7 Seconds (2005, Movie) – 3/10 review

Director: Simon Fellows Wesley Snipes: Jack Tuliver Tamzin Outhwaite: Kelly Anders Pete Lee-Wilson: Alexsie Deobia Oparei: Spanky Georgina Rylance: Suza Director of Photography: Simon Fellows Writer: Martin Wheeler Martin Wheeler: Cole

7 Seconds (2005) Ex-Delta Force dude Jack Tuliver has become a master thief (it’s the law or something) and his latest target is a $20 million casino cash heist but it’s complicated by the presence of a $65 million Van Gogh in the loot meaning the stakes are even bigger than he thought. Because, you know, no-one cares about $20 million in cash. 3/10 It’s vaguely exciting and never loses the interest but star Wesley Snipes is probably the weakest link in the movie as he disdainfully trudges his way through his lines and action. His half-heartedness (look at his face on the DVD cover) is made more obvious because he occasionally remembers he is actually a highly capable actor but his talent only comes through in snippets. Co-star Tamzin Outhwaite is much more interesting on-screen and strides around with rather more purpose and charisma until she is sidelined for Snipes’ action climax. Outhwaite’s the reason I rented and she is fine but is capable of being great in something much better. This movie contains strong adult dialogue, sexual swear words and extreme and graphic violence, extremely unpleasant scenes and sex scene, female nudity. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

N3: Ninety-Nine Nights (2006, Game, 360) – 6/10 review

Director: Sang Youn Lee Producer: Tetsuya Mizuguchi Creative Director: Henry Lee

N3: Ninety-Nine Nights (2006) Inphyy and Aspharr leads the Knights into battle against the Goblins to prevent them obtaining and combining the Orbs of Light and Dark and bringing an apocalyptic ninety-nine days of darkness before taking over rulership of the world. 6/10 This is a badly-designed game with good, fun, spectacular, button-mashing, combo-learning gameplay. The most obvious, though excusable, barrier is a lack of checkpointing; you have to slog through a level then get instantly splatted by a fresh boss (rinse and repeat). Inexcusable is that the game is so badly designed it isn’t even hinted that you have to play through all eight characters to unlock a secret mission (for Inphyy) to actually finish the story and complete the game. This is a shame as all the characters are fun and different to play and some of their Orb Spark attacks are some of the most spectacular ever seen in video games. Special mention for some frequently outstanding music. This game contains extended extreme but non-graphic and stylised violence. Classified 12+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 12 or over.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996, Disney Movie) – 9/10 review

Director: Gary Trousdale Director: Kirk Wise Producer: Don Hahn Writer (Animation Story): Tab Murphy Writer (Original Novel) Notre Dame de Paris: Victor Hugo Writer (Animation Screenplay): Tab Murphy Writer (Animation Screenplay): Irene Mecchi Writer (Animation Screenplay): Bob Tzudiker Writer (Animation Screenplay): Noni White Writer (Animation Screenplay): Jonathan Roberts Composer (Song Music): Alan Menken Composer (Lyrics): Stephen Schwartz Tom Hulce: Quasimodo Supervising Animator Quasimodo: James Baxter Demi Moore: Esmeralda Heidi Mollenhauer: Esmeralda Supervising Animator Esmeralda: Tony Fucile Tony Jay: Frollo Supervising Animator Frollo: Kathy Zielinski Kevin Kline: Phoebus Supervising Animator Phoebus: Russ Edmonds

Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1996) Deformed baby Quasimodo is brought up by scheming evil government official Frollo in the Cathedral of Notre Dame and is given the task of ringing and caring for the bells. His life is reasonably happy but he would really like to leave the confines of the cathedral and find out what life is really like ‘out there’ but realising this dream means disobeying Frollo and putting the lives of himself and those he meets in great danger. 9/10 As time goes on, this unique Disney animation (the sole one dealing with entirely adult matters such as self-righteousness, sin, and the seduction of sex and power) becomes more clearly a masterpiece. The songs take a bit of getting used to but contain challenging and interesting lyrics and are better written than they seem at first. The screenplay is also outstanding as it manages to balance and present the weighty morals with clarity ("what makes a monster and what makes a man?") and, when appropriate, fun. Technically, the movie looks superb with Quasimodo’s animation a easy-to-overlook highlight (it’s very hard to draw something consistently from all angles that is deliberately distorted so special mention for supervising animator James Baxter). The movie saves it’s big animation guns for the finalé ("Sanctuary!") making it all the more impressive while the story rightly ends with the ugly guy not getting the girl which, as us ugly guy’s know, is exactly how it is. This movie contains disturbing scenes, supernatural scenes and unpleasant scenes. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009, Movie) – 4/10 review

