Novastream Magazine Issue 15

There are few people in the world that can rock it as the weathered adventurer Nathan Drake one day and goldtoothed Pirate Batman the next. If you were one of the lucky convention-goers at Supanova Sydney this weekend, you may have met both characters – all thanks to Sydneybased cosplayer Chris Stanley, known to his fans as Cosplay Chris.

From humble beginnings as a (nearly) beardless Obi Wan Kenobi cosplayer at 14, Chris has been a part of the cosplay community for years. Though today his repertoire and skills have amplified tenfold, when it comes to that first crack at the cosplay game he still wouldn’t change a thing. “Gum boots from Kmart, spray painted brown and cracking everywhere. And uh, Mum and Dad’s bed sheets.

They weren’t too happy about that. I owe them so much stuff – new panels of walls got paint on them. So much stuff!”

Since then, it looks like there’s no stopping him. “There’s no such thing as being too ambitious, you’re only limited by your imagination. Nothing’s impossible. If you can do it, do it. If it doesn’t work out, be like ‘okay I tried, what’s next?’” It’s clear that this mentality is what got him from bed sheets to brilliance – Chris now runs a highly successful YouTube channel detailing his creative work from start to finish, with almost 200 thousand followers. One of the biggest fan favourites is an R2D2 custom collectible, altered to replicate a steampunk style. If money were no object for Chris, Freddy Krueger would be next to face the ultimate steampunk transformation. “Monocle, top hat, big burnt dirty moustache, twirling a cane with his glove…” We can picture it already: one, two, Freddy’s coming for you.

YouTube videos may be how Cosplay Chris garnered the bulk of his following, but that’s not to say it’s been an easy journey. As with all artists, creative block and lack of content does strike on occasion. “I’m starting to find that the channel’s getting a bit tricky and I don’t like uploading a video for the sake of having a video – it needs to be decent. I don’t like when people put filler videos up just cause they’ve got nothing else.” Soldiering on, Chris’s motivation to keep producing content is often the feeling of achievement when younger fans approach him feeling like they’ve been a part of the creative process, watching from conception to reality. During this very interview Chris was approached by a group of fans, and he took the time to ensure each had the photo, autograph and hug they requested. It’s that sort of openness that endears people to his content. Simply edited on iMovie, the Cosplay Chris channel is hitting milestone after milestone and shows no sign of slowing.

Working with chemicals usually associated with pesticides might make a inexperienced cosplayer worry about how their internet search history might appear from the outside (Spiderman andurethane, anyone?), but Chris isn’t too concerned. “It’s pretty much just urethane, resin, everything like that…

They’d probably just be like, ‘this guy’s just a wacky artist’. That’s pretty much it.” But don’t let his frequent use of those materials fool you – by all accounts they can be a punish to work with. “If you get urethane and resin on you, you’re done. You get it on the floor?

It’s ridiculous. I owe Mum and Dad a new floor”. It’s a tricky business.

A word to the wise: don’t get Chris started on paint, because it’ll get very philosophical, very quickly – “A world without paint? A world without colour!” But it’s easy to get him waxing lyrical about cosplay, with obvious enthusiasm permeating the conversation.

His advice for young cosplayers? Don’t take it too seriously. “Have fun; don’t make it a chore. Don’t be afraid to fail, because if you don’t fail you haven’t learned anything. But just have fun with it, it’s what it’s all about – meeting new people and having fun.”

So the big question is: what’s next for Cosplay Chris?

As his face becomes more familiar to the community, he ought to get used to being recognised. Just last year he was flown to Louisiana for a convention and he’s already aiming to earn enough from his creations to go pro. “I was signing stuff and next to my booth was Tara Reid! But yeah, I’d love to make a proper living out of it. If you want it hard enough, it’ll happen.” If

Jay Cook talks to Ryan Chamley and Paul Moore, creator and star of the Aussie comedy doing things differently.

For anyone who has ever worked in retail or any job where you have to deal with customers face to face, this show is for you. There seem to be two people in the world, people who serve and people who get served. Rostered On takes a closer look at the absolutely ridiculous and outrageous ways customers treat retails staff. Not only that, it delves into a world with some harsh realities for retail staff where the 9 to 5 isn’t where their heart is. Rostered On will touch very close to home for some viewers, hopefully open some eyes for some customers and for everyone involved there are some priceless gags along the way.

The Pilot for Rostered On was uploaded to YouTube in April of 2016 and spread like wildfire. The Pilot alone has been viewed over 495 thousand times and counting. To put this into perspective, this 22 minute video that had no financial backing nor advertising, it was made in Australia has had almost half a million views. The most watched video on YouTube is Korean Pop Star Psy and Gangnam Style with over 2.8 billion views. This guy toured the world, had a wealth of advertising and an even bigger wealth to create the video. It’s no wonder those kinds of views for Rostered On were enough motivation to turn a pilot into a six part web series, which is exactly what Creator, Writer and Director Ryan Chamley did.

Chamley had worked in a number of retail jobs prior to being able to support himself and his family full time in the film industry, of which he

now works. Looking back over his retail career it dawned on him how he should share some of the funny encounters and stories.

“I wrote a 45 min pilot and was reluctant to show anyone. But I sucked it up and put a synopsis on Star Now (a casting website). I was blown away with the response from actors wanting to be involved”, said Chamley.

But from that bit of courage and auditioning hundreds of actors wanting to be involved, Chamley’s little side project grew. The pilot was filmed in two days and after uploading it to YouTube the pilot received rave reviews. But going further to get a six part series together didn’t come without it’s fair share of obstacles and challenges along the way.

“We showed it to someone high up at a network and their response was basically ‘It’s great, we love it, but we don’t want to fund it’,” Chamley explains.

Without the support of a major network Chamley and his established cast and crew were struck with their greatest dilemma, no budget. Thankfully the cast were passionate about the project and were happy to ensure Rostered On was made. Not only were the actors not getting paid but Chamley and the crew also had to work around everyone’s schedules.

Chamley said they pulled favours from everywhere for a location and all the props to fill an electronics store. They were granted an empty space free of

charge within a shopping centre, managed to get hold of some shop fittings, donated a number of replica tablets and phones. And to fill in all the gaps Chamley said they “collected every broken or used, TV, laptop and microwave we could find and built the store piece by piece”.

is the law, the manager who just wants to be your friend and just about everyone in between. The interactions not only between the staff themselves and the romances, but the interactions with the customers are what pull this show together.

Paul Moore joined the project early on after The shoot took eight intense days to film the six inviting Chamley to one of his acting workshops. episodes. But Chamley insists the filming was Chamley workshopped the pilot of Rostered On fun. And to prove it he released a bloopers video with the students in an improvisation class giving him even more confidence he was onto something. showing how much fun they had.

