Nova stream Magazine #4

Joshua Thomas chats to How I Met Your Mother’s Charlene Amoia about not being typecast, working with the big names and her new film “Not A Stranger” Perhaps best known for her recurring role as Wendy the Waitress on the hit comedy How I Met Your Mother, Charlene Amoia, although no longer serving drinks to the raucous gang at MacLaren’s, is instead serving it to Hollywood by avoiding the dreaded curse of being typecast.

When asked how it was working alongside a Hollywood elite like Will Smith, Charlene told us that it was, “Truly amazing. He is a movie star in every wonderful sense of the word. Kind, magnetic, funny and incredibly charismatic.” Turns out he’s as nice as we all hoped.

“I’ve been lucky to have been cast in some really cool dramas as well as thrillers, horror movies and comedies, so I don’t feel like I’ve been put in any sort of box,” the actress told us.

Having balanced a string of tv and movie appearances throughout her career, Charlene admits that whatever the medium, she is just happy to be doing what she loves. “I am so in love with the craft of acting of any kind so it doesn’t matter to me what medium it comes in.”

Since hanging up her waitress gown with the series finale of How I Met Your Mother last year, Charlene has been keeping busy with an upcoming cameo in Sleepy Hollows and the impending release of several films. Adrenaline, a drama about a drag racer who is left paralysed after a crash, has just released in cinemas and is just one of many films the actress will be appearing in over coming months.

But before Charlene was busy hitting up the red carpets, she was serving drinks and helping the gang of How I Met Your Mother get drunk as Wendy the Waitress. Appearing in 19 episodes of the long running comedy, the often blissfully unaware waitress Charlene played was originally only meant to get a one episode run. “The role was originally written for one episode. I woultdn’t say I charmed my way into more episodes but more that I lucked my way into them,” Charlene confessed.

Charlene’s experience as Wendy and being on set of How I Met Your Mother was an incredibly positive one, “It was always a blast to play Wendy and to be on the set…The showrunners had a gift of finding exceptional people and getting them all working in one place!”

Among these people was none other than Neil Patrick Harris, the actor behind supreme wingman and pick up master Barney Stinson. “It’s no surprise that Neil is a great guy in addition to being a truly exceptional talent,” Charlene told us.

Fittingly her favourite Wendy moment from the show came in the episode ‘The Platinum Rule’ where Barney seduces and dumps the waitress in true playboy fashion. “It was so neat to play her guileless while Barney was clearly giving her the run around. That’s what I liked about her most, she was just kind of clueless!”

Actors often struggle actively watching a project they are a part of, Charlene however just couldn’t resist. “When something is done as well as HIMYM, it’s impossible for it to be hard to watch.”

In between tending McLaren’s bar, Charlene was already looking to other projects, chief among them an appearance in the 2008 movie Seven Pounds. Recalling her brief but unforgettable role she said, “It was a really great experience for me because I got to work with Will Smith and Woody Harrelson all in one day. You really can’t beat that!”

With McLaren’s bar no longer needing tending after How I Met Your Mother came to an emotional end, Charlene was quick to make the most of her new free time starring in Fat, an indie film looking at a man’s battle with food addiction. “Fat is a great example of important indie film making. This movie shed a light on food addiction and mental illness in a way I haven’t seen done in the media yet,” she told us proudly.

Coincidently Charlene is a health and fitness advocate when not acting with the actress telling us, “Without our health, we have nothing right? I personally believe that maintaining your health as much as possible is the key to a happy and productive life!”

When asked about the future and what else her already very productive life has in store, she expressed her excitement at her film ‘Not a Stranger’, which she described as, “a really heartwarming movie in the vein of Good Will Hunting.” Be sure to keep an eye out for her in this and other projects including an appearance in TV show Sleepy Hollows later this year.

Charlene Amoia is well and truly serving it up to the myth of TV show typecasting by hanging up her Wendy the Waitress gown with a healthy shot of reverence but an eye firmly on the future.

Review Sicario is Denis Villeneuve’s latest masterpiece, the film is an evocative and gritty story of the USA’s war on drugs in Mexico. The film is littered with stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, who bring the confronting themes of this epic tale to life and whisk in right as Academy Award season starts, to bring one of the most thrilling movies of 2015.

Alaisdair Dewar. doesn’t give out a oerfect score for nothing.

Find out what make Sicario amazing.

Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) plays an FBI agent placed on the USA/Mexico border with CIA handler Matt Gravatt (Josh Brolin) who assist in operations just over the border. They are aided by a creepy and questionable “informant” Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) who are investigating and unveiling the war on drugs, and must cross the border into Mexico to reach a drug cartel.

This film may seem like it’s a stereotypically bloke film, but front and centre is the character of Kate and the US/Mexico border reflects in her character questioning her beliefs and what she will do. It is by far one of the most engaging experiences I have had at the movies this year, at first I thought it may have just been blockbuster exhaustion settling in, but the consistent character depth and plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat and begging for this movie to be longer than two hours.

The script by Taylor Sheridan consistently poses the question of what would I do in this situation, not enough to be distracting, but enough to make me think and continually ponder on this for hours after the screening.

Roger Deakin showcases the beautiful and dirty landscape with Oscar worthy cinematography that is a little too real for my liking. I felt dirty, a little frightened and completely engaged in this world that leaps off the screen. It sounds like I am gushing about this film, and to be honest I am completely unapologetic for that.

This film is an experience not to be missed, it feels like it has flown in a little under the radar at the end of the season, but is a strong contender for one of the best films of the year. This film will linger with you for days and leave a lasting impression that solidifies Villeneuve as one of our generation’s finest film makers. Blunt, Brolin & Del Toro all bring their A game here, delivering top performances that exist within this landscape.

5 /5

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Sophie Kempe checks out the intruiging combination of Hollywood legends Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway

They say ‘Clothes maketh the man’, or at least they did in Kingsmen. This is just as true in The Intern as in any instance. The latest film from writer and director Nancy Meyers centres around seventy year old Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro), a retired executive living alone in Brooklyn. Whittaker lost his wife three years prior and has since taken up every activity from yoga to tai chi to golf (and EVERYTHING in between). Whilst the premise of the movie is simple enough, it’s a refreshing take. Proceed with caution if you haven’t seen the trailer.

In amongst Ben’s many activities to keep himself busy (as retirement is not all it’s cracked up to be for him), he finds an advertisement for Senior Interns. Of course to apply it involves setting up a video profile. This is where we meet Ben and see his life. As is customary with the millennial generation, the interview process is extensive. Ben meets lots of kids asking questions about where he sees himself in ten years’ time. It was at this point that the audience is hooked.

Ben is the underdog, you can tell that these young people are very likely going to be patronising and condescending at some point. But this movie, as previously mentioned, is a refreshing take. While the younger interns and employees predictably make gaffs, it’s not clichéd and obvious. In fact, Ben becomes the most popular intern and person on the team, helping not only his fellow interns, but the company as a whole.

Ben is assigned as the personal intern to Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway). Jules is the founder of About the Fit, an online fashion store that she began on her kitchen table. You can tell the instant you meet Ostin that she is wholly invested in her company. Her first scene, she is on the phones with customer service taking calls. There are not that many founders that would become part of every element of the business, but Ben sees this as one of his boss’ more admirable qualities.

As with many comedies centred on working life, Jules does not initially take to Ben. She tells him that she doesn’t need an intern and that she has merely taken one on in order to be an example to the rest of the team. Ben spends days checking and rechecking his email to see if Jules needs him to do anything but to no avail. Meanwhile, he has made himself both useful and indispensable, aiding his co-workers with their social lives, work lives and in the case of one of the ‘regular aged’ interns, home life.

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Suffice to say, the boss sees all of this and eventually takes notice. She warms to Ben and his happy go lucky, can do attitude. He substitutes for her regular driver and that appears to be that. Ostin, meanwhile, is contending with the very real choice of deciding on a CEO for her company.

Having been informed that she must take a step back in order to ensure the future of About the Fit, Jules must decide on someone who will quite literally, fit. Couple this with erratic working hours and home life, Jules is scattered to say the least. We meet her husband, Matt (played by Anders Holm) and her daughter Paige (JoJo Kushner). Her husband stepped down from his successful marketing career once About the Fit took off in order to care full time for their daughter.

Assume ensuing hijinks and you will get a good idea of what The Intern is about. It’s modern and smart and witty to say the least. It never goes for the obvious, always making you think but it is truly hilarious. The standout performances from De Niro and Hathaway really make this film great as well as its supporting cast (especially the Interns themselves).

The film is based in New York and more specifically in Brooklyn, so we see amazing cityscapes and urban places.