Cast / crew Director: Michael Bay Writer: Ehren Kruger Writer: Roberto Orci Writer: Alex Kurtzman Producer: Lorenzo di Bonaventura Producer: Tom DeSanto Producer: Don Murphy Producer: Ian Bryce Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg Executive Producer: Michael Bay Shia LaBeouf: Sam Witwicky Megan Fox: Mikaela Bane Josh Duhamel: Major Lennox Tyrese Gibson: USAF Master Sergeant Epps Kevin Dunn: Ron Witwicky Julie White: Judy Witwicky John Turturro: Simmons Peter Cullen: Optimus Prime Hugo Weaving: Megatron Tony Todd: Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) Since the incident in Los Angeles, Optimus Prime and the Autobots have been protecting Earth from the Decepticons while Sam prepares to go to college. A shard of the Allspark, however, is discovered and Sam’s life is about to turn upside-down again. 4/10 If the first was a glorious mess, then this boring, fun-free sequel is just a mess. This is very much an idea-free zone with no clear plot, no clear character arcs and endless, meaningless, interchangeable action with apparently random robots that makes absolutely no sense. I think it takes supremely arrogant writers to write such random garbage because, if it were me, I simply could not stand the inconsistencies (in the franchise and within just this movie) and presence of baffling stereotypes spouting cut-and-paste dialogue from a collection of bad movie scripts. People need to stop employing Orci and Kurtzman and stop now. Michael Bay and his actors all put a lot of effort in but, aside from the fact that it frequently looks fabulous, it’s all wasted. This movie contains partial sexual swear words, mild swear words, adult dialogue and comic substance abuse and extreme mecha violence, extremely unpleasant scene and sexuality. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Links Next: Transformers: Dark of the Moon Previous: Transformers

Meet the Robinsons (2007, Disney Movie) – 4/10 review

Cast / crew Director: Stephen John Anderson Producer: Dorothy McKim Writer (Screenplay): Jonathan Bernstein Writer (Screenplay): Michelle Spitz Writer (Screenplay): Don Hall Writer (Screenplay): Nathan Greno Writer (Screenplay): Aurian Redson Writer (Screenplay): Joseph Mateo Writer (Screenplay): Stephen John Anderson Writer (Original Book) A Day with Wilbur Robinson: William Joyce Executive Producer: William Joyce Angela Bassett: Mildred Daniel Hansen: Lewis Jordan Fry: Lewis Stephen John Anderson: Bowler Hat Guy Ethan Sandler: Doris / CEO / Spike / Dmitri Supervising Animator Lewis: Nik Ranieri Supervising Animator Wilbur: Dale Baer Supervising Animator Bowler Hat Guy: Dick Zondag Supervising Animator Doris and Little Doris: Jay N. Davis

Meet the Robinsons (2007) Orphan Lewis is whisked away by a time-travelling boy called Wilbur Robinson to the future. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. Well, not quite. 4/10 While it’s certainly not devoid of merit, ideas, or, eventually and surprisingly, emotion (director Stephen John Anderson has clearly poured himself into this), it is ostentatiously unfunny which is a big problem for almost the entire movie. It also seems to be lacking detail in design and character animation and feels more like a very crisp-looking television animation or one of those direct-to-video Disney knock-offs. Voice work for the children is consistently excellent and the human baddie (voiced by the director) is the movie’s contribution to the Disney canon. It ends with a quote from Walt Disney himself but, it is sad to note, the company he created is currently at an all-time artistic and entertainment low. Since the turn of the millennium it has had absolutely no idea about how to make a decent animated film just, sadly, how to turn a good profit from past glories. This movie contains written inferred sexual swear word, adult dialogue. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All. Links Game: Meet the Robinsons

Reign of Fire (2002, Movie) – 8/10 review

Matthew McConaughey: Van Zan Christian Bale: Quinn Izabella Scorupco: Alex Gerard Butler: Creedy Alice Krige: Karen Abercromby Producer: Richard D. Zanuck Producer: Lili Fini Zanuck Producer: Gary Barber Producer: Roger Birnbaum Writer (Story): Gregg Chabot Writer (Story): Kevin Peterka Writer (Screenplay): Gregg Chabot Writer (Screenplay): Kevin Peterka Writer (Screenplay): Matt Greenberg Director: Rob Bowman

