of assassins.

TheCaptive May 13 In this chilling thriller, Ryan Reynolds plays a father desperately searching for his kidnapped child.

The Riot Club May 14 The debauched activities of young Brit aristocrats are exposed in this unsettling drama.

Korengal May 14 The sequel to the Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo offers fresh insights into the war in Afghanistan.

I Survived A Zombie Holocaust May 22 The undead run riot on a zombie film set in this hilarious Kiwi splatter-fest.

Nashville: Season 2 May 27 The battle of country divas Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere resumes in this compulsive music drama.

The Gambler May27 Mark Wahlberg is brilliant as a gambling addict in this remake of the ‘70s cult classic.

Get into JB and grab a copy today!

EXTRAS

NEWS

visit www.stack.net.nz

competitions Awesome Wrestlemania 31 Giveaway All roads lead to the grandest spectacle in all of entertainment as WWE heads to the west coast for the 31st edition of WrestleMania! Head to www.stack.net.nz for your chance to win a Wrestlemania 31 prize

NEWS

Sons Of Liberty

For details on how to enter all our competitions, head to www.stack.net.nz pack including the DVD, T-shirt and pendants. Plus three runner-up prizes. Thanks to Madman Entertainment Four copies of The Riot Club on DVD up for Grabs Filthy. Rich. Spoilt. Rotten. You’re invited to win a copy of The Riot Club on DVD – head to www.stack.net.nz for more details. Thanks to Madman Entertainment

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED S urprisingly, given that they were the underdogs and they actually won, Hollywood seems to have been somewhat reluctant to other familiar faces include Rafe Spall ( Life Of Pi ) as John Hancock and Breaking Bad ’s Dean Norris as Benjamin Franklin; New Zealand’s own Marton Csokas, meanwhile, adds to his résumé of screen villains as British General Thomas Gage. Renewed small screen interest in AmericanWar Of Independence.

celebrate the American Revolution on screen. However, that is starting to change, at least as far television is concerned. As well playing a key role in the supernatural series Sleepy Hollow , this month sees the release of a major new TV production specifically about the American War of Independence. Sons Of Liberty , which is due out on DVD and Blu-ray on May 27, is a six hour mini-series from the makers of Vikings and Hatfields & McCoys, which follows a group of young radicals who led the fight against the British colonial powers. Ben Barnes ( Seventh Son ) heads the cast as Sam Adams, while

Also waiting in the wings is the first season of Turn: Washington’s Spies , a new series about espionage during the American War of Independence. Also based on true events, Jamie Bell (the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot) plays AbrahamWoodhull, a farmer who reluctantly begins spying for the rebels. A second season of Turn goes to air next month in the US; an NZ DVD release for Season 1 was expected in May but has since been put back and a new date still to be confirmed.

AWESOME PARALLELS GIVEAWAY Hands up if you want Parallels Desktop for Mac - the easiest, fastest and most powerful solution for running Windows on a Mac. Head to stack.net.nz to win.

GAFFANEY READY FOR KNIFEFIGHT Following their appearance at this year’s South By South West Festival, Cairo Knife Fight main man Nick Gaffaney’s has unveiled details of the band’s highly anticipated full- length debut album. Due on May 29 The Colossus was written and recorded over three countries and two continents, and found Gaffaney collaborating with a distinguished line-up of homegrown and US performers including Laughton Kora and Mark Lanegan. “This album has been a project that’s mirrored my nomadic life over the past two years” says Gaffaney. “It’s a genuine culmination of all the experiences Cairo Knife Fight has had, but also a launchpad to the band’s future musical direction.”

Thanks to Parallels

in

W

Q1 Which two films released in 1952 & 1968, respectively, were both loosely based on the WWII raid on St Nazaire? Q2 Merle Oberon, Vanessa Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling and Natalie Portman. What's the link? Q3 Which 1974 movie – and the 2014 remake – owes its origins to a short story written by Dostoyevsky? Q4 Who appeared to play a trumpet in a scene from the British movie Genevieve (1953)?

