STACK Magazine November Issue 121

8 / 116

NOVEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
visit
008
EXTRAS NEWS
HEMSWORTH TAKES AIM
F ollowing a stellar 2013 which included StarTrek Into Darkness, Thor:
The DarkWorld and the critically acclaimed Rush, Chris Hemsworth
hasn’t been sighted much in 2014. Ok, he’s been spotted at the AFL
Grand Final and at the races on Derby Day, but he’s been AWOL from the big
screen. All that’s set to change next year, however, with the hunk from Phillip
Island set to bag a box office trifecta. First up is likely to be Blackhat, the
new thriller from Miami Vice creator Michael Mann (Heat,The Insider). In the
Heart of the Sea, Hemsworth’s second collaboration with director Ron
Howard (Rush), is based on the 1820 encounter between a sperm whale and
a whaling vessel that also inspired Herman Melville’s 1851 classic Moby
Dick. And while we’re talking whales, there’s no bigger creature on the box
office high seas than 2015’s hugely anticipated of Ultron.
That means it’s hammer time again for Hemsworth, asThor.
Block busters! BUILD
IT AND THEY WILL COME
T he humble building block is no longer mere
child’s play. Since Lego began production of
its interlocking toy bricks in 1949, the toy
company has captured the hearts and minds of the
young and the young at heart everywhere. Following
the breakout success of The Lego Movie, three more
branded features have been announced. First up in
2016 will be Ninjago, with The Lego Batman Movie
following a year later, featuringWill Arnett once again
voicing the Dark Knight. And in 2018 we’ll see the
eagerly anticipated sequel The Lego Movie 2,back
with all your favourites likeWildstyle, Unikitty, and of
course Emmet Brickowoski. Lego haven’t got the
playground to themselves, though. In the space of a
few short years, indie PC offering Minecraft has
morphed into a gaming phenomenon. Consisting of
building blocks that players can reconfigure into any
shape they can imagine, Minecraft has developed a
devoted online community boasting some wild
creations. Recently, a user made a working iPhone
inside Minecraft itself, while another spent two years
constructing an imaginary city using 4.5 million
blocks. Inevitably a movie is in the works, with
reports that filmmaker Shawn Levy (Night at the
Museum, Real Steel) will lead its development with
plans to also direct. Making Minecraft will also
come with heavy expectations from its legion of
video game fans. Essentially a ‘sandbox’-based
game consisting of building and/or surviving in a
world made of blocks, Minecraft is a world that’s
also inhabited by zombies, giant spiders and beings
called ‘creepers’ designed to test a gamer’s resolve.
It will also be interesting to see who Levy and the
producers decide to cast as the main character,
Stevie.Watch this space. If a couple of years is too
long a wait for the young ones, there’s plenty of
family-friendly Lego viewing out this month, including
Lego ChimaVol 7 and Lego Friends Boxset S1 & 2,
due in JB Hi-Fi stores on November 27.
Michael Bond’s endearing children’s book about a
cuddly bear from “the deepest, darkest Peru” has
been translated into 30 languages and sold more
than 30 million copies. This first ever live-action
feature adaptation has been years in the making,
and will star lifelong fan Nicole Kidman, who
dreamt of having a a Paddington bear live at her
house when she was a child. Due in cinemas
December 11, Paddington is set to be a family
Christmas event. Whovians will also relish the
chance to catch Peter Capaldi in a plum role as
Paddington’s grumpy neighbour, Mr. Curry.
Ridley Scott has just announced the production
of a TV series involving an Ebola outbreak. In the
meantime, he’s also orchestrated another plague –
of Biblical proportions. Exodus: Gods and Kings
stars Christian Bale as Moses, who defies the
Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, played by Australia’s
own Joel Edgerton, sans hair. Following Noah, this
will be the second big budget spectacular based on
the Old Testament to be released in 2014. Look for
it in cinemas from December 4.
The end of year won’t be the same without a J.R.R.
Tolkien feature helmed by Peter Jackson, but we
might just have to get used to it following The
Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. This
is the third and concluding chapter of Jackson’s
adaptation of The Hobbit, and it begins with a
bang. The dragon Smaug threatens to rain fire on
the people of Laketown. Meanwhile, Sauron is
mounting a secret attack with an army of Orcs. And
that’s just for starters. Boasting an all-star cast and
a final showdown more ambitious than anything
Jackson has mounted before, this finale is set to be
absolutely epic. In cinemas Boxing Day.
Exodus: Gods and Kings
The Battle
of the Five Armies
Paddington
extra,extra
Chris Hemsworth, Blackhat
In the Heart of the Sea
Minecraft, the game soon to be a movie
The Lego Movie, Batman flying solo in 2017