24 7.05 Day 7: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Kiefer Sutherland: Jack Bauer Cherry Jones: President Allison Taylor Annie Wersching: FBI Agent Renee Walker Colm Feore: Henry Taylor Bob Gunton: Ethan Kanin Jeffrey Nordling: FBI Special Agent in Charge Larry Moss Rhys Coiro: Sean Hillinger Janeane Garofalo: Janis Gold Carlos Bernard: Tony Almeida Executive Producer: Kiefer Sutherland Executive Producer: Jon Cassar Executive Producer: Evan Katz Executive Producer: Howard Gordon Executive Producer: Robert Cochran Executive Producer: Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Robert Cochran Writer: Howard Gordon Writer: Evan Katz Director: Jon Cassar

24 7.05 Day 7: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (2009) Motobo and his wife remain in the safe room but Jack may have found a plan B. As they are leaving, however, Agent Walker arrives and gives Jack and Tony a whole new dilemma. First Gentleman Henry Taylor feels he’s getting somewhere with his investigation into his son’s death while the deadline for President Taylor’s withdrawal is rapidly approaching. 7/10 Episode five: time for Jack to kill a friend or colleague for the greater good. Mind you, he’s had a lot of practice. It’s good to see that the violence of the show has been considerably toned-down and the show is better for it. The best thing about 24 has always been the moral quandaries, not the torture scenes and gratuitous violence. Annie Wersching continues to impress as Renee Walker and conveys the furious dejectedness at her impending death, that she has compromised her own principles and FBI laws of conduct and that someone she trusted, Jack Bauer, is a traitor. While we know better, Bauer does look as he if may be losing heart and can’t believe that he’s been put in this situation yet again. This 24 episode contains bad language and violence, unpleasant and gory scenes. Links Previous episode Next episode

24 7.04 Day 7: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (2009, TV) – 6/10 review

Kiefer Sutherland: Jack Bauer Mary Lynn Rajskub: Chloe O’Brian Cherry Jones: President Allison Taylor James Morrison: Bill Buchanan Annie Wersching: FBI Agent Renee Walker Colm Feore: Henry Taylor Bob Gunton: Ethan Kanin Jeffrey Nordling: FBI Special Agent in Charge Larry Moss Rhys Coiro: Sean Hillinger Janeane Garofalo: Janis Gold Carlos Bernard: Tony Almeida Co-Executive Producer: Alex Gansa Co-Executive Producer: Brad Turner Executive Producer: David Fury Executive Producer: Kiefer Sutherland Executive Producer: Robert Cochran Executive Producer: Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Robert Cochran Writer: David Fury Writer: Alex Gansa Director: Brad Turner

24 7.04 Day 7: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (2009) Jack and Tony escape FBI custody and meet up with Bill Buchanan and Chloe O’Brian and arrange to get Tony back undercover. 6/10 Quietly moving the naval retreat deadline back at least half-an-hour to the end of the next hour, this is the episode where the writers have dumped all the awkward lumps accrued over the last three weeks and necessary to keep the Jack / Tony plot relevant. The explanation for Tony’s non-deadness is unintentionally funny (they might as well have used super-strong smelling salts or Jesus pills) but to their credit, while the bumps are not smoothed out, they do get us to go along with it and suspension of disbelief is critical for shows like this. Disbelief is still suspended and so the episode is a success and Tony’s Dark Knight van jump is looking cooler each time they show it. This 24 episode contains bad language and gun violence. Links Previous episode Next episode

24 7.03 Day 7: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (2009, TV) – 8/10 review

Kiefer Sutherland: Jack Bauer Cherry Jones: President Allison Taylor Annie Wersching: FBI Agent Renee Walker Colm Feore: Henry Taylor Bob Gunton: Ethan Kanin Jeffrey Nordling: Larry Moss Rhys Coiro: Sean Hillinger Janeane Garofalo: Janis Gold Carlos Bernard: Tony Almeida Co-Executive Producer: Brannon Braga Co-Executive Producer: Brad Turner Executive Producer: Kiefer Sutherland Executive Producer: Robert Cochran Executive Producer: Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Robert Cochran Writer: Manny Coto Writer: Brannon Braga Director: Brad Turner

24 7.03 Day 7: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (2009) Even though Almeida’s in custody, Juma’s demands to the President simply don’t give the FBI much time to do anything as he threatens to cause an American disaster if American forces are not withdrawn within the next couple of hours. Tony finds himself between a Jack and a hard place but manages to sputter out information that may save his life. 8/10 Along with Jack the writers now need to convince us of Tony’s motives and they deliver the expected plot not-twist. However, it’s not disappointing as it’s what we hoped for and it is packaged in a thrilling episode. Tony even gets a Dark Knight van jump as a bonus but we still don’t know he’s not, you know, dead. The sub-plot regarding the FBI leak is well-handled with either of the protagonists involved suspected at any one time before tying that strand up. Annie Wersching portrays Walker’s furious betrayal successfully and without melodrama. We might almost forget that the President has only part of next week’s episode to decide between American or Sangalan lives and there’s still an interesting (but Colm Feore-starring) sub-plot regarding the death of her son. This is shaping up to be a great day. This 24 episode contains a mild swear word and violence. Links Previous episode Next episode