Q5 A family with IRA links leads to coercion by MI5. Name the 2012 political thriller. Q6 What did Bette Davis do that was unusual for her in the movie Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)? Q7 In what detective film does James Stewart play the murderer? Q8 And whilst on unusual behaviour, in what movie do we find Humphrey Bogart as a vampire?

Q9 Which Hollywood star, when his debut movie was shown on television, placed an apology for his performance in the Los Angeles Times ? Q10 A Warner Bros. movie released in 1952 was the fourth remake of the same story, but with a different title than the previous three. Name the film and its starring actor.

QUIZ

visit stack.net.nz for terms and conditions

(1956) A10. Film titles pre-fixed with American... Sniper, Graffiti, Beauty, Psycho

A9. Bachelor Mother

(1972) A8. Last Man Standing

A7. Donovan in The Pied Piper

(1939) A6. Woody Allen – Stardust Memories

and Hustle

(1939) and Bundle of Joy

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

(1969) A5. Maureen O'Hara in

The Last Wave A4. Sam Peckinpah describing his western 

A3. Richard Chamberlain in

A2. All Good Things

A1. They have all played the Apache leader Cochise on the big screen

The Wild Bunch

Quiz Answers April 2015 (Issue 61) -

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

10

www.stack.net.nz

A Little Wilder in Mind

CINEMA, DVDs, GAMES & MUSIC

CINEMA

INTERVIEW

visit www.stack.net.nz

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

12

INTERVIEW

CINEMA

Bronson

Inception

Hardy and CharlizeTheron in Mad Max: Fury Road

British actor Tom Hardy is known for his brawn, his looks, and his ever accelerating ascent into the Hollywood elite.

With director George Miller

A fter a rocky start, which included drinking at 13, being expelled from school and developing substance addiction problems, Tom Hardy was first nudged into the world of showbiz at age 19, when he won a modelling competition and secured himself a contract. He studied at the Drama Centre in London, before ambitiously cutting his studies short in favour of a part in HBO's mini-series Band of Brothers . A retrospective Hardy admits that he has had a “naughty” past – and was even arrested for car theft and gun possession. But after checking into rehab in 2003, Hardy gradually secured himself larger parts, and over the years has gained critical acclaim for his work in films like Bronson , Inception , Lawless and Locke . Today, at 37, Hardy has adjusted to the Hollywood lifestyle, but it’s still not something he takes for granted. “I'm lucky to be where I am now after messing up things when I first arrived in Hollywood,” he says. “It took me a while to earn back people's respect and find good roles again. I still feel like I'm a character actor who's getting the shot at playing lead roles, which is great.” In fact, this ‘character actor’ now has a franchise to call his own. While he lives in London with his fiancée, actress Charlotte Riley, and has a three-year-old son, Louis, from a previous relationship, he recently

the lead. "When I saw the first Mad Max , I remember feeling the same way that I felt when I began listening to Jimi Hendrix records," he recalls. "There was too much to understand, and the sounds and images were very disturbing to me, but now I love them madly." The childhood links don’t end there: “When I was 17, I was given a dog named Mad Max, although I wasn't that fond of the name because the dog was so friendly! Then 17 years later, my dog died and I got the call that I'm going to playing Mad Max... That was kind of eerie.” Max’s canine namesake was a friendly pup, but the film’s protagonist is certainly not. Hardy found getting to grips with his character an intense experience, though explains he’s often drawn to characters who frighten him. “I like to play people who are opposite or very different from who I am, whoever that is!”

When I saw the first Mad Max , I remember feeling the same way that I felt when I began listening to Jimi Hendrix records

spent six months in the Namibian desert shooting the wildly anticipated blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road . Three decades after director George Miller first brought the post-apocalyptic franchise to life, Hardy has taken over the role that put a young Mel

he laughs. “I find it much simpler to interpret people who make me wonder what it's like to be in their skin, maybe to be tougher than I am.” Mad Max may be quite the tough cookie, but this actor is made of hard stuff himself.