Ben often remarks that while he has lived in Brooklyn his whole life, he may now not be cool enough! The scenic streets with gorgeous brownstones really set the tone of the film, with the combination of the office space (which we later learn has unique significance for Ben) and its sharp modern edges we see the union of old and new. Ben’s younger coworkers learn so much from him, just as he learns from them. With a great soundtrack by Theodore Shapiro, the film yet again blends old with new, tying its overarching theme in a neat little bow.

This film was refreshing to say the least, not at all clichéd and two hours well spent for those of any age. I give The Intern five stars, it will make you laugh, giggle, cry and squeal and is worth every minute.

4.5 /5

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R.E.V.I.E.W

Alaisdair Dewar checks out the next epic flick from Universal Universal have played the box office this year, they fought off heavy hitters like Avengers Age Of Ultron and Terminator Genysis and managed to have a consistent stream of hits.

It seems this year they can do no wrong, and now as we move out of summer blockbuster season and into a somewhat of a “cinema slump� the studio have delivered another solid hit with an intense and and heart pounding thriller that had me on the edge of my It all began on Valentine’s Day with 50 Shades of Grey, seat for 90 solid minutes. grossing $569 million overall and being crowned the seventh biggest movie of 2015 so far. In June they Everest is the true story of Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), a dominated the school holidays with the Despicable highly experienced climber who is leading a team of Me prequel Minions, earning a further $1.3 billion climbers to the top. The all star cast team consist of Jon BEFORE the home release and limitless toy and Krakeur (Michael Kelly), Beck Wethers (Josh Brolin), clothing merchanise sales.

Mailman (John Hawkes) and a fleeting appearance by Jake Gyllenhaal as rival guide Scott Fischer.

More impressive still, Universal Studios holds the #1 and #2 position on the box office revenue for 2015 so The first half of the film establishes the characters, far. In second place, the seventh and most proftiable their goals and the setup of base camp. The use of 3D chapters of Fast and Furious collected $1.5 billion and effects help the mountain come alive and establish a is moving forward on another three installments. And real sense of danger that previous films of this genre finally Jurassic World sits at top spot with $1.6 billion, have failed to capture so distinctly. once again from Universal Studios.

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Everest deals with death in the most cruel and unfair way, with the scenes hitting brutally hard with no sense of relief or time to mourn. If you are expecting a film along the lines of 127 Hours you may leave feeling a little disappointed, this tends to be more Vertical Limit. This is an extremely intense and uncomfortable experience and I found myself questioning it days after the screening, and even now I squirm just thinking of certain parts, which showed to me that the films desired effect worked.

This film is all about the experience of Everest, it puts us inside the movie, on that mountain, feeling the struggle of these characters while dealing with the crippling blow of a natural disaster that threatens their lives and that of their family and friends around them. Everest surprised me with its stunning visual effects and believable performances from all involved.

Never before has a man vs nature film felt more real, more terrifying and more entertaining.

3.4/5

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Review

Review

Alberto Sanchez checks out the latest Aussie film

Mark Halyday checks for any substance in the latest big budget young adult adaptation Blockbuster adaptations of young adult novels are very easy to greenlight due to two things: a pre-existing fan base and the disposable income of the target market.

It all started with Harry Potter, then Twilight (ugh) and still powerful Hunger Games series that have all collected over a billion dollars each in box office figures alone. Naturally the formula was stripped across the calendar year to varying degrees of success – beloved novels I Am Number Four, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Beautiful Creatures and Vampire Academy all failed to greenlight a sequel while Divergent and Percy Jackson persevered through negative criticism thanks to the star power of their casts.

The first film – in which the majority of our heroes escape a maze filled with nasty critters – was certainly flawed. The claustrophobic maze was an odd set piece that made every plot development seem conceited while the script was a touch too angsty and didn’t know what to do with its many characters, least of all its lone female Teresa. The sequel addresses all of these problems very naturally and streamlines the cast to about a dozen key players, giving everyone a small piece of a larger and more intricate puzzle than the maze. Some of those pieces are about WICKED, a scientific organisation with a strong military arm that is forcing children into human farms to provide a remedy for the virus that made their world so dystopian.

It seems that apart from the odd indie exception – The Giver, The Fault In Our Stars – that nobody can hold a The Scorch Trials is an excellent zombie movie. candle to the gargantuan Hunger Games series. Until It puts Brad Pitt’s World War Z to shame by making the second instalment of the Maze Runner series. properly scary zombies fast, menacing and ruthless in a society already brimming with other villains.

Imagine The Walking Dead had a crossover episode with the Hunger Games that was determined to have the pace of Mad Max: Fury Road.

That’s The Scorch Trials.

It’s a very engaging film. Going into the movie without reading the novels made every plot point more exciting and continued to wind up the tension til the big showdown.

Switching to an ensemble allowed the narrative more freedom to play with character dynamics and continued to spotlight the distant Teresa until the big emotional payoff. Her arc could go either way and it’s exciting to see a young adult film, or even any Hollywood film, remove the sexuality to a certain degree to engineer more engaging storytelling.

Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee and Giancarlo Esposito deliver formidable performances that differentiate Maze Runner from all the other young adult content crowding the market at a fraction of the cost of Jennifer Lawrence or the younger Hemsworth brother. While the cast are not household names they are all attached to loved and quality brands.

O’Brien is a supporting character on Teen Wolf, Scodelario was the lead on niche British series Skins and will coheadline Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Brodie-Sanger is interestingly voice of Ferb on Phineas and Ferb and more recognisably Liam Neeson’s kid in Love Actually, Hong Lee did a killer multi-episode arc on the hilarious Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Esposito is the iconic villain Gus Fring from one of the best televisions series of all time, Breaking Bad. The casting of villians fell a little flat. Academy Award nominee and Tony winner Patricia Clarkson occupies the villainess role but is not allowed to fully embrace it due to all the blurry grey areas the series continues to toy with. At the end she confronts an ex-employee and has a spark of something but the cold, authoritative role so common in

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the genre that it is hard not to compare her to the legends like Meryl Streep (The Giver), Kate Winslet (Divergent) or Julianne Moore (The Hunger Games).

Elsewhere Alan Tudyk feels miscast as a slimy partier that probably has his local market under some kind of gang authority. Tudyk was the pilot in Firefly, the pirate in Dodgeball and voiced parts in Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Frozen. This just wasn’t his role. Same goes for Game of Thrones and Queer as Folk actor Aidan Gillen. He plays a cruel and cowardly lieutenant known in the novels as Rat-Man but just comes off uncomfortable.

None of this has a detriment to the film. The good significantly outweighs the bad due to an awesome script that bizarrely came from the same guy that did the Fantastic Four reboot. It’s astonishing how well this movie turned out compared to the mixed comments about Fox’s latest blunder.

And they did it all in a year. Just twelve months to craft one of the better blockbusters of the year and a film that would slot nicely on a top twenty end of year countdown. zJames Bond, Avengers, Jurassic World, Kingsman, Dope and Mission: Impossible it’s not surprising that the cool and quirky popcorn movie gets pushed outside the countdown.

It doesn’t make it a bad film. The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is worth the price of admission and a better film that the original. The concluding chapter – which has magically not been split into two films – has been added to my 2016 movie calendar.

4 /5

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Based on the best selling memoir by Timothy Conigrave, Holding the Man (directed by Neil Armfield) has been previously adapted to a stage play in 2006 by Tommy Murphy who has also written the screenplay for this film adaptation. The story follows the relationship between actor, writer and activist Timothy Conigrave (Ryan Corr) and his partner John Caleo (Craig Stott). Both met while attending Xavier College in Melbourne in the mid-1970s and had an on-and-off relationship until their deaths in the 1990s from AIDS-related illnesses.

In Aussie rules, the term “holding the man” refers to a player tackling an opponent who doesn’t have the ball. The title is a fantastic metaphor for Tim and John’s relationship, which was seen as an ‘infringement’ on morality by society and even some of their families and friends. It was a fight that both men had to deal with all their lives.

Much of the success of Holding the Man comes from its witty and funny storytelling mixed with beautiful and heartbreaking moments. The love between Tim and John was not without trouble and consequences and the film doesn’t shy away from this. It’s easy to come away from the film thinking it was a tragic love story but to do so wouldn’t be entirely correct. It’s clear that Tim blames himself for much of the consequences both he and John endured. The sexual revolution of the era made it too easy to be careless.

While Tim was not entirely loyal in the relationship, he can hardly be completely to blame. He was a flawed man who paid the ultimate price.

As the leads, Stott and Corr are fantastic together. They have good chemistry and complement each other well. This was so important for the story because without a genuine

connection the heart of the story would be nonexistent.

