Novastream Magazine Issue 8

EDITOR’S NOTE

IN THIS ISSUE: FEATURES:

Hey Novastreamers, What a bumper issue we have in store this issue! It feels a little repetitive, but it just so happens this is our largest and coolest issue yet.

Warner Bros and Lego continue their steady stream of video games with mixed results, missing the mark on Marvel’s Avengers. Pat looks at Undertale and Charlie checks in on Darkest Dungeon, which are both look a bit niche for this casual gamer.

Our cover girl Ashley Park is a rising star destined for big things. Britt talks the fierce competition, Days of Our Lives and her next film Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter.

Television is beyond crowded. In the magazine we’ve spotlighted the quartet of DCTV returning to our screens, while the website also features the return of the fantastic Marvel’s Agent Carter.

Want something non-superheroic? Try Suits. It’s spectular. Or something funny? Dan has compiled a viwer’s guide for the best episode’s of this season’s Simpsons.

4. ASHLEY PARK 6. MOVIE WORLD’S WHITE CHRISTMAS

MOVIES: 8. THE HATEFUL EIGHT

10. ZOOLANDER NO. 2

Love Netflix? On top of our usual coverage we have a handy spread of returning dates for their original shows. Convenient.

12. SISTERS

And finally movies, which is split into two sections.

The first are blockbusters, including a string of comedies, young-adult adaptation the 5th Wave and the inimitable Hateful Eight. It’s a shame it was overlooked at the Oscars.

14. THE 5TH WAVE

That’s the other category. After careful consideration Novastream Magazine will cover the 2016 Oscars, but we’d still like to take a minute to talk about the big issue. Here’s hoping for a better 2017.

15. THE PEANUTS MOVIE

Thanks for reading,

MARK HALYDAY, EDITOR

16. GOOSEBUMPS

THE TEAM: JACOB AMARANT, PAT BRAITHWAITE, JAY COOK, CHARLIE EASTWOOD, BRITTANY HOWARTH, JAMES LAMB, ALAISDAIR LEITH, DANIEL PRIMAN & ALBERTO SANCHEZ. THE 88TH OSCARS:

TELEVISION & STREAMING:

18. NOMINATIONS & PREDICTIONS

42. NEW TO NETFLIX

24. #OSCARSSOWHITE

43. YOUR 2016 NETFLIX CALENDAR

26. ROOM

46. SIMPSONS SO FAR

28. THE REVENANT

50. LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

30. THE BIG SHORT 32. THE DANISH GIRL 34. SPOTLIGHT 36. BROOKLYN

53. ARROW 54. THE FLASH 55. SUPERGIRL GAMING:

38. BRIDGE OF SPIES

56. LEGO AVENGERS

40. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

58. BLOODBORNE DLC 60. DARKEST DUNGEONS

41. THE MARTIAN

62. UNDERTALE

:

ASHLEY PARK Interview by Brittany Howarth

2016 is looking like the year of the Woman, especially with films like Ghostbusters, Divergent Series: Allegiant, and the 5th Wave. Well, throw Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter in the mix and prepare for an epic sci-fi battle against artificial intelligence.

Winner of Miss Asia USA, Ashley Park has made the move from modelling to acting and landed roles in four different feature films for 2016. One is particular is the character of Rhianna in Rogue Warrior: Robot Fight and I have been lucky enough to ask her some questions about her career and her role in the film.

Do you consider yourself an actress first or model?

How tough is it getting in on movies – do you walk into a room and battle against 50 other attractive young ladies the same age and type?

I would definitely consider myself to be an actress, not a model! I’ve never really considered professionally modeling before, probably because I’ve always been Definitely! You forget how many beautiful women live so petite. I came to LA to be an actress, and that has in LA until you walk into a casting office! Being cast always been my primary focus. in a movie or TV show is no easy feat, but I believe everyone comes into their own at the right time.

Has being involved in pageants actually helped win Booking a role really comes down to being in the right you acting roles? Do you find they go together? place at the right time. The stars have to align a bit that day!

I believe that any life experience goes hand in hand with becoming a better actor. I think that being a part of the Do you consider Days of Our Lives your big acting Miss Asia USA experience helped me tremendously in break? my growth as a person, and ultimately, as an actress.

Virgelia Productions does a wonderful job of training Being cast as Diane in Days of Our Lives was definitely women to become better versions of themselves, and a big moment for me, seeing as it was my first time on I grew so much throughout the process. I gained network television, but I’m not sure if I ever considered incredible stage experience and had a wonderful it my big break. It was a wonderful experience on an time. I won the title about two months ago, so I am amazing set, and it inspired me to continue my pursuit just beginning my reign, but I do believe the pageant of becoming a working actress. will help me garner more opportunities. Regardless, I hope to represent the Miss Asia USA organization to And how did you go from soaps to Rogue Warrior the best of my abilities throughout this year. : Robot Fighter?

Did you always intend to do both? What was the goal originally?

I was given the opportunity to audition for the film, and happened to be the first actress to audition. I know they auditioned quite a few people, so I feel very I had never really considered doing a pageant until honored to have been chosen for the part. The film I was scouted to compete in the Miss Asia USA is co-produced and directed by Neil Johnson. Cocompetition. Even then, I was very hesitant to enter producer Tracey Birdsall plays the fearless Sienna. a beauty pageant. With encouragement from friends and family, I decided to take the opportunity. I have Who do you play in the film? always been very focused on my acting career, so that was and is always the ultimate goal.

My character is Rhianna, a bold and charismatic girl with an aptitude for survival. The film was a blast to Where do you base yourself now? Is another place shoot, and Neil is such a wonderful director to work home for you? with. It’s always nice (especially when you shoot on location) to have a great cast and crew with amazing I am based in Los Angeles, which I have learned to chemistry, and that’s exactly what we had! love and respect. Of course, there really is no place like home, so I will always consider my hometown of Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter is currently in postproduction. When it drops we’ll let you know.

Little Rock, Arkansas to be home.

Ahh Christmas! That beautiful time of the year with the lights, and tinsel, and balls, decorations, gifts, family, friends and FUN! Now if you follow the website you will know that we LOVE theme parks, in particular Movie World on the Gold Coast is one of our favourite destinations. This year they turned up the decorative heat and delivered a dazzling light show with a heart stopping parade that captures the beauty of Christmas.

Normally we go to theme parks for the rides and the thrills, White Christmas completely changes the atmosphere to an unforgettable experience.

The vibe is family orientated and warm (no I am not referring to the blistering Queensland heat!) The rides you can jump on are Batwing, Superman Escape, Justice League : Alien Invasion and the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. All of these are unbelievably thrilling at night (particularly Superman Escape in complete darkness!)

If rides aren’t your thing, there is still plenty to do!

Decorate your own gingerbread men. if you want to spend some extra money kids (sadly only kids!) can dress up as elves and be part of the parade. For the hardcore christmas people the North Pole Pass is definitely the way to go. It includes a christmas buffet dinner with Mrs.Claus before the event starts, gives you access to fast track for the rides for the whole evening so you avoid those pesky queues, a christmas goodie bag and exclusive VIP viewing area for the Christmas parade.’

The official opening and switching on of the lights is a grand event, the light show is worth the wait and the falling “snow” helps create an inviting and festive atmosphere. There is an “elfie” stand that is buzzing around social media #elfie (you know you want to do it!) as well as a fairy garden for family photos.

If you want something really out there, the awkward family photo booth next to the main stage is definitely worth checking out. With oversized christmas sweaters, scarves, candy canes, hats and a hilarious set, the opportunities are endless.

The Carol Lip Synching Battle was particularly interesting as I was roped in with the promise of a fast pass if I participated, 2 groups of 2 contestants battle it out on the main stage (see video evidence above!) As scary and daunting as this may seem, it was actually a lot of fun and is definitely worth the minute and a half of potential embarrassment.

The more you get into it, the more the crowd loves it (according to the Movie World guy!)

Written by Brittany Howarth

All in all White Christmas is a spectacular event, with something for everyone, the only real let down was the run time.

The park opens at 5:30 and closes at 8:30pm. While I understand that this is a family event, maybe a 9:30 or 10 pm close time would have allowed more time to experience everything at a leisurely pace. Definitely stick around for the big parade, it is meticulously detailed and majestic. Movie World have pulled out all the stops for Christmas this year creating a memorable experience for young and old.

“There’s nothing in the world like a Tarintino film.”

After years of development, a script leak and a pirate upload the latest Tarintino project has finally surfaced in all it’s manic wonder. Mark Halyday shares his thoughts.

For starters, Quinten Tarintino is a genre unto himself.

He is a diabolical genius and one chemical accident away from being a supervillain. His early films are cult masterpieces – Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown – until everything exploded with Pulp Fiction. Since then his work has been received by a broader audience but still boasts that unmistakable Tarintino signature.

(minus the Star Wars prequels) with unmitigated glee he brings something else to a Tarintino feature.

Something that could make Leonardo DiCaprio shake in his Oscar-hunting boots.

Samuel L Jackson, the second most profitable actor of all time, leads this fantastic romp with all the acting chops of a Meryl Streep/Julia Roberts/Lupita Nyong’o freak baby. His varied career of over one hundred performances includes roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars prequels, Die Hard 3, The Incredibles, xXx, The Other Guys, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Snakes on A Plane and six of the eight existing Tarintino films. He’s stated numerous times that Tarintino is the best director he has ever worked with. And while I have watched all of those movies

On the acting side only half of his films have been nominated for little golden men. It’s like they don’t even watch the films.

Other frequent collaborators are Kurt Russel, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen. Russel is a coup any day of the week despite having worked with Tarintino on The way he commands attention is beyond impressive. Death Proof. Tim Roth was already making waves in As the director and the scripter he never wastes a Britain before Reservoir Dogs brought him into the moment. If there is a brief pause it is the calm before American stratosphere, earning him primetime drama the storm. If there is a little red candy wedged between Lie To Me and the credibility to build an impressive the floorboards it is an allusion to previous events. career. Michael Madsen was another colour of the rainbow in Reservoir Dogs and a key antagonist in The whole thing is set in two locations – Minnie’s Kill Bill. There’s elements of both these films sprinkled Haberdashery and the carriage on the way to Minnie’s around The Hateful Eight and resultantly Madsen slips Haberdashery. There’s no need for anything else. This in seamlessly. Tarintino is certainly one for muses. is a singular tale. There will be no sequel. There will be bloodshed and barely anybody will make it out alive. His latest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is a decorated actress with a long career of stage and film. Her performance Tarintino writes everything he directs. For this tale he is the same Tarintino-level quality fans have come to created convict Daisy Domergue, one of the foulest expect. She plays a bipolar bitch swinging between villains in recent memory. She is joined by seven chirpy and deranged, ever-threatening, never to be men that have differing opinions on whether or not trusted but did not inspire a performance reminiscent she should be hung, shot or freed for her crimes and of Oscar fodder. Still surprisingly she was nominated together they form the titular Hateful Eight. The for Best Supporting Actress. scripter has also kindly boiled down each one to a handy shorthand for your convenience, though please The Oscar conversation is an odd one. Undoubtedly do not mistake this for a lack of depth.

The Hateful Eight is a fantastic film that should be remembered fondly, though the Academy’s These fictitious individuals ooze all of their characters reluctance to Tarintino is notable. Pulp Fiction onto the screen. The many years previous experience, and Inglourious Basterds are the only films to get a the possible motives, the maybe-truths and certain Best Director nomination. No wins. The same films lies. It’s a character study through and through with and Django Unchained were nominated for Best lethal consequences. One of these men is working Original Screenplay and two collected the award. The to free Daisy. And so the audience dives through Hateful Eight’s omission from this year’s ceremony is the looking glass and further into Tarintino’s Bloody preposterous and a reflection of the disconnectedness Wonderland. of the Academy than the quality of the work.

The Hateful Eight is the true cinema experience.

It’s beautifully crafted characters in a high-pressure situation that shockingly twists at any moment.

The collection of talent is phenomenal. The story is captivating. There’s nothing in the world like a Tarintino film.

A sequel to a cult classic. James Lamb on the Ben Stiller / Owen Wilson reunion Zoolander No. 2 Sequels are hard at the best of times. Sequels to cult favourites are even harder. Anchorman tried and missed the mark. The Hangover had two shots at it, falling short on both occasions. Now, Ben Stiller is having his own foray into these dangerous waters with the long-awaited sequel to 2001’s Zoolander.

And though fans of the original won’t come away completely disappointed, it’s hard to see Zoolander 2 receiving the same long-term adoration as the really, really, really, ridiculously funny original did.

absurd. Add to that a shoehorned in romance angle and an unnecessary sub-plot about Derek’s reconciliation with his estranged son (Cyrus Arnold), amongst a slew of other storylines, and, plot-wise, the film feels a bit bloated.