Ignition (2001, Movie) – 6/10 review

Producer: Thomas Hedman Director: Yves Simoneau Bill Pullman: Conor Gallagher Lena Olin: Faith Mattis Michael Ironside: Russo Writer (Screenplay): William Davies

Ignition (2001) US Marshal with-a-past-and-a-gruff-exterior-that-masks-a-heart-that-just-loves-his-daughter-whom-he-is-not-allowed-to-see-and-an-’I don’t care’-attitude-but-he-does-really Conor Gallagher is given ‘one last chance’ and assigned to serve as bodyguard to Judge Faith Mattis who has been the target of a mad bomber-type. The two don’t see eye-to-eye straight away and the Judge’s current high-profile military fraud case is causing complications but when Gallagher saves her life, it engenders a spirit of trust that she never expected. 6/10 While it appears nobody could be bothered during the climax (actors, scriptwriter and the visual effects team seem entirely disinterested) the remainder of this thriller is entertaining and professionally assembled despite containing generous helpings of American thriller cliché. This movie contains sexual swear words and substance abuse and graphic violence and sensuality, female nudity. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

24 7.02 Day 7: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Kiefer Sutherland: Jack Bauer Cherry Jones: President Allison Taylor Annie Wersching: FBI Agent Renee Walker Colm Feore: Henry Taylor Bob Gunton: Ethan Kanin Jeffrey Nordling: Larry Moss Rhys Coiro: Sean Hillinger Janeane Garofalo: Janis Gold Carlos Bernard: Tony Almeida Co-Executive Producer: Michael Loceff Executive Producer: Kiefer Sutherland Executive Producer: Jon Cassar Executive Producer: Evan Katz Executive Producer: Howard Gordon Executive Producer: Robert Cochran Executive Producer: Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Robert Cochran Writer (Screenplay): Joel Surnow Writer (Screenplay): Michael Loceff Writer (Story): Howard Gordon Writer (Story): Evan Katz Director: Jon Cassar

24 7.02 Day 7: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (2009) Almeida uses his control of, er, flight control to set up a collision at JFK airport. Jack and Renee seal up the building with the sniper inside but Jack’s conspiratorial instincts prove correct and Renee has to make a quick decision on how to play things out. 7/10 Things continue on a remarkably even keel for 24 and this is a good thing. It makes the genuinely dramatic bits stand out. So we have the exciting opening of the engineered airplane collision but then things calm down until the climax. This ebb-and-flow is how adventure entertainment should be produced. Story-wise, now that we have Tony Almeida in custody perhaps we’ll get to see what he’s playing at. Renee Walker has instantly jumped onto the violence and torture bandwagon (though she certainly didn’t mean Jack to actually go through with his actions last week, just threaten, as he did) as soon as she doesn’t get her own way and, while 24 has certainly delivered gratuitous torture in seasons past, the topic of whether to use it or not for the ‘greater good’ remains a fascinating one. This 24 episode contains gun violence, strong melee violence. Links Previous episode Next episode

24 7.01 Day 7: 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Kiefer Sutherland: Jack Bauer Cherry Jones: President Allison Taylor Annie Wersching: FBI Agent Renee Walker Colm Feore: Henry Taylor Bob Gunton: Ethan Kanin Jeffrey Nordling: Larry Moss Rhys Coiro: Sean Hillinger Janeane Garofalo: Janis Gold Carlos Bernard: Tony Almeida Kurtwood Smith: Senator Blaine Mayer Co-Executive Producer: Michael Loceff Executive Producer: Kiefer Sutherland Executive Producer: Jon Cassar Executive Producer: Howard Gordon Executive Producer: Robert Cochran Executive Producer: Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Joel Surnow Writer (Series’ Creator): Robert Cochran Writer: Howard Gordon Writer: Joel Surnow Writer: Michael Loceff Director: Jon Cassar

24 7.01 Day 7: 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (2009) Jack is up before a senate committee and is on the brink of being indicted for his use of methods that contravene The Geneva Convention but a domestic terrorist threat requires an expertise only he can supply due to the identity of the terrorist leader: Tony Almeida. Who’s not dead, by the way. 7/10 Good opener for season seven keeps things even and successfully gets you to go along with the two major eyebrow-raisers: Jack is allowed to join an FBI task force despite imminent indictment and likely imprisonment and Tony Almeida not being dead and being a baddie. Storylines are clearly and calmly put into place, characters introduced successfully and the audience’s interest is piqued by the return of Almeida. Whether the writers are going to pay this off successfully remains to be seen, of course, but I’ll definitely be watching the next hour. This 24 episode contains bad language and graphic gun violence. Links Previous episode: Redemption Next episode