They brought a realness to the characters in a respectful way that honoured the memories of their real life counterparts.

There are some pretty big names in the supporting cast including Anthony LaPaglia and Camilla Ah Kin as Bob and Lois Caleo, Guy Pearce and Kerry Fox as Dick and Mary Conigrave, Sarah Snook as Tim’s good friend Pepe Trevor, and Geoffrey Rush as Tim’s offbeat drama teacher.

While they all have a presence in the film, LaPaglia was particularly good as the homophobic father, it was really Stott and Corr’s film. There weren’t any bad performances, the spotlight just focused heavily on the leads.

There is an issue in LGBT cinema where the protagonists die. Sometimes this is unavoidable because it follows history e.g. Milk and Prayers for Bobby. Holding the Man is an important film to have because it is a good starting point for better and more open discussion about sexuality and sexual health. So to ignore the fact these two men died tragically would be insulting and counterproductive. Tim Conigrave knew the significance of politics and visibility for the queer community so his work, and by extension all adaptations of it, carry this throughout. This may be another sad LGBT film but it’s still important nonetheless.

Holding the Man won the United Nations Human Rights Award for non-fiction in 1995 and was also voted as one of the “100 Favourite Australian Books” by the Australian Society of Authors in 2003. Murphy’s stage production has gained much critical acclaim and has had a North American production and played in London’s West End. This film is another strong adaptation, which will no doubt find a new audience and gain new fzans.

4.1 /5 14

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Review

Killer cast. Killer Story.

Alaisdair Dewar’s favourite new show

Dylan Boaden reporting for duty in the latest installment of the spy action series

Ryan Murphy is a name you instantly recognise and will either love or hate. With hit TV shows like Nip/ Tuck, Glee & American Horror Story under his belt, it is with no surprise that Fox handed him a lucrative time slow for his latest masterpiece Scream Queens. It is a blend of horror and comedy that provides some hilarious social commentary and shocks with a fresh quota as eye candy (thank you, thank you, oh thank new cast to make an old story new again. you Ryan Murphy for that!) Lea Michele doesn’t really get a chance to do much here, as it is a pilot, I am sure The show opens in 1995 , set in sorority house Kappa her character will get the chance to develop more as Kappa Tau. One of the sisters is lying in a bathtub the 13 episodes roll out. holding a newborn, while her friends quiz why she isn’t downstairs dancing to Waterfalls by TLC. Unwilling to tAbigail Breslin as Chanel #5 doesn’t live up to much, help, the girls head back downstairs, have a dance and her hilarious name is as about as exciting as she gets, come back up to discover that the mother has bled out although she could be another Michele, waiting for in the bathtub and the baby has survived. further development. Ariana Grande is Chanel #2 and her performance is robotic and forgettable just like Skip forward to 2015 and we meet Chanel (Emma one of her “hit” singles (sorry the show made me extra Roberts) current president of KKT and biggest bitch bitchy today!) By far my favourite Chanel would be #3, on campus, she commands her sorority sisters who played by Billie Lourd who Murphy had wearing ear have been dubbed Chanel’s 2, 3 and so forth. The house muffs in a hilarious shout out to her real life mother is threatened by Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) Carrie Fisher. who forces a code upon the girls to accept anyone who pledges. This in turn invites the misfits fronted It is really hard to pinpoint a favourite moment in

by Hester Ulrich (Lea Michele) & Grace Gardner this, as there are many! A hilarious death turns social (Skylar Samuels). When a red devil leather costume commentary with Ariana Grande that is too good killer starts going on a rampage against Kappa Kappa to spoil, every line by Chanel (#1 that is!) Jamie Lee Tau, the girls must band together to find out who the Curtis commenting on the state of women’s rights and killer is and stop them before they end up being next. exploitations, it is all so perfect, and still being a pilot left me begging for the next episode.

Not only is the story in this show a star in itself, but the cast are a key contributor to this being a winner. After If you loved Glee and American Horror Story, then a couple of seasons as a sideline in American Horror this is the series for you, it is Gossip Girl meets I Know Story, Emma Roberts commands the screen front and What You Did Last Summer and playing a parody of centre, proving she is one of the best young talents out itself gives it a distinct edge that most shows are unable there. Her rivalry with acting legend Jamie Lee Curtis to get to. I will definitely be tuning back in every week, is entertaining and the pair have real chemistry that so check online for ALL your Scream Queens news transcends their characters quippy one liners. Nick and recaps!

Jonas is well shirtless and smirky which fulfils his

5 /5

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Thanura Rivanda checks on the TV side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the newly-introduced Inhumans Welcome back to Season 3! And so far, the newest episode did well in kicking things off! “Laws of Nature” picks up from the events of the final shots of Season 2’s finale. If you recall, the Terrigen crystals, known for inducing ordinary people to transform into Inhumans were released into the Ocean and by extension the rest of the Ecosystem from the big final battle last season.

Here we witness the consequences of that and what is shaping up to be one the big story arcs of the season. Not only do we have Coulson and Daisy/Skye leading the charge in finding and perhaps even rescuing these people, the show introduces the ATCU (Advanced Threat Containment Unit) with leader Rosalind portrayed by Constance Zimmer (Entourage) along with a monstrous new Inhuman Lash (Matthew Willig) hunting Inhumans down. Elsewhere, Fitz is still currently on a quest to find the whereabouts of Jemma Simmons after the the incident whereby the monolith swallows her whole.

We also see further development over the relationship with Hunter and Bobbi since the events of “S.O.S”.

The episode opens with a panning shot starting from the infamous bottle of fish oil capsules and illustrating a wrecked apartment with sounds of chaos and danger filling the streets all resulting from Terrigenesis. We then meet our first newly born Inhuman Joey (Juan Pablo Raba), a man who just found out about his ability of manipulating and melting metal objects. The visual imagery used to depict his overall sense of confusion as well as Joey’s new powers was rather satisfactory and is not too dissimilar from recent Inhumans comics done

by Marvel. Some audiences will also praise that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe by extension has introduced its first openly gay character here and it would be interesting see where his character goes.

Speaking of Inhumans, we see what has become of Lincoln Campbell (Luke Mitchell) after the events of Season 2. He has now become a regular Hospital doctor. However, for people like him, staying out of the action really isn’t an option here as the monstrous Inhuman Lash barges into his life causing a big action scene to play out. Both Daisy and Lincoln show real experience in their powers since the first time we saw them. It’d be interesting to see how Lincoln’s reluctance to return to the fold will play out in future relationships ans stories. As for Lash, unlike most “monsters” on television, the make-up and enhancements were a lot better depicted here. According to the comics, he is a radical Inhuman who gathers other Inhumans up to enforce an Inhuman supremacist agenda.

And in the DC corner,

Alaisdair Dewar witnesses the Rise of the Villians

Did a bunch of people get fired and Gotham suddenly got interesting? Not only interesting but infinitely better?

These are the thoughts running through my mind during the middle of the first episode of the second season of Fox’s hit show Gotham. Bruno Heller’s show was a roller coaster in its first season starting strong, and then falling to odd low’s with weather balloon killer’s and the horrid over acting of Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, but now it seems it was all a setup and the real beauty of this show is starting to shine through.

4 /5

It was rather interesting to see Fitz perform a solo mission by himself whereby he had to retrieve an artifact supposedly to help him find Jemma.

We see him act as a bit of an action her, an interesting turn this episode. At the same time, Hunter and Bobbi look like they’re doing well since Ward captured and nearly killed them both. With the brief scenes between them, it looks like big things are bound to happen to them in the future.

It was also fun to see the fun dynamic between Rosalind and Coulson. Both are calm methodical leaders that always have a trick up their sleeves. The subway scene between the two was rather entertaining to watch. Surprisingly, both aren’t the enemy here in this case with a mysterious third party with Lash involved might force them to work together maybe? In the final shots for this episode, it is revealed about what happened to Jemma. The show has once again broke boundaries here and Jemma’s predicament will be one thing to watch in the next episodes to come.

Overall “Laws of Nature” was a solid start to a new season with some action and development in characters. The promo’s for next episode show the return of Ward, as well as HYDRA along with May. I can’t wait to catch up with them.

Episode 1 immediately feels different, the world is darker, Penguin feels powerful and threatening, The Riddler feels delirious, The Joker is starting to become a little loopy and we have the setup of the TV version of The Suicide Squad.

Only they are not the Squad just yet, but the Maniaxx, led by Jerome played by the perfect Cameron Monaghan, plays off Barbara Keen who is also not Harley Quinn, but definitely Quinn-ish. The two have an odd chemistry as our not favourite villains and manage to turn the psychotic murdering mayhem to maximum on this 8pm timeslot show (imagine if it was on later, or on cable!)