However, no one’s going to a Zoolander film for the story. They’re going for the laughs, and, luckily, there are a lot. Unsurprisingly, as he was in the first film, Will Ferrell is an absolute scene-stealer, reprising his role as evil fashion kingpin Jacobim Mugatu. Ferrell We re-join the two greatest male supermodels in is even funnier than he was in the original, most the world, Derek Zoolander (Stiller) and Hansel notably when he verbally garrottes the biggest names (Owen Wilson), fifteen years on from the original. in fashion to tremendous effect.

We discover that the building that housed the Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Sadly, Stiller and Wilson don’t get the same chance Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too collapsed to shine. In the original, the characters were stupid, in the intervening years, and that the emotional and but the humour was often clever and subversive. physical scars from the accident have driven them This time, the jokes that these two spout are often as both into hiding, with neither having been seen in dumb as they are. And while that can be done well, public for more than a decade. here the cheap sexual innuendos and jokes about their age often feel contrived and incongruous with the After all these years away, it is an invitation to return established tone. to the runway and re-ignite their careers from leading fashion mogul Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig) that Another feature of this film is the abundance of draws the pair back to the spotlight. However, Derek celebrity cameos. Some fall painfully flat (Katy Perry and Hansel are soon intercepted by Interpol agent and Neil deGrasse Tyson in particular), but some are Valentina (Penélope Cruz), who enlists them to help spot on and hilarious. Though the best ones are too solve the murders of a series of pop stars, who all took good to spoil, stars like Ariana Grande and Justin a selfie of themselves sporting Zoolander’s signature Bieber end up making the most of very limited screen looks moments before they died. And that’s just time, proving to be unexpectedly excellent additions scratching the surface of a convoluted, ridiculous plot, to the Zoolander family. Yes, that Justin Bieber. I which gives way to a conspiracy of (literally) biblical know. I was surprised too. proportions.

There are a plethora of references and throwbacks to To be fair, an outlandish story in a Zoolander film the original that will satisfy devotees, though many is not necessarily a bad thing. The plot of the first will miss the features that made the first film such a film was absolutely ludicrous but worked because of favourite, even today. The quirkiness, the infinitelyits role in the film’s wider criticism and satire of the quotable one-liners and the overall wit have all been fashion industry. traded in for something that will undoubtedly take in many times more than its predecessor, but simply Here though, the eccentricities seems pointless, won’t inspire the same calls for a Zoolander 3 as the stringing along the audience with a bizarre, often- original did for this film. nonsensical plot that is absurd for the sake of being

Fey + Poehler = Gold Right? Not for James Lamb

Theoretically, the combination of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in a feature film is a no-brainer. They killed it as a duo on Saturday Night Live for years, were amazing as Golden Globes hosts for three years running, and their respective TV sitcoms, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, are two of the greatest television comedies of modern times.

So, why doesn’t it work on the big screen? Though Mean Girls was amazing, the two only played small, unrelated parts, and 2008’s Baby Mama, in which they were the leads, was lukewarm at best. Their latest film, Sisters, though better, still doesn’t fully capture the hilarity that we all know they’re capable of.

Fey and Poehler play Kate and Maura Ellis, a pair of sisters who return home to find that their parents have sold their childhood house. As a form of rebellion, and as a way of saying farewell to their old lives, they decide to throw one last party, inviting all their old school friends, who are now mired in the depths of middle age. If you’ve had even a glimpse of the trailer, you already have a pretty reasonable idea of the chaos that ensues.

resembling an emotional core, it veers wildly away from it, afraid that its audience may mistake the film for something more than it is.

This is no more evident than in the way it treats the storyline of Kate’s attempts to salvage her damaged relationship with her daughter. What should be the part of the film that gives it its heart is relegated in favour of Maura’s attempts to bring fun into her life by getting James into bed. When Kate’s demons In fairness to the duo, they aren’t the main problem come to the fore, they are once again shafted for a here. Their performances and that of their supporting couple of one-liners that aren’t nearly as funny as cast are actually quite good. Poehler’s extremely they’d need to be to cover the wasted opportunity. goody two-shoes character ends up being involved in – and the reason for – some of the film’s funniest This review isn’t meant to seem overly harsh on the scenes, and Fey seems to be having a ball playing film, but more a lamentation for what could have against type as the single mum stuck suffering from been. Dianne Wiest and James Brolin are hilarious as arrested development, still acting like she is in her the Ellis’ elderly parents, as is pro wrestler John Cena teens. playing a drug dealer, extending on those comedy chops he proved to have in last year’s Trainwreck.

The supporting cast, featuring the likes of Maya Rudolph, Bobby Moynihan and John Leguizamo, It’s just that scriptwriter Paula Pell, who’s also a also have some excellent moments, especially as long-time writer for SNL, seems to have turned the party falls deeper and deeper into turmoil. in something that suffers from the same problem Moynihan in particular is a slow burn, but when as modern iterations of the legendary comedy he gets going, proves an absolute gem. The only program. There is some absolute gold produced real hiccup in terms of casting is Ike Barinholtz by some very talented comedians, but the writing, as Maura’s love interest, James. You can’t help but perhaps for fear of being too edgy or alienating some feel that the film might have benefited from using portion of the audience, ends up being overly broad, another SNL alum like it does for much of its cast, and burying the moments of brilliance amongst a and bringing in an Andy Samberg or a Bill Hader as sea of mediocrity. a more adept comedic foil to work with Poehler. As it is, Barinholtz’s character brings little beyond his Knowing what Fey and Poehler can do, it can only looks, unfortunately. be a matter of time before they get the live action feature film moments they deserve (and Fey might That said, Barinholtz, like the rest of the cast, are be about to get it, with the upcoming Whiskey done no favours by a script that, though it has a Tango Foxtrot), but for now, all we can do is wonder few moments of hilarity, seems content to settle for why the magic of those behind Liz Lemon and Leslie cliché. Many of the gags are standard fare, and when Knope simply hasn’t been able to translate as yet the movie comes close to approaching something

When a spaceship appears over the USA, it sends the world (mainly America) into a panic, high school student Cassie (Moretz) and her family stay put as the alien’s send 4 waves of attacks to kill the masses of humanity. First an EMP blast, then earthquakes, bird flu and floods, when Cassie and her family are forced into a refugee camp, an interruption by Colonel Vosch (Liev Schreiber) sees them all separated and Cassie must walk 90 miles (yeah I’m serious!) to find her family, while avoiding the aliens who have come down off their ship. Oh and if that wasn’t complicated enough, they look like humans so identifying them is near impossible.

This film relies heavily on its cast to carry the story and this was a smart decision. Moretz is mesmerising as the lead character who transitions from a beer drinking cheerleader to survivor family girl. Schreiber’s military Colonel is generic and a bit of a wash, but can be forgiven as he doesn’t really have that many scenes.

Roe plays the hunk of the month well, with enough dazzling white teeth and ripped back muscles to give any second thought to his acting ability. The real stars of this are Ben Parish/Zombie (Nick Robinson) and Sam (Zachary Arthur) whose on screen chemistry shines through the sub-par script in the final act.

After lead roles In Kickass, If I Stay and Carrie eighteen year old Chloe Moretz has been cast as the lead in a teen novel franchise.

Alaisdair Leith disovers if she is up to the task.

In the recent wave of YA dystopian films, it was only a matter of time before Sony got their piece, this time coming in the form of Rick Yancey’s novel The 5th Wave. Instead of children battling it out to the death or navigating a maze, the premise is fairly simple.

Aliens invade Earth in several waves leaving main girl Cassie (Chloe Moretz) separated from her family and must set out an long journey through the same set piece with hunk of the month Evan (Alex Roe).

The film packs a lot into its 2 hour run time and while some of it feels a little rushed, the half hearted attempt at a love story feels out of place and ultimately brings the movie from franchise starter to a bit of a fizzer.

Special effects wise you may leave the film disappointed, while I was hoping for big budget effects, I was given a TV quality flood scene that was a let down. In terms of aliens themselves because of the “they look like us” story, we never actually see what they look like in their true form.

The cinematography in this film however is above what you would expect from a YA film, the transitions and angles have been given extra attention and helps create the feeling of isolation and confusion (even if Moretz is running through the same forest set for an hour!). The brutality of the “trust noone” environment is established early in the film, but the introduction of humour in the final act trips this up and it the finale falls flat on its feet.

Overall this movie is a mixed bag for me, I walked out of it saying I enjoyed it, but after reflection found myself saying “Did I really enjoy it?” the answer is somewhat. If you enjoy these type of films with an alien twist then this is the film for you, it is a good dose of escapism for 2 hours and while it may not ignite a franchise, it is enough to solidify Moretz as a lead actress and help us get excited for Independence Day 2.

7

The New Year’s competition to The Good Dinosaur,

by Alberto Sanchez Snoopy and Charlie Brown are classic. It’s been decades and decades since their inception and they still are household names. Who can resist the cute little beagle with his rich imagination and loving nature? And then there’s good old Charlie Brown, the self-deprecating, insecure boy who is more than happy to help anyone out. Complementing this pair is a group of equally naive children with a variety of personalities and quirks that anyone can relate to.

This time around, The Peanuts Movie is about Charlie Brown (voiced by Noah Schnapp) and his first crush.

The new school year has begun and with it comes a pretty Little Red-Haired Girl (Francesca Capaldi) who instantly wins Charlie’s heart. To win her love, Charlie sets out to better himself and prove that he is not the failure he believes to be. It’s a wholesome movie that is sweet, charming, funny and heartwarming.

The animation is fantastic. It uses a combination of 3D CGI and traditional comic styles that blend really well together. It is not just an updated version for the modern times, it actually uses the technology in a way that feels fresh but is also in line with the Peanuts anthology. The CGI gives us a great look at Charlie’s world, while the comic strip moments provide not only a great contrast in styles but also acts as a clever visual separating the “real” world from thoughts.

The voice actors need to be given recognition as well.

Hadley Belle Miller captures Lucy’s bossiness and overconfidence so well. Alex Garfin has a gentle tone that fits in with the philosophical nature of Linus.

Mariel Sheets is wonderful as Sally, a girl who feels she can do no wrong and it’s the world that owes her.

And Bill Melendez’s does a good job of capturing what Snoopy and Woodstock want even if they speak Much like the comics and other incarnations, this only in unintelligible squeaks and laughs. The whole movie is aimed at children but it is not childish. It cast manages to encapsulate each of their character’s can be quite deep and relevant with some great take personality. home messages throughout. Charlie’s constant selfcriticism is a universal feeling that we can relate to. The Peanuts Movie is a simple story but it’s fun and He is completely blind to all his positive traits and uplifting. Children will certainly love it, but it’ll also it’s simultaneously endearing and depressing. But be appealing to adults, especially those who have the beautiful thing about the movie is how the other been fans. It is actually quite a lovely way for the older characters don’t let Charlie forget that he’s a good generation to introduce or share something from their person. Linus, the child philosopher who still needs childhood with their children. If you’re looking for a his security blanket, is quick to encourage Charlie nice, uplifting story that’ll make you smile. when needed. Even Charlie’s foil, the overpowering The Peanuts Movie is a great choice. and outspoken Lucy, tries to help him out (at the going rate of 5 cents, of course). It’s a great snapshot of a simple childhood and the growth these characters experience.

6

People are feeling lukewarm about the new Goosebumps and Mark Halyday doesn’t understand. It was fun and stars Jack Black.

R.L. Stine’s beloved book series is on the big screen thanks to Scholastic and Sony Pictures Animation (the folks behind the live action Smurf movies). It’s committed to being a ball of fun and isn’t fussed about reaching out to the Gen X-ers that rushed to Jurassic World. It’s just determined to be its own thing.

What a breath of fresh air.

A driving force to this quality is middle-aged Jack Black. Tenacious D, School of Rock, Shallow Hal and the lead role in Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black was, is and always will be cool. He’s properly acting in this one too, and far more convincingly than Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Black is extremely endearing and the script works very hard to make him unlikable.

On paper, if a drama actor like Steve Buschemi played There’s a lot of really strong elements to the film and RL Stine it would be… truly terrifying. Jack keeps is it’s hard to choose where to begin. The script is smart cool and friendly despite the grumpiness. Even when and looks like it took the extra time to make it gel his redemption arc is complete he has this slight chip cohesively. It’s confident in its source material and on his shoulder that separates him from his other doesn’t try and overcomplicate things with a sprawling characters. ensemble or C/D/E plots that will pay off five movies down the line. Somebody at Sony finally got the memo To those that never knew the brilliance of School of that it is impossible to build a franchise unless the first Rock [what are you doing with your life? Directed by movie works (see: The Mortal Instruments, Vampire the same man that did Boyhood, it’s another modern Academy). classic. Seriously, how did he strike gold twice?].

Anyway, to those that never knew the brilliance of The plot follows every Goosebumps monster ever School of Rock the posters would have you believe being released from a set of magical books after the that Dylan Minette (the older brother in Alexander new kid in town develops a crush on the author’s and the Terrible, No Good Very Bad Day) and Odeya daughter. The author turns out to be a fictionalised Rush (Tomorrowland) are the stars of the film. The version of R.L. Stine (cool) that has isolated himself, casting agents got this right, though Minette does allowing for a degree of meta fan-love to seep into the little to distinguish himself from any other young dialogue. adult adaptation star.