Beowulf The Game (2007, Game, 360) – 1/10 review

Ray Winstone: Beowulf Alan Ritchson: Beowulf Character Model Brendan Gleeson: Wiglaf Anthony Hopkins: King Hrothgar

Beowulf The Game (2007) Beowulf travels to Denmark to defeat the monsta, sorry, monster Grendel. 1/10 Beowulf The Game is almost completely broken with miserable lumpen controls, a unsatisfying combat system and a depressing atmosphere. On top of that, we have graphics that don’t provide any visual guidance or stimulus. If you’re looking for positives, a couple of the movie cast lend their voices and it won’t give you syphillis. Probably. Truly a horrible game. This game contains sexual swear words, adult dialogue and extended graphic, extreme and extremely gory violence and inferred and sort-of nudity. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over. Classified 18+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for adults who have reached the age of 18 or over.. Classified Bad Language by PEGI. Game contains bad language. Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence.

House M.D. 5.12 Painless (2009, TV) – 5/10 review

Hugh Laurie: Dr. Gregory House Lisa Edelstein: Dr. Lisa Cuddy Omar Epps: Dr. Eric Foreman Robert Sean Leonard: Dr. James Wilson Jennifer Morrison: Dr. Allison Cameron Jesse Spencer: Dr. Robert Chase Writer (Series’ Creator): David Shore Peter Jacobson: Dr. Chris Taub Kal Penn: Dr. Lawrence Kutner Olivia Wilde: Thirteen Martin Henderson: Jeff Jake Cherry: Zack Sarah Danielle Madison: Lynne Alex Fernandez: Fernando Anthony Montgomery: James Carlton Lori Petty: Janice Burke Co-Executive Producer: Eli Attie Executive Producer: Thomas L. Moran Executive Producer: David Shore Writer: Thomas L. Moran Writer: Eli Attie Director: Andrew Bernstein

House M.D. 5.12 Painless (2009) Cameron gets House to look at a patient suffering from chronic pain who has just attempted suicide. While House sees the parallels instantly – his own pain is definitely worsening – he still targets his own inimitable diagnosis techniques of taking the patient to near death before coming up with a miraculous cure. Meanwhile, he also targets his formidable intellect and deviousness into getting his insurance to pay for a damaged water pipe in his apartment. 5/10 Thirteen and Foreman’s relationship is almost as painful as driven-to-suicide patient-of-the-week’s condition (and it’s icky) and while House’s SPOILER epilepsy of the testicles END SPOILER diagnosis is miraculously impressive you’re certainly not convinced. House and Cuddy have a moment of fun while Jennifer Morrison looks like she’ll be getting a bump in lines from now on. Moppet Jake Cherry is good as a distressed son. I did enjoy the line where House asks Cuddy, genuinely and seriously, if he can cut a patient’s head off. Which he then does. Cool. This House M.D. episode contains adult dialogue and unpleasant scenes. Links Previous episode: Joy to the World Next episode: Big Baby

Smallville 8.12 Bulletproof (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tom Welling: Clark Kent Allison Mack: Chloe Sullivan Cassidy Freeman: Tess Mercer Justin Hartley: Oliver Queen Writer (Characters’ Creator) Superman: Jerry Siegel Writer (Characters’ Creator) Superman: Joe Shuster Developer for Television: Alfred Gough Developer for Television: Miles Millar Kristin Kreuk: Lana Phil Morris: John Jones David Paetkau: Danny Turpin Byron Lawson: Terrence Jim Thorburn: Joe Simmons Ty Olsson: Talbert Writer: Bryan Q. Miller Director: Morgan Beggs

Smallville 8.12 Bulletproof (2009) John Jones gets himself shot by a sniper and, suspecting an inside job and with Chloe’s help, Clark goes undercover as a policeman. Meanwhile, Lana is about to open Tess’s eyes regarding Lex Luthor and his true nature. 7/10 This is a good episode with an impressively impossible (but entertaining) revelation for Cassidy Freeman’s Tess Mercer and an interesting and worthwhile attempt, by Tom Welling’s Clark Kent, to rescue people through moral readjustment rather than hurling people through doors and windows. Kristin Kreuk gets in some practice for her upcoming Chun-Li Streetfighter movie by having a fight scene with Cassidy Freeman and they do the hurling people through doors and windows thing this week. The writers hope you’ve forgotten about the birth of Doomsday last week but I, for one, am not looking forward to his return. The writers also probably hope that you don’t notice that the reason for Jones’ shooting is that he works on his own which seems a bit slim as a motive for rmurder. I mean, if he’d spilt their milk or written ‘Danny is gay’ on the toilet wall or something, well, then I’d understand but ‘that guy spends too much time working alone’ ‘yeah, he deserves to die’? Hmmm. This Smallville episode contains extreme melee violence. Links Previous episode: Legion Next episode: Power