Gibson on the map. Hardy becomes Max Rockatansky, crossing a bleak desert wasteland, trying to survive, and fighting enemies armed with spectacularly scary vehicles. Any actor would be clamouring for the role, but Hardy had his personal reasons behind vying for

13

DVD & BD

Q&A

visit www.stack.net.nz

Meryl Streep on playing theWitch in the big screen version of the musical smash Into The Woods .

Tell us what drew you to the project. MERYL STREEP: When I turned 40, I was offered three witches in one year and I realized this was the way my career was going to go: they don’t know what to do with women past a certain age. So I turned them down and I have said “no” to playing witches ever since. However, I changed my mind when this role came along because this witch is quite different. First of all, she transforms. Her whole reason for being is to reverse a curse that has been placed on her; she sets in motion all sorts of devices and causes a dramatic upheaval in everybody’s lives. I believe fairy tales have evolved as cautionary tales. They were told to scare children away from the dangers they would encounter in their lives and to encourage young women to marry rich men. Everybody is encouraged to find a Prince and live happily ever after and sometimes it doesn’t work that way. This is where the Into the Woods fairy tale becomes reality and it gets really exciting, random, weird and almost like real life. For an actor, they are great fun. Were you familiar with the stage production prior to signing onto the film? I went to see the musical when it was on Broadway with the great Bernadette Peters playing the Witch, and I thought it was fantastic. There is no one like Stephen Sondheim. There is no one who writes singable, character-driven music that tells a story. The wit, the intelligence and the daring in his music is unparalleled, so I was really happy to have the chance to work on it. What makes the musical score so special? I really love the music from Into theWoods . I actually love it more every time I listen to it. When you first encounter the music, it’s arresting but on the second and third listening it has more and more to give you. And when you’re in a musical they pump the music that we’ve recorded in a studio beforehand through

the whole set. I remember coming out of the theatre on Broadway and singing No One Is Alone to myself – that song just pierces you when you hear it. The other songs are equally as wonderful. I have a song that is brand new that Stephen Sondheim wrote for our movie. It’s called She’ll Be Back . It turned out good and that was just thrilling. It’s about Rapunzel leaving and The Witch thinking she’ll be back, but she won’t. We can all relate [to that].

visually. He is the ideal guy to do that. He is also extremely gentle as a man and has a soft touch, never over-powering, no big ego…it is all about the work and making it happen.

He has also assembled an impressive ensemble for this movie…

It’s an amazing cast... it’s a real actors’ group of talent. Nobody ever gets a chance to play this kind of heightened reality, fantasy/fairy tale, and it’s a unique opportunity: actors are chewing it up. I was delighted to be working with Emily Blunt as the baker’s wife again, as she’s wildly talented and has a particular warmth and sense of humor that’s perfect for this…and a gorgeous singing voice as well. And James Corden as the baker is legend because of One Man,Two Guvnors , the show he did on Broadway. And Anna Kendrick… Pitch Perfect is one of my favorite movies, so I loved working with her. I had worked with Christine Baranski on Mamma Mia , who is one of my dearest friends, and she’s diametrically the opposite of the evil stepmother, but

What was like working with director Rob Marshall?

Rob has a percussive sense of the movement of the piece, like a conductor. He has got the rhythm of it in his body. He is a former dancer, so I think it is really important for him to keep the incipient heartbeat of the piece beating and pushing forward; musically, emotionally and

she’s having an awfully good time. And Jack’s mother, Tracey Ullman, is one of my oldest friends, I’ve known her since Plenty when she was 21 years old, so it’s a dream that we’re working together again. I just adore her.

What do you hope audiences take away from the film?