Choosing to focus on an array of monsters rather than one or two was delightful. It felt wondrous in scale Goosebumps_Review_Jack_Black_Dylan_Minnette_ and continued to throw new and inventive obstacles Odeya_Rush_01jpg in their way til the final moment. The whole thing is They carry the first act of the film which comes out masterminded by a dummy named Slappy, but also a little choppy, which is probably more down to the includes a wolf boy, a blob, people-eating plants, killer editing suite than anything else. It seems as though lawn gnomes, a giant praying mantis an invisible boy they turned in a film a little too long and the producer and many more. said “Chop anything that doesn’t have a monster in it” And it’s not overcrowded. They’re generic enough to Speaking of, it’s worth dropping a quick note on the follow easily and the film’s ‘angry for being entrapped’ quality of the visual effects. There were a lot of visual motivation is blanket enough for all of them. effects in this film and they weren’t to the standard of Avatar but they certainly outdid The Smurfs, the bear It works. in The Reverent and Krypton in Man of Steel. Well done for $48 million.

It does limit the options for the sequel though, which And if you missed it, the real R.L. appears in the film’s is really exciting. There are many more Goosebumps closing scene as drama teacher Mr Black. Excellent books to mine but the approach the film took was subversion. very singular. The film has doubled its budget and the merchandise sales are performing steadily. That’s the kind of quality that is throughout An accountant has already surmised a second Goosebumps. January films are typically not fantastic Goosebumps film is bankable and Sony will no doubt films and this was far better than expected. Jack Black, oblige. Here’s hoping they maintain the quality. ghouls and a great script. Can I get a sequel please?

The ballots have been cast and soon Chris Rock will take to the stage to introduce the hosts that will announce the Oscar winners.

After careful consideration Novastream have decided to continue with our coverage of the 2016 Oscars.

We explore the issue in depth in #OSCARSSOWHITE, Pg 24.

Novastream looks at Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. We also (probably foolishly) hazard a guess to each category’s winner.

And thanks to our fantastic staff we have previewed every film nominated for Best Picture.

Happy Oscars Novastreamers!

BEST

DIRECTOR While none were sub-par in any way, shape or form there is one that rises above the pack. The Revenant was stunning and while Room and Mad Max: Fury Road excel in obtuse ways the Revenant is the one most likely to secure votes.

Plus, the press will love the back-to-back win.

ALEJANDRO J INNARITU - THE REVENANT

GEORGE MILLER - MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

TOM MCCARTHY - SPOTLIGHT

LENNY ABRAHAMSON - ROOM

ADAM MCKAY - THE BIG SHORT

BEST ACTOR

It’s anyone’s game here. It’s unlikely Eddie Redmayne can also go for a back to back win with this much talent.

Snd despite the popularity of Matt Damon it looks to be Leonardo DiCaprio’s year. The Revenant was something else entirely and here’s hoping Leo gets his gold.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER - STEVE JOBS

EDDIE REDMAYNE - THE DANISH GIRL

MATT DAMON - THE MARTIAN

BRYAN CRANSTON - TRUMBO

LEONARDO DICAPRIO - THE REVENANT

BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Lawrence and Cate Blanchett cruise into the nominations with the same ease every year. Can either get over the line? Not this year, and only narrowly for Cate.

Saoirise Ronan is a star on the rise but Brooklyn is hardly the best use of her talents. It’s Brie Larson all the way.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING - 45 YEARS

BRIE LARSON - ROOM

CATE BLANCHETT - CAROL

SAOIRSE RONAN BROOKLYN

JENNIFER LAWRENCE - JOY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Stallone is an institution, and his work is Golden Globeworthy, but is it Oscar-worthy? Probably not. And if you want Mark Ruffalo on a crusade try The Normal Heart instead. Christian Bale is due for Academy love but this year is too crowded. It’s Tom Hardy - who gave us two Best Picture candidates - that’s sure for gold.

MARK RUFFALO - SPOTLIGHT

MARK RYLANCE - BRIDGE OF SPIES

SYLVESTER STALLONE - CREED

TOM HARDY - THE REVENANT

CHRISTAIN BALE - THE BIG SHORT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Another mixed bag that’s hard to decipher. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kate Winslet can probably put their feet up on the big night. McAdams has endeared herself to the community but collects the metaphorical bronze while Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander fight for gold. Vikander’s ultimately still on the ouside looking in - it’s Rooney Mara’s night.

RACHEL MCADAMS - SPOTLIGHT

ROONEY MARA - CAROL

KATE WINSLET - STEVE JOBS

ALICIA VIKANDER - THE DANISH GIRL

JENNIFER JASON LEIGH - THE HATEFUL EIGHT

#OSCARSSOWHITE ONCE IS UNFOURTUNATE. TWICE IS A PROBLEM. MARK HALYDAY ON THE DRAMA SWEEPING HOLLYWOOD

The Academy Awards are the pinnacle achievement of feature films. There are plenty of other nights to commemorate excellent filmmaking – Critics Choice, Golden Globes, SAGs, Satellite and overseas AACTA and BAFTA - but nothing comes close to the Oscars.

But we have a problem and we need to talk about it. It’s not something can be swept under the rug or awkwardly pushed to the bottom of the news heap.

There is a real issue of racial bias in the Academy’s voting caucus.

This caucus is built by six thousand respected members of the industry. This includes actors, directors, editors, cinematographers, producers, visual effects artists, composers and anybody else they choose to invite.

It includes both men and women, straights and gays, African Americans, Hispanic, Asians, Caucasians and anybody else. There is no restriction who may join.

Each year the members of the Academy are asked to vote. This determines a shortlist of nominees and the eventual winner.

The problem is that for the second year in a row none of the major category shortlists include an actor of colour despite magnificent performances from Michael B Jordan, Will Smith and the Straight Outta Compton ensemble. None for Best Actor. None for Best Actress. None for Best Supporting Actor. None for Best Supporting Actress.

Now an objective person may look at this year’s results and conclude that on an individual level there’s not too much to worry about. That even though the Rocky spinoff Creed was a critical darling it’s lead did not do enough to surpass other veteran actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Bryan Cranston, Michael Fassbender, Matt Damon and Eddie Redmayne. Widespread praise is one thing and an Oscar nomination is another and it may be that Michael B Jordan was the sixth highest voted actor. We may never know.

The issue is that none of the big four actor categories received a nomination. Again, an objective person may say that it was not their year. But this is the second year in a row. It is now beyond plausible deniability.

Something smells in the Academy’s ranks.

For the second year in a row there are no people of colour within the big four nominations. Look further and ninety percent of the entire nominations are white.

Why? The prevailing theory is that the demographics of the Academy’s voting membership is not reflective of today’s film.

94% of voting members are Caucasian. 77% are male. The median age is 62. That’s the same age as James Cameron, Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah Winfrey. Experienced, certainly, but perhaps out of touch?

It is all a popularity contest after all. Bias occurs.

But racial bias can also be a nasty little thing called discrimination and that is certainly not okay.

Director Spike Lee is an Academy Award nominee and has spent the last week campaigning for a complete boycott of the Oscars. Jada Pinkett Smith is on board.

The outspokenness of this issue has been galvanising, with Academy voter David Oyelowo of Selma and The Butler telling the press :

“This institution doesn’t reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation.”

He went on to cite Star Wars: The Force Awakens and It matters. #Oscarssowhite is a dark spot on the Empire as some of the biggest brands in the world, Academy’s history and it should move swiftly to avoid proudly lead by black men and women. any further backlash. Once is unfourtunate, twice is a problem, three times would bring irreversibly damage.

When Hateful Eight director Quinten Tarintino was asked if there was any resentment for frequent Since the time of writing the rhetoric has only collaborator Samuel L Jackson’s snub he said “My only increased. A cast of distinguished actors - Charlotte guess, frankly, is that they take him for granted” Ramping, Michael Caine - have essentially called those complaining whingy and the Academy weak In fairness there are nominations and wins for for taking its action. It has reached a point where the black men and women littered throughout the political correctness cited in the counterarguments is records. Jackson has previously been nominated equally justifable and perposterous. The complaints for Best Supporting Actor after a lengthy campaign are valid. The rebuke is valid. The issues are all the from production house Miramax for his previous table and it’s not even that there is no easy solution, it Tarintino project Pulp Fiction. Will Smith has two is that there is no solution at all.

Best Actor nominations, Morgan Freeman has two Best Supporting Actor nominations, two Best Actor This is a complex issue. Too complex to solve on the nominations and a Best Actor win while Denzel pages of Novastream and too complex to be put on the Washington has been nominated for a Best Supporting Academy or it’s president. The conversation needs to Actor, won a Best Supporting Actor, been nominated occur and it has. But what’s the point of a conversation without a light at the end of the tunnel? for three Best Actors and won a Best Actor Award.

As recently as 2014 12 Years a Slave swept the night with a win for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress Lupita Nyong’o and a nomination for Best Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. This was the last year a person of colour was nominated.

It all hurts my head. You can throw blame around, put obligations and restrictions on voting members, increase education and expand the field. You can do all of those things and it will push everybody in the right direction.

I’m not sure if the Oscars are racist. It’s certainly not intentional and the new rules are resolute in their pro-equality. The Academy as a business has done all The Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences President it can do, unaminously so. And I’m feeling good about Cheryl Boone Isaac released a statement in the days a more diverse field in the coming years. following the announcement of nominations. It seems her heart is in the right place.

So where to from here?

But then, hypothetically, if I were Will Smith and I went to cast my vote would I feel obligated to vote for a person of colour? I certainly hope not. But by diversifying the ranks of the members it gives a better reflection of the true Best Picture. Regardless of race.

There’s one final lingering idea floating around that needs to be addressed. Do Oscar nominations even matter? Do that have an impact the wider race issue?

For eighty-eight years the Oscars have been the biggest event in the world for quality film. It is the definitive example of peer recognition and although the members have inadvertently isolated a whole community and made the event a touch more reductive than usual it remains a cultural touchstone. And if this continues (which I assume/pray it will not) the Oscars will be irrelevant and universally belittled for being a league of racists. Which currently it is not.

A twenty-four year old woman escapes her captor of seven years with her five year old son, allowing him to experience the world for the first time. That is not the synopsis for a feel-good film. Yet somehow in its own incredibly depressing way, Room is a heartwarming tale. Maybe its this mixture of two opposing emotions that garnered the four Academy Award nominations for Room.

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress are all the nominations Room achieved for this year’s upcoming Oscars. There’s no way of telling which awards it will pick up but its very easy to decide whether it is worthy.

Room is the kind of movie that you can gather the entire plot for yourself just by seeing the trailer.

Although in this case that is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of thinking “what did I waste my time watching that for, I knew exactly what was going to happen”, its more indicative of the thought “yep that’s what I thought, sad and then happy and I’m glad that I spent the time to watch this film”. It could as easily be a television movie as a small drama capturing the Academy’s attention on February 28th.

It’s hard to decide whether giving so much away in the trailer was a good idea or not. For what is essentially the unfunny prequel to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Room has gone very spoilery in its trailer. The outcome of their escape could have been kept for a dramatic reveal considering they spend half of the movie trapped inside “Room”. Still, that would leave out this film’s hook of seeing how the two adapt to society. The filmmakers obviously had this difficult decisions themselves and went with the “¿por qué no los dos” option.

opening up the curtain just enough for the audience to see what Jack is not picking up on until their escape. At this point of the film she switches it up to let the PTSD seep through. If it was even possible, Jacob Tremblay’ s performance outshines that of his fictional Ma. Jacob Tremblay is one of the finest child actors since Dakota Fanning or Haley Joel Osment. Everything he does on screen makes it possible for the audience and even a cynical critic forget that they are watching people play dress-up. He is as inquisitive, shy, loving and intuitive as any five year old boy.

The story is told through five year old Jack’s (Jacob Tremblay) eyes and this is where the film shines. Any five year old could watch this movie without being scarred for life. Jack is shielded enough from the horrors of his situation for his innocence to remain intact while the adult audience has been fed enough clues to pick up on the murky ongoings and their repercussions. Just enough clues to be exact, there are a lot of unaswered questions that add to the intrigue of the story. There’s enough juice there that the story could even be spun out into a mini-series or even full series as Hollywood is want to do these days. When everything is getting a bit too heavy, things will be reined in to bring a tear to the eye or a gulp to the throat. This Canadian-Irish movie just goes to show that if Hollywood is going to adapt a novel to the big screen then they need to go no further than the novel’s author. Emma Donoghue has done a fantastic job of bringing her characters to life in a believable and realistic manner. Her greatest achievement is in telling the story through the child’s eyes, the narration never gets lazy and is only in place to help with the flow of the movie.

There isn’t much else to say about Room, it’s two hour run is quite uneventful outside of the actual synopsis.

The remaining cast is not really given much to do so their performances while good, don’t really stand out.

Directing is not hugely impressive either. All the shots are very discreet to fit in with the theme of the movie so Lenny Abrahamson deserves some credit there but nothing stands out as particularly innovative or notable. As for the score, it too is restrained and slips by along with the rest of the film. Which in the age of booming speakers and glaring IMAX, it’s nice to see that not every film is out to destroy all of your senses.