After mentioning to Moore he was ready to start The series follows Shaun, played by Paul Moore auditioning Moore put his hand up to help and got (Winners and Losers, Blue Heelers, Neighbours) the role of Shaun. as he pulls all the motivation he has to get to work everyday at Electro World. Shaun’s real passion “Honestly, it feels really weird because I know is in taking photographs in his spare time and the story behind the show and I feel extremely hope to be able to make that in to a career. But connected to the project. It doesn’t feel like acting with a young family Shaun has to put up with the anymore,” Moore said. corporate malarkey, smile and cross his fingers for Conveying what working retail is really like can that promotion. only be portrayed if you have had to deal with the Meanwhile you have all the characters you’ll find 9-5 of retail. Moore certainly did his fair share along in any work place: the overeager achiever, the guy the way much like Chamley. who thinks he’d gods gift to women, they shy guy taking advice from gods gift to women, the clueless “I normally tried to win over the customers with girl, the bitch, the security guard who thinks he kindness but I think as you get older your tolerance

is shortened and you are prepared to put up with a lot less”, Moore confessed.

Preparing for the role was easy for Moore who despite working in retail previously, always had a fascination with the body language of retail staff. But not only that he knew exactly how it felt to have a passion that isn’t your 9 to 5.

“Most people don’t have the luxury to make money from their passion. It is a constant struggle for every human being and I understand that. Shaun is a good guy, who sticks to the rules and puts in 200 per cent effort,” Moore said.

Despite the demanding schedule and quick turn around, the actors were given a great deal of freedom to improvise and explore their characters. Moore said it was electric on set with everyone having each other’s back.

“The only bad thing was my cheeks began to cramp up at times in between takes. It was so difficult keeping a straight face at times. The dry sense of humor created such a pleasant working environment, however, I found myself letting a little bit of wee out at times.

Shhh,” Moore laughs.

worked in retail for the month of February 2016.

Which goes to show how Rostered On has been so popular and blown Chamley away.

“Our Facebook page gets messages to it every day with people thanking us for telling their stories, or people venting about a shit day at work. It’s really exciting,” Chamley said.

But Moore hopes it really opens up the eyes of the customer to be a lot nicer to retail staff. But also has a strong sense of the underlying message about following your passion.

“I hope this series helps the audience ignite the flame they need to work a job they love. Don’t settle for second best,” Moore said.

The season has all 6 episodes on YouTube and already gaining a large following not only in Australia but internationally as well.

“I think we have a few seasons left in Rostered On, there are so many storylines to explore. If the audience can relate, we will continue to share the truth about retail,” Moore said.

And Chamley is already in talks but keeping that under The Australian Parliament released figures in April wraps for now, but could say “all signs are pointing to of 2016 noting over 1.2 million people in Australia a season two being even bigger and better”.

All six episodes of Rostered on are avaliable on YouTube!

Stay on Novastream for updates on the newly-CONFIRMED second season.

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Look out! A ton of DC comics Super Heroes & Super Villains have taken over Warner Bros. Movie World these school holidays with new shows, beloved characters, night-time parade, early access to rides and a ton of paid premium experiences that truly has something for everyone. So much so that we sent out two local Gold Coast roving reporters Alaisdair and Brittany to explore just what the park had to offer for DC comics fans.

Thanks to Warner Bros. Movie World for the tickets and inviting us to experience the event. If you are interested head on over to www.themeparks.com.au and purchase a VIP Magic Pass to get access. As well as the premium experiences like the Super Hero Breakfast, Ultimate Super Heroes and Villains Experience and the Junior Justice League.

Rather than reading a bloated review we thought it would be more fun for you to watch! So please find out video review, full LIVE stream of the parade, after show wrap up and final thoughts videos here!

Click on any of the pictures to start the video!

He’s home!

Jameel Khan on the triumpant return of Spidey to Marvel.

After his acclaimed cameo appearance in Captain America: Civil War last year, Spider-Man has finally solidified himself as a major player in the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), following the release of the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The cinematic history of Peter Parker, has been complicated to say the least. Having not previously possessed the film rights to the character, Marvel Studios has had to work around the noticeable absence of some of its top tier characters by building its acclaimed cinematic universe surrounding some of its more secondary roster of heroes.

Before the release of Iron Man in 2008, the likes of Tony Stark, Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy were relatively unknown to mainstream audiences.

However, due to the unprecedented success of the franchise as a whole these characters have now become household names culminating in the most successful film franchise of all-time. However, as the franchise grew it becoming increasingly clear that something was missing in the form of a large Spider-Man shaped hole.

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming follows Peter Parker as he For those not in the know, back in the 90s following a tries to adjust back to his normal high school life after series of financial troubles Marvel sold the film rights having met and fought alongside Earth’s Mightiest to some of its more widely-known characters, most Heroes. The film chronicles his desire to please Tony notably of these would be the Fantastic Four and the Stark and prove himself a hero worthy of Avenger X-men who were sold to 20th Century Fox and finally status. This comes with its challenges however as Spider-Man who’s film rights were sold to Sony. It is due to his age and inexperience he is immediately because of this that despite having seen two different dismissed by his mentor. It is following this and his incarnations of Spider-Man since 2002 in the form of uncovering of a sinister plot within his hometown of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield we never Queens, orchestrated by supervillain The Vulture, that saw Spider-Man alongside the likes of The Avengers, he must act alone and step-up in order to save the day. in the Disney owned MCU. That is, until now.

The film was everything a Spider-Man film should With 5 on-screen interpretations of Spider-Man, be. Director Jon Watts presented a profound ranging in quality between middling to abysmal, understanding of what makes Peter Parker such just see Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man an intriguing and loveable character and helped to 2 (yuck!) it became increasingly clear that fans had establish everybody’s favourite web-slinger as a part begun to lose faith in Sony’s ability to effectively utilise of the wider MCU. the character. It is because of this that a deal was struck between Sony and Marvel Studios to include a new The story was very much self-contained, with incarnation of Spider-Man in the MCU, thus leading references to the rest of the franchise feeling organic to the film I will be reviewing for you now. (Finally!) and not penciled in for the sake of it. There were many notable easter eggs and cameos that over fear of So, with all things considered and the mounting spoilers I will not reveal here. (Just go and see it!) pressure on this film to be a success among critics and Watts also respected the audience enough to not fans there is one glaring question; is it any good? retread the same origin story that we have already seen on-screen twice in fifteen years. The death of Uncle Ben was not shoved down our throats and it felt

Yes. It’s very good.

t refreshing not to be blatantly lectured on the concept grounded and relatable. There was also a profound that “with great power comes great responsibility.” sense of humanity to the character which made his motivations increasingly understandable. This is a The 36-year-old director also dared to do something character that would benefit the franchise greatly if he that no director before him had previously, he made were to be fleshed out further somewhere down the a Spider-man movie that was fun. This was reflective track. (Sinister Six spin-off anyone???) in the films tone that took notes from other successful films about high school such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a film that is even referenced within Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Other performances that stood out came in the form of supporting actors Jacob Batalon and Marisa Tomei This was only furthered by the outstandingly comic as Ned and Aunt May respectively, who’s interactions book accurate portrayal of the titular character by Tom with Peter added a welcome and humorous layer to Holland. The English actor brought a joyfulness and the film as a whole. charm to the character that has never been presented as effectively on film before. It was refreshing to This film was not only entertaining as a stand-alone finally see an age-appropriate actor demonstrate the property, but it also makes me hopeful of the future of awkwardness and naivety that makes Spider-Man so comic book films as a whole. Spider-Man:Homecoming relatable. shows that if two movie studios work together to give fans what they want, then both can benefit greatly. I Marvel’s casting of its heroes to date has been have no doubt that everyone’s friendly neighbourhood impeccable, Tom Holland as Peter Parker however Spiderman’s first solo appearance in the MCU will is one of its strongest, rivalling even that of Robert absolutely kill it at the box office and will hopefully Downey Jr’s Iron Man with on-screen chemistry pave the way for future agreements between rivalling between the two stars demonstrating both of their film studios. acting talents, bouncing off each other with perfect comedic timing. Tom Holland has a huge Hollywood Imagine a world where the X-Men, the Fantastic Four career ahead of him, one that I cannot wait to follow. and the Avengers could all fight alongside each other on-screen. Take this one step further and imagine an Comic book film legend Michael Keaton also aided in eventual DC/Marvel crossover. the success of the films as the Vulture, AKA Adrian A guy can dream.