This is a musical with a brain. There is an intelligence at work because it is Sondheim and [James] Lapine. It is visually fun and emotionally satisfying but it also has this other element that engages us as artists and makes

us want to bring everything we can to it. Musically, it is challenging and thrilling and so this is what I hope for the audience: that they will be thrilled and challenged.

• Into The Woods is out on May 6

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

14

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY & DVD

©2014COLUMBIAPICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC. AND LSCFILMCORPORATION. ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY & DVD MAY 20

©2015SCREENGEMS, INC.AND LSCFILMCORPORATION. ALLRIGHTSRESERVED. ©2015 LAYOUTANDDESIGNSONYPICTURESHOMEENTERTAINMENT INC. ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

DVD & BD

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

Peter and Bobby Farrelly essentially invented the gross-out comedy genre with the 1994 smash Dumb And Dumber. The brothers look back fondly at their first big hit and explain why it has taken so long to bring Harold and Lloyd back to the big screen in Dumb And Dumber To .

of it about 15 years ago. Jim Carrey was unavailable at the time and we kind of dropped the ball. Then, about five years ago, Jim saw the original Dumb and Dumber on TV, got the bug to do another one, called us, and we were ready to go.” “We have never done a sequel,” continues Bobby. “But of all the movies we have made, Dumb and Dumber sets itself up for a sequel the best.” According to the brothers, the great thing about Harry and Lloyd is they do not change. They haven’t grown in maturity, they have got the same apartments, they haven’t got new jobs, and they still don’t have much luck with the ladies. “All they have is each other,” continues Peter. “Because of that you are able to take a very similar ride with these guys that you took on the first one. And it truly is a great ride.” Although it had been 20 years since Carrey and Daniels had played the dim-witted duo, it didn’t take long for them slip back into character. Says Bobby: “We do not even really rehearse, do we? We do a read-through, but it is not even really a rehearsal. I think once the guys get their hair right, they go right back into those characters.” On the first Dumb and Dumber film, Peter got the director’s credit but on the sequel – as with most of their other subsequent films – they shared directorial duties. Peter says they tend to share film-making duties equally. So what’s the secret of the long-running film- making partnership – how do you work together for that many years and remain on good terms? “We do not agree all the time,” admits Bobby. “A lot of times we will see things differently. But if Peter sees it differently, I respect his opinion and I will take a second look. You might fight for a day or two, you do not carry any grudges.”

“W e just wanted to do a movie about two dumb guys who go on the road to Aspen,” recalls Peter Farrelly. “And then as it kept going we started having more and more fun with the stupidity of these two guys. Of course, the rest of Hollywood did not understand it.” It’s hard to believe now but back in 1994 the concept of gross-out comedy didn’t really exist, so when struggling screenwriters Peter and his brother Bobby first started pitching their idea for what would become Dumb and Dumber , they received a very lukewarm reaction. “People would always read it and say, ‘that’s

But of all the movies we have made, Dumb and Dumber sets itself up for a sequel the best.

funny’, says Bobby. “And then they would hand it to whoever at the studio and it would just get to a point where someone would say, ‘this is dumb’.”

passed on us. But we found out years later, they did not really pass. Their agents passed. Their agents just saw the title, Dumb and Dumber , and threw it away.” However, the Farrellys ended up having the last laugh: Dumb and Dumb went on to to become a huge hit and effectively created a whole new genre, the gross-out comedy. Now the siblings have returned to the characters who started it all, Harold (once again played by Jim Carrey) and Lloyd (Jeff Daniels), for a long

Peter adds: “Well, we always thought that a hundred actors had

overdue sequel Dumb and Dumber To. The pair may now be a bit older but they are certainly not any wiser and the new film finds them embarking on another disaster-prone road trip to locate Harry’s newly discovered daughter.

