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ISSUE 71 MAR '16

SPECTRE • MATT CORBY • THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS HD

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THE WORLD OF TWILIGHT RETURNS IN GLORIOUS HD

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YOUR ESSENTIALGUIDE TOCINEMA,DVDs,GAMES&MUSIC

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Founder Nic Short Editor John Ferguson Contributors

.net.nz

ISSUE71 MAR '16

Editor-In-Chief Paul Jones Creative Director Karl Lock DVD Consultant Jason Hewitt

Issue 71 MARCH 2016

EDITOR’S LETTER T hanks in part to an early Easter, March is shaping up to be a truly blockbuster month, with the release of new DVD/ Blu-rays from three of the biggest screen franchises. As well as saying farewell to The Hunger Games saga with Mockingjay – Part 2 , Daniel Craig is back for his fourth James Bond outing in Spectre , while our own Keisha Castle-Hughes features in the fifth season of the fantasy spectacular Game of Thrones . This month also sees the release of two other TV hits with strong Kiwi connections: Fear theWalking Dead and iZombie , starring Cliff Curtis and Rose McIver, respectively. All are featured in the March edition, along with profiles of Australian star Matt Corby and the legendary John Cale , and much, much more. And don’t forget there is a wealth of additional STACK content available on both our website and in our digital edition, including interviews with Vin Diesel , Simon Pegg and newWonder Woman Gal Gadot , plus our guides to the upcoming WOMAD and Auckland City Limits festivals.

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, Amy Flower, Simon Lukic, Michael Dwyer, Chris Murray, Simon Winkler, Denise Hylands Correspondence

SPECTRE • MATT CORBY • THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS HD

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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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After the cannibal gore-fest The Green Inferno , Eli Roth is set to tackle a very different sort on man-eater in Meg . UNDER STA TER’S ORDERS New Kiwi band Racing is looking forward to road-testing their debut album at Auckland City Limits.

E merging out of the ashes of garage rockers The Checks, the Auckland four-piece released their self-titled debut EP last year and will soon start recording their first full-length album. Singer Ed Knowles told STACK that the band – guitarist Sven Pettersen (The Checks), bassist Dan Barrett (Sherpa) and drummer Izaak Houston (Space Creeps) – are looking forward to the inaugural Auckland City Limits and introducing their sound to festival goers. Although a release date for the debut album is still to be confirmed, he hopes it will be out around the middle of the year. “We’ve pretty much got it down to 15 songs and we’ll then go in and record them,” Knowles says. “I think it will be an evolution from our EP. The EP was almost like we were venting a heavy side, but I think we are leaning further to the more melodic side: I guess you could say a little more ‘Checks-y’ – more chords than riffs!” No stranger to big stadium gigs from his time in The Checks, Knowles says there is something special about a live show in big arenas and he hopes Auckland City Limits becomes a regular event here.

The inaugural Auckland City Limits – a spin-off from the celebrated Austin, Texas, event – will be held at Western Springs Stadium on March 19 and will play host to 40 overseas and local acts, including Kendrick Lamar, The National, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Modest Mouse, Cold War Kids, Girl Talk and Ladyhawke. For more information visit www.aucklandcitylimits.com

EXTRAS

Check out the digital edition of STACK for the full interview

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE The New Zealand star of theTV zombie hit Fear theWalking Dead has to face up to a very different sort of resurrection in the biblical drama Risen.

I ’m usually asked to play terrorists so I thought it was a prank when I was offered this role,” laughs Kiwis star Cliff Curtis on playing Jesus in Risen , which is due in cinemas this month. “I’m also in my late 40s and Jesus was apparently crucified when he was 33, so it was a miracle I was even cast!” Currently starring in TV’s Walking Dead spin-off Fear the Walking Dead , the New Zealand star is a devout Catholic and says he was an altar boy as a child. “I used to joke about playing Jesus because I never thought I was fair-complexioned enough and didn’t have blue eyes,” says Curtis, referring to the traditional archetypes of Christ,

an image since dismissed by historians. To prepare for the role, Curtis lived alone for a month, making his own humble meals. He also undertook a self-imposed vow of silence while filming Risen in Malta and Spain, which he only broke it when he volunteered to wash the feet of his Apostle castmates. “I had to set my ego aside in order to be of service to a very significant divine being on this planet,” he explains. “I talk a lot, a lot of unnecessary nonsense – and certainly not divine – so the only way I felt I could cleanse myself was through silence. I lived monastically, allowing just an hour each day to talk to my wife and kids. “Some may say it was unnecessary, but I compare it to doing Hamlet on stage and then pulling out your phone and Facebooking. That would be all wrong, so I did what I thought was respectful for the role.” Curtis will also be seen on DVD this month in the first season of Fear the Walking Dead , with the first part of the second series expected to go to air here in April. He describes his character, Travis Manawa, as an optimist and an idealist, which he sees as