It’s not all completely unnoticeable though and when the drama asks of it in the one dramatic scene the score steps up to deliver a tension building, pounding indie film track.

In terms of actors, there could not have been a better choice than Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. Brie Larson has the difficult job of having to act within her acting. Her character, Joy Newsome is putting on a brave face for her son and trying to keep her true feelings hidden for the sake of protecting his own. Her performance is subtle and understated but she keeps

In terms of storytelling this film is a unique and charming thriller but unfortunately with the horrific acts being performed by some of society’s true villains you will get the feeling that you have seen this story too often on today’s news. Luckily Room is not a true tale but it will provoke a long session of sad thoughts and pride for your own mother-child bond whether you sympathise with Joy or Jack. There is every chance that Room could sweep the carpet at the Oscars but then again this film is just as likely to be a place filler in lieu of what the Academy has already decided is set to win. Nevertheless this is a fantastic film to watch on a rainy day or to slip into a list of deep, thoughprovoking films when the mood strikes.

WILL LEO WIN? It’s hard to go into a film with no opinion when the film gets a lot of hype or talk. And that’s exactly what has happened with Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest film, The Revenant.

The film has not only had a great deal of hype because of its grand scale. The film had a lot of discussion regarding the content and the set backs they constantly had for numerous reasons. But the biggest part is that The Revenant could very well be the role that wins DiCaprio his Oscar.

The trailer tells a slightly different story for what the entire film is about. And this could set a few people back.

But what you find after not very long into the film is it’s nothing what you will expect.

The film is set in 1823 and follows the true story of explorer Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) as he and other hunters and trackers search for animal furs throughout Montana and South Dakota. The search is challenged by Native American Indians to the area and spark battles with the hunting party. This is what the trailer for the film sells you, a battle with Native Indians.

The film changes tact when Glass’s luck changes and he is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his hunting party aside from his son, and two of the party who are paid handsomely to care for him.

The film then follows Glass’s epic journey to recovery and for revenge. And this is the part you don’t get sold through the trailer. And it’s actually quite clever. What happens is you expect a battle film. But what you walk away with is a brilliantly told story not only about the battles, but about one man’s fight to avenge his loved ones.

There is something about this film that has a very raw and real feeling to it. The actors look like they have been carrying these massive pelts for weeks on end, living in the most basic of basic conditions as well as being on edge from possible attacks from natives.

But what makes The Revenant truly spectacular is the settings. Mostly of which was filmed in the snowy landscapes of Alberta Canada. The filming even headed to Argentina for some epic landscapes. You find yourself watching someone sit on the side of a mountain and noticing everything in the background. The stunning snow covered hills and mountains, the aggressive running rivers and the lush forest as they trek through.

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Jay Cook looks at the Oscar favourite, Nominated Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor & Best Adapted Screenplay Though these landscapes aren’t that of a set and you can tell the difference from a set to that of a harsh rugged forest. It becomes another character that you start to connect with. It’s unforgiving and relentless, yet without it there is no hope for survival. You come to understand and appreciate its purpose.

And this is where Leonardo DiCaprio shines. This isn’t like any other role that he has played before. He isn’t an excentric, slightly crazy, love struck character. For the most part of The Revenant, DiCaprio can’t speak nor move. And this is where you truly understand how magnificent of an actor DiCaprio is. He has to use his face and body to show his emtion. He can no Director Alejandro González Iñárritu made some longer hide behind the use of his voice and the perfect tough choices going to tough locations rather than the delivery of his lines. man-made set. And it could have cost him the film.

Iñárritu said in an interview with Deadline: DiCaprio manages to truly capture what pain looks and feels like. You sit there wathcing the DiCaprio in emence pain not able to talk or move. And you start to think why he is up for a nomination because surly he is about to die. His performance is so believable you actually feel his pain.

“I’ve gotten myself into trouble again, but I’m trying my best.

“We are shooting in such remote far-away locations that, by the time we arrive and have to return, we have already spent 40% of the day. But those locations are so gorgeous and so powerful, they look like they have never been touched by a human being, and that’s what I needed. The light is very reduced here in winter, and we are not shooting with any electrical lighting, just natural light. And every single scene is so difficult — emotionally, technically”.

Alejandro González Iñárritu is best known for his Directorial work on Birdman which won a whole bag of awards back in the 2014 award season. He also directed Babel, 21 Grams and Biutiful ontop of many other projects he produced.

This is the film DiCaprio really puts himself into. And god only knows what he would have done to prepare to be attacked by a bear. DiCaprio spoke with Yahoo Movies about filming the scenes of the bear attack: “[Those scenes] — amongst many other sequences — were some of the more difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my entire career”.

This film easily puts DiCaprio up for Oscar contender without a doubt, but will it be his time.

The sound of the film is also something that plays into your emotions when you watch it. The score doesn’t take away from the visual spectacle it only adds to And if you remember from Iñárritu’s Birdman, most it, so much so that you never notice it. The cleverest shots were continuous shots. This kept you locked addition is the breathing of Glass throughout the film. with the actor and it had a more realistic feel than You are always listening to the breathing of Glass right something that has a great deal of different camera to the very last scene. angles which starts to take you away from the true The Revenant is truly a film to see this year. It is epic, emotion of the scene. it is brutal, it is wonderful and it is amazing all at the While Iñárritu didn’t stick to the continuous shot as same time. much as Birdman, the pivitol scenes didn’t break your emotional link with many shots. At one point the camera is covered in snow and blood that you actually start to believe what you are seeing is not longer a film and you are actually far closer to the story that your cinema seat.

There is neither a detail spared nor an emotion skipped when you watch this film. And don’t let the trailer give you any idea what the film is like, because it is not what it’s all about.

And even with the years it took to get the film off the While Iñárritu works and weaves his skills to bring ground, the numerous people quitting and constant this epic tale to the big screen, it wouldn’t have been set backs. If you are to see one film this summer, this is the one. possible without the talent and skills of the actors.

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he’s right. Especially here in Australia, where we were mostly shielded from some of the worst effects of it, the majority of people likely have little grasp of the corruption and immorality that went on in some of the world’s largest financial institutions during theearly-to-mid-2000s that caused it to happen, this reviewer included. The Big Short aims to correct that.

The Big Short follows three different, parallel stories about groups of people who were able to see the impending financial collapse, and ultimately profited from it by betting against the US housing market (or ‘shorting’ it, hence the title), correctly predicting that it would fail due to its farcical reliance on high-risk sub-prime mortgages. You’d be forgiven for thinking that sounds boring, and, on paper, ir is, which is probably part of the reason why many never bothered to really try and understand the GFC. The genius of the film is the fact that they have been able to take this relatively dull premise and turn it into utterly compelling cinema.

Batman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, the guy from The Notebook and Brad Pitt try to explain the GFC. James Lamb thoroughly enjoyed himself.

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At the very beginning of the film, Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), in narration, puts it to the audience that they still probably don’t understand exactly what happened during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-08, or what caused it. To a large extent,

Director Adam McKay is far from the person you’d picture working on this kind of film.

With a resume including Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, McKay is one of the last people you’d think to entrust with a damning piece on the failure of the American financial system.

However, it turns out that McKay’s irreverence is exactly what a film like this needed to engage an audience that is far removed from the world that The Big Short explores.

The Big Short could easily get bogged down in jargon or the technicalities of the financial industry, and drag viewers down with it. Instead, McKay employs a series of outside-the-box tricks to ensure its intricacies don’t merely go over the viewer’s head. Not sure what a sub-prime mortgage is?

Here’s a cutaway to Margot Robbie in a bubble bath to explain it for you. Questioning whether some of this happened in real life? Here’s a break of the fourth wall to explain the reality of the scene.

is shown the true depths that the financial industry went to during this period. The moment when he realises the extent of the apathy of the banks about their actions, his sadness, fury, and loss of hope in humanity is palpable, even as the character keeps himself contained and relatively civil. Carell continues to demonstrate just how broad his dramatic talents are, following up from 2014’s critically-acclaimed Foxcatcher, and shows that the man behind such modern comedy icons as Brick Tamland and Michael Scott might just have a lot more to him And that’s part of what makes it than many appreciated. work so well. Where many other directors would’ve adapted the book That’s not to detract from the rest this is taken from with a deathly of the cast, with Christian Bale seriously tone, McKay’s refusal to in particular shining. Playing the put the industry on a pedestal, and socially inept Michael Burry, the desire to simplify it and expose the first to predict the collapse, Bale is darker sides of humanity behind able to do so much with so little, the financial world by often treating most notably in a scene where he it with ridicule is exactly what’s turns a drum practice into a primal required. This approach further venting of his frustration with a plays into the greed and stupidity fraudulent system. that the plot illustrates so explicitly.

Arguably the only issue with The characters that exploit this greed the film is a soundtrack that and stupidity are played almost to occasionally misses the mark, and perfection. The absolute standout might have benefited from making in this film is Steve Carell, who a solid choice of either sticking to a plays hedge fund manager Mark genre or sticking to the time period.

Baum. Angry and disillusioned There’s a Guns N’ Roses track that with the world he finds himself feels particularly out of place, and caught up in, it is primarily through might be the only time in the entire Carell’s character that the audience film that you’re pulled from what’s

in front of you, but Nicholas Britell’s score is good enough that it largely covers any issues that might exist.

Adding to this, the film looks amazing, with some great cinematographic work from veteran Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker, Captain Phillips). Note in particular the change in colour schemes from location-to-location. Where Wall St is very drab and deliberately muted, when they go to Las Vegas and Florida, everything seems more alive and bright, really highlighting the difference of the world that the bankers are in to the rest of the country.

The real mark of this film though ends up being how humanising it is, and its take-home message of the importance thereof. For all its irreverence and humour, the film serves to be an at times brutal reminder of the real-life implications for average, working people of the GFC. It also shows how many of those responsible at the time weren’t some mysterious, evil force out to hurt people, but acting in self-interest, blinded by their own good fortune to see or appreciate the wider repercussions of their actions. The film sums itself up perfectly with an on-screen quote partway through, attributed to an anonymous person at a Washington D.C. bar:

“Truth is like poetry.

And most people fucking hate poetry.”

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Not only is this film beautiful in its cinematic beauty, but it so wonderfully tells the story of the first known transgender woman, Lili. The film in itself is almost the poetry of an unspoken pain within a man who so desperately fights what is inevitable. The story is based on the fictionalised life of Lili Eble from 2000 novel The Danish Girl, written by David Ebershoff.

The film opens in a beautiful vibrant capture of landscapes and lone trees in lakes. The film spends some time in Copenhagen where the couple first lived. This was before Gerda’s portraits of Lili gained her international success and they moved to Paris.

Both these locations added to the beauty and growth of the characters as the cities did itself.

It is the story of a young couple Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and Einer (Eddie Redmayne) in the mid 1920s living in Copenhagen. Both artists, Gerda is struggling to find the right subject to bring her talents to the world. That is until she finds her husband enjoys wearing womens clothign, which in turn creates Lili and resulting in Gerda finding the perfect subject to paint.

Everywhere they went, every street they walked down the attention to detail was on point. Either adding to the story or creating a further work of art on top of what it was they were painting at the time.

But what starts as a little bit of fun for the both of them, opens what has been a long and tormenting life of pain and anguish for Einer. And with every effort he fights the temptation to deny Lili to surface, he only feels more comfortable and certain he is trapped in the wrong body.

Eddie Redmayne who played Einer and Lili managed to capture every beating emotion and thought in every second he was on the screen. There wasn’t a look he gave that would leave you thinking what he was trying to say. You knew exactly the emotion, confusion or even struggle he was portraying.

Redmayne, most famous for his portrayal as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, truly captured the confusion and determination to discover what it was that Einer and Lili were going through. He even managed to portray a true and undying love for his wife and later best friend, as he became a woman. But that wouldn’t have been an easy feat without the right actress to work next to.

The story takes you on a journey through the pain and suffering not only Einer and Lily goes through, but also his wife Gerda. Einer physically and mentally takes you through a discovery of exactly what it is he is feeling: the fun and excitement of wearing a dress to a society ball, to tucking his penis between his legs Gerda played by Alicia Vikander known for her while he feels the fabric of a dress. portrayal as an AI robot in Ex-Machina. Vikander has had a busy year with The Man From UNKLE and is But what you don’t expect is the true love and support filming the latest Bourne film, which is yet to be titled.

Einer and Gerda has for each other even when Einer decides to have corrective surgery. Not an Vikander isn’t just your supporting role in this film. easy decision having already gone through radiation She stands out and throws everything she has at this therapy and been seen to by countless doctors only to truly emotion and confronting role. The two of them be told he is mentally ill. on screen together capture something amazing even with as much as a glance that most onscreen couples The Danish Girls is a beauty in its own, only able with could only dream of. the wonderful vision of Director, Tom Hooper. It was clear the story had to be a form of art in itself as both The film is an honest, brutal, loving caring and open the subjects were artists. And with that Hooper was story of the late Lili Eble. It shows just how much able to create this beautiful backdrop to showcase the torment someone can go through to make such a big lives of Einer and Lili. decision in his or her life. And how important it is to have the support of loved ones and even that of long Hooper is famous for his award winning film, The lost childhood friend.