So why the sequel now? Peter Farrelly replies: “We are doing it now because the stars aligned. But we thought

• Dumb And Dumber To is out on May 6

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

16

PA U L W E L L E R

HHHH MOJO I 9/10 UNCUT

ALBUM OUT MAY 15 INCLUDES WHITE SKY & SATURNS PATTERN CD I CD / DVD SET I 180GM VINYL LP I DELUXE BOX SET

WWW.PAULWELLER.COM WWW.WARNERMUSIC.CO.NZ

FEATURING “SEE YOU AGAIN” WIZ KHALIFA

ALBUM OUT NOW FT. CHARLIE PUTH & “RIDE OUT” KID INK, TYGA, WALE, YG, RICH HOMIE QUAN

N E W A L B UM O U T N OW T h e M a g i c W h i p

a v a i l a b l e o n c d / v i n y l

b l u r . c o . u k W a r n e r M u s i c . c o . n z

DVD & BD

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

In choosing her second project as a director, Angelina Jolie found inspiration close to home. UNBROKEN

H ollywood history is filled with

movies based on inspirational true stories involving remarkable

individuals with the resilience and determination to triumph over adversity. So it was only a matter of time before the eventful life of Louie Zamperini – as documented in Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption – was made into a film. What was unexpected, however, was that this incredible story of survival against the odds would be brought to the screen by actor- turned-filmmaker Angelina Jolie. Zamperini was a gifted Olympic athlete who joined the United States Army Air Corp in 1941. Deployed as a bombardier, he survived the crash of a defective B-24 bomber in 1943, subsequently spending 47 days adrift in shark- infested waters before being captured by the Japanese Navy and interred in a POW camp. Zamperini’s strong survival instinct and life motto, “If I can take it, I can make it”, helped him endure the torture and indignities he experienced as a prisoner of war. Angelina Jolie had made her directorial debut in 2011 with the Bosnian War-set drama In the Land of Blood and Honey , and was eager to venture behind the camera once again, albeit with the right project. “I wanted it to be something I would love and care about because directing takes so much dedication, so much time away from your family and much more effort than acting,” Jolie explains. “You have to be completely committed and fully engaged. I knew I wouldn’t be any good at directing another film unless I was really moved by the subject matter and felt it was important.” When producer Matthew Baer gave her the working script for Unbroken in 2012, Jolie found within it the themes she wanted to explore onscreen.

Above: Angelina with Louie Zamperini Right: Angelina directs Top: Jack O'Connell (right) as Zamperini in Unbroken

to structure Zamperini's story as a film. “I made these storyboards at home, taking pictures from the Internet, gluing and taping them onto sheets of cardboard,” she recalls. “Then I put them in garbage bags and hauled them to Universal, where I pitched my butt off convincing the studio I could do the job.” With support from producer Baer, the studio agreed to allow Jolie to further develop her passion project, during which time she became better acquainted with Zamperini. “I had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie, who was a hero of mine,” Jolie notes. “I quickly understood what my generation and my children’s generation could learn from his. “I wanted to make this film because, in the end, Louie’s message is one that we all need, now more than ever. He was someone who helped to remind us all what each of us is capable of: to never lose heart, to gain

“I was intrigued by the draft I read, but it was after I read Laura’s book that I knew that I wanted to direct the film,” she recalls. I was drawn to the incredible story of Louie’s journey and Laura’s brilliant recreation and rich documentation of pivotal events that shape the last century.” Not only was Jolie inspired by Zamperini’s story, she soon discovered that the man himself lived in her own neighbourhood in the Hollywood Hills. “Louie could actually see the roof of my house from his living-room window,” she laughs. “Little did I know that he’d been there all the time… all the while I was trying to figure out what to do next with my life.” This revelation made Jolie even more determined to direct Unbroken , and she began meticulously researching and planning how best I had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie, who was a hero of mine

strength from family, to identify our fears and our pain, to define brotherhood with our fellow man, to come face-to-face with the darkness and to never, ever give up.”