being both a strength and a weakness. “I love that he’s an optimist,” Curtis says. “I think it’s important to humanity. When things are going wrong, you need someone who insists everything’s going to be okay, we’re going to pull together and we’re going to work it out. It’s a strength, but it can also become a weakness. When things start falling apart and all of his ideals are challenged, it’s just a matter of how long it will take to realise that all of his ideals can’t apply to the situation.” The early promos for season two suggest that the cast may be about to embark on an ocean journey, but Curtis and co. insist that they have been kept in the dark about what’s in store for them. “You never know! We’re not making it up when we say, ‘We have no idea’. We’re not trying to be clever. We honestly don’t know. [Laughs] It’s all a part of being a part of a genre like this. No one should know because every danger is potentially the last one you’ll face, and that’s the premise of the show.”

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete First Season is out on March 3

Fear theWalking Dead

05

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T he New Zealand actress, best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Whale Rider , has been a fan of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series since reading the books at school. And the Sand Snakes were among her favourite characters. “I loved them,” she enthuses. “They are definitely some of the most badass female characters in the books. When Pedro Pascal turned up as Oberyn Martell last season, it was so exciting. I started thinking that I could be related to Pedro Pascal. "I put it out there into the universe; I got in touch with my manager. They announced that they were auditioning the Sand Snakes, and from that point on, I became very persistent about making sure anyone who was involved in the show knew that I was gunning for it.” Castle-Hughes plays Obara Sand, probably the most warrior-like of the three siblings. “Obara is the most like Oberyn,” she agrees. “She’s trained her entire life with him to use the spear like he does.” However, she adds: “Obara is so goddamn serious all the time and then the other two are like, 'Chill out. Stop killing people! Just relax.' Then you’ve got Obara going, 'I don’t understand why the two of you aren’t taking this seriously'." the chance to join Game of Thrones for the fifth season, playing one of the Sand Snakes, the badass daughters of the late Oberyn Martell. WHALE OF A TIME Keisha Castle-Hughes relished

PERFECT HARMONY Santigold on why the cover of her new LP took her breath away.

C hris O’Dowd, who plays the journalist who exposed the Lance Armstrong scandal in The Program , wasn’t aware that his co-star Ben Foster used performance-enhancing drugs to get into character for his role. Playing Armstrong’s nemesis, Sunday Times ’ writer David Bradley, on screen meant that O’Dowd didn’t have an awful lot to do with the actor during the shoot, but he is not surprised that Foster went to such lengths to prepare for playing the disgraced Tour De France champion. “I didn’t know that he had done that until a journalist T he cover of Santigold's new LP 99c is the real deal. Smooshed beside the musician’s scorpion-like ponytail are a paint set, a plastic horse figurine, a white platform sneaker, a Frisbee, several different kinds of melodion and brightly-coloured classroom percussion instruments, and a hundred other gewgaws. “I’d seen [Japanese photographer Hal’s] work and we flew him to NewYork for the shoot,” Sandi White – aka Santigold – tells STACK . “He’d never been to the States before. It was a really special collaboration. You literally climb in a plastic bag and he shrink-wraps you, sucks all the air out. Then he counts to ten and snaps the pictures and he immediately lets the air out." The artwork is the perfect allegory for White’s new collection of tracks, which revolve around the theme of consumerism and material obsession. These themes were something she was thinking about while writing and recording – because at

that stage, she was pregnant. (Her son Radek is now 18 months old.) “It was really hard to sing ‘cause I think I was literally nine and a half months pregnant! But he came out loving music. I’ve never seen a more musical baby,” she beams. Some of the standout, powerful elements on 99c are White’s harmonies, which flow through Run the Races and Who Be Lovin Me , a collaborative track with LA hip hop artist ILOVEMAKKONEN). “I love harmonies, and I definitely don’t plan them, I just start recording,” she enthuses. “As a really young kid I would always find myself singing the harmonies rather than the lead." Zo ë Radas

EXTRAS

99c is out now; visit www.stack.net.nz to read the full interview

O'DOWD WAS NOT IN ON FOSTER'S PROGRAM

The priority for O’Dowd – better known for his comedy roles in TV's The IT Crowd and Bridesmaids – was to make sure he did justice to his character; in fact, he says he wouldn’t have taken on the role without the journalist’s seal of approval. Fortunately, Bradley was pleased with the finished result. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he wasn’t happy but he was incredibly positive about it,” he says. “For me it was very important. It’s based on his source

material so it would have been crazy not to involve him in the whole process. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he wasn’t happy, but he was incredibly positive about it." The Program is out on March 23; check out the digital edition of STACK for the full interview.

mentioned it to me,” O’Dowd admits. “But I think that makes complete sense, he has to spend so much of the movie on them, it doesn’t surprise me at all. He is a very immersive actor and very focused."