Toomes. Throughout the franchises history, the MCU has often been criticised for its lack of compelling villains. The Vulture is an exception to this however with the reasoning behind his sinister actions being

Go and see this film.

It is phenomenal.

Jackie Janette on the other end of the movie spectrum In a world that thrives off big budget action, Sofia Coppola’s latest movie The Beguiled is a refreshing reminder that a good story is not necessarily the most action packed. Set during the American Civil war in 1864 Virginia, the film tells the story of several women who live away from their families, homes and friends at a school for young ladies.

One day one of them discovers an injured enemy soldier (Colin Farrell), which results in the ladies facing a great moral dilemma. They can save him and do the good Christian thing or let him be taken as a prisoner and eventually die. Whilst on paper the plot may sound dry, the story really is an interesting case study that raises many different questions about morality, humanity and feminism.

The overarching question of ‘Who should I trust and why should I trust them?’ is the guiding compass to the film’s thesis.

South with many intense scenes that involve young characters. Two out of the eight main cast members (Angourie Rice, Nicole Kidman) were Australian, which was noticeable at times (particularly to a fellow Australian). However, it did not overly distract from their exceptional performances and it was nice to see Australian talent in such a gutsy story. Additionally, the younger cast had perfect comedic timing and were not cringe-worthy in the slightest. They handled the nature of the content with dignity and the fact that young people were playing young characters was particularly appreciated.

The most distracting part of the film was the seemingly dark colour grading. It is unclear if this was a fault of the film or the cinema it was viewed in but it felt like watching a movie on the lowest brightness setting. It was difficult to see the If you aren’t a fan of Coppola’s other work, such as cast’s amazing performances and the beautiful Lost In Translation or The Virgin Suicides, it might cinematography. However, despite this, the film be better to give this one a miss. The film is saturated was incredibly enjoyable and their performances with her direction and it is evident throughout that and overall production still shone through the you are watching a Sofia Coppola movie. However, darkness. if you choose to miss this one you’ll be missing out on a fascinating storyline and fearless film by If you’re not a Sofia Coppola fan, do not be afraid to a prominent female director. Coppola’s direction give this movie a try. Her pacing and style is truly is gutsy and brave but simultaneously light and unique to her, which is refreshing throughout this feminine. Her slow-paced style and focus on story blockbuster season. The slower pace of her films and characters allows the story to simmer so that it can take some getting used to, however, once you particularly shines in its strongest moments. do get used to them, you will be rewarded with well written stories and dimensional characters. She The cast was phenomenal and perhaps a brave never fails to make an interesting movie, which is choice for a film that is so heavily based in the well and truly evident with The Beguiled.

In an attempt to board the shared universe hype train Universal Studios developed the MonsterVerse, including the Mummy, Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and more.

Alaisdair Leith thinks they’ve bitten off more than they can chew with this reboot of the 00s classic.

One of my favourite films as a teenager was The Mummy and its increasingly ridiculous sequels. The films were over the top fun that never disappointed in their epic over the top action sequences, with quippy one liners and an absurd plot. The films are a testament to their time and turned Brendan Fraser into an action movie star and introduced the world to Dwayne Johnson “The Rock” (who could ever forget that horrible CGI!) Now Universal want to cash in on the cinematic universe trend and have officially started their Dark Universe (look out Warner Bros. are coming for you!) with the first film in the franchise The Mummy.

change of pace that it introduced to the movie that was meant to be The Mummy irritated me a lot.

This time around Tom Cruise is cast as the lead Nick Morton, a treasure hunter profiting off Isis destroying ancient artifacts. When he steals a map from a one night encounter, he accidentally uncovers a hidden tomb belonging to Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), who was cursed for her crimes in a bloody flashback scene. Once set free she sets across the land sucking the life out of others and creating zombie servants. She chases Nick to London to unite a jewel and dagger that were separated in the Crusades as she believes that the God of Death will come to life through Nick and rage war upon the Earth.

Visually the film delivered, the updated CGI effects are a massive step forward from the Scorpion King from The Mummy Returns.

Ahmunet herself had a lot of make up and costume effects that helped her character look real and less CGI (especially that double pupil CGI thing that looked odd) Cruise is not at his best her, this film required comedic timing, and while he has shown that he can do this previously in films like Tropic Thunder, it fell flat in this film and makes you realise the comedic genius that Brendan Fraser was.

This didn’t add anything to the story of The Mummy, it didn’t help or enhance the story, it instead veered away from it and brought about a mediocre second half and ending that stopped this from being a great action movie. The whole thing could have been introduced in the Jekyll and Hyde film that we are no doubt going to see. Crowe was great as the iconic character, however the whole premise did not fit in with the Mummy movie and was a waste.

Overall this film disappointed me, it was set to launch a shared universe and whole it tried, I can’t help but think studio interference forced the story to crash half way through and become a world building film instead of a great stand alone. I fear if it was the Invisible Man or even Frankenstein you could probably get away with it, but The Mummy has had the most recent remake and had a service to its fanbase that it did not deliver.

The first half of the movie works, it has the silliness that the Mummy movies demands but with some beefed up CGI and action sequences it moves along quite well. That is until Universal step in and demand the establishing of their Dark Universe and the rest of the movie turns to rubbish. In walks Russell Crowe as Dr Henry Jekyll (yes that one!) and introduces Nick and his guide Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) to his Monster-arium in which he captures, studies and imprisons Gods and Monsters to save the Is it too late to re-cast Tom Cruise? Please world from evil. It sounds cool on paper, but the Universal? PLEASE

It is rare for a movie franchise to get better with each film. While I enjoyed the first film, I loved the second one and I found this one to be the perfect film in the franchise. After the gigantic success of Despicable Me 2, it seemed near impossible to beat it, but the team at Universal have outdone themselves. More laughs, more gags, less Minion screen time and the introduction of Gru’s brother Dru (also voiced by Steve Carell) sees the film focus on family values. Everything in this film is dialled up to eleven and delivers the best film in the Despicable Me franchise.

Comedy heavyweights Steve Carell & Kristin Wiig reteam for another Minion-filled adventure.

Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristin Wiig) are sacked from the Anti-Villain League when Gru received a message from his twin brother he didn’t know he had. Dru lives in a place called Freedonia, a picturesque town right out of a fairtyle. He does also work in the villain business and Gru convinces him to steal back the world’s most valuable diamond from Bratt (Trey Parker) an 80’s nostalgic loving who’s hit child sitcom got cancelled when he hit puberty is mad at Hollywood. His shoulder and knee pads and bubblegum popping demeanour is a great character for children of the late 80’s.