• Unbroken is out on May 20

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

18

DVD & BD

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

Guy Pigden talks to John Ferguson about his first full length feature, the Kiwi splatter comedy

money and creatively working around that was one of the most difficult things.” He is full of praise for the work of his effects team and his game cast, a number of whom had to endure a fair few indignities on screen. They include Harley Neville – actually a partner in Pigden’s production company – who plays the hapless hero, and former Shortland Street regular Reanin Johannink (last seen in All Cheerleaders Die ), the spoilt lead actress on the fictional zombie film. “The cast were amazing,”

I Survived A Zombie Holocaust . W hen it comes to mixing gags and gore, New Zealand filmmakers has always punched above their weight. From the early films of Peter Jackson, through to the splatter- stick of Black Sheep and onto last year’s hits Housebound and W hat We Do In The Shadows , our gift for horror comedies have won over many genre fans, both here and abroad. It’s a heritage that filmmaker Guy Pigden is very aware of – and one he is keen to uphold on his full length feature I Survived a Zombie Holocaust . “I am a huge fan of Peter Jackson as a filmmaker,” Pigden enthuses over the phone to STACK. “ I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, and someone gave me a copy of Bad Taste, and I remember it blowing my mind. Then I watched Braindead and have been a huge fan of his ever since. My intention for this film was to try and make a film in the same spirit of his early films.” For I Survived a Zombie Holocaust – not to be confused the BBC reality TV series I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse – the fledgling Kiwi filmmaker has certainly come up with a cool new riff on what has become an overly- familiar genre. Here, a film crew shooting a low budget zombie flick in a remote location find their set over-run by the real undead from a nearby town – how do you tell the real zombies from the extras in their make-up? A cheerfully gory splatterfest that also pokes fun at some of the conventions of the genre, Pigden first came up with the idea when writing another zombie flick.

Pigden says. “I was looking for people who were completely invested in the characters and were prepared to go the extra mile. On a low budget film, you have to have everybody on the same wave length, giving it their 110 percent and prepared to go further than what would normally be asked of them. I think every single cast member did that and I think that is reflected on the screen.” I Survived A Zombie Holocaust premiered first at London’s Fright Fest and in a New Zealand, it will be one of the first local movies to be available simultaneously at the cinema, on DVD and online. However, Pigden would like to release a special DVD edition of the film further down the track. “Our original cut came in at well over two hours, so there is a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor,” he explains. “The scenes that were taken out were mainly for timing purposes and what ended up being trimmed away were scenes that were not particularly relevant to the central stories. This version for me is the best version of the fim. But I would love to come back to do another edition with an in-depth

“It was a completely different story but there was one scene where the characters bumped into this director and assistant director who were shooting a zombie film and didn’t understand that real zombies were attacking them,” he says. “That script got put on the backburner but I went back to that little seen and expanded on that concept of having real zombies attack a zombie film set.” Shot in and around Dunedin – apparently it’s the first feature to be shot there since Scarfies (1999) – the movie was funded through the New Zealand Film Commission’s Escalator scheme and he and his team have worked wonders with a limited budget. However, Pigden admits it was hard-going. “I think our biggest challenge was working within the budget of $250,000,” he reckons. “It was very tight. Obviously, when you are doing a zombie film, you are having to do a lot of special effects and make-up involved, there is a lot of action and spectacle that you are trying to get across. All of those things are very challenging when you have a small amount of

• I Survived A Zombie Holocaust is out on May 22

documentary detailing the shoot and including a lot of deleted scenes.”

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

20

GAMES

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

The wait is over, Witchers. It’s here!

STACK spoke with head of global communications Michał Platkow-Gilewski about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt .

Sapkowski, who had agreed to license a mobile game based on the Witcher books, told the two budding developers to go and get the license. This they duly did, and now eight years later and after three delays, CD Projekt RED are about to release the concluding part of The Witcher trilogy: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Head of global communications Michał Platkow-Gilewski told STACK recently that the delays were necessary. “It’s really unfortunate that we had to delay the game but we see it like this – we either release just a good game and make people say that they could have pushed this [back] a few months and polished it a bit, or do exactly that: postpone the launch, squash the remaining bugs and make this adventure even more epic. “The things we focused on were mostly

T he CD Projekt story makes for interesting reading. Based in Poland, the origins of the studio stretch back to Warsaw computer swap-and-meet markets in the early nineties. Adam Kiciński and Marcin Iwiński were earning a living selling bootleg games, priding themselves on being able to obtain the latest triple-A titles from the West for an eager Polish audience. The advent of CD ROM technology proved to be a turning point for the young gamers, who set up a business named CD Projekt and began legally importing games through American distribution companies. After establishing relationships with publishers directly, Kiciński and Iwiński took it a step further and began 'localising' content. This was enough to ignite the creative flame and the pair decided

We postponed the launch, squashed the remaining bugs, and made this adventure even more epic

to open a development wing to the company – CD Projekt RED was established. Having an interest in fantasy RPG, Kiciński and Iwiński approached the Polish 'Tolkein', Andrzej Sapkowski, who had developed the critically-acclaimed Witcher series of books, believing they had little to no chance of engaging with the author. To their surprise,

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

22

Very mild violence, online interactivity

GAMES

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

DLC. And what’s even better, the studio are releasing 16 free bits of DLC after the game comes out, including cosmetic items for key characters and even contracts. Platkow-Gilewski explains: “We owe gamers for supporting us and free DLC is our way of saying 'thank you'. But that’s not everything. As a company, we’re not particularly fond of what’s going on with the industry with regard to downloadable content. “Gamers are being charged for things we think should be free and we wanted to put the money where our mouth is. We see a clear line between content that makes paying for it sensible, and content that should be free. And we try to lead by example." Not all the DLC is free. CD Projekt RED recently announced two drops of DLC called Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine . With over 30 hours of gameplay included here, the studio wanted to deliver content that was worthy of a price tag. “We’ve just announced two expansions to The Witcher III: Wild Hunt that will give gamers 30 hours of adventures,” Platkow-Gilewski says. “They will introduce new characters and items, and even a totally new region of the world. “Both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are huge and meaningful, and we think that when gamers see how much effort we put into creating them, they won’t feel ripped off seeing that they’re not free. That’s the whole point for us.” Since the first game back in 2007, the Witcher series has stamped its own identity in a crowded genre – no easy task. Anticipation for the final game in the trilogy is at fever pitch, and this is likely to be one of the biggest games of 2015. What does Platkow-Gilewski attribute the studio’s success to? Is there a secret to CD Projekt RED’s success? “Learning from what you do, I think. There’s no magic thing one needs to do that grants you success. You need a dedicated team, you need ideas, and you need to work really hard. That, plus a bit of luck.”

under the hood stuff – we optimised how the game ran and focused on eliminating bugs.” Following the initial success of the first Witcher title, CD Projekt RED attempted to port the game to console enlisting French studio Widescreen Games to complete the task. It was an absolute disaster and was scrapped after less than a year in production. While the studio has had prior experience with console development ( The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings only came out on Xbox 360 as the PS3 was purportedly to hard to work out), it's the first time the game is coming out on the PlayStation platform. Platkow-Gilewski says the console versions were always in the planning and that they 'wanted to make a truly multiplatform game right from the start'. “We did a lot of research before making the decision to launch on all platforms simultaneously,” explains Platkow-Gilewski. “We tested waters with the Xbox 360 launch of The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings , so this time we’re even better prepared to launch on consoles. “As for the PlayStation gamers, they need not worry – we’ve created Wild Hunt in such a way that for newcomers it’s basically a standalone game. Every major character will be gently reintroduced, every recurring theme explained. What’s more, we’ve managed to do this delicately enough so longtime fans still see this as a natural continuation of the game. Our story team is pretty awesome.” While Andrzej Sapowski created The Witcher universe, he has no input in development. In fact, he doesn’t even like video games, so the narrative in the Witcher titles are conceived by the studio. The world in Wild Hunt is purportedly 30 times bigger than the previous Witcher games and a whopping 20 per cent larger than Skyrim . That’s a lot of open world to fill with content. “We had to develop our own idea of how to create worlds, I guess,” says Platkow-