Games of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season is out on March 16

The Program

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NEW ZEALAND GETS READY TO RUMBLE

Hunt for theWilderpeople

W WE is returning to New Zealand for its first live event in five years. Auckland’s Vector Arena will play host to the global sports entertainment phenomenon on August 10, with WWE Live line-up expected to include Roman Reigns, Divas champion Charlotte, Kevin Owens, Ryback, Sasha Banks, Sheamus and WWE Tag Team Champions New Day. In the meantime, there is plenty of new WWE titles on the way, including the ever popular WWE: Royal Rumble 2016 , which this year was held in Orlando, Florida, and features the likes of

kiwi comeback T his month sees the opening of the latest films from two of New the film uses graphic novel-like animation to bring the story of the New Zealand experiences After a lean 2015, this year is shaping up to a biggie for NZ films.

Zealand’s best known directors. A host of other new features are in the pipeline, although some may not be released until next year. The first major new Kiwi film out of the blocks is the drama Mahana , which reunites the team behind Once Were Warriors – director Lee Tamahori, star Temuera Morrison and producer Robin Scholes – and opens on March 3. Tamahori’s first homegrown

in the disastrous First World War campaign vividly to life. Keep an eye out, too, for David Farrier and Dylan Reeve's witty documentary Tickled , which

defending champion Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Triple H (pictured). It is out on DVD and Blu-ray on March 10, along with WWE: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2015 and WWE: Best PPV Matches 2015 .

received rave reviews at Sundance this year, although dates are still be announced for this part of the world. Release dates are also still being finalised for a number of other Kiwi films in the pipeline, but the comedy Chief Gary has been provisionally scheduled for September. Set mainly in Rarotonga, the film marks the directorial debut of Jarrod Holt, Nigel McCulloch and Ryan Hutchings – creators of the comedy shows 7 Days and Coverband – and tells the story of loser real estate agent (Josh Thomson), who becomes chief of a sinking Pacific island. Another movie in production with a Pacific theme is One Thousand Ropes , the sophomore feature fromTusi Tamasese ( The Orator ). The film tells the emotional story of a Samoan father reconnecting with his daughter. Other recent productions which may or may not see the light of the day this year include the psychological thriller Human Traces , the debut feature from writer-director Nic Gorman, and The Rehearsal , which is based on the first novel of Booker Award-winner Eleanor Catton. The drama marks the return to New Zealand of expat director Alison Maclean ( Crush ) and the cast includes James Rolleston, Kerry Fox, Alice Englert and country singer Marlon Williams. Also on the way is Toa Fraser’s latest, 6 Days , a UK/New Zealand co-production which is based on the true story of the siege at the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, and was shot partly here. In addition, a number of major new documentaries are currently in production, including Roger Donaldson’s portrait of racing legend Bruce McLaren, and a profile of the recently retired All Black captain Richie McCaw.

EXTRAS

Chief Gary

film in 20 years is based on Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera's novel Bulibash and centres on the longstanding feud between two Maori sheep- shearing families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, on the East Coast in the 1960s. Newcomer Akuhata ‘Augs’ Keefe plays the youngest Mahana, while Morrison and Jim Moriarty are the rival family patriarchs. Mahana is due to be followed in cinemas on March 31 by Taika Waititi’s new film Hunt for the Wilderpeople , which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Based on Barry Crump's 1986 novel Wild Pork and Watercress , the comedy tells the story of a wild young kid (Julian Dennison) on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle (Sam Neill) in the New Zealand bush. Meanwhile, 25 April , an innovative new documentary about Gallipoli, will be released – appropriately enough – on April 25. Directed by Leanne Pooley ( Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls ),

The biggest New Zealand movie last year Born To Dance will get its eagerly awaited DVD and Blu-ray release on March 30. The country’s first ever hip hop dance movie grossed more than $1.1million at the NZ box office and tells the story of a teenager (played by Tia-Taharoa Maipi) who is torn between his dream of joining a professional crew and his loyalty to his South Auckland posse. The film also stars

pop icon Stan Walker and US actress/dancer Kerington Payne, while the choreography is by the renowned Parris Goebel, who, along with Maipi, is a member of three-time world hip hop champions the Royal Crew.