The minions get a side mission in this film after being led by Mel on a revolt against Gru and his changed ways, while their Looney Tunes style is dialled up in this film, their appearance in here proves just why the Minions movie didn’t work. They are great in small doses and reliant upon their human counterparts to be funny and effective.

Lucy attempts to bond with the three girls while Dru and Gru re-discover each other and attempt to stop Bratt and earn the respect of their ex-boss Valeria Da Vinci (Jenny Slate) and get back into the Anti Villian League. The three girls still have a part to play in this film, in particular Agnes leading the team on a mission to track down a real life unicorn.

Visually the studio Illumination have been on a journey with the beauty of New York City in the Secret Life Of Pets to the detailed animals and water effects in Sing, Despicable Me 3 takes them up to another level with gorgeous colours and explosions that combine with the exemplementary soundtrack chock full of 80’s nostalgia like Madonna, Aha, Prince and Michael Jackson.

Words by Alaisdair Leith

Overall Despicable Me 3 delivers a solid animated film continuing the string of hits from Illumination and Universal.

The story is fresh and the comedy solid with new players like Jenny Slate and Trey Parker. Despite all of the laughs and gags, their is still a large heart at the core of this story and this helps the film succeed. A catchy soundtrack and eye popping visuals put this film in animation blockbuster territory. If you are a fan of the previous films you will revel in the joy of this third instalment, and for any newcomers you don’t need to have seen the last 2 to follow it (although it does help you catch the in jokes) Despicable Me 3 is Illumination’s masterpiece and has a strong contender for animated film of the year.

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JOHN LEVENE

Mark Halyday talks to the Classic Who star about the iconic series, his friend Jon Pertwee and coming back for UNIT: Assembled

Good morning John. You’re going to be in Australia Can you tell us a little bit about that? soon to see all your fans at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Are you excited to see all your fans?

I don’t mind taking a bit of credit for that. I was the first actor that dared to go away from the BBC and to do Oh yes indeed, cannot wait to come down and see an independent production. The production company everybody. I’m one of the few that love the fans more was called Realtime Films. Sadly the man who runs than I love myself.

Reeltime Films, his name is Keith Barnfarther, he ended up taking quite a bit of money from all the Isn’t it wonderful that Doctor Who is still running and actors and he ended up not being very well liked and that there is this whole new generation that can go I see he’s now resurfaced after fifteen years of cheating back and see your stuff as part of the same story they’re everybody out of their money. seeing on their TVs now.

But Wartime was the first time I was ever a leading It is incredible and this is one of the best months of man. And of course Michael Wisher was a leading my life with Doctor Who, given that I was in it in man in it too. It was the first independent production 1965. A wonderful new book released called Directed of Doctor Who and I could have lost all my work

by Douglas Camfield. Now he is the biggest and most from it but it turns out they liked it so much that they professional director of Doctor Who in the show’s carried on making more independents. history. He did Invasion, The Dalek’s Master Plan, Terror of the Zygons, all the big ones. The author So Wartime was very good to me because it taught me Michael Seely called me and he knew I knew Douglas how to be an independent leading man. almost better than anybody else apart from his wife and his son.

You were part of The Three Doctors, the first multiDoctor story, which kind of acted as the show’s tenth So what’s happened is that one fifth of the book is anniversary. Is it true you were invited back for the to do with me [talking about Douglas] and how he twentieth anniversary The Five Doctors? helped me. He references me all the way through so it’s a beautiful read, like a hot knife through butter. I You know that story? Do you want to hear the truth? purposely had to stop reading it as I nearly got through it in a whole day.

Yeah! Because I’ve read bits and pieces but I’d love to hear it from you.

And the other thing is that my biggest Big Finish Productions have just been released, called UNIT: Okay I’ll tell you and I won’t exaggerate or underAssembled. exaggerate because I don’t do that any more. What happened is that my love of [Third Doctor] Jon [For the uninitiated, Big Finish have been publishing Pertwee, my admiration for Katy Manning – because I licensed audiobooks of extra adventures about the was never romantically involved with anybody, I wasn’t characters from Doctor Who for decades. They are that kind of actor – and my regard for [the Master] extremely high quality and have a large and devoted Roger Delgado made my life complete because it’s the fan base] first time I’d been happy in my life.

I was reading all about UNIT: Assembled, the newest audiobook, with yourself, recurring Doctor Who characters Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver and Third Doctor companion Katy Manning. It’s a fantastic cast that they’ve assembled.

So what happened with Doctor Who is you get a script in a big brown manila envelope. And it’s so exciting it makes your tummy turn and you want to go to the toilet because you think ‘wow, could this be the episode I’m really big in’ or ‘Could this be a new part for Sgt Benton? How many parts will I have? How Oh boy! You should see it! We recorded it and it much do the new writer and the new director trust sounded fabulous. I haven’t heard it yet. I’m waiting me?’ to hear it tonight with my son, his wife and his two children. We’re having a little premiere for it.

The Five Doctors script came and I’d just had an awful divorce at the time, I was living with my eighteen Awesome. Now twelve years after Sgt Benton departed year old daughter and she said ‘Dad, look at this huge Doctor Who you returned for a spinoff movie Wartime. envelope. It’s another Doctor Who’

I opened up the envelope. It was about the thickest script I’d ever seen, because as you know it had about every Doctor Who character in history of man it in, as thick as the bottom of your leg. [When I was a regular on Doctor Who] I’d look at the cast list and obviously Jon Pertwee was at the top, then Katy Manning, then Nicholas Courtney and I about the fifth lead.

The reason I know I made the right choice is this: Ten days before Jon Pertwee died in his last interview he raved about me and thanked me for convincing him to come back and do the second series. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to come back after the pressure of the first year. My friendship with him – given I picked him up in the morning, drove him home at night, i

My daughter said “I’m so excited” because I’d been so sad over the divorce. She thought it would do me good to get back to the studio. So with The Five Doctors I turned to the cast list and looked at the page where all the characters are detailed looking for Sgt Benton.

Looking at #1, #2, #3, #4, #7, #8, #15, #20, #21 and I’m still not there and right at the bottom of the cast list was a character that was going to play a sergeant off-camera, in other words a voice-over only. And the line was this:

Ironed his shirt, went and did all of his cabarets with him – we were very close, joined at the hip, and in the last interview and he said “I quite enjoyed The Five Doctors but I have to agree with John Levene, he was so badly served and insulted by one line out of vision that I can’t blame him for not doing it.

As the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) tries to enter: Excuse me sir, you can’t go in there. It’s private.

And I had to do was yell at Pat Troughton not to enter this building. And that’s all I had in the whole show.

After all the years you put in? (1968-1977, and later 1987 and 2017)

So I know then I made the right decision Mark.

Absolutely. But with UNIT back in the fold on Doctor Who and with you working with Jemma and Ingrid on this recent Big Finish book, would you consider coming back to the BBC series?

Let me put it this way: I would be there in about one second. I would run all the way with bare feet to be in one of the Doctor Who episodes now. I would give anything. And I will say one thing: millions of fans have said that if Sgt Benton came back that the viewing figures would go up by one third, by hundreds of thousands of people if they invited either myself or Katy Manning to the new show.

