 |  Last week, several popular retailers unveiled their Christmas adverts, ignoring the fact that it's still far too early to start titting about with mince pies. It is, however, the right time to start buying interesting presents for the people around you so that you don't end up running around at the last minute picking up any old gift-boxed nonsense. With that in mind we have put together a Christmas gift guide that will knock the socks off any right-thinking, geeky person. Whether you (or your intended gift recipients) want to eat Jack Skellington cookies while dressed in a Superman cycle-suit, or wear Godzilla slippers while watching Breaking Bad, this is the pick of this year's presents this year. Elsewhere, we've pulled more secrets out of Thor: The Dark World, steeled ourselves to talk to the stars of In Fear and quizzed Scarlett Johansson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Don Jon. But there's no time to talk about our other interviews now: our designer, Olly, has just turned up with some mince pies. Maybe it isn't too early after all... Helen O'Hara
Deputy Online Editor, Empire
 
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug -
Four Stunning Collector's Covers To Collect!
To mark an exclusive look at Peter Jackson's new film that would have Radagast the Brown rabbit-sledging straight down to his local newsagent, we have created four limited-edition Hobbit covers to choose from. Your choices are Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) in Mirkwood, Gandalf the Grey in the dark domain of Dol Guldur and Bilbo, of course, clutching Sting as he treads through Smaug's lair in Erebor. Last but not least is Luke Evans' Bard the Bowman, a debutant in the second part of Peter Jackson's trilogy, defending Lake-Town from fiery menace. VIP print and digital packages Subscribe to Empire magazine Take a look inside this issue of Empire magazine Buy single iPad editions on the App Store View all subscription offers
  First Trailer For Maleficent Online
How do you re-imagine a terrifying green-skinned, horned, baby-targeting fairy as the heroine in the tale? We're not sure, but Disney's Maleficent promises to provide the answer, with Angelina Jolie stepping into the role and Robert Stromberg directing. The first trailer and poster for the film are now online, as well as some new stills after the click More: New Clip For The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey An insight into the Battle Of Moria sequence. Darren Aronofsky's Noah Trailer Is Online And the rain came tumbling up? The Night Of The Doctor Is Here A special mini prequel to Doctor Who's 50th anniversary episode. Nebraska Featurette Ambles In Bruce Dern, Will Forte and co. talk Alexander Payne's latest. Latest Divergent Trailer 'They're always watching...' New Desolation Of Smaug Featurette Get a look inside Beorn's house. Full Trailers For The Day Of The Doctor The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary is almost here. Latest Trailer For Lone Survivor 'We do what we have to do...' New Ride Along Trailer Hits The Streets Kevin Hart gets more than he bargained for.
  One of the new World of Warcraft packs and a stunning art book of all things Azeroth. Must... Resist.... Temptation....
 I am at this stage 60, maybe 70% lemon, and the rest of me is meringue. This may be the end of me.  James has overindulged on dessert.
Empire Christmas Gift Guide: 100 Ideas
We know it's still early, but if you leave it much longer it will be too late to order things online and you'll actually have to brave the shops. So here is the Empire Christmas gift guide and a wealth of goodness for the film fans, geeks and general loved ones in your life. From high-end tech to hand-crafted fripperies, there should be something for everyone here... | |
|  | | The Empire Podcast #87: Forest Whitaker, Allen Leech
Forest Whitaker is the Oscar-winning actor who's played pool sharks, samurai warriors and dictators in his time, but this week you can see him as a butler in The White House in, um, The Butler. Allen Leech, meanwhile, is the star of Downton Abbey who's now scaring you witless in In Fear, also out today. |
|  | | Thor The Dark World Spoiler Podcast: Tom Hiddleston And Kevin Feige
Thor: The Dark World has finally arrived in US cinemas, so now we can unleash the full force of our magnificent Thor: The Dark World spoiler special. Featuring behind-the-curtain interview snippets from Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, as well as Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige and the director, Alan Taylor, it's an hour and a half of dissection and discussion that you won't want to miss - as long as you've watched the film already, of course. |
|  | | The 35 Best-Looking DVD And Blu-Ray Steelbooks Ever Made
Steelbooks aren't getting enough love these days. Netflix and other streaming services make the headlines for teaming up with Disney and the like, but what about the humble metal casing that makes your extra special Blu-ray extra extra special? Following in the footsteps of our The Most Ludicrous DVD/Blu-ray Box Sets Ever and The Most Ludicrous DVD/Blu-ray Box Sets Ever: The TV Edition features comes this, 35 Of The Best-Looking DVD And Blu-Ray Steelbooks Ever Made, which celebrates the sheer prettiness of steelbook covers, and the nerdy collectors who buy them. Here you'll see at least five things you'll want to buy straight away, as well as reviews from collectors themselves, which are about as passionate as anyone could be about anything. You have been warned... |
|  | | The Best Stunts Of The Mission: Impossible Movies
As star / producer Tom Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie and writer Drew Pearce gear up to tackle a fifth Mission: Impossible movie (which just nabbed a release date of Christmas Day, 2015), we take a stroll down memory lane, then jump on recollection's high speed train, clamber up Reminiscence Tower and leap off into a look at the stunts they'll be trying to top... |
|  | | From Star Wars To Gravity: The Special Effects Milestones That Shaped Cinema
As Sandra Bullock and George Clooney battled malfunctioning technology miles above the Earth, we got to thinking about other game-changing moments in special effects history, the films that did things in a new and innovative way. Here are our choices for the most significant moments between Star Wars and Gravity. As always, give us your own thoughts in the comments. |
|  | | Lee Daniels On The Butler's Presidents