Mahana

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

WHEN SOCIETY FAILS, YOUR MISSION BEGINS On March 8, Tom Clancy’s The Division will be released onto

WIN A BAMBOO SPARK The Bamboo Spark allows you to save your handwritten notes digitally; plus they're searchable, shareable and editable. We are living in the future,

You have the chance to win this mini, but mighty, wireless speaker. Head to stack.net.nz f Thanks to SONOS

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JB shelves. Pre- empting the rush, we have two PS4 games up for grabs. Thanks to Ubisoft

WWE DVD WRESTLING PACK GIVEAWAY Wrestle your way to stack.net.nz

GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 5 BLU-RAY GIVEAWAY Game of Thrones: Season 5 hits

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Thanks to Madman

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Did you know? Grandmaster Flash was an electronics student and sourced parts from a junkyard in the Bronx to invent a cross fader – the switch that toggles between the two turntables.

QUIZ

Q1 Which children's author wrote the screenplay for a 1967 spy thriller? Q2 Which writer/director's mother was so enamoured with the TV western Gunsmoke that when he was born she named him after one of the series' characters? Q3 The Revenant (2016) is a remake of which movie? Q4 What movie – when sold to a TV company in 1956 – attracted over 40 million viewers when it first aired on US television? Q5 After Louis B. Mayer resigned from MGM in 1951, what was the title of the film he attempted to finance as his first independent production?

Q6 Name the 1959 racially-themed melodrama that premiered at the same NewYork theatre where the original version had opened 25 years before. Q7 What kind of Diggers dug between 1933-1937? Q8 Apart from being produced by the same studio, what do the films The Next Voice You Hear (1950), Westward the Women (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959) have in common? Q9 What drives Vern Haskell to Alter Keane's Chuck-a-Luck ranch? Q10 This 2001 noir thriller was originally conceived as a TV series. When the US network pulled the plug, the writer/director refashioned it into a feature film. Title please.

EXTRAS

#JokeOfTheDay What does Batman have in his drinks? JUST ICE

Happy Birthday Angus Young born on 31st March ,1955 #STACKBirthday

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STACK ’s Fave Movie Quote: “Bond. James Bond.” Sean Connery as James Bond, Dr. No (1962)

(1981) A10. Blackthorn

A9. Chariots of Fire

A8. Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson

(1984) starring Sylvester Stallone

A7. Rhinestone

A6. Into the Woods

(1932) A5. Bugs Bunny

 (2004) A4. Rasputin the Mad Monk

The Aviator

Blanchett for her portrayal as Katharine Hepburn in

(1940) A3. Cate

A1. Tommy (1975) A2. Preston Sturges wrote and directed

The Great McGinty

Quiz Answers SUMMER EDITION (Issue 70) -

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CINEMA, DVDs, GAMES & MUSIC

DVD & BD FEATURE

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FUN AND GAMES As The HUNGER GAMES reaches its crescendo in MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 , Jennifer Lawrence and her fellow cast members look

GAMES MENTOR Woody Harrelson will also miss The Hunger Games . From cynical drunk to true mentor, Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy has been a fixture of The Hunger Games series – and he’s sorry it’s coming to an end. “I really don't want to be done with The Hunger Games ,” he admits. “I wish it didn't have to end, ever. The characters in the film have formed a kind of patchwork family and that was equally true for us as actors in real life.” Harrelson has particularly welcomed the chance to get close to Jennifer Lawrence over the series. He says his character comes to care deeply about Katniss in a way that maybe surprises him, and it was easy to get to that place with Lawrence. “She's so much fun to work with, but also so honest and true in her performance.” And while he will miss it, the series at least finishes with a bang. “What's been so exciting is that each installment of The Hunger Games has been equally great. This last chapter, though, is absolutely the biggest in terms of scale and in terms of the lasting consequences.”

W hen STACK meets with Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson on the final publicity tour for the franchise that made them household names, they’re already playing the “remake game”. It’s not entirely unrealistic, given Hollywood’s rapid recycle spin where Spider- Man and Fantastic Four reboots pop up every few years.“I don’t think it would be surreal at all, I think it’s a totally realistic possibility,” muses Lawrence. “I want to play Haymitch and Jen could be Effie. Liam can be Snow,” laughs Hutcherson. “Then Jen and Amy Schumer are gonna write it!” Much has happened since the trio first met on the first installment of the Hunger Games franchise. Not least that Lawrence back on the epic series, and the mementos they took from the set.