But what about Bruce and Alfred? At the end of last season we were left with the cliffhanger of the fireplace unveiling and a set of stone stairs descending into not the bat cave.

Well this time we finally get to see the locked door with the impossible security code that Bruce just can’t get right (it was his birthday! Seriously he couldn’t even figure that out!

Batman he is NOT!) After a montage of failed attempts,

Alfred sets some explosives and they blow the door wide open after a few minutes. I feel this was wasted, we could have had maybe half a season or a whole one of mysteries behind the door, but this feels a little rushed, when all it did was reveal that Bruce’s father had secrets and was on the verge of a big discovery. Wasted? Yes. yes. YES! Meanwhile Gordon has been reinstated as police chief after some questionable actions and decisions that highlight his strong moral compass and struggle with his love and dedication for the city of Gotham. Watching this play out and his character evolve is one of the highlights of the show. Through all the comic-y silliness and Batman easter egg hunting, Gordon (played by Benjamin MacKenzie) has been the show’s solid shoulders to tie everything together and remind us why we love this character and what his journey is.

I don’t want to spoil too much as we are only 2 episodes into the season, but if you struggled with Gotham last season (lord knows I did!) you will be surprised and impressed at how ramped up it is this season. It feels like they have moved and matured into a different level and now this show is starting to solidify its place as a DC Comics television show worthy of its counterparts Arrow & The Flash. This is a bold statements, but if the rest of the season is like these first 2 episodes, we are in for one hell of a ride!

4 /5

In 1963 the BBC commissioned a show about a man that travels in time and space in a little blue box that’s bigger on the inside.

52 years later and Mark Halyday takes a look at it’s latest run.

5 /5

America has it easy. Their television episodes have more episodes in a season than most Australian or British shows meaning that the dreaded hiatus time is next to nothing. It’s even started commissioning in-world spinoffs like Agent Carter and Legends of Tomorrow to fill the void left by the main shows. It’s fair to say they’ve got it pretty good.

Davros, creator of the Daleks, is back after his plan to destroy the universe in 2008’s Journey’s End did not go his way. There’s no giant plan in the beginning – Davros seems resigned to his doom – so the Doctor/Davros portion of the episode turns into a stern ethics debate over whether the Daleks should have ever have been created in the first place.

Doctor Who returned to screens this month after over two hundred and sixty days absent. Due to the influx of popularity in America the series was shifted to the September premiere slot and given twelve episodes and a Christmas special. Admittedly that’s one less than usual, but after a year of four specials (2009) or five episodes (2013) or one thirteen episode series stretched over two years (2011-2012) it is astonishing to get so many episodes in such rapid succession.

It’s extraordinarily reminiscent of the classic Tom Baker arc Genissis of the Daleks that first introduced Davros. He’s always been a particularly vicious monster and the episodes go out of their way to humanise him and make him - dare I say - relatable.

To see him as a young boy in the midst of the battlefield that would later inspire the Daleks took a touch of the sting from the horrific actions he has previously committed.

This year head writer and showrunner Steven Moffat has a penchant for two-parters, not only for the premiere and the finale but for at least three standalone stories as well. After a fun year of one-off adventures it’ll be interesting to put the breaks on for some meatier stories for the Doctor (Peter Capaldi).

And what a meaty story can be found in The Magicians Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar. The titles sound like excellent pubs and even better episode titles although there isn’t an obvious train of thought as to their namesake. Perhaps they refer to Clara (Jenna Coleman), the Doctor’s companion, who transitions her double act from the Doctor to Missy (Michelle Gomez).

It’s always a bit rough balancing the geeky nuances with the information that actually has to hit the paper in a Doctor Who review. Dan Priman and I did a podcast on these episodes for Novastream, and will continue for the remainder of the series, so if this piques your interest head over there for an all-out nerdfest.

The Doctor is a centuries-old alien from a planet once thought destroyed, now thought locked away in a parallel universe. He travels through time and space in a ship disguised as a 1963 era police box with a companion of some sort facing a variety of iconic enemies including the Daleks, the Cybermen, The Master/ Missy and Davros.

Well, three of four ain’t bad.

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Steven Moffat doesn’t mind radically warping Doctor Who lore and for the longest time he appeared to be altering one of the more sacred elements of the series. Thankfully it did not come to fruition.

Elsewhere the Doctor’s eons-old adversary Missy is filling his place by trudging all over time and space with Clara. It’s so interesting to watch Missy and the Doctor unite against the common enemy of Davros and the Daleks.

When the Master was created in the classic era he was to be “the Moriarty to his Holmes”. So then, if you will, imagine a foe so grand to unite Moriarty and Holmes?

There doesn’t seem to be an obvious series arc as yet which is quite refreshing for a Moffat-helmed series. In season five it was the cracks in the universe, in season six it was the Silence and the astronaut, in season seven it was goodbye Ponds and the impossible girl and last season we had the teasing clips of Missy before her identity was known.

It’s likely that this season will focus on the exit of Clara. She is a strong, confident companion that has become an adreniline junkie alongside the Doctor. After a season of juggling her personal and TARDIS life the cracks were beginning to show but now, more than ever, she was not in control of the story at all. It’ll be interesting where she will go from here.

After an emotional finale featuring Missy and the Cyberman everything was wrapped in a nice little bow for the Christmas special. Nine months later and Missy is back to enlist Clara with her search for the Doctor after a mysterious confession dial appeared on her doorstep, leading them via UNIT and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Essex in the twelfth century and eventually the sinister planet of Skaro, Planet of the Daleks.

The episode was also natutally full of Easter eggs. There’s not enough space on the page to talk about the Shadow Proclamation, the Maldovorian, the cool transition from Hartnell to Baker to Capaldi in the flashback, the teleportation goodness or Missy’s hilarious flip-floppy accent.

The Doctor’s oldest, fiercest and most persistent enemies have a guest with them though. A total surprise, not in any promotional work and not spoiled by anyone at the BBC.

Doctor Who is a calibre of its own and the two-part opener was a strong example of the series at its best. Here’s to the further ten episodes!

For all that goodness it’s best to check the podcast, Sundays on Novastream.

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Last year’s best network show is back. Tegan Lyon If there’s one thing that How to Get Away with Murder excels at, it’s hitting the ground running. Nobody could ever accuse this series of being slow, in fact we need a full two minutes of the episode dedicated solely to the “previously on HTGAWM so that our brains won’t overload with the dozen plot threads being dangled in the air.

There is a lot going on in the season premiere, even for Murder. Annalise and Frank are busy pointing fingers at any plausible suspects for Rebecca’s murder, Wes is moping over Rebecca’s disappearance and biting the hand that feeds him, Laurel and Michaela are still sniping at one another, Connor and Oliver are reeling from Oliver’s HIV diagnosis, Annalise is working to get Nate legal representation after she framed him, Asher is spying for opposing council and somehow the show still manages to incorporate a case-of-theweek.

Thank god for Annalise and the phenomenal (and newly minted Emmy winner) Viola Davis, because she manages to anchor the episode even with the over-crowded narrative. Instead of a client seeking out Annalise’s firm to represent them, this time Annalise is actively trying to pursue a client who already has a defence attorney. A brother and sister (who I mistakenly assumed were a couple for two thirds of the episode) are accused of murdering their parents and the prosecution’s eye witness also happens to be their Aunt.

Annalise is determined to take on their case and employs Bonnie and Laurel to help her undermine the current defence attorney’s case in order to achieve this. Everybody is sitting around listlessly and Annalise mutters my favourite line of the episode when someone asks, “Where are you going?” and she replies, “To get a murder case that didn’t happen in this house.” Oh Annalise, never change.

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Sophie Kempe gives her thoughts on Grey’s twelfth season opener

checks if it’s still got the goods We also meet another person from Annalise’s past, Eve Rothlow (played by Famke Janssen), the deathrow prosecutor Annalise is attempting to convince to represent Nate for Sam’s murder. These two had an odd chemistry right off the bat, with Eve straightup accusing Annalise of “using people” for a means to an end. It is later explained that the two women were actually lovers in law school before Annalise left her for Sam. It does make sense, given Eve acts more like a jilted lover than a betrayed friend.

However, I’m wondering if this is a clumsy attempt to offer more representation of sexually ambiguous, African-American on television. I’m all for more layered representation of female characters, but this example felt lazy and rushed.

The biggest surprise of the episode didn’t come from finding out who murdered Rebecca, but the fact that it was revealed so early into the new season.

