#35 (Dec 2012)

It’s that time of the year again when we look back at our achievements, become wiser from our silly mistakes, and drink ourselves silly to celebrate the festivities.

It’s also the time when the mega blockbusters come sleighing our way. Just look at our cover and you’ll know the decade-long wait for director Peter Jackson’s prequel to his highly successful adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, is finally upon us. Phew, that was a mouthful!

In case you’re unaware, The Hobbit is split into a three-part movie as well. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in the trilogy of films that were shot on location across the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. Of course, the hype and anticipation is extremely high for these movies. And to satiate that incredible thirst, F*** presents our 20-page in-depth coverage of the film – from behind-the scenes scoop; costumes and concept art; character descriptions; to exclusive commentaries from Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and more. The journey begins on page 40.

Another epic movie that took a while to come to fruition is the adaptation of one of the world’s most successful musicals, Les Misérables, which has now played to more than 65 million people in 42 countries. Legendary theatre producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh tells F*** why he’s glad the musical version of Les Misérables is only hitting the silver screen now, after 27 years on stages all over the world, on page 28.

Furthermore, to celebrate Les Misérables‘ transition to the silver screen, F*** presents ten movie musicals that made the same leap, page 34.

Celebrate is also what we’re gonna do this Christmas, the cinematic way. We are proud to bring to you a couple of ways to ring those bells. Of course, if you’re game enough, you can do both at once and we’re pretty sure you’ll be seeing more than bells… there’ll be stars as well, thrown in with our compliments! They are as follows, in no particular order of merry-making merit:

#1: Have a butt-kicking Christmas with seven Christmas films that offer as much gunfire and explosions as they do tinsel and light, page 76.

#2: Taking a leaf from upcoming movie Parental Guidance, we’ve compiled a Christmas survival guide with some crazy tips – like taking a holiday from your diet and crossing stress off your list, page 78.

There’s just so much to talk about when it comes down to fun matters that we’re again out of space. In short, there’s our interview with the ridiculously unassuming Ang Lee for his tiger movie Life of Pi, page 66; our interview with director Christopher McQuarrie for Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher, page 60; and surprise… more interviews, reviews and first looks inside. Just flip the page already…

Have fun with this issue. Happy Holidays, and see you at the movies!

Royston Loh
Editor-in-Chief