Newly arrived in UK cinemas, Lee Daniels' The Butler is part father-and-son yarn, part generation-spanning caboose through modern American history. It's already a hit in the US and brings with it early Oscar buzz and a pair of stellar performances by Forest Whitaker as White House butler Cecil Gaines, and Oprah Winfrey as his stoical, forthright wife Gloria. If you've seen its poster, you'll know it boasts more big names than a German aristocrat's phone book. Five of them belong to the actors playing the presidents served by Gaines: Robin Williams, Liev Schreiber, James Marsden, John Cusack and Alan Rickman. We asked Daniels to talk through them. |
|  | | Empire Meets The Stars Of In Fear
Jeremy Lovering's gripping horror-thriller In Fear, about a young couple driving around Ireland who become the target of a psycho stalker, opens on Friday in the UK, and is noteworthy for two reasons. First, its cast of fast-rising bright young things, which boasts Alice Englert, last seen in Beautiful Creatures; Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Iain De Caestecker and Allen Leech (yes - him off Downton). Second, there's Lovering's innovative approach to making the film: he didn't tell his actors what they were doing until the morning of each day, which made for some interesting experiences. We sat down for a natter with each of them. |
|  | | Don Jon: Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Scarlett Johansson Interview
Don Jon sees Joseph Gordon-Levitt abandon his usually smart persona - in front of the camera, at least - to play a porn-addicted New Jerseyite whose online habits start to interfere with his romance of the "perfect ten", Scarlett Johansson's Barbara Sugarman. Behind the camera, Gordon-Levitt makes his feature debut with the film, which was well received at the Toronto and London Film Festivals. Our Damon Wise went along to ask the leads more... |
|  | | The Secrets Of Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World fans, congratulations! You've come to the right website. Following in the footsteps of our Man Of Steel Easter eggs reveal with David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder - as well as our Skyfall writers special, the Iron Man 3 spoiler podcast breakdown and this Star Trek Into Darkness dissection - here are the secrets of Thor: The Dark World, as told by director Alan Taylor, Marvel super producer Kevin Feige and Loki himself (Tom Hiddleston) on our recent spoiler podcast. Fascinating, illuminating and chock-full of spoilers, you're not going to want to read this feature until you've seen the movie, which, handily, is in cinemas right about now. |
|  | | The 2013 Brisbane International Film Festival
The 2013 Brisbane International Film Festival is now underway. While the official opening night film was Jonathan Teplitzky's The Railway Man, technically the festival started 48 hours earlier with what is becoming traditional 'curtain raiser' screenings, designed to give a representation of the BIFF programme's diversity. Monday night's tasters were Filth (about which I needn't to say more than I wholly agree with Damon Wise's Empire review and that I particularly enjoyed Eddie Marsan's magnificent supporting turn), and French drama The Past... |
|  | | Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones And Luke Cage - What You Need To Know
The announcement, in juicy press release form, that Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Marvel (NYSE: DIS) are teaming up to deliver four 13-part superhero miniseries (COMIC-CON: OMG) followed by one ginormous inter-telly event, left us rather excited. The 52 episodes will plunge viewers into the Daredevil-run streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen - before it got really trendy, we're assuming - in the company of three other Marvel heroes, culminating in their assembly as superhero team The Defenders in another showcase miniseries. But what, or more specifically who, is involved? Glad you asked. Here's a swift run-down of MarFlix's four lead characters... |
|  | | The Jameson Empire Done In 60 Seconds Competition And Ironman Challenge!
Given that 2014 will be Empire's 25th anniversary year, we felt it was appropriate to pick a movie from the year of our inception: 1989 - so not Inception, then. We thought about Batman, we pondered Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, we almost went for Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure before realising it was made on the budget of a DISS movie anyway. Then it hit us, the perfect choice. Something we have all experienced, albeit in slightly less posh surroundings: school. So start channelling your best Peter Weir, brush up on your Walt Whitman, dust down your sixth form blazer, put a call through to your old alma mater for your location shoot, and track down your perfect Knox Overstreet, for it is time to seize the day! Oh captain, my captain, this year's Done In Sixty Seconds 'IRONMAN' Challenge movie is DEAD POETS SOCIETY. |
|  | | Empire Presents the New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy has built a reputation as one of the premier film schools in the world. With its innovative hands-on approach to teaching, students find themselves completely immersed in their course of study, surrounded by award-winning faculty and working with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Learn Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Photography, Musical Theatre, Game Design, Animation and more. |
 Thanks to our pals at LEGO, we're down an Editorial Assistant for the foreseeable future. Unless you have Sauron-inspired, Middle-earth construction tips don't expect a (coherent) response from Ally for a while.
 
Sally Hawkins' favourite Woody Allen film is Radio Days. 
Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence calls Jennifer Lawrence J.Larry. 
The breath inside Sandra Bullock's helmet in Gravity was actually that of compositing supervisor Anthony Smith. 
A contronym is a word that can mean one thing and also the opposite. 
Allen Leech did not get the chance to meet J.J. Abrams when the latter visited the set of Downton Abbey.
 |  | |  | |  | |  | | | Shatner reads classic fairy stories. | | Domino tricks. | | Baby cheetah cam. | | Welcome to Dinovember. |
If you have any timewasters to share, then e-mail them in to us. |  Continuing the early Christmas theme, an Empire stocking for the DVD of Silent Night. Happily, it came with a cracker and sweets but no upsetting serial killers. Yet.
 
Don Jon 
Far smarter, sexier and saltier than your average rom-com - the perfect antidote to every Hollywood fairy tale that's ever lied to you. Also Out
 
Blackfish
Impassioned and disturbing, this doc matches The Cove for marrying cool intellect with real fire. Also Out
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