Frank is certain that Laurel killed her because she’s manipulative, ruthless and grew up with a shady father. But Annalise realises Frank has “the wrong girl”. Cue another flashback to Rebecca’s murder, only now we have the full picture; Bonnie killed Rebecca. Annalise confronts her immediately, “You’re the one sick enough to do this.” Really?

What evidence have we ever seen that docile Bonnie could be capable of murder? The reveal essentially comes out of the left field and we’re given the weak explanation by Annalise that Bonnie did this due to some misguided attempt to uphold her idealistic image of Sam. Hmm…okay.

But all is forgotten by the end of the episode when Annalise takes the Keating Five (minus Asher) out for drinks. It’s super weird and reminiscent of running into a drunk, former high school teacher when you’re out at a bar. But it also kind of works because it’s nice to see these characters take a moment to just be. This only lasts a moment before we flash forward to months into the future and Wes is running out of the mansion that belongs to the murder siblings from this week’s case, leaving Annalise bleeding out on their expensive rug.

How to Get Away with Murder isn’t perfect by any means, and it sounds like I’m tearing ‘It’s Time to Move On’ apart but I still love this whacky show to pieces. I merely worry about how long the series can carry on its premise without burning out, or worse, becoming dull.

This first episode of Grey’s Anatomy’s twelfth season (how did we get to twelve seasons?) is somewhat of a catharsis for Grey’s fans. Meredith was always the character you either loved or loved to hate. She’s a whiny baby one minute and deep and meaningful the next. We always felt sorry for her, where life just seemed to keep dealing her punch after punch. This season promises to be somewhat different for Meredith, with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds that follow her around. We are used to the doom and gloom and now, Shonda Rhimes has providet td us with a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re returning to some of the best parts of this show and story, the light hearted moments that used to come few and far between.

This episode opens with our heroine in bed, contemplating the start of a new day. She’s so rudely awoken by the sounds of a sledgehammer, bashing into the wall. Cue a rapid descent through the messy, toy ridden house to see Amelia and Maggie attempting to knock down one of the living room walls. Offering Meredith the sledgehammer to have a go (‘it feels great!’) doesn’t help. Of course they discussed the idea of opening up the wall last night over drinks but nothing had been settled.

Acting like bratty sisters, Meredith, Maggie and Amelia put off their argument and head into work. The case that this episode features is one of the most poignant and powerful that we have seen in a long time. The report comes in that two girls have been hit by a train and are coming into the hospital. Understandably, everyone is shaken up, two children have been struck by a train and launched down an embankment and have sustained major injuries.

This case touches a nerve for all of the doctors’ involved, not only in terms of their relationship but also bullying.

Maggie opens up to the team whilst performing surgery together, that she was bullied for being small and smart.

She also lashes out at Callie and Alex, confronting them on their own bullying histories, albeit being the bully as opposed to the bullied. We see a raw side to Maggie that she often keeps hidden.

The parents of both girls arrive at the hospital and we can see why they would have been driven so far to be together when we meet Jess’s parents. Her father is a classic pushover with her mother being outright abusive and aggressive as soon as she arrives and sees the other girl, Aliyah’s father and discovering that they were there together. Of course Callie can’t stand by knowing that Jess’ mother tried to send her to a camp as well as seeing this kind of behaviour.

An argument ensues and Callie has to walk away in order to continue to help Jess.

This episode goes back to the funny and light moments that Grey’s fans have been missing for the last few years.

Of course the topic of teen homosexuality and persecution is poignant and not taken light-heartedly. But the show is doing justice to its characters, we are seeing them all come out from the dark and back to those we first loved. Rhimes has said that the show has come through a lot and will move forward in its twelfth season. If ‘Sledgehammer’ is anything to go by, this season will be just as dramatic but gripping as ever the show has been.

However we soon see the real story with this case, the two girls are brought in concurrently, with the first constantly asking if the other girl is OK. Callie Torres, Maggie Pierce, Alex Karev and Owen Hunt are the attending physicians and assess both girls’ injuries. It’s immediately clear to Callie that the girls were not just on their way to school and taking a shortcut. She notices they both have the same drawn hearts on their arms. Callie speaks with one of the girls where she confides that she likes both men and women and soon discovers that the girls are actually a couple and were on the tracks on purpose. Of course this scene and many of the following that involve the couple are heartbreaking. Jess Tanner (the patient Callie opens up to) tells Callie that they just wanted to be together and says that her parent’s tried to send her to a camp to fix her, which is what led them to the train.

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Aside from the obvious – human rights abuse, dictatorship or the end of Tim Tam’s – the one thing that would get me up to revolt against the government would be the actual closure of the ABC. Despite what Caberra says the ABC is still going strong and so it should, considering it is generally responsible for the best shows Australia has produced. Plus the amazing iView, featuring ABC and overseas shows months after they’ve finished airing. So when iView began producing original content I was the first to jump at the chance of writing a review.

and sometimes even forgetting Randy (sorry Randy, but of the two I think I could probably take you in a fight). That is only a small gripe, my second issue is a little more serious, the Wednesday storyline.

Wednesday (Georgia Chara) is Sammy J’s personal assistant that has a secret crush on Sammy J. Yep, cliché. This storyline is clichéd right down to the fact that Wednesday wears “ugly girl glasses” and boring clothes in a vain attempt to make her seem less attractive. Of course Sammy J doesn’t notice Wednesday’s unacquainted love for him and hilarity ensues.

If you hadn’t gathered already, the show stars the comic duo of Sammy J and Randy.

Sammy J is a musical comedian that has been working with Randy–also a musical comedian and puppet–since 2010. In terms of the show, they play twisted versions of themselves, where Sammy J is the more responsible–although maybe less intelligent one–working at a horrible law firm. While Randy is the cruder, older, divorced moocher working as a full time dole-bludger.

While that last sentence may have sounded a little sarcastic, that wasn’t my intention, Ricketts Lane is hilarious. I don’t think I remember literally laughing out loud in an Australian sitcom as much as I did with Ricketts Lane. When Ricketts Lane isn’t filling you with mirth on the forefront, it’s more than proving its place in the background. There is a myriad of understated jokes that makes the show a great candidate for a second view. My favourite example being the sighing alpaca named Kerry, Kerry alpaca, Kerry alpacker, Kerry alPACKER, classic. The show’s spoof of those terrible current affairs programs, Thumbs down is another highlight along with the show’s setting, the 80s. Now I’m still not sure whether I’ve got this right or not but the show seems to be set in the 80s for no discernible reason which I find hilarious. Finally, I’m a sucker for a good theme to episode naming and the theme in Ricketts Lane is Kevin Costner films; The Postman, Field Of Dreams, The Bodyguard, Waterworld, Dances With Wolves and Malibu Hot Summer.

Generally I despise musical television shows, I find the insertion of songs a lazy way of extending the run time but if there is a chance of a joke I stumble back into my hypocritical hole and give the show a chance. So far, only Flight Of The Conchords and The Mighty Boosh have been accepted as examples of good musical comedies but today I am happy to add Sammy J And Randy In Ricketts Lane to that list. Songs can often outstay their welcome in shows like this but fortunately, Sammy J and Randy understand this and have kept the songs to the right length. Some songs are so short that there’s only time for a quick joke and we’re straight back into the story. The other problem musical comedies face is bad music, writers sometimes cut the musical quality for the joke and will pass off a bad song just because it’s funny. Luckily the songs in Ricketts Lane are an exception on this rule, especially the theme song.

The ABC is the first channel or streaming service to make original Australian online content. Is it any good? Daniel Priman reckons a puppet should win a Logie

I only have two gripes with the show. Now, whether it is a concerted decision or not, I don’t know but the show’s name is far too long. Sammy J and Randy must know that people are idiots (including myself) and no one is going to remember a name that long. I often found myself referring to the show as simply “Sammy J And Randy”

All in all, to give its full name, Sammy J And Randy In Ricketts Lane is a great addition to ABC line-up. If you miss it on iView, I highly recommend giving it a watch on the ABC in October. Both the main and recurring cast deliver excellent performances (give Randy a Logie) and the writing is absolutely top notch. Now, I’m off to familarise myself more with the comedy of Sammy J and Randy on YouTube and for some reason I have a real hankering for a ham and cheese focaccia.

4 /5

This article and our September Screams month running online is dedicated to his legacy of not only delivering great films, but also genuine and frightening screams and scares that will live on in our memories for the rest of our lives here at Novastream. If you do not know who Wes Craven is please read below to find out about one of film’s most sought after directors and writers of the scream genre of our generation.

Born on August 2, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio, Wes Craven was raised in a strict christian household.