Right. Well I phoned up the director and said I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to come in and do one line out of camera. On that same day I had fourteen phone calls from fourteen of the actors including Jon One final question before you go: what has been your Pertwee and Nic Courtney, and the director said aside favourite episode of Doctor Who? Let’s say one of the from the Doctor that Sgt Benton was his favourite classic series and one from the revival. character.

Absolutely The Daemons. Without doubt my absolute I am aware now that Sgt Benton was so popular favourite three weeks of my entire life. I love the because he saved the Doctor each week. I hadn’t Daemons so much. It’s the one that made me famous. realised that back then. So long story short the director said “I’m so disappointed we’re not going to But I also loved Time Monster. I love Inferno where see you but we understand” I have three parts. I absolutely adored The Green Death.

And the story I think was the most powerful of the David Tennant or of the newer series is the Weeping Angels’ Blink. I mean that is horrifying, even today.

Oh definitely, that’s a classic. Thank you for time today John.

John Levene will be at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo Sydney June 16th-18th. UNIT: Assembled starring Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver, Katy Manning and John Levene is available now through Big Finish Productions. And to learn about John, Katy and the director that made them famous, Directed By Douglas Camfield is available from all good bookstores.

Words by Mark Halyday Doctor Who is unmissable television. The tenth season Yet the way ‘The Doctor Falls’ doesn’t pack the same of the modern series returned twelve short weeks ago punch as any of the former modern regenerations. after an unnecessary hiatus forced upon it by the BBC. The episode builds and builds to a crescendo and then an explosion is triggered and the Doctor dies. What Peter Capaldi remains extraordinary, continuously lead to this moment - especially the near-perfect lifting up the entire show with his pitch-perfect penultimate episode ‘World Enough and Time’ - was portrayal of the madman alien and his mostly heroic, far more interesting, as well as what happens next. sometimes dubious actions. Fresh-faced Pearl Mackie The Doctor refuses to regenerate - companionless was plucked from obscurity to play the Doctor’s and angry, he protests - until one of his former selves companion Bill and it’s safe to say she is unaminously comes out of fhe snow to (assumedly) comfort him in loved by the intense fanbase. Her character’s purpose his time of need. was to re-centre the show on it’s adventure and wonderment roots and it certainly achieved this.

From the writer that penned the best episode of Doctor Who ever (Day of the Doctor), ending his final run The guest stars gave a wry wink to the crowd that with both a multi-Master story and a multi-Doctor have followed the Doctor for more than a handful of story is truly legendary. Despite the BBC’s lies this will episodes. Matt Lucas’ Nardole went from pointless to all culminate at Christmas, of course, rather than this pertinant quickly and was able to shorthand some of bulk of episodes. the show’s tropes in new ways. Michelle Gomez’s Missy delightfully returned after a dozen episodes away and The rest of the season goes fine enough. The premiere completed a redemption arc that would make her was novel and a nice, faster pace than usual while former self turn in his grave. space station episode ‘Extremis’ stands out as the best episode not written by Moffat. ‘The Empress of Mars’ The combination of that arc and the return of John was also fine form, a rare departure on Doctor Who Simm’s master made for an excellent finale. To pit the for Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss.

Master against himself at two different points in his/ her timeline was brilliant and a FIRST for a fifty-four The Eaters of Light, Smile and Thin Ice were a return year old series. to Russel T Davies’ storybook fun. Nothing to write home about but solid episodes that will stand the test This coupled with the return of the Mondasian of repeat viewing. Disappointly this season’s horror Cybermen - rather than the Cybus Cybermen from effort ‘Knock Knock’ fell flat despite the hype, and a Pete’s World - was the big show we were all promised. three part Monk arc was yawnish at best, despite trying This is the end of Peter Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor, really hard.

Bill Mackie’s role as companion and showrunner Steven Moffat’s time as the man in charge of Doctor Doctor Who is a mixed bag, of course, but when it Who. works it is the best thing on television. This seasons signs off Capaldi and Moffat admirably and makes me There’s going to be some explosions. happy to be a Whovian.

Community’s Alison Brie makes a daring career choice

Words by Jake Luland

The frizzled hair, spandex, over the top gimmicks and tantalising action portrayed in GLOW perfectly encapsulates 80’s mainstream womens’ wrestling.

Based on the Gorgeous Ladies’ Of Wrestling professional wrestling promotion, The Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch created comedy GLOW manages to accurate convey an inaccurate tale of the Wrestling promotion Alison Brie plays Ruth Wilder, a down an out actress during the mid-1980’s in Hollywood, struggling to find work due to not being seen as a gender stereotype. Struggling to pay her utilities and dependent on her parent’s, She reads an ad for a gig out in the Valley, and decides’ to take it. It I here where she is introduced to the world of Wrestling, as she is hired (despite some reluctance) by Shady b-movie director Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron). Hired by Young hotshot Sebastian Howard (Chris Lowell) to create the Gorgeous Ladies’ of Wrestling, Sam Sylvia is tasked teach a broad spectrum of personalities, ranging from Jenny Chey, a soft spoken Asian lady played by Angela Fong, Tamme Dawson (Kia Stevens AKA Awesome Kong), a large African American lady tasked to play the politically incorrect ‘Welfare Queen’, and Rhonda Richardson (Kate Nash) A brash British lady known as ‘Britannica’ and Cherry Bang (Sydelle Noel) A loudmouth punk, amongst others.

Adding to the plot, Ruth faces constant friction from former friend and Daytime TV Star Debby Eagan (Betty Gilpin) after having an affair with her Husband Mark (Rich Sommer) These issues are all face during the development of the television show, to which Sam Sylvia says ‘If we can find one Hulk Hogan out of this, we’ve hit the F****** Jackpot.’

One of the biggest guilty pleasures of this show is seeing wrestling portrayed in a positive light. As a fan, it has been disheartening to see wrestling portrayed so negatively though Movie’s such as 2000’s Ready to Rumble and 2008’s The Wrestler, It is sobering seeing wrestling portrayed in a more light-hearted and fun manner.

My personal respect for the actor’s knowing that they went through a mini crash course in order to be able to perform several moves is heightened when seeing Alison Brie perform various moves such as a Frog Splash and an Arm Drag. For any wrestling’s fans watching, keep an eye out for wrestlers such as Tyrus, Alex Riley, Joey Ryan, Johnny Mundo and The Addiction.

Another aspect of the television series I like is the ability to incorporate themes of female empowerment and femininity without making it feel forced or pointless. Ruth is constantly depicted as a free-spirited, strong woman yet still managing to encapsulate a certain vulnerability and nativity needed for her character. Similarly, the character of Debbie Eagan is a character constantly portrayed as powerful, from the way she deals with her Husband mark and the shady Sam Sylvia.

I think that Hollywood could learn from Glow in how to depict a feminism and a positive manner, potentially inspiring a rethink of how we can properly display women in a television series without making it feel forced or done for the sake of it. I feel that GLOW has learnt from the mistakes of the recent Ghostbuster’s film and have managed to write a female orientated show for the right reasons, and I highly commend the creator’s for that.

Despite this, I was disappointed to find the TV Series to be a somewhat inaccurate depiction of actual events. Whilst I understand the creator’s aim to create their own bunch of character’s, I feel that you could of have fun with some of the original character’s such as Big Bad Mama, Dementia two, Gremlina and Hollywood amongst others. Despite this, I feel that the directors effectively managed to give each character unique personalities.