Reign of Fire (2002) After dragons return to and devastate the earth, small pockets of survivors try to scratch a meagre existence. One such pocket, led by Quinn, is about to receive a visit, however, from an American and his troops who are on their way to London to kill the bull dragon responsible for fertilizing the planet’s entire population. 8/10 Surprisingly, for an apocalyptical movie, this is a not-depressing but thrilling adventure with some spectacular dragon effects. Also, somewhat amazingly, this is the only dragon movie ever made that is any good at all (Dragonslayer is awful outside of the dragon and people don’t like it when you mention Pete’s Dragon). For that, I think I need to give it an extra star. This movie contains a single sexual swear word, mild swear words and strong melee violence, unpleasant scenes. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode aka Birdy the Mighty Decode (2008, TV, Anime) – 7/10 review

Writer: Masami Yuki Director: Kazuki Akane

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode aka Birdy the Mighty: Decode (2008) Birdy Cephon, an intergalactic police officer, finally catches up with her latest quarry after six months undercover as an idol (famous model) on Earth but her attempts to apprehend him result in a major change of plan. 7/10 Birdy the Mighty Decode is more intriguing, fun and boasts much better action than expected. Character designs and direction ensure that we are instantly familiar with each major character introduced without confusion. There is a story running through all thirteen episodes and though one (episode seven about a serial killer) feels like padding they are consistently engaging and manage to balance fun with intrigue and sinister goings-on. It all builds to the separation of Birdy and Tsutomu (which surprisingly happens before the last episode) and a battle against the series’ threat, Ryunka, which is resolved entirely fittingly. This series contains mild swear words and extreme fantasy violence, unpleasant scenes, unpleasant monster scenes, graphic blade violence, silhouetted extreme graphic violence and mild fan-service, mild non-sexual nudity, sensuality.

Xbox 360 vs PS3 Head-to-Head Face-Off: Round 20

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.

•   Bionic Commando
•   Fuel
•   Ghostbusters: The Video Game 
•   Prototype
•   Red Faction: Guerilla
•   X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Microsoft Word: Change Case Keyboard Shortcut Shift+F3

I often paste an address from a PayPal receipt and it never ceases to amaze how often people have entered their address without proper capitalisation; not for their name or even their postcode.

Word provides a function that changes the case of selected text (Format menu->Change Case) but it feels quicker just to go through and change the capitalisation by hand. However, there is a keyboard shortcut for this function: Shift+F3.

This cycles your text through “lowercase”, “UPPERCASE” and “Title Case” or “Sentence case”. If you’ve selected what appears to be a single sentence or line, Title Case is applied and all words are capitalised. If you’ve selected what appears to be multiple sentences or lines, Sentence case is applied and the first word of each sentence or line capitalised.

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998, Disney DVD Movie) – 5/10 review

Director: Darrell Rooney Co-Director: Rob LaDuca

Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, The (1998) Now king of Pride Rock, Simba has to deal with the exiled Scar supporters who still threaten Simba’s personal circle of life. 5/10 If the original Lion King was Hamlet, this direct-to-video sequel is Romeo and Juliet. In a break from musical sequel tradition the new original songs are generally rather good with the best being the brilliant He Lives In You (the only one from the original film composer Hans Zimmer). Sadly these are wasted because the rest of the movie is often as average as expected and more often completely mistaken in concept. The main single problem is the script which replays lines and scenes from the original with no interpretation, imagination, wit or style and only succeeds in weakening this movie. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All. Links Previous: The Lion King

The Lion King (1994, Disney Movie) – 8/10 review

Director: Roger Allers Director: Rob Minkoff Producer: Don Hahn Writer (Screenplay): Irene Mecchi Writer (Screenplay): Jonathan Roberts Writer (Screenplay): Linda Woolverton Composer (Songs): Tim Rice Composer (Songs): Elton John Music Composer: Hans Zimmer Executive Producer: Thomas Schumacher Executive Producer: Sarah McArthur Jonathan Taylor Thomas: Voice: Young Simba Supervising Animator Young Simba: Mark Henn Matthew Broderick: Voice: Adult Simba Supervising Animator Adult Simba: Ruben A. Aquino James Earl Jones: Voice: Mufasa Supervising Animator Mufasa: Tony Fucile Jeremy Irons: Voice: Scar Supervising Animator Scar: Andreas Dejá