won an Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook and the trio can no longer go out in public without being mobbed. Most recently Lawrence has become best pals with comedy’s golden girl Amy Schumer, almost done,” she says. “We play sisters, estranged from our family. We have a very sick codependent relationship and it’s all very dramatic and serious.” It’s not her first time writing, she reveals. “I’ve been writing since as long as I can remember. But this is my first time writing something people will actually see.” Asked if we might see her on the stand- up circuit with Schumer anytime soon, she laughs: “Oh my god no, I’m not delusional! I would never be able to do that, that is such an art and so brave.” together penning a movie script. “We’re chugging through and it’s

DVD & BD

“I would buy a ticket. I would heckle the shit out of you,” says Hutcherson. “Boo! Go back to Panem!” chimes Hemsworth. There’s been many highs and lows along their Hunger Games journey. “It opens a lot of doors for sure, and the most important thing is I’m really proud of these movies," says Lawrence. "As big as they are, and they’re a franchise, they are beautifully crafted films. The best part is that we’ll be friends for ever.” The fan encounters provide some of the funniest memories during their dizzy rise to the top.

Hutcherson. "Jen looked like a meth head and I had a massive forehead. That’s so not great in a lot of ways – but if you’re reading this, I applaud your commitment.” Each took a memento on the final day on set. Lawrence kept her Mockingjay pins and Catching Fire bows, while Hutcherson kept a locket Peeta gave to Katniss. “And I stole some underwear,” laughs Hemsworth.

“Once a girl showed me tattoos she’d had done of Jen and my faces on the back of her calves," says

• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is out on March 23

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ON DVD & BLU-RAY 16 MARCH

ON DVD & BLU-RAY MARCH 9

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Nefarious criminal organisation SPECTRE and its megalomaniac mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld have been periodically haunting James Bond and MI6 since 1963. Having recently resurfaced in the 24th Bond film, out on DVD this month, what better time to take a look back at 007’s previous encounters.

SPECTRE – Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – made its first appearance in Ian Fleming’s 1959 novel Thunderball . The author, who had worked in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, invented SPECTRE after genuinely believing that the Cold War would be over by the time Thunderball hit cinemas in 1962, immediately dating the film. SPECTRE consists of an amalgamation of criminal organisations including the Soviet SMERSH, the Gestapo and the Mafia. Fleming based the name of Ernst Stavro Blofeld on a friend with whom he attended Eton.

First sighting of Ernst Stavro Blofeld

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) SPECTRE is first mentioned in Dr. No , as the employer of the title character, but we don’t actually see them in action until the second Bond movie, when 007 is duped into acquiring a Russian decoding device that they intend to sell back to the Soviets. SPECTRE’s chief planner and chess master Von Kronsteen does the dirty work, while boss Blofeld (Anthony Dawson) appears from the neck down, stroking a white cat.

THUNDERBALL (1965) In possession of a couple of nuclear weapons, SPECTRE demands £100 million in diamonds in exchange for not blowing up Miami. The enigmatic Blofeld is once again pulling the strings from the shadows, leaving things to SPECTRE’s second in command and head of extortion, Emilio Largo.

SPECTRE #2 Emilio Largo

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YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) At last Bond meets Blofeld, who’s been hijacking US and Soviet spacecraft in an attempt to trigger a not-so- Cold war between the superpowers. Ensconced in his volcano lair with his favourite cat, the scar-faced criminal mastermind negotiates with the Japanese and rewards failure by dunking a female agent in a pool of piranha. “Kill Bond. Now!”

Donald Pleasance as Blofeld

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971) In his final confrontation with SPECTRE (until 2015), Bond goes undercover to investigate a diamond smuggling ring and discovers that Blofeld requires the gems to power a giant orbital laser, aimed at the world’s nuclear weapons and giving him the upper hand in the arms race.

ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969) From a lair in the Swiss Alps, Blofeld holds the world to ransom again. Threatening to wipe out agriculture with toxic bacteria deployed by brainwashed women, he demands

a pardon for his past crimes. A side scheme involves him being recognised as the true heir to the title ‘Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp’.

Charles Gray as Blofeld

Telly Savalas as Blofeld

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981) A wheelchair-bound Blofeld finally meets his end in the opening sequence, when

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983) Blofeld gets some screen time in this

SPECTRE (2015) The title reveals who Bond is up against,

“unofficial” Bond film, which is an offstage remake of Thunderball.

but who’s in charge of SPECTRE these days? Is the sinister Franz Oberhauser

Bond hooks him with a helicopter skid and drops him into an industrial smokestack.

actually… Ernst Stavro Blofeld?

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GAMES Q&A

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The TWILIGHT Returns ur

The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess is considered not only one of the best launch titles in Nintendo console history, but one of the most notable entries in the entire Zelda franchise.This month it's back, remade for theWii U, and STACK was extremely fortunate to talk with industry and Zelda luminary Eiji Aonuma about the project.