Hustle 5.03 (2009, TV) – 5/10 review

Adrian Lester: Mickey Stone Robert Glenister: Ash Morgan Matt Di Angelo: Sean Kennedy Kelly Adams: Emma Kennedy Robert Vaughn: Albert Stroller Writer: Fintan Ryan Producer: Kerry Appleyard Director: Julian Simpson Writer (Series’ Creator): Tony Jordan Writer (Original Idea): Bharat Nalluri

Hustle 5.03 Series 5 Episode 3 of 6 (2009) With Albert due out after a parole hearing on Friday, the gang decide to pull off a nice con as a coming-out present for him. The target is a judge who is thought to have accepted a bung (but never received it) and with that, the game is on. 5/10 The entertainment value of Hustle is directly related to how Robin Hood the story is. Though this week’s ‘villain’ is crooked judge Tim McInnerny (he accepted one bung during a career renowned for delivering full verdicts) he isn’t odious enough to make the episode work. The little pieces of Albert in prison work rather better, Eddie gets treated rather better than normal and it’s still slick and quite enjoyable but, this week, inexcusable. Links Previous episode Next episode

Xbox 360 vs PS3 Head-to-Head Face Off update 17

Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.

• Golden Axe: Beast Rider
• Legendary
• LEGO Batman
• Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
• Prince of Persia
• Saints Row 2
•  SCORE International Baja 1000
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
• The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• Tomb Raider: Underworld

LEGO Bionicle Heroes (2006, Game, 360) – 3/10 review

Director: Jon Burton

LEGO Bionicle Heroes (2006) Stop the island of Voya Nui succumbing to the evils of Piraka who has used the Mask of Life to transform the wildlife into aggressive creatures. Use the masks of the Toa Inika and harness their powers to put Piraka and his minions back in their place. 3/10 Strangely, no-one seems to have told Traveller’s Tales that you can’t see what you’re doing. Which is something of a problem in a video (from the Latin "to see") game. The game design is identical to the companies’ highly successful LEGO Star Wars and one suspects that the over-the-shoulder view was introduced to make it look different and appeal to slightly older children (that is, it looks like a shooter instead of a platformer). Unfortunately, in conjunction with the already unappealing characters and pig-ugly graphics, this has made the game very unfriendly to use and not fun to play despite the strong and addictive game design buried within. This game contains extended projectile violence.

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli: 348 TB F1 custom livery

This is another red, white and black paint job and the principle design is the silhouette of a Formula One car along the side (a 2007 Renault, specifically). The silhouette was created by placed red blanking pieces over the chequered flag pattern and there’s nothing else to say. The painting went really smoothly.

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli: F50 Stave custom livery

The inspiration of this was a super documentary on music conductor Herbert Von Karajan (called Karajan: or Beauty As I See It) and I wondered if I could spell something racing-related out with musical notes. C, D, E, F, G, A, and B are the letters available and I couldn’t readily think of one. Then I remembered the rest notation and realised that if I called that an R, I could make the word ‘racecar’ in musical notes. As a bonus, it is a palindrome and so should mirror to the other side with little work.

The stave was pretty straight forward to start with. I placed the notes and, after failing to create the fancy rest symbol (crotchet rest), I went for the easy route and used the breve and semibreve rests which are small blocks. This redefined the size of my stave because the minimum size of a square primitive in FCTP is rather chunky. So I made my stave and note heads bigger and ran into a significant problem. The minimum size of a square primitive in FCTP is rather chunky. Meaning that I couldn’t produce the stems for each of the notes.

I solved this by breaking the stave. I’d already considered the inability to produce a thin line by placing four long white primitives on a black background creating the impression that I had produced thin black lines. I now needed to pull a similar trick to produce the stems of each note. So, the first white space of the stave was broken above the two A notes; the first white space is made up of three white primitives. The second is broken in four above the A’s and below the E. The third is broken into four below the C’s and the E. The fourth is broken into three below the C’s.

Needless to say, this was a bit fiddly. When I mirrored the design I made it even more fiddly for myself by moving all the white spaces instead of just moving the note heads but by the time I realised how stupid I was, I had to finish what I started and it didn’t take too long anyway. While it doesn’t look terribly neat on the side-on screenshot above, looking at it in the angled views and replays gives a much better impression.

The F50 supplies the problem of disguising, ignoring or using a thick black line that goes from the front of the car to the back along the side. I disguised it by making the car essentially two-tone red and black.