Lion King, The (1994) When Simba, the future lion king, causes his father’s death he, full of remorse and guilt, flees the scene leaving evil Uncle Scar to assume the throne. Little does he know that Scar actually planned his father’s death and that his lands have now become desolate and wasted. Urged by a collection of friends, Simba recollects his pride (pun not intended!) and remembers his responsibility to take his place in the circle of life. Note: re-released in 2003, remastered in IMAX format with the song “Morning Report” added. 8/10 Disney film which suffers from some bland characters but benefits from a number of standout animated sequences and some memorable songs from Elton John. It starts great, has great bits in it and ends great. This movie contains violence (some graphic), unpleasant and distressing scenes. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All. Links Next: The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

The film starts perfectly with one of cinemas most professional and impressive openings. The lack of character is noticeable for a short period thereafter thanks to some poor one-liners but the film makes up for this with some tremendous sequences. The most memorable is probably the wildebeest stampede which brilliantly uses top computer animation. The ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’ sequence is also brilliant though the animation suffers a little from being photographed too close. The ‘Remember’ sequence manages to do the impossible, make James Earl Jones voice even deeper, more booming and more resounding. The final fight sequence is superbly animated, skilfully choreographed and the visual effects are very neat. The poor characters are, sadly, the main characters. Simba and Nala are both very bland and very weak and it is left to a menagerie of supporting characters to take the weight of interest. Timon and Pumbaa are superb, the three hyenas are pretty good and the monkey is great but it should be a criminal offence not to exploit the sensational comic genius of Rowan Atkinson. He is given a whole number of weak lines punctuated by one or two good ones and it is to his credit that his character, Zazu, is not truly unfunny.

The music is outstanding, Elton John’s songs are very catchy and used brilliantly. The best used is ‘Circle of Life’ which opens and closes the film to stunning effect. Elton John was, apparently, a little unhappy with how Disney proposed to use ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’ but upon seeing the final version in the film he changed his mind. Musically, it is one of the film’s best momemts. Hans Zimmer complements and uses John’s tunes very well indeed and, while I do not feel he supplies a particularly unique score, it works really well throughout and is probably the single biggest contributor to the emotional impact of the movie.

The animation is generally good, much better than anything from any other studio at the time, but still not up to the standard of Disney’s efforts up to and including 1959′s Sleeping Beauty. Also, despite extensive live-action study, the animals do not always move convincingly, the character animation in the earlier classic The Jungle Book is far better (and it’s rather obvious to animation fans where it was traced for Scar). Moving the lions faces in three dimensions also clearly posed a challenge as facial features (Mufasa’s especially) some distort when they turn their head. As an amusing aside and as noted on the television sitcom Third Rock from the Sun the plot is very similar to Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

All these points, however, do not detract from the sheer entertainment value on offer. This film is a masterful manipulator of emotion with several tear-welling scenes, several funny bits and, unusually for an animated movie, several genuinely exciting sequences. As far as entertainment goes, this is one of Disney’s finest ever efforts and was rewarded by taking over 101 Dalmations (!) crown as the most successful Disney movie ever. It also became one of the most successful movies released ever and, for several years, resided in the top five all-time highest grossing films. In 2003 it was replaced by Finding Nemo as the highest grossing animated film in history.

The Mentalist Season One (2008, 2009, TV) – 7/10

Writer (Creator): Bruno Heller Simon Baker: Patrick Jane Robin Tunney: Teresa Lisbon Tim Kang: Kendall Cho Owain Yeoman: Wayne Rigsby Amanda Righetti: Grace Van Pelt Gregory Itzin: Virgil Minelli

Mentalist, The Former ‘psychic’ Patrick Jane uses his skills of observation and psychology to help the California Bureau of Investigation close cases. He is haunted by the murder of his wife and daughter by serial killer Red John but it was that event that caused him to abandon the deceptive career as a psychic and embark on a career of justice. 7/10 A good new crime series. Our hero character is the main draw, though the support characters, especially Tim Kang as the awesomely nonchalant Kendall Cho, have been just interesting enough to be, er, interesting without being too distracting. While our hero is a stereotypical oddball maverick genius he brings something new to the table which is a complete lack of action-man gung-ho. Several times during the show he near soils himself when confronted with a gun and always allows Robin Tunney’s Agent in Charge to take the lead. Most refreshing. While I preferred the similarly themed Lie To Me (which worked better emotionally), I look forward to season two. This Mentalist, The episode contains adult dialogue and gory and unpleasant scenes, strong violence.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007, Game, 360) – 4/10 review