Kings Speech starring Colin Firth and Geoffery Rush and Les Miserables. Two films Hooper managed to This will open the eyes to show people can truly be not only capture the stunning efforts of each of the trapped in the wrong body. And it will help those in actors but also let the films visually tell the story as the wrong body that they aren’t the only ones. well.

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THE DANISH GIRL Jay Cook on a powerful love story could score Eddie Redmayne back to back Oscar wins.

Alberto Sanchez on the gripping drama Spotlight.

Starring Best Supporting Actor nominee Mark Ruffalo and Best Supporting Actress nominee Rachel McAdams, aka the Hulk and the Mean Girl.

Also starring Michael Keaton, aka Batman / Birdman

Directed by Tom McCarthy, Spotlight tells the true story of a team of reporters from The Boston Globe who in 2001 brought to light the cover-up of child sexual abuse occurring within the Catholic Church.

Beginning with the allegations against one priest, John Geoghan, the team’s investigation leads them to a growing number of survivors and to the systematic corruption happening at all levels of the Church. It is a very heavy and emotional story that is handled carefully and effectively.

This type of story has become so prevalent in our culture that we now have a [terrible and unfair] stereotype of priests being likely to engage in paedophilia. The truth is that most priests aren’t paedophiles but that doesn’t mean we can overlook the percentage, not matter how small, of those who are. The movie does an excellent job of making that clear. The Spotlight team wasn’t after the Church itself, it was after the corrupt priests

and the people who helped them get away with the abuse. The story was supposed to incite a change in the way the Church handled what happened to these particular priests.

It was fascinating to see how the team worked over months and months to make sure they had strong and reliable sources and evidence before they got any word out. It showed the level of journalistic integrity required of a person to work for Spotlight. But more than that, it really showed how deeply these people cared about getting the truth out. Mark Ruffalo was fantastic as Michael Rezendes, a man so good at his job that it cost him his family. Everything that Spotlight investigated was top priority to him and the fact we only hear passing remarks about his separation from his wife really highlights where his priorities lied.

Ruffalo’s almost hyperactive performance reflected the urgency and passion in his work. While the rest of the main cast–Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, Liev Schreiber–were great in their own right, it was the minor characters (the survivors) who really brought so much emotion to the movie.

Michael Cyril Creighton played Joe Crowley, a gay man who had been abused by his priest as a child. The way he detailed his story was real and heartbreaking.

The pain of it all had not subsided over the years and as much as he tried to maintain his composure, the memories and self-hate that came with them weighed too heavily on him. Neal Huff as Phil Saviano was a particularly outstanding performance. You could see just how fed up he was with the lack of action the law and the media had given the story. He wanted justice and he worked hard to be heard. It was Saviano who

poignantly described the extent this abuse had on the survivors. He stated it wasn’t just physical abuse, it was spiritual abuse as well. These priests had not only taken advantage of a child’s vulnerability, they had robbed them of their faith and trust. Not every person who was abused found the courage to continue living so that’s why the movie uses the term survivor rather than victim. You never lose sight of these ideas throughout the movie and this is what gives it so much power. Even though the incidents had happened 30 years prior, the stakes are still high.

For a movie that’s mostly just people speaking to each other, it’s surprisingly fast paced. The investigation needed to be done thoroughly and quickly. There was always the fear that another (less influential) newspaper would get a hold of this story and compromise their work. If any other newspaper had published the story without concrete evidence, the Church could have easily responded and squashed it before it got any further. You could feel the pressure these reporters were under because of this.

Spotlight is quite confronting in its content and highlights the struggle between faith and justice. A couple of storylines petered out and weren’t revisited but the development of the main story was so well done that it made up for any lapses. The acting was solid across the board and made us care about the people involved. Perhaps the movie would have had a lot more impact had it been released a few years ago, but this type of corruption and abuse is still happening and not just within the Church, so it is still relevant.

Spotlight is not an easy movie to watch but it is worth watching.

Daniel Priman on the Oscar film your nan might like.

The BBC is one of the finest institutions in the world.

Every year it produces television, film and radio content of the highest quality to be rivaled as the best in the world. Just like any great media empire the BBC is also pretty great at pumping out garbage but somewhere along the fence of these two squabbling neighbours straddles the boring belters. These are the shows and the films that are of the highest quality, yet concern the most dreary of topics. Period pieces, genealogy documentaries and inoffensive murder mysteries (except for the racist ones), the kind of stories that my mother would enjoy. As a mid-twenties, nerdy, contemporary member of society I understand that I am far from the target audience of these kind of things and it may not be my place to criticise them but since I was asked to review Brooklyn by Novastream it’s also my place to criticise these kinds of stories.

is thrust into the life she would have had if she were never to have traveled to America. Boys, jobs and mothers get in the way and Eilis must decide whether she wishes to build a new life for herself in her old home or return to her old life in her new home of America.

Honestly I really don’t see what all the fuss is about, Brooklyn could be any of the period pieces on television at the moment. Shy girl gets a new job, meets a boy, falls in love, meets another boy, has to choose all while wearing a dress from the 1950s. Nothing of any importance really happens in the first hour of the movie and nothing important whatsoever happens in the first half hour. The plot is 100% predictable and apart from the very last two minutes nothing new or exciting really happens. Much like Room, one could be forgiven for confusing Brooklyn with a tele-movie Eilis Lacey is an Irishwoman living in Brooklyn and slated to air on a raining Sunday afternoon. not the kind of Irish person in America that clings to their roots as if being related to a bunch of Irish Brooklyn is the kind of film that you can see would people a hundred years ago defines their personality have been a wonderful book but never really needed and excuses them from certain behaviour but a true to be adapted to the big screen. It also suffers from Irishwoman born and bred. After a death in the family the common soap opera affliction of “forced drama”.

Eilis returns to Enniscorthy in The Emerald Isle and Literally all of the film’s drama could have been avoided

if the characters just admitted their feelings. “I don’t really feel very well.”, “I don’t want to go out with that boy.”, “I don’t want to live in Ireland anymore.”, Fin! There was also a lot of talk about boys which while suitable for the time period I suppose, got quite annoying towards the start, middle and the end.

Acting wise, everyone played a fine role. The only grand performance comes from the lead Saoirse Ronan, the only actor with a more Irish name than any of the film’s characters. To begin with Saoirse plays your regular shy girl in a brand new world but over the course of the film her confidence begins to creep in and it took me almost the whole film to realise how much she had changed. The rest of the cast is filled with a bunch of impressive names such as Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Emory Cohen and Eva Birthistle that all do a great job that can never quite match that of Ronan. If there is one honorable mention it must go out to James DiGiacomo who plays Frankie, the younger brother of Tony (Emory Cohen) and is the most fun character throughout the entire movie. in and it took me almost the whole film to realise how much she had changed. The rest of the cast is filled with a bunch of impressive names such as Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Emory Cohen and Eva Birthistle that all do a great job that can never quite match that of Ronan. If there is one honorable mention it must go out to James DiGiacomo who plays Frankie, the younger brother of Tony (Emory

Cohen) and is the most fun character throughout the entire movie.

All the direction and music flew by without any notice on my part which must mean something, something that I am going to leave up to yourself to decide. I am always impressed by the set design in period pieces, especially those set in large cities. Where do they get all of those old cars? How do they know which buildings were around in the 50s? Who studies all of the fashion and styles of the 50s and keeps up with it all? It just all looks so exhausting and with the relatively small budget of $10 million, Brooklyn should really be winning the Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscars. Well if it was really up to me, Mad Max and Kingsman would win them all but to be fair to Brooklyn‘s production team, they did a fantastic job.

Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay may not be the awards Brooklyn deserves and I would even argue over Best Actress but for anyone interested in love stories set around 1950s New York this is the film for you. Nothing happens, the acting is quite good and you will not be offended by any of the dialogue at any point in the film. That’s exactly what a BBC period piece sets out to do and that’s exactly what Brooklyn manages. Well there are maybe two or three “f*cks” in there but considering its an Irish film you can pretty much head cannon those into “fecks”. As for the geeky twenty-somethings glued to their computer screens, maybe stay clear of this one and go back to Mad Max or Kingsman.

Jay Cook on the latest collaboration between Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks. A quaint film, but certainly could have been omitted to make room for The Hateful Eight.

Sometimes an innocent ‘true events’ film can be over powered by a subconscious desire to blow the USA’s horn. And sadly Bridge of Spies should have stuck to the true story and not taint what could have been a truly great tale with selling the idea of the big and strong USA to the world.

This isn’t to say that the outcome was not worthy of watching. Director Steven Spielberg who has a particular fascination not only with war films but that of World War II and the subsequent wars that followed.

Spielberg has once again created an epic tale based in the Cold War era when the dominant powers of the world, America and the Soviet Union, struggle to gain and maintain said power.

As you can guess by the title it’s about spies and spying. America has captured a spy and to show the world they are fair and just, they hire a lawyer, James Donovan played by Tom Hanks, to represent Rudolf Abel played by Mark Rylance.

But sadly even though the American Justice Systems says one thing. The people serving the Justice System have their own agenda, which means death for Russian spy Rudolf Abel. That is until the judge has a change of heart and lets him live after a little lawyer work from Donovan.

The movie progresses, the Soviet Union shoots down a US spy plane and they capture the pilot. So the CIA recruits Donovan (Hanks) to negotiate the release of their soldier for the Soviet Spy. And this way the government doesn’t get their hands dirty and can deny it all if and when it goes wrong.

Still the movie is nearing the end with the negotiations almost complete and all that’s happened is Tom Hanks has his coat stolen by some thugs that give him directions.

This movie has nothing. It is simply a film about two spies in a war that are captured and then released back after a good lawyer works his skills. You even learn to like the Soviet spy who builds a friendship with his lawyer (Hanks). But the movie doesn’t twist or turn or shock. It simply tells the story as is.

This was an easy role for Tom Hanks as he plays a simple insurance lawyer. He doesn’t have any breakaway moments in the film nor does he transform himself into the character. That’s not to say his performance is poor, but we have seen him put a lot more effort in.

The Soviet spy and supporting actor Mark Rylance, whose previous work is mostly stage and BBC productions, actually shines past Hanks in this film.

From the simple facial expression he holds for the entire film, which only says, “I’m not telling”. To the perfect accent which is a confusing mixture to really send anyone on a wild goose chase figuring out who he really is.

Your eyes are glued to the screen with every scene Rylance is in as you wait and watch to see what he will say or do. His presence on screen is worthy of all the Supporting Actor nominations for this role.

The war film plot is simple, the swapping prisoner for prisoner and the negotiations to do so. But while the plot progresses, you constantly sit there waiting for what ever it is that will happen to happen.

Overall the story is interesting, there is so much that went on in these wars that we are only starting to hear about. But this story felt like it should have been a documentary rather than the big screen effort that it became.

Meet the next prisoner; a student who is innocent by all accounts but just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. And while the CIA sends Donovan (Hanks) to Berlin to negotiate the exchange, he works his skills to get the two of them.

And that’s only because at some point someone, most likely Spielberg decided they needed to tell the world one more time that the USA is the all great and powerful. When actually they could have just told a great story that actually happened.

What is there to be said about Max Mad: Fury Road that hasn’t already been said? Revisit with Jay Cook.

In a time where leading women are pushing the envelope to gain recognition for their part in the film industry, Mad Max secretly gives women that envelope.

will easily throw himself head first into a role, Theron overshadows his outstanding performance.

And it’s for that reason you realise this isn’t a film about Max, this is a film about a woman who is taking on the men in this crazy world. In doing so helping George Miller’s fourth instalment of the Mad Max the other women in the movie to do the same. series comes Mad Max: Fury Road. The film is a sensory overload of post-apocalyptic madness that Mad Max is an Australian classic, but for any has been building up over 45 years with the fall of Australian watching this film you realise Fury Road civilisation. isn’t Australian any more. Sure George Miller did his best to keep the cast for the most part Australian. But King Immorton Joe has set a team to collect gasoline there is no way an Australian would see the landscape with the War-Rig driven by Imperator Furiosa as their backyard. But that’s not to Miller’s fault. They (Charlize Theron) a bionic armed, shaved headed started filming in outback NSW in 2009. But with female who has an entirely different plan for the freak rains the otherwise baron dessert was thrown journey. into a green beauty not seen for decades. This moved the production to southern Africa.

It has been 30 years since the last Mad Max film was released, so you would be excused if you had forgotten The film doesn’t stroll around the deserts touching much about the previous three. However, the on as many stories as you can in two hours. It’s a production team have very nicely tackled the fine art straightforward battle between good and evil though of sharing enough information for the new Mad Max I’m sure if someone actually sat Immorton Joe down generation. And for those that watched in awe back for a chat you’d realise he thinks he’s doing the right in the early 80s there was just enough information to thing. remember where things left off.