We've created Wild Hunt in such a way that for newcomers it's basically a standalone game

Gilewski. “I spent a lot of time talking with the team on their vision of an open world and it always struck me that it was never anything like 'let’s just make a huge mass of land and fill it with stuff'. “Everything was created with a purpose. For example, gameplay teams requested a part of the world to be created, so environmental teams had an idea of the purpose of what they were creating. The world was not created and filled with content, it’s content that created the world. And it’s huge.” If this expansive world isn’t enough for gamers, CD Projekt RED are already planning a significant amount of

• The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is out May 19

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

24

Mild violence, Online interactivity

GAMES

FEATURE

visit www.stack.net.nz

How do you design a racer that everyone wants to play? You develop it in conjunction with your core audience.This is Project CARS. The Community Racer

Moreover, input from “Stig” Ben Collins, European Touring Car driver Nicholas Hamilton, and European Le Mans series champion and BAC Mono test pilot Oli Webb provided Slightly Mad with the ‘real driver’ insight the studio sought for inspiration – and above all, authenticity. Project CARS has been designed as the ultimate sim, where players can just about tweak any part of the game. The cars are photorealistic, with the studio purportedly using 300,000 polygons per vehicle. You can race anywhere at anytime in any format, too, with events spread across 14 countries, with 80 different track layouts and over 400 kilometres of tarmac. The team also decided to break the traditional format of a racing title. In Project CARS, there’s upgrades, so you can compete with the best. All the cars here are unlockable from the off. No grinding out results to get a sniff of a decent ride; you simply get what you want and race it where you want from the start. How many times have you asked for that in a racer? And the vehicle diversity is unprecedented, with everything from road cars, karts, supercars and touring available. It’s been almost a year since we last saw Project CARS at E3. It looked good then, without the benefit of further time to work on its completion. While the project has been delayed several times now, this could turn out to be a blessing. We know the racing enthusiasts in the STACK office are talking about no other game at the moment. We might have to form a queue. no incessant circuit repetition and under- performing vehicles collecting money for

T he ubiquitous racing genre is a tough place to trade. Finding a point of difference in such a

heavily populated marketplace is a struggle facing developers with every new iteration of a racing franchise. However, Slightly Mad Studios think they have what it takes to lead the pack. Based in London, Slightly Mad was formed in 2009 following the acquisition of the developer behind the GTR racing series, Blimey! Games. The studio’s portfolio includes the acclaimed Need for Speed titles, Shift, Shift 2 and Unleashed for EA, before completing Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends in 2012. While contemplating their next project, Slightly Mad canvassed the thoughts of both racing game enthusiasts and professional drivers in a bid to determine just what was required to produce the perfect racing title. Armed with this information, they decided to develop a racing title with direct input from the people who will be playing it – the fans – and

Slightly Mad conceived a crowdfunding platform for the production of Project CARS

Slightly Mad conceived a crowdfunding platform for the production of Project CARS . Under the title of WMD, or World of Mass Development, potential involvement in the game was accessed via a website where different tiers of investment denoted the level of involvement in the development process. It’s a fine idea and was eagerly adopted by the racing community eager to submit creative input and access regular opportunities to road test code; and more importantly, provide vital feedback. In all, some 80,000 racing

enthusiasts helped shaped the game with the added incentive of the prospect of earning money from their contribution.

Project CARS is out May 7

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

26