What prompted the decision to remake The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess ? Mr. Aonuma: Before starting development on the new Zelda title for Wii U that we’re currently working on, we tested HD remakes of past Zelda titles in order to consider the Wii U’s graphical power. We worked with Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, and the results of creating HD versions for both titles were good, so we planned to develop them officially. We created the remake and released Wind Waker first, considering the order in which the original title first released. We planned to remake Twilight Princess next, however the Zelda team had already started to develop the new Zelda title for Wii U. Therefore, we looked for a company who could create the remake.

What are some of the biggest challenges in remaking a game like Twilight Princess ? It is, needless to say, that we have to make many programming changes in order for a title to work on different hardware, and in creating a remake HD version, we have to replace the existing artwork with more highly detailed textures. In addition, if we draw in every detail, it might evolve to lose its original qualities, so it’s challenging to create a balance in that regard. Also, we wanted to ensure the feeling of playing could be enjoyed by current players even 10 years after release, so through a process of trial and error we fixed many points. How do you gauge whether there is an audience for a remake of a title like this? Do you poll for feedback or consult forums? Of course, I sometimes check the reactions and feelings of players via the Internet and so on. However, in the case of this remake, we didn’t decide to proceed based on the research of players’ requests, but rather from the perspective of whether we thought it would be worthwhile for Zelda fans. Actually, I am not totally sure if many fans will purchase this title, so I am nervously excited (ha ha).

GAMES

As a result, Tantalus accepted our offer which allowed our dreams for a remake version for this title to come true. When was the decision made to create a HD remake for Twilight Princess ? How long does

a process such as this usually take? The decision was finalised when it was

decided that Tantalus would collaborate for this title, and the project started at the end of 2013 with the verification of technology. The process for such decisions varies depending on the situation and specific project, so unfortunately there’s no solid answer.

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Q&A GAMES

Assistant Director on Twilight Princess HD, Ms. Tomomi Sano , talks about Australian studio Tantalus' involvement in the project.

How closely did you work with Tantalus on the project? Ms. Sano: Actually, I didn’t make it to Australia, however we utilised a video conference and web system. In the beginning, there was some confusion in communicating over the Internet, but we came to enjoy a lively exchange of opinions as we got used to the environment. Most of all, it was very encouraging for us that Tantalus always worked with our requests.

What kind of input did you receive from Mr. Miyamoto or Mr. Aonuma during the development? There were various inputs with a focus on improving the ease of game play. In fact, their opening remarks were “We want to fix something! We don’t want to put rupees back into a treasure chest when the wallet is full.” The opened treasure chest is a very important sign of how much you have achieved, so I think many players might have had something in the back of their mind while playing. Perhaps Mr. Aonuma was the one who had something in the back of his mind the most!

GAMES

Is there a temptation to improve the gameplay, mechanics or story when you’re presented with an opportunity like this? Yes, it is hard for me not to be tempted into improving certain elements. I was really pressed for time during the development of the original game, so when I paused to reflect following its completion, it was inevitable that there would be some parts for which I felt “hmmm…” Usually it is impossible to develop a title again, however, I always consider myself lucky to have another chance to do so when remaking a title like this. Are there any plans for additional content to be released post-launch? There is no plan for add-on content with this title because we are focusing on developing the new Zelda title for Wii U, so please look forward to it. Tantalus have been working on games for over 20 years – what was it about them that seemed the right fit for the HD remake of Twilight Princess ? I felt they had strong developing skills from seeing their work across remakes of previous titles, so I decided to ask Tantalus to remake this title. As a result, I think they created great work beyond my expectations.

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight

Princess HD is out March 5

17

TECH FEATURE

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Gain Control I f you want to get the edge on your unworthy opponents, and are truly a competitve C r If you're a PC gamer looking to make the transition to console, or simply an Xbox One gamer looking to customise, you should check out Razer’sWildcat Xbox One controller writes Alesha Kolbe.