Another Nit-picky aspect of the show was shown as the women were studying wrestling. I feel that they failed to show enough female wrestling in order to encapsulate the theme of the show. I feel that the inclusion of a clip from Wendi Richter or Cyndi Lauper could have done a lot to showcase womens wrestling of the era whilst not making the television series feel forced.

GLOW is a fun show about wrestling that respects the business whilst maintaining a fun, light-hearted nature about it. Spearheaded towards fans of television series’ such as Orange is the New Black and Lucha Underground. It manages to balance the line between comedy and drama expertly and coupled with a general quirkiness, excellent direction, and a smart script, this is one of the most enjoyable new television series of 2017. I highly recommend this for all feminist, due to a well depicted cast of strong women, wrestling fans for its respect for the business, and anyone who like’s smart comedies.

Words by Jake Luland I can’t believe this will be the last season of Sense 8, especially with that cliffhanger! But I’m glad we got the chance to see much more of Sun, Kala, Wolfgang and Van Damme, who were a little neglected in season 1.

friend Bugs. Together the trio helps Will in his search for Whispers’ location, information on PBO and their relation to Angelica, with their nerdy hacker skills.

Their relationship also deepens through Teegan’s wedding (Nomi’s sister), when the police try to take Nomi, but find no warrant thanks to her E-death, as well as when Neets proposes to Nomi only to find out that Nomi had also been preparing to propose, and had been hiding the ring in a wooden box under the bed. Nomi, Neets and Bug also aid all the other members of the cluster in times of need, like Sun’s prison break.

In the first half of this season, if you include the Christmas Special as well, we start off with Whispers, on the hunt for Will’s location so that he can use him to reach the rest of his cluster. In order to hide himself from Whispers, Riley prevents Will from knowing his own location and puts him under a drug-induced sleep whenever Whispers appears. Will’s connection with Whispers counteractively allows him to learn more about PBO (the company that is trying to capture Sun’s story deepens as her lonely yet harmonious senate’s), and Angelica and Whisper’s relationship. stay in prison is threatened by the men sent by her brother to kill her. With the help of her cluster, who Lito, his lover Hernando, and their friend Daniela, all experience her near death, she escapes prison with continue to suffer under the scrutiny of the Mexican her prison cellmate Min-Jung, only to be chased by entertainment industry after the sucker punch ‘Who the police and be used as a media ploy by her brother am I?” speech Lito does on the red carpet with Van to earn sympathy votes. One police officer, Detective Damme and their cluster, as well as his coming out Mum, shows a unique interest in her after a one-onspeech at the pride march. He becomes depressed, one fight. The two have history. Mum had fought when his identity as a gay man kicks him out of his Sun a long time ago in a competition and had lost. agency and makes him jobless. That is, until Daniela When Sun reunites with her beloved dog and her helps him get the part for a new Hollywood film. kick-boxing trainer to hide from the police and her brother, Mum visits. During his visit, he explains to Nomi is also on the run with her girlfriend Amanita, Sun’s trainer, their history and leaves his business card also known as Neets. To stop PBO and Whispers from to contact him if Sun gets into trouble, and to indicate coming after them, Nomi stages an E-death which that he is on her side. They meet once more when Sun wipes off all her traces on the internet, thanks to her visits her parent’s grave, where Mum, disguised as a

worker in the cemetery, approaches her and proposes a deal; if she has a rematch with him, he will let her go freely, but if she chooses not to, she will tell him about what her brother has done on the record as evidence.

The two have a hot, sweaty and bloody rematch. Mum reveals that he might know more about Sun than she might about herself and in the middle of their fight they kiss, bumping up his status from creepy detective to Sun’s first love interest. That is until Sun changes her mind and knocks him down. Sun brings her mind back to her original goal, to bring retribution to her brother. She disguises herself as a bartender at her brother’s party and tries to kill him. He escapes but with the help of her cluster, she tracks him down. It’s a sick action sequence in the bustling streets of Seoul.

When she finally gets the chance, she fails to kill him because of the promise she made to her mother, to take care of Joong-ki and her sympathy towards him.

She gets captured by the police once more, but escapes again thanks to another sensate, Puck, who Riley becomes acquainted with when she tries to find out more about the blockers Whispers used to block out other senate’s from visiting him.

Riley helps Will in fighting back Whispers by stepping out and exposing herself to another senate’s, which she does through DJ-ing at a big rave. She then connects with an old sensate named Mr. Hoy who, after some persuasion, trusts her enough to reveal more about what the senate’s are capable of as a species and the history of PBO and Whispers. She also travels to Chicago by herself, leaving Will behind in London, to learn more about Whispers with the help of Will’s police partner, Diego. During her stay in Chicago, she finds about more about Angelica’s relation to Whispers and PBO and helps Will say goodbye to his father when he dies before returning to London.

The two form a romantic relationship and Zakia inspires him to use his fame to become a politician and make the corrupt state of Nairobi, a better place.

However, everything isn’t as easy and dreamy as it seems. Capheus must convince his mother, who is strongly against him becoming a politician, because she doesn’t want to lose him like she lost her husband (who was killed for being a politician). Once she finally agrees to him, he then faces persecution from the public after his speech, and almost gets killed. Due to his exposure, from his very public speech, Capheus unknowingly connects to four other senate’s from different clusters.

Speaking of connecting with different senate’s, Wolfgang’s story takes a hot turn when he meets Lila. When Felix, Wolfie’s best friend, is offered the opportunity to own a successful club, run by Abraham, a well-known businessman, they are introduced to Abraham’s right hand, Lila, who Abraham doesn’t know is a sensate. Wolfgang’s first encounter with Lila consists of lots of heavy breath-taking and steamy gazes across the room as Lila not only physically exists, sitting beside the Abraham, but is also doing naughty things to him whilst visiting him in the same space.

Wolfie quickly learns that he could do the same thing and it’s a very sexy scene (but not as sexy as the Christmas Special episode when everyone has birthday sex!).

During this scene, Wolfgang also grasps that Abraham wants to use him to protect himself from the gang wars.

Wolfie later discovers that Lila can walk the streets confidently despite being a sensate because she made a deal with PBO. He also learns that she wants him, not only for his body, but to help her in her scheme for the war going on between the ‘kings’ (gangs) of Berlin.

Lila then betrays Wolfgang when he is stubborn about It took me awhile to get used to the new actor, Toby not aiding her in her scheme and then we have the sick Onwumere, from Aml Ameen, but he’s proven to cluster-on-cluster fight between Lila and Wolfgang’s make Van Damme his very own character. Van cluster; lots of guns, one-liners and action. Lila plays Damme, whose real name is Capheus, rises to fame in the innocent, abused woman when the police come Kenya after his interview with news journalist Zakia. and this turns Wolfie into a fugitive.

Last, but not least, we see a huge character growth in Kala. As the cluster’s main medic and pharmacist, Kala seems to make more of an appearance to cluster meetings and gets more screen time in season 2.