My racing logo, dynamic number 4, chequered flag motif and blank stave were added to round out the livery. The blank stave also wraps around the front. The chequered flag wraps around the rear.

In motion, this strong colour scheme works brilliantly and this livery looks fantastic. Even without knowing that the notes spell ‘racecar’, this livery looks fabulous in replays and, for me, the knowledge of that little detail is very pleasing.

Smallville 8.11 Legion (2009, TV) – 5/10 review

Tom Welling: Clark Kent Allison Mack: Chloe Sullivan Sam Witwer: Davis Bloome Writer (Characters’ Creator) Superman: Jerry Siegel Writer (Characters’ Creator): Joe Shuster Developer for Television: Alfred Gough Developer for Television: Miles Millar Kristin Kreuk: Lana Ryan Kennedy: Rokk Alexz Johnson: Imra Calum Worthy: Garth Writer: Geoff Johns Director: Glen Winter

Smallville 8.11 Legion (2009) With Chloe consumed by Brainiac and now incubating Davis into Doomsday permanently, Clark is distracted from his initial by a huge dude materialising in the barn and nearly chopping him in half with an axe. 5/10 This an episode packed with new characters (this episode only) and interesting elements but doesn’t quite come together. It’s heart is definitely in the right place, though, and that makes it worthwhile. Unfortunately, Tom Welling isn’t very good here. He appears half-hearted, is laden with clunky dialogue and looks like he’ll be glad when it’s over. It’s a shame as he’s been so good for so long and his lacklustre performances this season may override the memory of his earlier good work. The episode brings up the thoughts of Cal-el’s principles and the reality of meeting a legend you only knew through history books and both are interesting but their potential is not realised. This Smallville episode contains extreme and graphic fantasy violence, gory and unpleasant. Links Previous episode: Bride Next episode: Bulletproof

A Scanner Darkly (2006, Movie) – 2/10 review

Director: Richard Linklater Keanu Reeves: Bob Arctor Robert Downey, Jr.: James Barris Woody Harrelson: Ernie Luckman Winona Ryder: Donna Hawthorne Rory Cochrane: Charles Freck Head of Animation: Bob Sabiston Head of Animation: Jason Archer Head of Animation: Paul Beck Writer (Original Novel): Philip K. Dick Writer (Screenplay): Richard Linklater

Scanner Darkly, A (2006) Addiction to D is seriously afflicting society but undercover cop ‘Fred’ finds himself becoming suspected of being a high-player in the drug-supply industry. 2/10 Movies about drug addicts are frequently incredibly dull, feature unlikeable characters and very rarely highlight the reasons for and positive effects of taking drugs. A Scanner Darkly ignores being balanced and providing interesting characters but attempts to circumvent the problem of being dull by rotoscope animation. It doesn’t work; this is still dull and, chances are, you’ll have turned off before a mildly interesting conclusion. This movie contains sexual swear words and substance abuse and extreme imagined violence and brief but strong sex scene, full male and female nudity. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

Score International: Baja 1000 World Championship Offroad Racing (2008, Game, 360) – 6/10

Score International: Baja 1000 World Championship Offroad Racing (2008) Race dirt bikes, ATVs, TomCars and all classes of Baja off-road vehicle across the dusty, sandy, muddy, jumpy labyrinthine courses set in the style of the SCORE International Baja 1000. 6/10 Despite the name and official license, this region-free budget game is not aiming for the contemporary Baja: Edge of Control but directly copies PS3 exclusive Motorstorm. Handling and driving experience is typical for a budget game, that is, for some reason, disconnected from the track, unpredictable and unsatisfying. However, the game keeps giving little rewards often and, given it’s price, this is a reasonable time-waster and there is definitely fun to be had. There are some decent touches which show that the developers probably did care a bit about the product (like drivers who react to big crashes, good dust effects, exploding petrol stations, waves crashing against a cliff, balanced achievements, AI that rarely finishes in the same order) while it’s real saving grace is tracks that probably would have been lauded if they’d been in Motorstorm rendered at Motorstorm quality. Classified 12+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 12 or over.

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli: Ferrari 348 Challenge Splat custom livery

Take One

Take Two

I started this one knowing what colours I wanted to use and that I wanted a bright livery that would be more abstract than I normally produce. After fiddling around for a bit I came across a vinyl that, if I turned it, looked a bit like a blob of paint had splatted against the side of the car. After that it was simply a case of placing the splats with appropriate elements for the racing logo and number.

Again, FCTP’s trump card in the livery editor is the ability to paint the windows and so I had some of the splats go right across the windscreen. Naturally, I was careful to ensure that I don’t obscure the view from the cockpit.