And thrown in for good measure is the usual love The film has captured that amazing balance to tickle story. Forbidden love and love from uncertainty. the imagination of everyone around the world. The simple and vast dialogue was perfectly balanced to not For such an epic film, there aren’t too many points take away from the epic highly perfected battle scenes. where you question the visual effects team. For the Executed to the point that you would forget you were most part you’d think they actually was an explosion. actually watching a movie.

The clarity and colours of the film is epic. It seemed that everyone has eyes that glow and radiate. Not to Complementing that worldly feel is the direction mention the stunning landscape as desolate as it is was of the accents in the film. Nothing is set, English, full of colour and definition.

Australian, and American. Tom Hardy has an attempt at all three at some point throughout the film. Nailing Overall the film is visually delicious with vibrant a Mel Gibson accent in the opening scenes, touching a colours and attention to detail to transport you to little Batman’s Bain in the middle and ending in a 007 the Mad Max world. The ideas and creativity of the James Bondesque accent that’ll make you swoon. director, George Miller is to perfection. And just to show how he is either genius or completely mad, Miller Charlize Theron takes charge in this film and absolutely is the Director of Happy Feet, a children’s movie about nails it. She portrays this lost woman who has strong singing and dancing penguins. hopes to make the world better again. One look at her eyes and you seem to know her every pain and every This film is easily a nod to Mad Max films past joy. And while Tom Hardy is one of those actors who and a welcome to the Mad Max future.

Jacob Amarant reviewed the third “saving Matt Damon” movie back in November.

The Martian boasts 100% scientific accuracy but does being completely realistic make a movie good? The problem with trying to be realistic can make a film long, dry and forget about the story. The Martin however uses its realism to build our engagement, we don’t become distracted by any farfetched ideas or plot advancements. The Martian shows the ingenuity of mankind and how quickly it can all be taken away. Matt Damon plays our favourite Martian by the name of Mark Watney dealing with the most intense isolation, luckily Watney is the Bear Grylls of science.

The plotline can be easily explained to your parents or grand-parents as; imagine the movie Castaway with a NASA employee instead of a Fed Ex employee and the role of the island being played by Mars. Everyone’s favourite blood covered spheroid Wilson’s part is filled by the audience. We are the ones that have full access to Watney’s inner most thoughts, we are there experiencing his wins and his losses as our own. A lot of the concepts may not be new but it executes them so well.

The scenery is a huge focus in the movie, not just on Mars but on Earth as well. As the bright, vast and harsh terrain of Mars houses a calm and in control Mark Watney, it is Earth’s confined and dark settings that brings a lot of the chaos.

As if Watney was on a sunny island resort for MacGyver enthusiasts and everyone back at the office was freaking out because he was the only one that new how to change the printer cartridges.

Learning from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Martian has a retro soundtrack which even though has been done recently suits the atmosphere so well. Much like a laser T-Rex there is something about the blending of futuristic and retro that is oddly satisfying. Continuing on from lessons we learnt from Guardians of the Galaxy, well placed humour goes a long way which The Martian surprisingly has a lot of. There are times where the humour is too present especially when dealing with a topic that deserves more insight. It is as if Ridley Scott looked back at what he did in Alien and did a similar series of rise and fall and rise again in tension but this time made the dinner scene with the crew laughing a lot longer before the eventual cough and splutter occur and then the great fear is born. A movie filled with isolation relies on our castaway to uphold the movie on their own. Luckily for us Matt Damon does just that, delivering a truly human performance.

The Martian is the space movie that we need in our lives right now. It is a constant reminder of the small pride of man in the vast universe we live in and that one small dream for mankind is one giant nightmare for one man. A balanced combination of stunning visuals and stellar performances makes The Martian a solidly brilliant film.

ORIGINALS: CARE BEARS AND COUSINS S1- 5TH FEB COOKED S1 - 19TH FEB FULLER HOUSE S1 - 26TH FEB LOVE S1- 19TH FEB SHADOWHUNTERS S1 - 1ST FEB TURBO FAST S1 - 5TH FEB

MOVIES: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - 16TH FEB CAKE - 12TH FEB LAST CHANCE HARVEY - 1ST FEB WORDS AND PICTURES - 1ST FEB MEET MY VALENTINE - 5TH FEB WAITING - 1ST FEB THE DOUBLE - 1ST FEB RUNNING ALL NIGHT - 1ST FEB ZERO DARK THIRTY -1ST FEB

TV: AHS: FREAK SHOW - 1ST FEB

EXCITING NEWS!

NETFLIX HAS GREENLIGHT TWO NEW SHOWS FOR 2016.

“FLAKED” STARRING WILL ARNETT

“RANCH” STARRING ASHTON KUTCHER AND THANKFULLY, FINALLY RELEASED THE RETURN DATES FOR FIVE OF THEIR BIGGEST SHOWS. (NEXT PAGE)

SEASON 4: MARCH 4TH

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SEASON 2: MARCH 18TH

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SEASON 2: MAY 6TH

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SEASON 2 CONFIRMED FOR 2016, DATE TBC

There is no denying that The Simpsons should have ended a long time ago but this popular opinion often has people writing off the show completely. It’s pretty hard to believe that a show that was once “the greatest in the world” can drop to the bottom of the pit in a couple of years. Sure it’s not reaching the staggering heights it once was but The Simpsons can still produce some pretty good television, you just have to know which ones to watch.

Halfway through season twenty-seven and the ones to watch are episodes five, six and ten. As for the rest well there are some ok episodes but some real stinkers in there as well so maybe let’s change that popular opinion to “it’s not that bad, sure it’s not as amazing as it once was but The Simpsons can still be good sometimes”.

SO FAR 2015/16 has been a rollercoaster year for Simpsons So Far television’s longest running animated show.

Daniel Priman dissects it at the halfway point.

EP1: EVERY MAN’S DREAM 2.5/5 – A publicity stunt that we all wish was really a dream.

EP2: CUE DETECTIVE 2.5/5 – A True Detective spoof that is even worse in retrospect.

EP3: PUFFLESS 3.5/5 – Patty and Selma have another fight but who cares because Spiderpig is back!

EP4: HALLOWEEN OF HORROR 2.5/5 – Halloween can be scary and fun when you are a kid but what can be even scarier than Halloween is a bad comedy song.

EP 5: TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXVI 4/5 – Treehouse of Frankenstein horror, Godzilla horror and Chronicle horror.

EP6: FRIEND WITH BENEFIT 3.5/5 – Homer makes another rich friend.

EP7: LISA WITH AN ‘S’ 2.5/5 – The Simpsons are poor because Homer did something dumb again so the family has to exploit one of their children, this week it’s Lisa’s turn.

EP8: PATHS OF GLORY Bart’s being naughty again while people are still ignoring Lisa even though she’s ALWAYS right.

EP9: BARTHOOD 0.5/5 – GOD DAMMIT ! They just had to spoof Boyhood didn’t they?

EP10: GIRL CODE 3.5/5 – A pretty cool parody of Silicon Valley guest starring Kaitlin Olson and Stephen Merchant.

EP11: TEENAGE MUTANT MILK-CAUSE HURDLES 1/5 – Another boring “Bart falling in love with an older woman” story with a really cool opener that wasn’t even made by Fox.

From the rating on the previous page the mean average of season twentyseven is 2.5 which seems about right. At the moment the simpsons isn’t straying from the middle of the road. Most episodes are nothing above mediocre and all too often a rehash of a previous storyline. Every now and then an episode will stand out above the rest and restore hope for what once was before completely shattering this illusion the next week by releasing twenty-two minutes of life stealing television.

The two examples this time around, Treehouse Of Horror XXVI and Barthood prove this pattern and fit in as the best and the worst of the season.

THE BEST: TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXVI

Jokes and references to popular culture are what The Simpsons do best. Ever since the writers fluked out a few heart-warming endings they have somehow become disillusioned by the idea that happy endings and lessons learnt are part of the show’s winning formula. Yes those episodes were good but it’s about time they stop trying to recapture those feelings unless they are genuine and that is why Treehouse Of Horror XXVI really stands out. There is no time for a real story and therefore no time for a life lesson or tear jerk. Instead Treehouse Of Horror XXVI is filled with Sideshow Bob, Homerzilla, an omnipotent baby and lots and lots of laughs.

DAN ALSO HOSTS WEEKLY PODCAST GAME OVER REMASTERED.

THE WORST: BARTHOOD

It was inevitable. After everyone was fooled by the impressiveconcept behind Boyhood they all managed to miss out on the fact that Boyhood was not a great film. So when a film makes waves like Boyhood did, it’s only right that The Simpsons take a crack at a spoof. The subject matter was already pretty poor to begin with so they can be forgiven a little bit there but otherwise Barthood was awful. Letting Bart do whatever he wanted and vindicating his winy complaints, not to mention that he only complains about problems that he has caused for himself, Barthood may even be worse than the horrible film it was based upon. If that’s not enough, future Lisa goes out with future Nelson, unforgivable.

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Oh no! Something has gone awry in the latest DCTV show.

Can it recover?

Elsewhere the strongest members from Flash’s inaugural season and this year’s crossover episode make an appearance. Firestorm, now Martin Stein and Jackson Jefferson, contrast their bipolar brilliance with recurring villains Captain Cold and Heatwave. Good After six concept, average execution. Hawkgirl and Hawkman, The average run time of a who we spent the crossover getting to know, round months of gradual hype television drama is forty- out the team of eight. five minutes. That’s enough Mark Halyday time for The Flash to dissects the fight a bad guy, quip with Cisco, run some tests with less-thanCaitlin, mistrust Wells, awesome catch up with Joe and go premiere of on a date with Paddy. It’s enough time for Peggy to DCTV’s reunite with Jarvis, meet Legends of his wife, have an argument with the NY boss and solve Tomorrow a mystery. For a show about time travel Legends of Tomorrow frequently felt like it was running out of time.

It was really overstuffed.

Sometimes a show just needs more breathing room. The penultimate episode of Doctor Who, for instance, scored an extra twelve minutes of Peter Capaldi skirting solo around a castle because any less would have taken away the gravitas of it all. Legends of Tomorrow lacked the sensation from the trailer. The ooohs and ahhs that sold it as the premiere event of 2016.

On paper it sounds like a no-brainer. Collect the supporting characters from Flash and Arrow that have completed their guest arc for more adventures.

These shows are built around five or so core characters and an array of recurring guests, but if the guests hang around too long they lose their shiny appeal. So here they are in their own adventure, with special guest star Stephen Amell to lend some credibility to proceedings.

The Atom was the best B plot of Arrow season three.

It was a gradual progression from CEO inventor to Iron Man-lite to crime-fighter Atom. In the land of shrinking superheroes The Atom wins over AntMan every day of the week. It feels like a mistake to have him die in the Arrow finale when he was always coming back for Legends. The resurrected thing is already going on with Sara Lance and while it did give a definitive end to his arc it really didn’t need to happen. His romance with Felicity was over and his suit was complete. Need there be any more?

Eight seems like a large number, especially as the introduction is a little double-bagged. The episode sees Rip Hunter – more on him later – recruiting them all in various locales before asking them to consider their options. This prompts cameos from the Arrow and the Black Canary, which is nice, kind of, but the episode would have helped by just getting into the plot.

The second half then spends its time trying to squeeze a regular episode into the space leftover, which is near-impossible. The team travel to 1975 to speak with a professor about the whereabouts of Vandal Savage, the arch-nemesis that Felicity tracked down in 0.000001 seconds in the crossover. A unexpected personal connection reminded us about how time travel is such a brilliant storytelling device (Futurama, Doctor Who) and then descends into angst. It could have been better.

And no Flash cameo. Cheers guys. He was in the trailer! As was the giant robot foot, which better be in next week’s episode. The episode’s “enticing” close of the barely-there bad guy Vandal Savage’s acquisition of a nuke was low-level stuff. It wasn’t Arrow’s “Who Killed Sarah?” or Flash’s “Jay Garrick arrives”.

Maybe that’s the reason it didn’t stick. It’s airing alongside episodes of the Flash and Arrow. The initial reports were more of an Agent Carter style where the bigger shows take a break and a niche event series fills the void. On Tuesday The Flash introduced the Turtle and delivered a brutal gutpunch to Barry’s personal life. On Wednesday Felicity fought for her life in the emergency room while the Arrow crossed several lines, including colluding with villain Anarchy to bring Dhark down.

Comparatively Legends was tame.

There’s a lot of cool ideas floating around. There’s the Canary/Cold relationship, romantic or not, that’s began to grow. The Stein/Atom bond, which is a little one-sided. And obviously Hawkgirl/ Hawkman, who are still going through their origins. It’s trying really hard and it still has the potential to be awesome. Follow that. Pursue it naturally and watch the joy of characters that have barely interacted sprawl into something new.

It doesn’t help that the hype was outrageously high and that most of the episode was in one trailer or another. There were no surprises or twists.

It’s a pilot after all. It just felt like a collection of haphazard B-characters rather than the rooftop team we were promised.