She continues to struggle with her marriage, as Rajan’s pharmaceutical business improves and people continue to attack him and her father-inlaw. Tensions are still high between their households and Kala also finds out about the corruption behind the medications and drugs her husband is selling, affecting those in Kenya (like Capheus). The introduction of Rajan’s friend and business partner, Ajay does not help, as he sends her annoying sexual innuendoes and contributes to the corruption of their company. Kala has an identity crisis. She wants to be independent and not have to live with the standards set towards her, and she is unhappy with herself, being married and successful.

A key factor to this struggle is her relationship with Wolfgang, and yes, I have been leaving the best to last. Kala is in a perpetual state of confusion because of the drawstring tight sexual tension between her and Wolfie which constantly tempts and questions her morality. Oh man, are we going here? If it isn’t obvious yet, I am like the sniper on this ship. I’m willing to kill everything in its way because I do not want it to get in danger, and I want it alive and sailing forever. Ever since season 1, when Wolfgang made Kala faint bye appearing at her wedding stark naked, my fate with this ship was sealed. In season 2, many of my dreams for this ship come true… Sensorial-sex in the pool with Kajan kissing Wolfgang to wake Kala up, check. Kala confessing her growing feelings for Wolfie, and in turn Wolfie overriding Kala’s morals, saying that he’ll go to Mumbai for her, kiss kiss, and then Kala saying she’ll go to Berlin, and then them both agreeing to going someplace else, check. Then in the season’s finale, Kala tries to tell Rajan about being a sensate and being in love with Wolfgang, but fails when Rajan asks her to go to Paris for him so that she can stay safe and away from Ajay, who is now hell bent on taking vengeance for Rajan betrayal, first. This leads to the adorable scene when Wolfie and Kala visit each other whilst packing bags. They finally say their I love you, but then everything goes haywire.

Lila appears in front of Wolfgang, and it turns out she was allied with the Cannibal, another name Whispers goes by (Question. Why does he have so many names? It’s starting to get annoying). In the end, Wolfgang is captured and it is Kala who tells the rest of their cluster what has happened. Will’s plan to undermine Whispers is abruptly pushed forward and the cluster successfully kicks ass, capturing Whispers and another betrayer, Jonas, thanks to Kala’s homemade blockers and the PBO security disguises. Then the season ends with Will’s final line to a bloody and unconscious Whispers, “You want a war? We’ll give you a war.” Did you get shivers?

Because I did.

I hate that this show had to be cancelled, especially because Kala and Wolfie never got the chance to meet in real life (within the story), but I’m glad that we were able to get a season 2 out of it. The sheer scale of the production and diversity of the cast of Sense 8 had be hooked and mesmerised. I hope this show will inspire new and upcoming series to include more global casts with lots and lots of representation, because seeing Korean faces on Netflix makes me feel proud..

Jameel Khan on the lauded third season Following the success and universal critical acclaim of its two previous outings, the anthology series Fargo, a spin-off television series of the now classic Coen Brother’s film of the same name, has now concluded its ten-part third season.

Building upon the formula established by the original film and its previous seasons, Fargo season three tells of a “true story” that never actually happened revolving around simple folk residing in Minnesota.

However, following a chain of events sparked by the ongoing feud between two brothers, these simple folk are all brought into a web of lies, murder and deceit that leaves few survivors.

The cast do a terrific job with Obi Wan Kenobi himself Ewan McGregor showing his true acting versatility by portraying both feuding brothers Ray and Emmit Stussy.

Definite highlights however were Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Nikki Swango, who although first appearing as your typical femme fatal archetype, was later revealed to be one of the more complex and fleshed out characters of the show and finally

David Thewlis as V.M. Vargo, an antagonist so unsettling that he is sure to leave any viewer with a profound sense of eeriness and discomfort whenever he appears onscreen.

The success of the show however ultimately comes down to its impeccable writing.

Over the length of the 10-episode arc the character and plot development fleshes out to be one of the more memorable seasons of television this year, solidifying Fargo’s status as being easily one of the best shows on television.

The season does start off quite slowly, with the earlier half of the season feeling like somewhat of a drag and a chore to get through. However, it is from episode 5 on wards that it becomes clear that the first half of the season was very much a well crafted set-up culminating in the eventual massive pay off that was the rest of the season.

Although it is every much unclear as to when a fourth season will air, if ever, Fargo throughout its previous three seasons has again and again proven itself to be a masterpiece of modern television.

If you’re a fan of Starz Original, you should already be watching American Gods, and if you’re not, I highly recommend taking the time to check it out.

Starz has been killing it with their production of original shows, from Outlander to the recently concluded Black Sails. They’ve developed a house style for beautiful and chilling opening credits tailored specifically for their shows. American Gods’ title sequence perfectly reflects the tone and style of the show, mixing roadside/classic Americana with imagery of ancient and arcane ritual and worship, and is well worth looking up on Youtube. You know what, why not take a minute to do that now and then continue.

As for the show itself, it has its problems, as any first season does, but it more than makes up for them with excellent writing, landscape porn, a soundtrack that manages to be both elegant and full of gritty southern rock, Ian McShane in the role Ian McShane was made for – American Gods’ own Mr. Wednesday, and Ricky Whittle as everyone’s best boy, Shadow Moon.

And we can’t talk about casting without giving truly honourable mentions to Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney and Australia’s own Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Shadow’s wife.

American Gods is adapted for TV from the novel

by Neil Gaiman and follows Shadow Moon as he is released from jail early to attend the funeral of his wife, who died in an automobile accident along with Shadow’s best friend Robbie. On the way back to Eagle Point, Indiana, where they both lived before Shadow pulled a job on a casino and got put away, he runs into fellow con man, and in his own words ‘Hustler, swindler, cheater and liar’ but undeniably delightful, Mr. Wednesday, who offers him a job.

Most of the season is dedicated to Shadow and Wednesday’s road trip on the way to Wisconsin and the mysterious House on the Rock, and their stops along the way to recruit various personages into Wednesday’s brewing war between the old gods of America and the new.

But with the resurrection of Laura, from dead corpse to undead corpse, thanks to the leprechaun (and not the kind on the lucky charms box) Mad Sweeney’s lucky coin, things in Shadow’s world get even more complicated.

With her resurrection of sorts, the story splits; Shadow and Wednesday to their road trip, to convince a murder of gods (the shows wonderful technical term for a large gathering of gods) to fight a war. Laura and Mad Sweeney to their own, to get Laura her true resurrection; with beautiful vignettes about various gods ‘coming to America’ stories opening each of eight episodes of the first season.

While the show can have some trouble with pacing and certain problematic references (which have been of huge debate on twitter) it is without doubt superbly produced. It has complexity and mystery, and just enough charming Ian McShaneness, stunning visuals, and sparkling dialogue to lift the ready use of Spartacus-level Starz corn-syrup blood and dramatic gore. Though the latter becomes sparser and sparser as the season goes on, which renders the former even more enjoyable.

Developed for television, produced, and more than occasionally written by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daises, Dead Like Me, Hannibal) and Michael Green, American Gods has been greenlight for a second season. My eyes, as well as my ears, brain and body, are ready.

Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking novel has always been to complex to adapt to TV. But this is the golden era of television.

MC Dunn on the first season of American Gods

The newest title on Nintendo Switch packs a punch!