I also made sure that the splats weren’t symmetrical and are slightly different on each each side, on each mirror, across the front bumper and across the top / hood.

My first attempt used a large gold circle for the rear quarter and, though I was happy with it, it didn’t seem quite right. I changed it to a series of paint brush style vinyls which were carefully placed to hide the orange half of the pattern.

In replays, the car looks fantastic, especially from the front and, while driving in cockpit view, you’re always reminded that you’re driving a custom livery because of the splats running over the windscreen.

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli: Ferrari FXX Rainbow custom livery

A simple idea this one. Rainbow and clouds with sponsors and racing numbers in the clouds.

As is typical in in-game livery editors, getting a pattern to transition smoothly from the side to the roof is extremely tricky. It’s harder than most in FCTP as the aspect ratio of vinyls on the roof is not maintained and is nothing like the aspect ratio of vinyls on the side. For instance, a circle is circular on the side and a tall thin ellipse on the roof. A square is square on the side and a tall thin rectangle on the roof.

This accounts for why the rainbow pattern does not perfectly match when viewed from the side. As you can see from the slightly higher shots, the pattern is maintained but when viewed from the side the piece of the rainbow that was drawn on the roof area of the car is not wide enough. I did attempt to add pieces to make the rainbow appear correct from the side but I abandoned that idea for the sake of my sanity.

I did take the time to correct the SR Slimm Racing logo on each side.

While glaringly obvious from the side shots, the rainbow mismatch isn’t apparent in replays and the car looks light and bright though not quite as colourful as I had hoped.

Hustle 5.02 (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Adrian Lester: Mickey Stone Robert Glenister: Ash Morgan Matt Di Angelo: Sean Kennedy Kelly Adams: Emma Kennedy Writer: Tony Jordan Writer (Series’ Creator): Tony Jordan Producer: Kerry Appleyard Director: James Strong Writer (Original Idea): Bharat Nalluri

Hustle 5.02 Series 5 Episode 2 of 6 (2009) Mickey targets an odious couple of businessmen who promise to register patents but instead steal them and trouser the profits. New team members Sean and Emma see how he works first hand but Sean is concerned that he’s just not cut out for the long-con game. Especially when he ends up drunk and unconscious after his first two assignments. 7/10 With a central plot idea from 2006 movie SPOILER Inside Man END SPOILER, this episode of Hustle proves to be typically predictable as far as the con goes. However, it’s still a great idea and it’s all nicely played, light-hearted and looks great. Adam James provides a fun bonus this week as a great raging baddie and we are reminded of how Mickey Stone differentiates himself from those he targets: for him, it isn’t about the money. Is it enough to prevent him and the show from being hypocritical? Remarkably, yes, just about. This Hustle episode contains mild swear words and alcohol abuse and suicide. Links Previous episode Next episode

Hustle 5.01 (2009,TV) – 6/10 review

Adrian Lester: Mickey Stone Robert Glenister: Ash Morgan Robert Vaughn: Albert Stroller Writer: Tony Jordan Writer (Series’ Creator): Tony Jordan Producer: Kerry Appleyard Director: James Strong Writer (Original Idea): Bharat Nalluri

Hustle 5.01 Series 5 Episode 1 of 6 (2009) Mickey returns to London to find the old team scattered and Albert in prison. Albert still has information on a potential mark, however, someone who has been making money off other’s people misery and, without noticing the hypocrisy and with a straight face, Mickey and Ash set about grifting her. 6/10 Adrian Lester returns in a reasonably fun episode but the story is transparent. The audience is in on all the plot when it should only be in on half the plot. This isn’t just because the plot is taken directly from seventies classic The Sting but because the director, James Strong, and writer, Tony Jordan, do not explain why characters Mickey and Ash do not see the tactics they themselves employ being worked against them. Treating your characters as stupid quickly leads to treating your audience as stupid and that is a big mistake. Nobody likes being called stupid. Even stupid people. This Hustle episode contains mild adult dialogue, mild bad language and violence. Links Next episode

Thunderball re-enacted by non-SPECTRE agent

In the never-ending truth-is-stranger-than-fiction category, a pilot this week landed a stricken airliner on water! Everyone survived so this is a great story and really cool to boot. It also shows that the Vulcan water landing in Bond movie Thunderball was possible. Amazing!

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli: Ferrari 250 GTO Dragon custom livery

Take One

Take Two

 

The most immediately obvious shortcoming of FCTP’s livery editor compared to the mighty goodness of Forza Motorsport 2 is the lack of gradient vinyls which are an easy and powerful way to make extremely cool paint jobs. However, concentrating on shortcomings is an easy way to become despondent and so we come to a custom livery which I thought I wasn’t capable of in an editor which I thought would not be able to produce particularly artistic imagery. The value of a positive attitude and, critically, a non-perfectionist attitude has resulted in what is probably my best original design.

