STACK NZ Aug #76

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GAME OF DRONES

I n Gavin Hood’s edge-of-your- seat thriller, Abdi plays undercover operative Jama Farah, who is tracking a group of terrorists on the ground in Nairobi. Thousands of miles away in London, the operation is being masterminded and monitored via the use of cutting- edge drone technology; the UK military unit leading the operation is headed up by Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren). The plan is to capture the terrorists with the help of Kenyan security forces, but once it becomes clear that the targets are about to embark on a suicide bombing, the mission escalates from a ‘capture’ to ‘kill’ operation. "I think it’s a very important story and a very sensitive one that needs to be told; it’s about how innocent people get caught up in a war,” says Abdi, who came to fame through his Oscar- nominated performance in Captain Phillips. ”As far as the story goes, I think I relate to the young girl’s situation going – you could run and you could hide. That’s war and it’s not easy. “But with drones, the whole game changes completely, and you don’t know anything. They can strike from above and you don’t know when it’s coming. [The film is] about the innocent people who get caught up in this, and it’s very touching and very important to show people, emotionally, what happens.” See the digital edition of August’s STACK for the full feature. Adam Colby The drone thriller Eye in the Sky brought back painful memories for star Barkhad Abdi. because I was in a similar one. “I was stuck in a war with my mum and my brother and my sister in Mogadishu, but our situation was much better,” he says. “You could hear the guns, and we could see where it was

Trust Punks’ Joe Thomas sees both sides of the NZ/AUS artistic coin. best of both worlds?

P ost-punk outfit Trust Punks are back with their first full length album Double Bind , the follow-up to their fine 2014 mini-album Discipline . Originally from Auckland, the five-piece have been making in-roads into the Australian market and vocalist Joe Thomas now lives in Sydney. And he admits he has gleaned a new perspective between the two countries, particularly when it comes to art and music. “A lot of [artists and musicians] have a love/ hate relationship with [New Zealand]," he says.

“I think on one hand, the people who feel suffocated are right; it can be a bit restricting. On the other hand, now that I’ve moved and have seen other places, that sort of isolation can be really good for music and art. I do think that New Zealand is now realising that part of making good art is backing yourself, and having that sense of confidence. The music scene [in Australia] has a real sense of its own worth.” Zo ë Radas

EXTRAS

Double Bind by Trust Punks is out now.

How Simon Cowell inadvertently inspired a reboot of the belovedTV sitcom. DAD'S ARMY HAS THE X FACTOR "I was in front of the telly on a Saturday evening three or four years ago, not wanting to watch The

X-Factor ,” recalls producer Damian Jones of his 'eureka' moment, “so I channel-surfed and there on BBC was Dad’s Army .” After enjoying the re-run of the revered ‘70s comedy about an elderly unit of the Home Guard during the Second World War, The History Boys producer did a bit of digging and discovered that nearly three million Brits were still tuning in every week to watch the the misadventures of Captain Mainwaring and his men. Jones duly approached the Dad’s Army estate with the idea for a movie. “They were open to it,” he remembers of their first meeting, “so I got [screenwriter] Hamish [McColl] on board and we shared our

thoughts with them. That’s how it started to come together.” In the big screen remake, Toby Jones plays the pompous Mainwaring, while Bill Nighy is the long-suffering Sergeant Wilson.

Eye in the Sky is out on August 11.

Dad's Army is due out on August 24.

AUGUST 2016

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