(There was a rooftop after all, but not the pivotal gamechanger I anticipated. And your ship is pretty but it is not revolutionary. Stop bragging. Star Trek did it in the sixties) The other thing to consider is this is titled “Pilot – Part 1”. It is half of a whole and it feels like it. But it feels like a lumpy lone piece. There’s no connective tissue to the next episode and they were not aired on the same night. It’s a rare misfire for DCTV and here’s hoping it improves quickly to avoid the same fate as Constantine.

Britt Howarth brings her signature wit to the season return of Arrow.

The wait is finally over. But after that destruction of feels, was I even ready?

symbol at different crimes. This blood curdling twist is made worse with his fascination with Speedy. I began the episode thinking he might want revenge, but those clever writers have ditched the cliché and Arrow episode 10, Blood Debts, takes the audience filled it with the unhealthy obsession. back to the tombstone with a title revealing there are 4 months until somebody dies. And Ollie’s The obsession also brings out a new side of Laurel/ ‘going to kill him’. Cut to current day, and Felicity is Black Canary. Laurel has become a voice of reason undergoing emergency surgery. Oliver is cracking in the group and seems to have taken a sisterly, skulls and Diggle is fighting his way back to loving protective role with Thea. Her character has reached his brother, Andy. With all Ghost leads coming up the point where she isn’t pushed into every scene, the empty on the Darhk front, team Arrow turns their writers sloppily searching for somewhere to put her. attention to a recent crime involving the disturbing Episode 10, and few earlier ones, have her standing Ⱥnarchy. Even after getting him in their custody, in her own right. She has become a proper addition Oliver releases him and tracks him to where Darhk to the team. I only wish they put more of her legal is hiding. This leads to the Green Arrow saving knowledge into the team. Capturing a villain is only Darhk’s family and Darhk offering him respite for half the journey and to have her fighting in court the heroics. to sentence Lonnie Machin/ Anarchy, or any other villain, would be very interesting.

On the theory front, we can definitely pull Felicity from the list of possible dead characters. We find her Her Canary Cry is still pretty terrible, but that’s on and Oliver in the back of a tinted limo at the very the director and effects team. end. But with Diggle’s story being fleshed out more this episode, things are looking bad for him. This Flashbacks have Conklin proving that Oliver is a episode, especially, has given the audience a greater traitor and gets permission to do what he wants glimpse into who Andy and Diggle once were. with Oliver. While repaying the whipping Oliver had given Conklin, the camp’s leader (Reiter) Alexander Calvert graces our screens once again with notices Oliver’s Chinese character tattoos glowing. his eerie representation of Anarchy. The red jacket is These are the very ones Constantine gave him. in, but the solid white mask isn’t. A solid white mask These flashbacks still feel vague, forced, and may have looked too much like something from a (unfortunately) uninteresting. Apart from Ollie, cheapy store, but the creative people from Arrow no emotional connection has been created with have given him a milky transparent mask. The mask any of the characters. They have become unwanted highlights the burns that lick across his face and interruptions to the major storyline which would creates an intense unease. However, the burns are be even more impacting without Lian Yu. not as impacting with the mask off. Red scars mark his face, but the intense flames would have caused Blood Debts is definitely a great reintroduction much more damage than that and possibly even to Arrow’s Season 4. The tomb stone tease has me melted his nose and eyelids. The visual prospects eagerly hanging out for the next episode while of this may have been too intense for the show, but Anarchy’s escape has me nervous for his return. something in between would have been better.

In a much darker turn, which is saying something for Arrow, the writers have Anarchy murdering his foster parents and using their blood to paint his

Quote of the Episode: “What’s Damien Darhk doing in Bali?” - Felicity

TURTLE! The Flash knows how to give audiences what they want before they even know they want it. The second season has already included two (soon to be three) versions of Firestorm, the origins of Vibe, paralell universes, a new love interest for Barry and the return of fanfavourites Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Trickster and Weather Wizard. Oh and the most super supervillian yet, Zoom.

It’s been ten episodes and the team are no closer to finding out who he/she is or how to stop them. Cisco delves into a list of metahumans he’s been keeping for a day when there’s nothing going on and comes up with “Turtle”, a metahuman who absorbs all the kinestic energy around him. This would slow both The Flash and Zoom to a halt and give the sidekicks a fighting chance to assist.

Speaking of the sidekicks, newly-minted couple Caitlin and Jay Garrick hit a speedbump early on. Jay’s ill and the only cure is to return his speed force. It’s one of the weaker ideas this season but it puts a date on his inevitable cure and right now it’s just hanging around as a D-plot, where it belongs.

The C-plot still belongs to Earth-2 Harrison Wells, slowly getting more rabid in his attempts to save his daughter. He’s not one for rules - although his urge to save Paddy from Barry’s secret is admirable - but it still does not excuse his murder of a prisoner. I hope there will be fallout because that was not okay.

The Turtle’s just a thug with an ability, although things turn a little Batman’s Dr Freeze by the end there. It’s a hostage scenario - not the Paddy/Zoom one we were promised - and it rings a little familiar. It’s the plot of most comic book movies and throws back to the Christmas special for some reason, even though Barry was the one captive in that scenario.

Still, the Flash makes it look effortless. The showrunners know their stuff and can do it all with one hand tied behind thier back. They go for another comic book cliche of should I/should I not tell my flame of my superheroics but make the landing stick a bit better.

It’s not that they’re out of ideas. Far from it, with Wally West and Jesse Quick just warming up down at the M and N plots, but this episode was unexpected.

When this episodes shines and where the show performs at it’s best is when the ridiculously talented

cast have proper conversations. Drop the scienceyjibberish, the action and half the quips and talk about what it going on. Joe meeting Wally on Christmas was a Pandora’s Box and now, after a rocky start, they’re getting along fine. Similarly the Iris/ Paddy chat was great. Iris on the flip side of Barry’s secret is so. much. better.

It only buidls further to Barry’s commitment to her. Arrow and Flash have the same issue - the predetermined love interest has been trumped by an original character. The fans love Paddy. Barry loves Paddy. She knows about his parents’ murders and he knows about her vendetta against the Weather Wizard.

And when he can’t commit she breaks up with him.

The Flash knows what you want before you know what you want. The sign of an epic show that wants to keep its fans on their toes. Want to know who Zoom is? Too bad. Here’s some heartbreak instead.

And Jeremy Jordan, our resident Winn, has produce an amazing performance as he struggles with what he had with his father and the fear of how he might follow the same path. It’s wonderfully fresh to have Winn talk about how loving the Toyman once was and how they resembled each other immensely as opposed to a story of abuse in many character’s pasts. His whole tech, nerdy-ness is even put on hold to the point he reveals his feelings for Kara with a kiss.

Unlike many other shows where an unrequited kiss is momentarily accepted then hastily broken, Kara immediately pulls away, embarrassed and glasses crooked. The scene was amazingly created and the pain painted across Winn’s face is heart breaking.

The immediate stop of the kiss leaves nothing to question Kara’s feelings for Winn, but his closing monologue of bottled up feelings does create questions. Will he go down a darker path?

by Mark Halyday

by Brittany Howarth I’ll be fly kicking the next kid with a yo-yo.

Supergirl episode 10 introduces one of its best villains it has produced yet. Winn’s world is turned upside down when he finds out that his father, the Toyman, has escaped from prison. Despite the authorities already hunting him down, Supergirl steps in to make sure Winn’s dad isn’t shot dead.

But does Winn even want his dad alive after all his crimes? Continuing from the previous episode’s final scene, Hank Henshaw makes his way into Lord Tech’s secret levels. Meanwhile, Cat Grant offers Lucy Lane a job.

Another amazing addition to this episode was its graphics. Episode 10 has created one of the best flying scenes delivered by Supergirl as J’onn gives Supergirl a quick lesson in flight. The sequence is made even more epic with the large, green Martian gracing the screen once again. The graphics this episode have also done what I thought to be impossible. Along with the great acting of Henry Czerny, aka Toyman, this show has actually sold the idea that a yo-yo could be a wonderfully, horrifying tool of murder. On paper, this sounds problematic.

And if it was any other actor than Czerny, it might have been.

As far as wild and terrifying villains go, Mark Hamill as the Joker and Trickster has got it down to a ‘T’.

It would have been easy for Czerny to go down the same path with a larger than life character and witty puns (which everyone loves) but Czerny has created a softly spoken, chiller killer. He speaks softly to the point chills run up my spine, and his end goal of forever reuniting with his son is amazingly fresh.

His possessive nature over Winn is haunting and wonderfully denied by Winn’s disgusted face.

This episode is easily the best that Supergirl has Week after week there has always been chunks of created. Each story addressed was well thought out exposition thrown into these episodes. However, and executed with amazing dialogue. Its graphics this week’s episode has given the audience dialogue were constant and its actors, across the board, were that is real and meaningful. From James withholding breathtaking. It really felt like Supergirl has finally his opinion on Lucy’s job offer, to the many scenes found its feet in the superhero TV universe and between Winn and the Toyman, this episode hit the if they keep producing episodes like this, it will nail of the head. quickly find its place at the top of DCTV.

Alaisdair Dewar turns his eye to the latest Lego game.

There have been many. Is it a matter of dimishing returns?

Ever been really excited for a game and then bitterly disappointed with clunky controls, a cut and paste dialogue job and loads of bugs?

Then Lego Marvel Avengers is the game you have been waiting for! I am a huge fan of the Lego game series and after hits like Lego Marvel Super Heroes and Lego Batman 3 : Beyond Gotham, I was so pumped for this game to be amazing, yet this may be possibly one of the worst Lego games I have played.

The game starts off with the opening scene from Avengers : Age Of Ultron (and yes is based on the MCU films) I thought there was a bug or I had missed something, but no, this is how the game is meant to be. The rest is told through flashbacks as you zip back and forth between both Avengers movies, both Captain America movies, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. Instead of being a storytelling masterpiece as most Lego games have been previously, this feels like a confusing mess.

If you can get past this and the persistent bugs that leave your character trapped and force you to restart the level, as well as WAY too mini puzzles that require you to highlight certain areas on a map with the square button (seriously, whose idea was this? ? ?) The game delivers a solid Marvel comic book character hunt that delves into some of the more obscure characters that require a Wikipedia app to identify who they are.

A lot of the environments from Lego Marvel are back and identical, New York City is the same size and still open to exploration (with a lot more quests and characters than the previous instalment!) The SHIELD base is still the same with gold bricks hidden in exactly the same places as the first game, a convenient yet

kind of annoying design. Other areas you can explore are Asgard, Sokovia, Washington D.C., Barton’s Farm and Malibu. They are all reasonably well designed and littered with over 200 + playable characters to discover.

I reviewed this game on the Playstation 4 system and found several bugs littered through the game, so many times my character would jump in the air and fall down a crack and get eternally stuck, forcing me to restart the level and try again, once or twice is ok, This is the part of the game that really impressed me, but nearly every level this happened in and I found it new favourites like Luke Cage and Jessica Jones aka extremely distracting from the game. That being said Jewel are all here waiting to be find, but don’t worry the graphics are slick and polished in this version of you won’t be seeing them pork or swig back whiskey the Lego Avengers, Lego has never looked better in anytime during the game, they are completely PG – a video game and this is a massive credit to the game 13 rated and safe for the kids to play. Other obscure developers. characters like Moon Knight and Squirrel Girl are all up for grabs and are significantly different from their This game overall just proved to be such a let down Lego Marvel Heroes counterpart. That being said for me, I wanted it to be great, especially after the I didn’t need the many different Iron Man suits and string of hits that Lego has produced before it, and marks (seriously one would suffice!) fortunately there this just felt like a rushed cash in and I am going to is enough Marvel characters to go around in this game say it, this is the worst Lego game adaption ever made. to keep the most die hard of fans happy. that being said, don’t completely discount the game because of this, the Lego games have an extremely One upgrade on the gameplay is the use of special high standard and this one just missed the mark a attacks and team up special attacks. When fighting little bit. Hopefully they can go back to what they did your Lego enemies, a button appears above their head, best with my secret fantasy of Lego Marvel VS DC or you press it to match and your character will perform Lego Batman Vs Superman. to say it, this is the worst a special move. If you are part of the Avengers and it Lego game adaption ever made. that being said, don’t flashes blue, your character will team up with another completely discount the game because of this, the Lego Avenger close to you for a high impact take down. games have an extremely high standard and this one A lot of thought and effort has been placed into this just missed the mark a little bit. Hopefully they can go side of the game and many different characters having back to what they did best with my secret fantasy of different take downs and moves kept things interesting Lego Marvel VS DC or Lego Batman Vs Superman. and made me want to keep using it.

serious shit, everything from eldritch summoning to necromancy and other nonsense Frankenstein would see as a little bit disgusting. Obviously from this everything goes wrong, resulting in the Ancestors demise and some serious problems that need fixing.

So like the true arse he is, this Ancestor dumps all this on you with the paraphrased words of “Hey i’m just gonna retire to my office for a round of pistol tasting with Cthulu, you’ve got this right?”