The impetus is a competition to get your custom livery into Eutechnyx’s next game SuperCar Challenge. The rules are be unique and be clean. The guidelines are be innovative, cool, sophisticated and stylish rather than gimmicky. And I’ve done a dragon. Oh well. Interestingly, as an example of something that was “too off-the-wall”, Eutechnyx cited a police car design. Of which I’ve done two (a UK and a US one).

Still, I’m proud of my efforts. I found some typical dragon images on Google images to get a handle on the head. I knew I was going to go for a Chinese-style dragon with a long snout and long neck with a wing motif across the rear quarter.

One of the pre-made designs looked a bit like teeth but as I started trying to put pieces together, nothing clicked for a long time. Suddenly, there it was: a recognisable dragon head that didn’t look too rubbish or childish or malformed and I gained hope that this might turn out to be an idea I could finish.

My first attempt included yellow highlights across the rear of the car and, after seeing the car in replays, I decided to remove the yellow from the dragon wings area and replace it with dark red. When I did this, I accidentally went to the wrong area and added a vinyl to the rear window. This is FCTP’s principle area of triumph over Forza Motorsport 2: the ability to paint on the windows. I realised I could finish the wings on the rear window and make it look like the wings wrap around the rear corners of the car. Again, quite a lot of fiddling and two or three failed ideas gave way to the finished article. Things don’t quite line up perfectly if you look closely but the effect is definitely there.

So, while I might not get this into SuperCar Challenge as Eutechnyx may consider it gimmicky (or it just may not be good enough, of course), I think it’s cool and I’m really proud of the finished result.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007, Game, 360) – 7/10 review

Director: Jon Burton Lead Programmer: John Hodskinson

LEGO Star Wars: Complete Saga, The (2007) Take on the epic story of all six Star Wars films then test your skills finding a secret item to build on each level and see how fast you can complete each level which hitting certain checkpoints. 7/10 There are undeniably significant annoyances when playing this game and the vehicle levels are a nightmare but just about all is forgiven when you see Jabba’s guards air-guitaring a shovel or the Millennium Falcon with a false nose and moustache or a Stormtrooper pointing a carrot at you. The meta-game is more fun than the story mode as you set about finding all the hidden trinkets, characters and special powers (especially on 360 with the associated achievement points). The Star Wars universe and the LEGO feeling combine perfectly. You could almost say they were made for each other. Hehe! This game contains comic violence and unpleasant scenes. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (2008, Game, 360) – 6/10 review

Cast / crew Director: Jon Burton Head of Production: Paul Flanagan Producer: Steve Wakeman Head Of Art: James Cunliffe Head of Animation: Jeremy Pardon Head Of Programming LEGO: John Hodskinson Vice President Technology: Dave Dootson Lead Programmer Game: Glyn Scragg

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (2008) Tackle the original trilogy adventures of Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade with your favourite mis-matched buddies at your side. 6/10 Developer Travellers Tales combines superficially cute visual design and plenty of good game design with eye-bulging annoyances such as still being unable to determine where items are on screen in 3D space (leading to not picking up items and endlessly missing ropes and jumps) and baddies that still kill you with unrelenting Ninja Gaiden II briskness. Then there is the one that always puts your AI friend directly in between you and the nearest enemy meaning you cannot shoot the enemy with first having to kill your buddy. It also suffers, like LEGO Star Wars did with the Force characters, from the main character not being able to do what he should. Indy should be equipped with a gun and the academic ability to decipher hieroglyphics like he can in the movies. However, even more importantly and simply put, Indiana Jones does not fit in with the LEGO feeling and so the well-thought-out game design cannot achieve full potential. This game contains comic violence and unpleasant scenes and mild sensuality. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All. Links Next: LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues

Entrapment (1999, Movie) – 4/10 review

Director: Jon Amiel Writer (Screenplay): Ron Bass Writer (Screenplay): William Broyles, Jr. Writer (Story): Ron Bass Writer (Story): Michael Hertzberg Sean Connery: Mac Catherine Zeta-Jones: Gin Ving Rhames: Thibadeaux Will Patton: Cruz Maury Chaykin: Conrad Greene

Entrapment (1999) In a world where trust is paramount, insurance investigator Gin Baker goes undercover to try to entrap master thief Robert "Mac" MacDougal but the wily old-timer proves to be more than she expects. 4/10 Completely run-of-the-mill and impressively unconvincing heist movie that appears to have little reason to be made other than to allow Connery to work with the gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones. Okay, that’s good enough reason for Connery to get the film made, but probably not quite a good enough reason to watch. In fact, it’s distinctly uncomfortable at times as the filmmakers insisted on the two forming a romantic relationship (age difference: 39 years). Director Jon Amiel is an average talent at best but manages to avoid his biggest normal problem, erratic pacing. The movie flies by and, while only slightly thrilling and moderately entertaining, is never boring and never spends too long doing one particular thing. This movie contains two sexual swear words, mild swear words and maury chaykin in a loin cloth. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over.