He saw few films due to his parent’s religious beliefs, but used to sneak out to see things like Fantasia.

After finishing high school, Craven went to Wheaton College in Illinois, were he was the editor of the school’s literary magazine and a contributor as well.

Wes finalised his masters degree from John Hopkins in 1964.

Craven’s first film was 1972’s The Last House On The Left, which he wrote and directed. the film sent shockwaves through the industry and has become a cult hit and secured Craven as one of the newcomers of horror to watch out for. Although after this film he found it hard to get any work or funding due to the graphic nature of the content, he did return in 1977 with another box office smash The Hills Have Eyes (which he also wrote and directed!)

Returning to the world of Freddy Krueger in 1994 with meta film New Nightmare, saw Krueger invade the “real world” and haunt the cast and crew who were making the Elm Street films. It garnered high critical praise and took the villain back to being more menacing, rather than comical as he had become over his many incarnations. The film features several homages to the original film such as quotes and recreations of the most famous scenes. The film still holds a massive cult following today and while it didn’t have the broad appeal of the Scream series, it was definitely a genre film that lived up to its name, and laid a lot of the ground work for Craven’s work on the Scream series.

In 1996 Craven came back to modern audiences with the hit horror film Scream, a joint project with Kevin Williamson, he also wrote and directed the first film and its three sequels as well as the modern remake of The Hills Have Eyes and its two sequels sequentially.

Recently Craven got involved with the Scream TV series for MTV, an instant hit with audiences, the episodic series had its pilot written and directed by “I think the experience of going to a theater and Craven, before moving to a producing role for the rest seeing a movie with a lot of people is still part of the of season 1. transformational power of the film, and it’s equivalent to the old shaman telling a story by the campfire to It wasn’t only horror that Craven could accommodate a bunch of people. That is a remarkable thing, if you to, he flexed his comedic muscles with Scream and scream and everyone else in the audience screams, explored that with Meryl Streep in Music Of The you realize that your fears are not just within yourself, Heart, for which Streep earned a Best Actress award. they’re in other people as well, and that’s strangely releasing. But on the TV, you can still watch it with His career is diverse and his contribution to popular friends. We watch films on so many different mediums culture is undeniably epic. Personally he is one of now, that I think they’ll complement each other for a my favourite directors and the fact that he was also long time.” – Wes Craven involved in the writing and production of the Scream TV series, will see a big hole left in the show. We It wasn’t until 1984 when the world realised how talented would like to honour Wes Craven with our September Craven was with the highly successful and critically Screams content and lock him down as one of the praisedNightmare On Elm Street, introducing viewers greats of our generation. to Freddy Krueger, who went on to become a cultural icon appearing in sequels, cross over films, comic books, video games and TV shows.

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J: “How did the original idea of Pokémon Reborn come to mind?”

A: “As a game, it was never really planned. Rather, it was based off of the league I was running as an online challenge.

Then one day someone decided to make a game based off of it, and when I found out that the software they were going to use was something I had experience with, I decided to oneup them and try it on a whim. And it just sort of happened from there.”

J: “For the people who haven’t played it, can you give us a brief plot synopsis?”

Pokemon Reborn is a Generation 3 (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald) styled downloadable game featuring all of the Pokemon content through to Generation 6 (X/Y). Set in the Reborn Region, a once beautiful region, now decaying slowly. Reborn City, the capital of the Reborn Region, covered in black smog. Acidic water garnishes the crumbling structures along the skyline. City streets and back alleys crawling with disaster and crime. This region needs a hero.

Pokemon Reborn teases that something has gone terribly wrong as soon as the game starts, making you automatically question the “who, what, why and how?” of the incident and state that the Reborn region is in. As you embark on your journey throughout the massive, puzzle riddled region, your questions will slowly be answered as you try to fend off the evil, witness horrible and indescribable events, and try to establish yourself as the hero Reborn needs, and probably deserves.

The game features “Field Effects”, that allow you to overwhelm your opponent, or make yourself more vulnerable when battling. You are able to collect, train and battle with all 721 Pokemon available and take on eighteen gym leaders as you fight to restore Reborn to the once glorious and beautiful region back to normal. An example of a field effect that inverts the types of the Pokemon, and alters many key factors in battles: The game also allows you to pick from eighteen starters, ranging from a fan favorite of Charmander, up to the recently released Fennekin. If you are a fan of shiny Pokemon, the shiny ratio has been increased in Reborn, so there is a higher percentile chance to find a shiny Pokemon to add to your collection, alongside a quicksave option, randomly generated weather and a total of eighteen gyms, of which thirteen are currently released.

A: “The player, presumably an experienced Pokemon trainer, comes to the Reborn region for a fresh challenge. But from the second they arrive, a malicious group moves to destroy the region for their own goals. It’s up to the player to fight them and restore the region to prosperity.”

development times seem to increase with each episode because there’s more and more existing game to be polished.

Right now, I’m expecting development to take another year and a half, but that is somewhat likely to go up.”

J: “Alright then. Thank you so much for your time!”

A: “Sure thing. Thanks for doing the, um, thing!” ________________________________

A: “Not quite from scratch. RPG Maker, the base engine, provides most functionality need for a game. Then Pokemon Essentials, the base script set we use provides most of the functionality need for a Pokemon game. However Essentials was incomplete so we’ve had to do a lot of work to finish and polish the engine. Aside from that, it’s not really ‘hard’ at all.

It just takes a lot of time.”

J: “I was there, for the Pokémon League that was run online, and that had the unique characters you see in game. How much more backstory did you have to write for those characters, or did you not have to do much at all?”

J: “Which character’s storyline is your favorite?”

A: “…Well if I’d known you were going to ask me that, I wouldn’t have used her in the previous example. Titania’s, by far. I can’t say too much on that right now since in the current release we’re only really just starting to get into her business. Suffice it to say she’s my favorite character because she’s also the one most personal to me and my emotions.”

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animated family for their hilarious twenty-seventh A: “The game will end with Episode season.

19. Unfortunately

J: “How hard is it to develop a game like Reborn, since I’m assuming it was made from scratch?”

A: “It wasn’t so much about writing backstory as converting existing backstory to something that works in-Universe.

For instance things like the online Titania being a Literature Major at her Uni, don’t make so much sense in Reborn where there isn’t necessarily a University for her to be attending. So in that sort of case, I decided to express her interest literature by having some of her words appear in certain other books, and with her making a few vague literary allusions here and there. Ultimately the effect is the same.”

Jonah Raj sits down with the brains behind Pokemon: Reborn, Amethyst

estimate time of completion of the game, and how many Dan sits episodes do you expect to Priman be out by thedown time with the game is television’s longest running complete?

J: Interesting. Now, Reborn is episodically released, similar to the manner in which Telltale games are released. We’re currently up to Episode 15. Is there an

Pokemon: Reborn is not for the faint hearted, and definitely isn’t your stock standard Pokemon game. It has a much deeper plot, with a large variety of characters that you will learn to love, or love to hate. Your journey will see you traverse caves, dangerous cities, toxic wastelands, beautiful grassy areas and even a circus.

As the plot thickens and you, the protagonist, gets involved with the variety of issues plaguing Reborn as you try to establish a name for yourself officially as a Gym Leader conqueror, and the hero of Reborn. The game will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions, as you have to overcome a variety of situations that will either leave a smile on your face, or leave you on the edge of your seat.

It’s certainly a unique experience, especially for a Pokemon game.

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Jonah Raj on this year’s FiFA, now with women!

Full review at www.novastream.com.au FIFA 16 has grown up from FIFA 15 significantly. In FIFA 15, chip through balls were the bane of every player’s existence, and at the same time, the player’s strength.

Shocking defensive errors in FIFA 15 would cost you games, such as defenders running into each other or horrendous goalkeeping blunders, such as letting in a shot from half way, or pulling a Robert Green and letting a weak effort just slip through your legs.

Sorry Robert, we haven’t forgotten quite yet.

FIFA 16 introduces a variety of new defensive mechanisms in order to vastly improve the defensive side of the game, obviously.

The defending on FIFA 16 is scarily difficult to work around.

In fact, I would say it’s just like learning a new FIFA game.

I started a career mode with Arsenal, and I had trouble weaving around the defence of Lyon. I could not get a ball in, they would close me down too quickly. After a while of exploring my offensive options, I was able to do some damage. Defending in this game should be no problem for anyone, it’s relatively simple and fun to do. Your tackles don’t make the ball fly and land at someone elses foot and they have a shot on goal. You defend, retain the ball and play on from there.