Words by Alaisdair Leith

The Nintendo Switch has been an unprecedented success story so far delivering hit after hit with titles like Zelda Breath Of The Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Launching a new IP on the hybrid console is always exciting and the campy and cartoony look of Arms may put some gamer’s off.

But don’t be fooled, it is a rich and vibrant game with many differing modes, battles, fun characters and tournaments, Arms is a new IP worthy of the Nintendo brand. Using a simple premise of boxing with crazy stretchy arms that you can customise for each character and then mix and match with crazy confetti cannons and other hilarious weapons that make this game punch above the rest (I’m sorry about the puns they will not slow down!)

grab your opponent and slam dunk them through a hoop (it is as hilarious as it sounds) and target practise where you knock down targets to score points before your opponent can.

Online multiplayer is where this game shines.

Anyone can jump into Party mode at any level and be teamed up with a different combination each time like 1v1, 1v1v1, volleyball, 2v2 in which two players are tied together with a piece of elastic eliminate the other 2 characters. The constant surprise of what mode you are going into is a great way to ensure longjevity of this game’s online mode and had me spending hours playing random strangers. The wait times are incredibly short and you can watch other people’s status while they are playing so there is still Control wise this game has a lot of options, you something to look at while you are waiting. For the have no doubt seen the motion controls using the more competitive and advanced players you can joy cons detatched from the Switch console, and as head to a ranked match, but only when you reach someone who hasn’t played with motion controls level 4 on Grand Prix mode before you can access it. since the Wii console, I found the joy-con controls to be extremely intuitive and the response time Graphically the game is extremely beautiful, combined with the HD rumble was impressive. It is the outlandish cartoony characters shine in the worth nothing that you can also play Arms with the different arenas. The interactive environments in pro controller or the joycons attached to the Switch. each set piece stood out on the Switch’s beautiful The combination of the different control types in screen. Similarly it looked flawless transitioning to itself offer variety to play. the dock and on the big screen. A strong roster of diverse characters offers something for every type Perfecting this game commands the perfect of gamer helps solidify this as Nintendo’s next big combination of offence and defence. After playing IP following in the footsteps of Splatoon from the through the roster of characters you find your Wii U console. favourites and what different cannons work with what characters. For me Ribbon Girl and Master Overall Arms is a fantastically fresh take on the Mummy were my go to characters. Each character boxing genre and offers complex or simple gameplay has its own unique voice and move sets and the depending on what you want from the game. The gameplay reflects the size and reflexes. many modes and characters will keep you coming back to this time and time again. With plenty of There are several different game modes with Grand online players and variations of modes ensures Prix offering a single player mode that sees players the longjevity of this title. The game glows on the square off against the other 10 characters of the beautiful Switch screen and works just as well using game in the different modes that involve traditional the pro controller or motion controls. Arms is fighting, volleyball in which the ball is a bomb and Nintendo at its best and we look forward to many things get quite intense, Basketball in which you more matches on its release date tomorrow.

THE VOICE BEHIND

Congratulations on all the success of Overwatch. You guys picked up a whole lot of Game of the Year Awards last year.

I know it’s won a tonne of awards, over a hundred in a year.

It was one of the best games of last year.

Yeah apparently. I was brought into Overwatch in November last year so I didn’t really understand what it was all about until recently.

My character Sombra came out in November so I wasn’t aware of it til then.

It must have exploded since then because you’ve done BlizzCon, SXSW, Anime Matsuri and soon Supanova. How do you go meeting all these hardcore fans?

It’s crazy. I’m still kind of in disbelief that people are so excited about the game and the character. I love the fans. Most of them have been very sweet. In person everybody’s great – on Twitter, not so much – but for the most part everyone has been so lovely.

I take all the love and give it back too because I know they love what we’re doing and that’s great.

PART 2

You have a really committed fanbase, included some people that make this really detailed and awesome fanart.

It’s amazing. If they tag me on Twitter or Instagram I always try and reshare it. I’m really excited they’re so happy about it so I try and share their art. There’s so much out there though so I can’t keep up with all of it.

I’ve had a few actually mailed to my manager’s office, individualised posters or paintings, or where somebody has photoshopped Sombra’s hair onto my face. I love it all. They’re so dedicated and talented.

You’ve done some movie work before this. Were you hesitant to step away from that and do a voice role?

Oh no at all. I consider them both part of the same acting skill. I’ve done a lot of voice work in acting before so I just see it as another character. It’s just not you physically. I’m especially down for this.

Especially since I love the character so much.

She’s very a strong and very smart character.

She’s so confident and so sure of herself. I really love that about her.

If they asked you to play a live action version of Sombra would you be down?

Oh my god! In a heartbeat! Totally! I would love to do that.

There’s been fancasting posts online. It’d be cool to see an Overwatch movie in the future.

ay Mark Halyd talks to vassa, Carolina Ra voice of Sombra!

I think everyone does. I know even if they do an animated movie all the voice actors would be happy to be a part of it. If it’s live action – oh my god! – a lot of us would jump right in if we had the opportunity.

Assassin’s Creed. Resident Evil. It could happen.

Crossing fingers. Who knows?

Now you’re character’s true name is still a mystery so there’s that aura around you.

Da da dunn. Are you asking me if I know what the name is?

You wouldn’t tell me anyway would you?

If I told you I would have to kill you.

I was on your YouTube channel and I caught the pilot of your series Hispanglosaxon. Awesome awesome series.

12,000 views on your pilot. That’s very cool.

It was a series I did before Sombra came out and now we’re also posting videos about Sombra meeting up with other characters from Overwatch. So from that more people are looking at the web series which is great.

I did it with all my heart and passion starting a few years ago. My first story is an audition where they tell me I’m too white to play Latina and too ethnic to play white. Kind of a sketch comedy series.

It’s a very funny take on a pretty serious issue.

Yeah I was living all these experiences and they were so frustrating and sometimes saddening and angering and I finally decided to do something about it. I guess I turned the problem into the subject of my web series.

So now it’s funny but at the time it was very frustrating.

One of your upcoming projects is Havanna Darkness. Can you tell me a bit about that?

That’s an amazing horror film I shot in Cuba last year. It’s about three friends that go to Cuba to visit the house where Hemmingway lived while he was writing a book that never got published. So I think it’s a deeper horror film that just screaming and dying in a bloody pool of whatever.

I think it’s going to be really good and I had a great time shooting it. It should be out soon so I’ll keep fans posted on Twitter about that.

They just changed all the laws to film in Cuba. What was it like to film there as a non-Cuban?

Well we had a Cuban-Mexican director that had worked there quite a bit and a lot of his crew were Cuban so it felt very local. And because I speak Spanish I didn’t feel so foreign.

I think we were definitely the first indie movie there and then Fast and Furious were shooting at the same time. For me it was a lovely experience.

We met some lovely Cuban people. The country’s been through so much so it’s bittersweet but overall it was a wonderful experience. We were employing a bunch of people too so it was great.

Is that your first time in Cuba?

Yeah it was. I absolutely loved it and I hope to be back soon.

And finally, do you game at all?

I dread that question every time! No I’m not a gamer but I definitely need someone to teach me how to play properly.

We’ll see. I’ve played it at BlizzCon and died twenty-seven times because Sombra is so hard to play but someday I’ll sit down and actually go through the motions.

Thank you so much for your time.