shoulders and two removable triggers underneath, right at your fingertips, can make the difference between an Escort Drone and a Warthog, edging you closer to that ever-coveted nuke. But wait – there’s more. Adding to the appeal of the seemingly endless customisation available on the Wildcat, a built-in control panel gives you access to functions like chat muting and adjustable game volume, so you never have to take your hands off the controller. You may be thinking, “Oh, but it’s wired, that’s inconvenient”. Is it really? It’s detachable, and the cord itself is a whopping 3m in length, so you could (probably) sit in your kitchen and still be

gamer at heart, you'll want to take a look at Razer's latest venture into the customisable controller market. The Wildcat is, at its core, hardware designed with eSports pros in mind, making it your go-to for console competitiveness. With over 10 years of experience in gaming, the tech company are all about products designed by gamers, for gamers, so they know exactly how important customisation is to their community. Their first venture into the Xbox One controller market is no exception. The Razer Wildcat is your best shot at getting into the pro league on Xbox One. Designed specifically with tournaments in mind, the controller sits as comfortably in your hand as a can of Mother, and is great whether you’ve pitched a tent for an all-nighter or you’re just jumping on for a few games of ranked Rocket League . And that’s just how it feels to hold. It looks gorgeous, with Razer’s trademark green seamlessly slinking into the design. Shaped almost exactly the same as your base model Xbox One controller, you won’t have to retrain muscle memory for new layouts, and can simply pick up and play – but with a lot more style. As if its beauty and its grace weren’t enough to win you over, the Wildcat includes four additional, mappable buttons to really give you that unfair advantage over the competition. Two bumpers on the controller’s

pwning people in SMITE . Having a cord attached also means it won’t run out of battery or randomly disconnect, so there’s no more blaming that for your losses either. Razer’s Wildcat is perfect for any fans of Razer looking to get the upper hand over the enemy. Game on.

TECH

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MUSIC FEATURE

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Matt Corby’s Telluric is a subtle tumult of glimmering guitar, kooky jazz rhythms and beautiful, absorbing harmonies. Corby spoke to STACK about finding the courage to break his own rules. By Zoë Radas

natural range. Both Oh Oh Oh and Wrong Man display this deep voice that is a little gobsmacking to hear after the whoops of 2012’s Brother . Corby says as a child he excelled at singing (“It was the one thing that I really cared about”), and was trained by an opera vocalist. “I’ve always been a really low singer as a matter of fact, but was insecure about how high I could sing,” he explains. “So I continually pushed it, in order to write a ‘good’ song. I thought for it to be good, and for me to be operating at a really high capacity, I had to sing up high, to prove myself. Which is stupid. It’s just an ego thing that I’m getting over. But the moment that you do, you’re liberated and it’s kind of nice.” These personal insights of Corby's reflect off a little story he tells towards the end of our conversation, about the first time he ever recorded himself singing. He was ten years old, and did a version of Amazing Grace on an eight-track he bought with his dad. “I still listen to it to this day, and I tear up in a weird way! Because it’s like, ‘Aw man, I was so good back then.’ As my voice broke, it became a bit of a problem. But then you’re given a new voice. Once you do, you have a whole new set of rules, and a whole new way of manipulating it. It’s the weirdest thing.”

into that spout shape, and for a guitarist, a wind instrument must be a challenge. “Well, being a singer – [voice] is a wind instrument, in a strange way,” he says. “You already know half the dynamic process of pushing out tones, you just have to find a way to get the tone to work. But I think the drums have been the most interesting thing for me. I’ve just completely fallen in love with them.” The drums and percussion do constitute a gorgeous component of the record; on We Could Be Friends , Corby uses little crushed rolls and a crisp hi-hat, leaving gaps in the beat in odd places. “It’s so left and right brain at the same time,” he says. This new-found confidence with instrumentation led him to question some of the dictums he’d long held for himself when it came to his voice. Particularly on the fantastic Knife Edge , it’s clear he’s become far more confident with falling back on the beat, just like those rubato-happy jazz singers. The possibility was opened up to him through his decade-long friendship with alt-pop singer Jarryd James. “He’s a really good buddy of mine, we used to live together actually, he’s a mad dog,” Corby chuckles. “He has always sung behind the beat, and I never understood it because I’m so on the beat, in the way that I feel like that’s how you drive a song. Once I started playing all the other instruments I was like, ‘Oh cool, I can do that Jarryd method; I know where the tempo is and I can just fill in all the space behind it and create this drag.’” Corby’s courage also led to a change in pitch – or rather, an embracing of his

Y ou’re sitting in label headquarters with a room full of honchos, after a frenetic period of writing and multi- angled pressure, and the first pressing of your debut album begins to play. And you hate what you’re hearing. What do you do? “Do I just scrap this thing, and I’ve wasted everyone’s time, or do I go ‘Well, that’s just my first album and I’ll do better next time?’ I don’t want to put anything out there that misrepresents what I think I can do,” Matt Corby explains earnestly. The singer- songwriter decided he couldn’t betray his heart, and hurled the whole thing to the dogs. He began afresh on something unapologetically himself, learning several new instruments and doing all the demos homebrew, and 24 months later Telluric was completed. “What I wanted to accomplish by learning how to play [new instruments] was, I wanted to learn them to the standard that I hear, when I hear music in my head,” he says. “Every songwriter walks around hearing full compositions all the time: the guitar part there, the horns there. And if you don’t have the technical capacity to play that sh-t, that song goes unheard. I wanted to get to a point where I could sit down and go [mimicking drums]: ‘chak-ah-dff-dff- kah -ah-chak-ah’, and that’s sweet, I can play that, I can put that down. It’s instantaneous, almost a flow of consciousness.” Of all the instruments he learned to play, you’d have guessed the flute would be the most difficult – you’ve got to get your mouth