This doesn’t mean that other shooting methods are underpowered, you can still shoot normally, or use your head to score a goal, except you won’t miss from 6 yards out. Unless you’re playing with Giroud…

Keepers will pull off some tremendous saves, but if you control the midfield and know where to place the ball (near post or finesse) you should be fine, and the finishing is clinical.

The FIFA trainer is self explanatory, it trains you to play FIFA on a basic, or advanced level should you choose to toggle it on.

FIFA 16 Career Mode (Manager) is back, as always. Making your manager and setting it up to be a world beater, whether you start at Real Madrid, or Sydney FC. You work your way up the managerial ladder to become the best there ever was. Better than Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ange Postecoglou (shoutout for winning the Asian Cup with us), Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Diego Simeone?

Sure, why not? If you played the last FIFA you’d see a 60% increase to your transfer budgets as well as a world class transfer scout. Handy. Here’s where it gets interesting. No more are the days where you play meaningless fixtures in the pre-season against teams such as Sporting CP, Brighton Hove Albion or a top tier team such as Paris Saint Germain.

You now embark on international pre-season tours. Gasp.

The international cups are existent for all clubs, just different tiers. Clubs such as Arsenal are subject to three different offers to compete with the top tier local teams and top tier European teams in three separate locations. The player chooses one, and plays through that tournament with a handsome reward fee. If you choose a club like Watford, never fear, you will play in one of these too, with weaker teams and a lower payout should you win the tournament.

Finally, pre-season has meaning, and it may leave more time for rest before the season starts, as opposed to having a friendly a week from the start of the season or if you’re in the Community Shield, you’re well warmed up and ready to go tear up. I found this really handy in my Arsenal career mode, after warming up and beginning to learn FIFA 16 through the International Cup and winning it, I felt more than comfortable heading back to Wembley in England and handing Chelsea a taste of their own medicine.

Finally, the most important feature that I think was added to FIFA 16. Women’s National Teams.

Women finally get the coverage they deserve in football games, and it came through FIFA, naturally. Why they’ve been left out for so long is questionable, but the important thing is that they’re in the game in some form. The teams are USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, China, and Australia.

Women’s National Teams are available in Kick Off, Tournament Mode, and Friendlies. No Manager Mode…sad face…

The FUT Draft mode is something that many players have hyped up over the course of the demo being released and now the actual game. Initially, you get a FUT Draft Token to play for free, otherwise it’s 15,000 coins or 300 FIFA points (so, it’s like buying two Premium Gold Packs). Essentially, you pick a captain, and then you pick players to build around that. You can build a hybrid team, or a sole LIGA BBVA team (assuming your captain is Messi or Ronaldo) and try to win the four games you’re set up against in order to win the big prize. This allows players to build a dream team and take on the world, but also provides the challenge of getting 100 chemistry, which is vital to Ultimate Team.

Whether you plan to go for chemistry, or build the best side you could possibly build, FUT Draft is filled with endless possibilities, shock draft pulls, a team you never want to look at again, or a team you wish you could afford to play with for the rest of your FIFA career. Definitely a game mode worth checking out at least once, as it provides players with a mental challenge, as well as a test to their abilities.

Who knows, you could end up with a front line like Ronaldo – Martinez – Messi, or Messi – Neymar – Suarez, or Ronaldo – Benzema – Bale. The threats and possibilities are endless, and truly drives a player’s creativity to see what masterpiece they can create with the tools provided.

I decided to try a kick off game, with Australia vs China. I had already worn out my use of USA and Germany in the demo.

I was really excited to play with a women’s team. Far more excited than I have been ever before for FIFA. Actually, this is probably the driving force behind my immediate purchase of FIFA 16. It’s always a pride of mine to lead Australia out virtually. I can now do it with the women’s team too.

However, the happiness is short lived. They are not in career mode, so there’s only so much fun one can have with the women’s team. Whilst their addition is probably the biggest thing since the introduction of FIFA Ultimate Team, there is still a long way to go in terms of their place in the game.

Eventually, I would like to see the women’s leagues in the game, more national teams and the ability to take over a women’s team as National Team manager, and manage a women’s side in a league. Maybe even gendered managers. Those features would be nice.

So I did, 4-1 victory to secure our 2nd piece of silverware for the season.

It brings career mode to life, and allows you to take your brand of football to other countries aside from Europe, such as South America, Asia and North America. National team jobs are the same, you’ll get an offer and choose one from there.

Well, okay, it’s a start, but… Considering how long women have been playing for, you’d think there would be more. I would have loved to have taken the reigns of The Matildas in my manager Career Mode and taken them to World Cup glory eventually, and if it took long, to just have had randomly generated talent come in so I could pick from them. It is a start, but these three game modes are limiting, yet fun to play in.

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Alas, for now, this is a great stepping stone, but there is still a great way to go.

Overall, FIFA 16 feels like more of a challenge this year, as if I need to re-learn how to play, which is a good thing to me, since it makes it feel as if the mechanics have changed, and they have evidently. The FUT Draft is a wonderful insertion into the game itself and provides loads of fun strategically and gameplay wise. The addition of women in the game is a step, but more steps are required in order to do the women’s game true justice.

As for the servers.. Well. We all know the story with that. Definitely needs remedying.

Finesse shots need a slight nerf, and so does defence overall.

Since FIFA is a hard game to review, since it builds off of the last one, I must say it’s a general improvement overall compared to FIFA 15. So, to that, I say well done EA.

3.5 /5 29

Better, but not perfect. Pat Braithwaite explains

MMO’s tend to follow a specific pattern. They release, people play it, along the way we lose people to other games and the dedicated players un-turn every stone, grind through the game and all of its endgame content and then the developer announces an expansion to give those players new content to prevent the old game from getting stale. And while Destiny is no different in that regard, The Taken King expansion has set a new benchmark for MMO expansions and gives a clear indication for the future direction of the series.

Very few games acknowledge their faults and take feedback on board to revamp their product to the level Destiny did, as The Taken King and Destiny 2.0 brought about fundamental changes to the Destiny systems and gameplay as well. All that said, while this game is improved and you can forget everything you knew about Destiny, it still has it’s faults.

The game launches into a story which assumes that you have completed the original Destiny and previous expansions, including the Crota’s End and Vault of Glass raids. At the start of Taken King, Oryx (Crota’s father) has come to our solar system seeking vengeance for the murder of his Son. Following a destructive battle with the Awoken, his ship (known as the Dreadnaught) takes position in the rings of Saturn. An explosive encounter with Oryx’s new army, The Taken, then pushes the Vanguard of Earth to step in and rid the world of Oryx and his dark army, complete with new shocking new abilities.

The enemies aren’t the only ones with new tricks up their sleeve. Each class type in destiny is given a new class ability after reaching level 25 (when the Taken King content becomes accessible). Each guardian is given a unique quest for their class which will take them through discovering, obtaining and controlling a new ability. For the Warlock, there is the Arc based Stormcaller sub-class, which will allow the user to cast chains of lightning at enemy foes. The Void based Nightstalker subclass awaits Hunters, equipping them with a bow and arrow of light which tether enemies to one location and assist in crowd control. And Finally, Titans with the new Sunbreaker class can rain down on enemies with their new solar infused hammer of judgement. And it’s worth mentioning that the quests to achieve these abilities are some of the most fun I’ve had in the new Destiny Campaign. These new subclasses also change up the roles in a fireteam making Warlocks get up close and deal damage, make Titans attack from a distance and make Hunters take on a supporting role.

4 /5 26

From the outset, this campaign is different from previous expansions and even most of the original game, with a very cinematic introduction and story driven experience. What’s particularly great is the VO work, with notable mention to Nolan North (Taking over as the voice of your companion ghost) and Nathan Fillion (who voices vanguard hunter Cayde-6, an Exo NPC who acts as a key player in this new campaign).

Beyond the story and the new enemies and abilities, there is a further smorgasbord of new changes and updates. Things like a new questing system and quest tracking making progression and quest completion easier, bounties being able to be turned

in without returning to the tower, New weapons, armour and vehicles to unlock and more exploring to be done. Further to that, some currency and crafting changes are also present, with vanguard marks becoming legendary marks and being used at a broader variety of vendors as well as Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating and Sapphire Wire becoming the universal Armor Material, which makes sharing materials between characters a possibility for armor upgrades. Finally one of the biggest changes is that Light on your items is no longer required to level past 20, being summed up in a different total which affects your attack and defence stats as well as a benchmark for Raid and Strike accessibility.

For the crucible, two new modes are now active dubbed “Rift” and “Mayhem”. Rift is the more strategic of the two, offering a destiny spin on the bomb running mechanic seen in other FPS multiplayer modes. A spark ignites in a central location, teams fight to capture it and then run it to the other teams rift to score.