Charlie Eastwood on the spooky new console game.

So here we are again. It’s been quite some time since the earliest version of Darkest Dungeon crawled out of the putrid recesses of Steam Greenlight and now it graces us with its many tentacled presence.

For those of you who haven’t heard of this gem, how’s that rock you’ve been living under? But really Darkest Dungeon is a rogue like turn based RNG based dungeon crawler about making the best of a REALLY bad situation. This bad situation is brought about, story wise, by your arse hat of an ancestor.

This unnamed Ancestor precedes to mess with some

So you assume the role of the faceless Heir to this hell-scape, charged with cleaning this proverbial mess up. Being a true descendent of that useless twat of an Ancestor, you promptly hire a mix of soldiers, mercenaries and random idiots to go and throw themselves at the problem until it goes away. This problem can be found in the five distinct areas of the game: the Ruins, Warrens, Weald, Cove and the literal Darkest Dungeon. Every locale carries a very tense atmosphere as you constantly watch for traps and ambushes. All the while the Ancestor (being the upper class twat he is) narrates and commentates about how bad you are from beyond the grave. In addition to traps and strange curios, every area has its own unique enemies which will carry out said ambushes, ranging from skeletons and bandits to fish men and…other things possessing eight mouths, fifty or so eyes and look like they’ve been ripped straight out of the more disturbing areas of Bloodborne. Now if this is all starting to look a bit grim, fret not! You have a roster of random, mentally unstable JPEG’s to fight for you! There are currently 14 different classes of heroes to choose from, with distinct variations in strategic options. The cast varies from crusading knights to grizzled highwaymen and even a fucking werewolf that can make people go insane. This variation allows you to match up some incredibly interesting teams and murderous combinations of skills. The developer Red Hook has stated they’re adding in extra mechanics and classes as free DLC, which is an added benefit.

The combat itself is rough, unrelenting and schizophrenic. Being largely RNG based in a similar manner to XCOM, the game can be swift and unchallenging one moment and then decide it wants everyone to die the next. A good example of this was while I was hunting a boss in the ruins area, a mad prophetic dickburger who could made all my heroes go nuts. The trip through the 20 or so rooms to get to him was easy enough, with nobody seriously wounded nor close to going bonkers. So I sat my little 2D children down by the fire to apply some small buffs and heal up. We entered the boss room, proud and ready to slaughter the poor sod when we noticed he was hiding behind three really resilient pieces of wood. “Ok then” I though “lets just get Mr Leper at the front here to smash through them with his big sword. Oh they dodged it? Oh.” Meanwhile that Prophet was dropping piles of rocks on the heads of my heroes, promptly sending them into their magic pixel, last chance state. “Ok then” says the increasingly irritated me.“I’ll just get my healer to-oh wait you just stunned him. You’re not letting me do anything Mr Prophet.” To which he spouted some crazy gibberish and killed my entire team by taking five actions in a row. Now this does come off as game breaking but this is the exception rather then the rule. Most fights are punishing but fair, and reward stupidity with a well deserved blow of insanity and sharp things.

While atmospheric locations and gruelling combat are key points to the game, the real emphasis is on the psychological aspect the game carries. You see dear reader, every one of your 2D sprites comes with their own unique blend of traits and quirks that grant various buffs and debuffs. Right out of the gate your characters start with up to four traits and can gain close to a dozen. These include various phobias and addictions to full on delusions and manias. This really makes each sprite feel unique, and once you invest actual time into the game you begin to really root for them. They become like homicidal flowers, you water and nurture them and they murder demons for you. Of course most of these flowers will be awfully murdered themselves because the universe decided it was just not their day. The game focuses on the tolls of your expeditions, with characters gaining new quirks or awful diseases from messing with things in the dungeons. The absolute leader of this feature however, is the Affliction system. During their expeditions into the dungeons, characters are stressed and worn down, which is shown by the aptly named stress bar. When this reaches 100% your hero will

either become an actual hero (gaining huge buffs) or become a nutjob/coward/teenager (gaining the power to ruin everything). This can obviously make or break a run, which is either frustrating or insanely funny. A good example of this was when I sent a party of new recruits into the final dungeon straight away to get an achievement and see what it was like. The dungeon appeared to consist of one long hallway and another room, which took me by surprise. Urging my men forwards, we encountered the first enemy. Four turns later the two weird and disgustingly happy cultists were dead. Halfway through the “this isn’t that hard” thought we ran into a hooded figure standing in our way. “Alright this guy isn’t too tanky, we’ll b-OH MY GOD HE HAS KNIFE TENTACLES COMING OUT OF HIS FACE! With my party badly injured I limped into the our first room, only to discover this was in fact, only the first room in a huge, unseen dungeon.

Strange versions of early enemies now half squid attacked my party, and promptly slaughtered them.

Three turns in everyone was insane and on the fourth we lost our first man, a Crusader. Seeing as we were all ridiculously stressed and bleeding out, I ordered a swift retreat. However as soon as we exited the room, with my Hellion on Deaths Door, Jester a fearful wreck and Houndmaster a total masochist, the stress bar on the Hellion filled up a second time. With a cry of “I KNEW IT”, the poor girl had a heart attack and died. I decided to properly retreat, but the dungeon was having none of it. “Oh so you want the last two to survive? Well one lucky hero instead has to stay behind to die heroically.” “But there’s nobody here!

This is an empty corridor!” I said. That’s when the game promptly forced a entire dungeon to murder my Houndmaster as the Jester ran from the hellish place. To be fair, it was all in character.

So in summary, Darkest Dungeon is a game that not only is incredibly entertaining and results in silly little anecdotes, but has an amazing feel, scale and design that fit into the created world brilliantly. Also, it contains some of the best writing out of any games i’ve played (No not quite Undertale but close) and a voice actor with the tones of God. While I wouldn’t recommend starting some weird eldritch cult about it, delving into those dark recesses of the dungeons in the Darkest Dungeon is a solid plan.

Britt Howarth looks at the latest DLC, the Old Hunters.

Never has the phrase bloody hell been more applicable.

The Old Hunters is a DLC/ Expansion pack valued at roughly $20 (give or take for exchange rates and whatnot) and is probably worth twice that amount, but From Software are only masochists, not money gluttons. So instead they hand us the metaphorical olive branch. Then, in typical From Software fashion they proceeded to beat us to near death with said branch to remind us why we’re here.

To start us off I will say this game does not have the same entry method of, lets say, Dark Souls (that being a circuit through the entire game, confusion, then a quick trip to the wiki page). The method of entry to this piece of torturous enjoyment is shoved in your face as soon as the expansion is installed, which is actually quite helpful.

So after picking up the DLC “key” and being whisked away by the Amygdala/Cthulu monster atop the church, I set foot in the first area of the new DLC, and at first was struck at how blatantly it was almost exactly the same as the area I just left. Thankfully however, this is no simple re-skin with some slight tweaks to enemy placements, the cheeky level designers turned the entire place into something out of the disturbed mind of a vampiric gardener.

The first portion of the DLC mixes up the original gothic style of the Cathedral Ward area with some weird giant stone things that look like masses of tree roots. It gets even more vampiric with the river of blood, the weirdly assembled masses of corpses all covered in blood and the constant disturbing mockery of previous hells being shoved in your eye sockets.

It is good to be back.

This DLC has traded a lot of the weird monstrosity enemies for the regular blood drunk hunters and the beasts they fight. There were two scenes presenting this conflicted landscape that I personally thought stood out among others in the early DLC. During the first, I followed two small beasties along a weird tree-stone bridge, when a hunter appeared on the other side. Right, I think, I can take this guy easy he looks like a chump with a stick. That aforementioned stick then became a giant bladed whip which pounded both me and the poor beasties into the dirt. The Second moment was literally a minute later and took place in the circular plaza where the church giants used to be. In this Nightmare world however, the plaza is home to a small war between two hunters and a dozen beasties. Obviously the DLC shifts back to that late game Lovecraftian feel later on, to a point where even the bloody weapons become call backs to Cthulu and friends.

Speaking of usable weapons, they managed to pack quite a few (12 I believe) new weapons into this, and to my bloodthirsty delight quite a few of the fun ones appear rather early. Among others, we have the strength version of the Threaded Cane, as mentioned earlier, A falchion like version of the Saw Cleaver, and more unique weapons such as the Boom Hammer (No I did not make that name up), The Amygdalan Arm (exactly is what it sounds like) and the Whirligig Saw (which is basically a giant pizza cutter).

But you don’t play these games for their new runes do you reader? No, what your here for is the big bollock-ticklingly tough bosses right? Well of course I have you covered. Actually all of these bosses, except for one which is just the Celestial Emissary gank edition, are all incredibly well designed and intense. The first two bosses having enormous lore implications, as well one dropping the coolest weapons in the game (hint hint its blue and shoots lasers) and the other the beast rune, really does help cement how awesome they are.

The Celestial Emissary take two isn’t great, but is instantly followed by my favourite Hunter boss in the entire game so far. Then right after that you have one of the most disturbing bosses in the game. Like the original, pretty much all of these bosses pump up the difficulty as you do more damage to them, but do so in ways that make the jaws not only drop, but completely detach from the jaw. A highlight of this procedural difficulty curve was with one particular dual wielding sod, whose attacks gradually increased from slightly tough hunter to BDSM enthusiast and finally living amalgamation of all our hates and fears.

I’ve never had so much fun ramming into a brick wall.

Now, I didn’t really touch the updated online components, as the Adversarial play (PvP) never really gripped me like the invasions of Dark Souls, A few extra off hand items do make an appearance and I avoided summoning out of pure stubbornness. also, such as a new, slightly stranger cannon and an However, I can safely say that connection issues actually useful magic proof shield. Two magic items seem to have been smoothed out and co-op play is I didn’t even use are also present, one shoots eye more common than before, probably due to the new blasts and the other is a head you throw at people discount sunbro covenant. From what I understand that explodes. New attire is also included (obviously) PvP is still fast and furious as ever, but we’re set to alongside two rather large cosmetic and game- see more weapon variety if i’m not mistaken. changing items. Two new Caryll Runes transform you into a beast and a blue cauliflower respectively. Overall? It’s an excellent addition to a game These transformations change up weapon move that was good enough for any expansions to be sets, as well as give off passive bonus’s. Oddly these pretty unneeded. The new areas are awesome, the runs are equipped in the spot where the covenant creative direction is solid as ever, the lore expanded rune would usually reside. enormously. What’s not to like?

But if you’re not sold, I understand. Just remember it’s got a sword that shoots blue space lasers. You know it’s top quality.

Pat Braithwaite on a peculiar little game.

I had originally considered making this a review simply consisting of incoherent text conveying both laughter and sobs of emotional turmoil, but I knew this game deserved more than that. Coming in as my unexpected diamond of 2015 is Undertale; a indie title released on Steam late last year. While belated, it needed to be talked about here on Novastream.

A huge part of Undertale and how it’s story unfolds depends on choices you make. For every monster encounter, you can chose to “Fight” or “Act”. You will take it in turns with your opponent, entering fast passed “bullet hell” style dodging segments to avoid incoming attacks, with each being unique to each enemy variant.

Undertale pits you in the shoes of a young human who falls into the Underground, a large fictional region below the Earth’s surface inhabited by sentient monsters. These monsters, once equals to humanity on the surface, have been driven underground and sealed there following a long and harsh war with the humans. Throughout your time spent in the Underground, you will meet and interact with these monsters and uncover a story that covers all peaks of the emotional spectrum. To say anything more on the story would honestly take away from the experience.

It’s completely up to you if you want to walk through these monster dwellings slaying all you meet or befriending them. For instance, if you encounter a dog monster, you could stab him with your toy sword or throw a stick for him to fetch. This spare or slay mechanic will drastically change the game.

Choices you make will dictate who you fight, how they react and the entire narrative of the story including its conclusion and how you get there can change. It’s a game that itches to be replayed over and over again, and a game that remembers what you have done.

Graphically, the game is comprised of pixel art sprites hashed out by several independant artists resulting in the creation of a retro 8-bit style world determined to fill your heart with nostalgia. Not only that, all of the characters, both major and minor, are designed visually and narratively to be fun, thought provoking and loveable.

A absolutely beautiful score of music ties this whole game together. Between the wit and humor of excellently written dialogue (which often treats the fourth wall as it’s own play thing) are audio snippets that just befit every scenario. The music is calm when wandering, creepy and sad when the situation calls it and builds to climaxes that play out in visual form. It never seemed to miss a beat.

Gameplay is quite unique when it comes to undertale, taking several cues from other genre’s to establish it’s own unique style. Outside, you will explore the vast region of the Underground in a typical RPG style format with random encounters.

But it’s while battling that the game truely shines.

The combat system is part RPG, part diplomatic/ dating sim, part “bullet hell” and all sorts of fun.

In all honesty, this game felt flawless to me.

Being realistic, it’s simplistic style and old school representation may deter some audiences but I believe this game is solid proof that games don’t need to have true to life graphics and A-class voice acting to tell a story that goes right to your core and stays with you long after the credits have rolled.