MUSIC

Telluric by Matt Corby is out March 11 via Universal.

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MUSIC FEATURE

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era tracks also) and as digital downloads. Music for a New Society – which unexpectedly opened with three disturbingly slow pieces and included two co-writes with playwright Sam Shepard – was mostly improvised in the studio and reflected both his poetic/political and avant-garde experimentalist spirit alongside some residue of the cocaine- fuelled '70s. It contains some of his most memorable songs – the piano ballad Close Watch, Chinese Envoy – but a critic once said Cale went beyond black and nihilism into nothingness. Santies – spoken word with disconcerting noises behind – confirms that opinion. The remastered New Society brings up the more aurally disturbing elements (a nagging scratch, echoed percussion, weird sonics and an evil laugh on Thoughtless Kind ) and the whole album sounds more immediate and present. The outtake of Chinese Envoy is more raw than the already emotionally bare album version; the previously unreleased Library of Force a real test for the faint-hearted. M: FANS is more than a re-hit of New Society . It's a complete rethink, and is re-

Photo by David Reich

Graham Reid explores the deep and rewarding music of John Cale. THE NEW SOCIETY STARTS HERE… and it still ain't pretty

framed by the death of Lou Reed. The disturbing negativity of the original is reprocessed as rage and discomfort. It opens with a challengingly electro- processed phone call to his mother mostly in Welsh where she sings (originally intended as the coda to Close Watch on

M ost musicians in rock culture establish their sound and reputation over a few early albums, and consolidate both if their careers are of any length. The late Lemmy and Lou Reed for example released albums which became their hallmarks, and their personae – wildman Lemmy and pugnacious Reed – became our enduring image of them. That said, in each case there were frequently diminishing returns over albums which you wouldn't listen to much today. Much as Reed might have advanced himself as NewYork's pre-eminent rock'n'roll street poet, there were more than a few albums which were intolerable tripe. However his sparring partner in Velvet Underground, the classically-trained John Cale, has had the more musically interesting career. While Reed broadcast on his own frequency and seemed never to doubt his own genius, Cale pushed out into other areas... and early on it was into production. Outside of VU, Cale's production credits include diverse and excellent debut albums by the Stooges, Patti Smith and The Modern Lovers; he collaborated with minimalist composer Terry Riley ( Church of Anthrax, 1971) and one-time Dylan fellow traveller Bob Neuwirth ( Last Day on Earth, 1994); wrote visceral and angry rock'n'roll ( Slow Dazzle, 1975) and orchestral work (on Words for the Dying , 1989). His album Helen of Troy in 1975 (which included the lovely first version of Close Watch which reappeared, differently, on his seminal Music for a New Society of 1982) was as dark as Neil Young's Tonight's the Night and never

got released in the US. When I interviewed him a decade ago about his new album blackAcetate he spoke of how much he'd learned from Pharrell's production on Snoop Dogg's single Drop It Like It's Hot , and how he admired Gorillaz. The open-minded Cale's

MUSIC

the original album, but was removed when she fell ill). This Prelude sets up the newly configured album which follows up the death and loss theme with a revision/ version of If You Were Still Around . When John Cale recorded Music for a New Society his obsession with a holocaust, political conspiracies and the fragility of life was prominent. The electrobeat, sometimes furious M:FANS version – using the same source material – throws us into an emotionally dysfunctional present day society full of electrostatic which threatens to drown out our essential humanity, the soul of which he explores again, but differently. Library of Force is even more disturbing in this incarnation. The jury will be out on M:FANS for some time, but it's hard to deny John Cale was the most innovative and exploratory artist to come out of Velvet Underground.

career has always been worth following, and now he re-presents a powerfully remastered version of Music for a New Society

Cale's production credits include diverse and excellent debut albums by the Stooges, Patti Smith and the Modern Lovers

and his own beefier and provocative revision of those songs on the album M:FANS with his band from his last album (the excellent Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood , 2012). These come as a double CD set, on 12'' vinyl (with download cards, three unreleased Society-

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

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