It’s a fun and tactical balance between offence and defence, but in my experience these matches tend to last a long time as they have to run til the timer runs out. The second mode, Mayhem, is just as the title states giving players boosted light recovery, instant respawn and faster heavy weapon drops. This makes for team based combat with more explosions and calamity in what feels like an anyone can win and be great scenario, where lucky shots are favoured more so over skill.

While Bungie have made significant adjustments to the core of Destiny, forever changing the game and forging ahead with a new chapter of it’s lifespan, it’s still not without it’s faults.

The biggest fault is that this new update has rendered much of the previous content useless or inaccessible to players without the new expansion. The weapons and armour sets, while still looking quite awesome, do not hold up stats-wise against some of the gear available only to those with the expansion. Much of the content such as weekly/nightfall events and raids are now locked behind higher light level requirements, many of which are hard or impossible to reach without the extended level cap and the new items that are obtained with it.

While change and expansion are inevitable in an MMO, this kind of change rattles right to the core and locking previous content makes playing the game without the expansions seem a little more futile. Destiny is also lacking some key features such as trading between players, which is something that is seen as a staple for most other MMO games. I can understand the want to earn something but when you are trying desperately to get one exotic item only to get 5 of a different one, it gets frustrating when you cannot trade with someone in the opposite position or gift an item to a player trying to get better gear to play with friends. In my mind, it could only add to the experience.

In summary, while making the game harder to justify playing for those who only have the stock game and not the expansions and not implementing some core elements of other MMO’s, The Taken King is still a fun and wild ride. The new enemies are challenging, the new abilities are awesome and the changes to Destiny make it more accessible and fun to play laying a better foundation for years to come than the vanilla release of Destiny ever did.

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David Chattaway looks at a console game that’s part-football & part-Warhammer Turn number eighteen, there’s only a few minutes left and the game is tied … it’s now or never. Do I risk having the character holding the ball try to run past two opponents and into the touchdown zone?

Or do I pass the spiked pig-skin to one of my runners and set up a safer play? Taking a deep breath I select my player and have him make a run for it. He dodges the first opponent, phew! Still not out of the woodwork though, another opponent to pass and the whole time I know there’s only a 67 per cent chance he’ll miss me … the huge orc sticks his leg out and catches my running player below the knee, bringing him down hard into the pitch, the ball slipping from his hands – along with my hopes of winning.

September 22 marked the worldwide release of Blood Bowl 2, the sequel to the turn-based Warhammer cross American Football strategy game. This time the creators have offered a pleasant surprise for old fans and new players, with a new graphics engine which makes the world of difference to the overall quality, not to mention the title’s addition of a compelling, story-driven solo campaign.

The campaign kicks off by showing a recap of the Reikland Reavers last game, in a short montage of brutal hip and shoulder tackles each player is ceremoniously knocked down by a stronger competition. You’re quickly thrown into the coaches seat, with a tutorial game, to get used to the basic controls and to bed-down how the game will play. The campaign continues holding your hand for the first couple of matches, slowly adding challenging layer after layer. By the fifth match you’ll find yourself controlling a game where dropping the ball, or failing a tackle attempt forces a turnover. Turn-based strategy games aren’t my typical go-to genre, so for me getting used to the pace and having to think a few steps ahead was something new. I would love to say that as continued to play the campaign mode, I increased my skill and my enjoyment for the game, however only one of the two is true.

Despite gaining a better understanding of how the game flows and what the AI-controlled competitors might do in any given situation, it was the constant game altering, and for lack of a better word – random – occurrences that would take place, that drove me crazy. I’m speaking of having a referee inexplicably tackle one of my characters during a game, forcing a turn-over. Or having the weather suddenly change, just as the ball soars through the air into one of my characters’ open arms. Of course the rain has made it slippery and he drops it. This wouldn’t be an issue if the newly altered weather continued, however just as quickly as the storm appeared, it left. I found myself confused and frustrated after losing a 45 minute match due to some of these random events. I’m comfortable with being beaten based on skill, but when you have on one side, a faceless AI competitor and on the other, what can only be described as a fun-destroying system, it’s hard to really get into the game. A similar frustration is felt toward the nature of how moves are decided. Attempting to attack the opposition will result in dice being rolled.

Although this is the way the Warhammer board game plays, I imagine having your dice land on a side which causes the move to backfire being amusing when playing with friends, but when it’s AI you can’t help but feel hopeless and completely at the mercy of chance, despite it being a turn-based strategy game. In saying that, there are some pleasant distractions which add to the challenge like when a flying goblin crashes his plane into the field, creating a dangerous obstacle to have to negotiate.

It’s within the multiplayer modes where Blood Bowl 2 really lands the touch down. All of the frustrations with the solo campaign take a back seat when you face up against another player. Both of you are dealing with the same random occurrences and despite the game having an element of chance involved, being on a level playing field means the real strategy begins. The multiplayer is persistent, meaning that every team you create gains experience from the matches you play, with your players earning star player points (SPP) and their levels increasing. You can invest a lot of time and effort into these players’ individual attributes, but beware as players can be injured and even killed during games.

Deaths are final, meaning they’re permanent. This risk, coupled with the fact that players age and eventually retire means you’ll need to hire rookies and train them up to replace exiting players.

For those who are especially competitive Blood Bowl 2 delivers something special in the League mode, a place where your team’s performance is tracked. Match statistics, how many you’ve won and your most valuable team are but a few of the things standing out in the public eye. If you’re familiar with Blood Bowl or you eat turn-based strategy games for breakfast … the league mode is for you.

The world of Blood Bowl 2 seems on face value to be fairly straight-forward, however digging into the various play modes and tinkering with different players’ skills and attributes, results in a challenging, rich strategy game. Sure there’s a few things that Cyanide Studios can further develop and refine, but ultimately Blood Bowl 2 is a fun, albeit at times frustrating game.

3.5 /5

Console games designed to tie-in to big blockbusters aren’t normally good.

Alaisdair Dewar tells us why Mad Max is different.

After delays and a cancellation on old gen, Mad Max is finally here to kick off the start of a crazy gaming season. It feels like we are being bombarded with games that are open world, begging us to spend hours and hours of our lives investing and completing every little mission. So far the only game to make me do that this year has been The Witcher 3 (for obvious reasons!) so it was a complete surprise that Mad Max drew me in and made me want to finish every little mission and side quest. The graphics are dark and gritty and with mechanics similar to Shadow Of Mordor and Arkham Knight, this game hits all the right notes and is another winner for the WB in 2015.

You play as Max, the famed wanderer from the films (definitely the Fury Road version!) who is targeted by Scarbrous Scrotus (son of Immortan Joe). His War Boys steal Max’s immortal car and beat you into a pulp. Fortunately odd-ball mechanic Chumbucket comes along and offers to help you build a new one, as long as you find the parts.

Playing as Max you take on contracts with local tribes for parts to build the new Magnum Opus, a car equipped with a harpoon that can take down other vehicles and guard posts for Max to scrounge through.

Combat wise, this game shines in hand-to-hand, and uses the Shadow Of Mordor/Arkham Knight mechanics to great effect. Bullets are VERY hard to come by in this game, so use them wisely and only when absolutely necessary. In the same way, water, food and fuel are also extremely rare, adding to the effect of isolation and desperation that this game nails.

The hand-to-hand combat is fierce, the punches come hard and fast and knock you out after two or three blows, however if a car happens to be headed towards your character, the effects are practically nothing and take a while to deplete your health bar. This is the only part of the game that I found ridiculous (yet also convenient!).

Graphically the game cannot be faulted, the weather effects are beautifully detailed and highlight the capabilities of the new generation of consoles. Fire and bolt tornadoes rush through the environment changing the pace and game-play.

Max himself stands out as a Max type, but not a carbon copy of the Mel Gibson or Tom Hardy film versions. Great detail has been given to the car parts and metal that help the game feel authentic and showcase the care and time that has been put into these parts of the game.

Mad Max delivers a high quality open-world action game that will please both fans of the films, and gamers in general.

This genre feels a little crowded at the moment, but Max has enough tricks up his sleeve to keep things fresh and invigorating in a non-fantasy style environment. The many missions and contracts are varied enough to make you want to complete them, this is also helped by the depth of the characters and their oddities. Graphics wise this game takes things to the next level and is one the most beautiful apocalyptic style settings made for a game. Mordor and Arkham Knight fans will see the similarities and appreciate the simplicity and style of the fight techniques. Developer Avalanche Studios has crafted an engaging experience for fans and gamers alike.

4 /5

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