Story of the Week: The ‘misunderestimated’ President’

Story of the week is an article from the BBC news team collating some of President George W. Bush’s vocal faux pas: The ‘misunderestimated’ President. It’s almost as funny as a page of Murray Walker’s legendary slips-of-the-tongue except Murray Walker wasn’t Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most technologically-advanced killing machine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006, Fantasy Action Movie) – 6/10 review

Director: Gore Verbinski Writer: Ted Elliott Writer: Terry Rossio Writer (Characters’ Creator): Ted Elliott Writer (Characters’ Creator): Terry Rossio Writer (Characters’ Creator): Stuart Beattie Writer (Characters’ Creator): Jay Wolpert Writer (Original Ride) Pirates of the Caribbean: Walt Disney Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer Johnny Depp: Jack Sparrow Orlando Bloom: Will Turner Keira Knightley: Elizabeth Swann Stellan Skarsgård: Bootstrap Bill Bill Nighy: Davy Jones Jack Davenport: Norrington Kevin McNally: Gibbs Jonathan Pryce: Governor Weatherby Swann

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann have their wedding day rudely interrupted by getting themselves arrested and sentenced to hanging for aiding and abetting a certain Captain Jack Sparrow. Shortly thereafter, Will gets an offer to win Elizabeth’s pardon if he finds Sparrow and returns with his compass. Meanwhile, Captain Jack is having trouble of his own deciding what he really wants and keeping his soul out of the clutches of Davy Jones and the Kraken. 6/10 Meandering but largely fun midpoint for the Pirates of the Caribbean with plenty of ambitiously conceived and brilliantly executed action, some truly outstanding special visual effects (Davy Jones is one of the landmark visual effects) and agreeable performances but no real forward momentum and, frankly, not enough Captain Jack or sense of an underlying good. By the time the climax rolls around (and it takes a while, this feels long) we finally get the sight of Jack being a hero but it’s hollow. It still builds anticipation for Part Three, though, and there’s a little tidbit for those who sit through the end credits which I always appreciate. Overall, it’s better on second viewing and, while it’s only eye-candy, it’s enough. This movie contains adult dialogue and violence, extremely unpleasant scenes. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Links Previous: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Next: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

The Lake House (2006, Movie) – 6/10 review

Director: Alejandro Agresti Keanu Reeves: Alex Wyler Sandra Bullock: Kate Forster Shohreh Aghdashloo: Anna Ebon Moss-Bachrach: Henry Wyler Lynn Collins: Mona Willeke Van Ammelrooy: Kate’s Mother Christopher Plummer: Simon Wyler Writer (Screenplay) Based on the motion picture "Il Mare" produced by Sidus: David Auburn

Lake House, The (2006) Alex Wyler moves into a architecturally impressive lake house but finds he can correspond, via the mail box, with the tenant, Kate Forster, who occupies it two years later. 6/10 Keanu Reeves takes a leaf out of the biblical Jacob’s book but only waits four years (as opposed to Jacob’s fourteen, grief) to be with his one true love in this across-time romantic drama. This is a movie whose comprehension by the audience feels just out of reach. Bizarrely, this is both a good and bad thing. It gives the movie a refreshingly unusual feel but you do spend an awful lot of time trying to get your head around what’s going on. Despite having the wrong plot-shatteringly paradoxical ending, I think it’s gentle heart is in the right place and Keanu and Bullock have nice chemistry. This movie contains mild sensuality. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

Elf (2003, Movie) – 6/10 review

Director: Jon Favreau Will Ferrell: Buddy James Caan: Walter Zooey Deschanel: Jovie Mary Steenburgen: Emily Daniel Tay: Michael Ed Asner: Santa Bob Newhart: Papa Elf Writer: David Berenbaum

Elf (2003) Despite being six-foot-three, North Pole elf Buddy never considered the possibility that he might not actually be an elf. When his adopted father tells him about his true origins, Buddy decides to head to New York and meet his real father. 6/10 It certainly works, especially the sing-along climax, but there is significant dissatisfaction with stars Will Ferrell and James Caan. Caan’s problems are all down to the staggeringly predictable script. Will Ferrell is convincing enough as a man-child but he simply doesn’t supply the lightness of touch required. Therefore, when the movie works, it’s largely down to being manipulated by John Debney’s splendidly suitable music and few of us like being knowingly manipulated. Director Jon Favreau paces things well but doesn’t build his climax, it’s just there. Special mention for Peter Dinklage in an entertaining and lively scene as a tightly-wound writer. This movie contains comic violence. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.