Empire Magazine

Inside The 250th Issue Of Empire

25 Years of Back to the Future Marty McFly. Doc Brown. Flux capacitors. 1.21 gigawatts. Few films have entered into our pop-culture consciousness like Back To The Future, and on this 25th anniversary of the McFly's debut (or, depending on your point in the timeline, 125th, 55th or -5th anniversary) we get the full story from the people who made it, as well as bringing you a viewing guide to each of the films and a helpful timeline… The Slate The Slate this month comes packed with exclusive looks at some of the hottest new films of the year, including the lowdown on The Losers, a peek at Prince of Persia and an insight into Inception. There's also word from the set of Never Let Me Go, an introduction to Noomi Rapace, star of an early contender for the year's best thriller in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and lots more. How much does Ben Kingsley know about his own films? Only Empire has the answer… Kick Ass Reviewed! Kicking off our In Cinemas section this month is Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, the non-super superhero story that's already blown everyone here away and is set to do the same to you come March 26. But that's not all: we also have Empire's verdict on Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, Paul Greengrass' Green Zone and other contenders including I Love You Phillip Morris, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and How To Train Your Dragon. These and all the other new movies out this month… Gemma Arterton You may still think of her as a Bond girl, or as a be-stockinged, miniskirted schoolgirl in St Trinians. But Gemma Arterton is branching out this summer, starring in two very different sword-and-sandal epics - playing "earth mother" Io in Clash of the Titans and feisty princess Tamina in Prince of Persia - and in between there's tense drama in The Disappearance Of Alice Creed. We talked to the hottest upcoming British star about her career to date, and what's next… The A-Team On set of the long-awaited adaptation of the 1980s TV series, we spoke to director Joe Carnahan and his cast about the tone they're going for, the challenge of taking on such iconic roles and the tweaks needed to bring the plot up to date. Rest assured as well: a whole lot of stuff will be blown up. Up In The Air All three leads of Jason Reitman's Up In The Air are Oscar-nominated, so we thought it would be a jolly jape to get them all together and quiz them on what they thought of each other. So here are Vera Farmiga, George Clooney and Anna Kendrick on each other and their success to date. Warning: accompanying portraits may cause hopeless feelings of unhandsomeness. Clash of the Titans: The Creatures Don't know your Gorgons from your Gordons gin and tonic? Have trouble telling Calibos from the Kraken? Well, fear no more: our latest Clash of the Titans feature is here to explain the monsters, myth and mayhem behind Louis Leterrier's take on the 1981 mini-classic. Oh, and Leterrier explains why Pegasus is black now… Stallone You might not instantly associate Sylvester Stallone with wit, self-deprecating humour and a successful career as a painter, but turns out he's got all three of those in spades. He's also got a quite astonishing collection of injuries following his directing and starring stint on The Expendables, but it turns out that's good, because actors don't do their best work when they're "soft". Gervais and Merchant You don't so much interview the team behind The Office and the upcoming Cemetary Junction as try to get in a word edgeways occasionally. But we met the pair on set of their new film to talk about the appeal of Reading to them, the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger's head and the joy of, er, vampire boobs - and it's all in this month's issue. Tim Burton Sketches Ever wondered what the inside of Tim Burton's head looks like? Well, we have 15 glimpses of the contents, thanks to a selection of sketches that show some of the character development in his movies. Fun fact: he basically drew Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter long before he knew either of them. Danny Boyle His last film, Slumdog Millionaire, may have won eight Oscars, but Danny Boyle isn't making things easy for himself with his next effort, 127 Hours. Based on the true story of Aron Ralston, a climber who cut off his own arm when he became stuck halfway up a cliff (yes, really) this is a film with some unusual challenges, so we persuaded Boyle to talk us through his approach to a one-character movie… Troublemaker Studios It's named after a style of cowboy hat, it's filled with some of the geeky-coolest merchandise you'll ever see and, oh, they also make movies there. We visited Austin and Robert Rodriguez' Troublemaker Studios to bring you the lowdown on how to make movies outside of Tinseltown and save money doing it. Tarantino's Favourite Scenes Filmmakers often say that choosing a favourite among their films would be like choosing a favourite child - simply impossible. But we persuaded Quentin Tarantino to at least talk us through his favourite scenes, resulting in a list of the ten moments and sequences that he prefers throughout the movies he's written and directed. Expect the unexpected. Clint Eastwood As he approaches his 80th birthday and shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down, Clint Eastwood is as tough and clear-minded as he ever was, unable to stop making films because he learns something new on each one. We talked to him about his films to date, the directors who inspired him, and whether he'll act again… Re.View We have a bumper selection of DVD and Blu-ray reviews this month, led by Zombieland, A Serious Man and Fantastic Mr Fox among the new releases, and pieces on Clash of the Titans (the original) and Fitzcarraldo further back. Oh, and we take a look at Band of Brothers companion piece The Pacific, as well as sitting in on a scoring session for Centurion and lots more besides. Seven Samurai It may look like magic onscreen, but we've dug around and discovered the tears, tantrums and, er, trout that went into making a masterpiece in an in depth feature on Akira Kurosawa's most famous people. This feature is also extremely useful for pub quizzes, since it not only gives you the names and cast list for all Seven Samurai, but The Magnificent Seven and the Battle Beyond The Stars team for good measure. No need to thank us; just send us half your winnings. Exclusive Preview Flick the pages below to take a look at some of the features inside the issue! Have Your Say Let us know what you think of this month's Empire magazine by having your say on the Empire forum.

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