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) 4/10 This is a real shame. For a good while, this game works well. It’s simple to play (though, typically for movie games, the controls feel more complicated than they are), looks quite nice and progress is tangible and smooth. As we reach the At World’s End portion of the game, though, the developers decide to drag out the game by making the combat sequences and duels go on for far too long. As both elements are extremely simple or uninvolving, the earlier, shorter bursts (defeating half-a-dozen dudes, for example) are okay while later battles drag on wearily. Oh, and, bizarrely, Jack can’t swim. In the end, the game is tiresome but it was nearly a very decent movie tie-in. This game contains mild abusive language and extended, occasionally strong, sword violence, extended melee violence. Classified 16+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 16 or over.. Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence.

Jesus’ Vital Role in God’s Purpose

You know the scripture that says “all things are possible with God”? (Matt. 10:27) I’ve found something that he couldn’t do and it clearly shows just how vital Jesus’ role in God’s purpose is.

Jesus has been intimately involved in God’s purpose since day one. Colossians 1:17 talks about this time:

“Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist”

Jesus was deeply involved in the creative works. He is called a “master worker” (Prov. 8:30) and Jehovah is likely speaking to him during the Genesis account when he said “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26) So Jesus has always been very important in the outworking of his Father’s purpose but, of course, the rebellion in Eden occurred and that changed his role considerably. From that point on, Jesus became vital to the successful outworking of Jehovah’s purpose. How vital? Without Jesus, Jehovah could not accomplish his purpose; in fact, it would become impossible for Jehovah on his own to fulfil his purpose; that’s how vital.

Satan caused mankind to become alienated from God and slaves to sin and death from imperfection. To accomplish Jehovah’s purpose those things would need to be reversed and would require Jesus to do something that Jehovah could not. Mark 10:45 tells us what that was:

“For even the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.”

Justice demanded that a ransom be paid to buy back what had been lost. But Jehovah couldn’t give his soul as a ransom; he is immortal and cannot die. It wasn’t possible for him to do this himself. Instead, Jesus willingly undertook this most selfless of tasks and so enabled Jehovah’s purpose to still come to fruition. And when we mention the death of Jesus, we remember that it was an awful, awful experience.

Jesus came to Earth knowing that when his end came, it would be painful and humiliating. He knew how criminals were executed. He knew they were flogged and nailed to something. Look at your hand. Look at your wrist. Imagine someone carefully placing a huge, blunt nail just there. Stare at it. Then, BAM! Jesus knew this, and did it anyway. Why? Because he wants to see God’s purpose fulfilled and because he loves us.

Jesus also knew that he would have to resist calling upon Jehovah for a rescue. He made a point of this, first telling his apostles that he could call legions of angels if he wanted to and later proclaiming on the torture stake that Jehovah had forsaken him; that he had no protection from above. It’s all very well going into something knowing that you’ve got superpowers and God on your side; it’s something entirely different going into something knowing that you can’t use those powers and God will not be stepping in to put a premature end to it.

Jesus knew this, and did it anyway. Why? Because he wants to see God’s purpose fulfilled and because he loves us.

Without Jesus, without this sacrifice, God’s purpose could not be fulfilled. With Jesus and his remarkable sacrifice, it could.

Scriptural proof? Remember that Satan caused mankind to become alienated from God? Note what Colossians 1:19,20 tells us about Jesus sacrifice:

“[God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile again to himself all [other] things by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.”

To reconcile means to re-establish a close relationship between. All things in heaven and earth were reconciled to God through Jesus’ death. Remember Jesus himself talked about this earlier: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Only by putting faith in Jesus can we have a close relationship with Jehovah. Having a close relationship with Jehovah is part of his purpose and Jesus’ role is vital.

What effect did the ransom sacrifice have with regard to sin and death? Yes, look at Hebrews 2:14, 15:

“Therefore, since the “young children” are sharers of blood and flesh, he also similarly partook of the same things, that through his death he might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil; and [that] he might emancipate all those who for fear of death were subject to slavery all through their lives.”

Not only did Jesus sacrifice emancipate or liberate mankind from slavery to sin and death but he also provided the final nail in Satan’s coffin. After this point, Satan remains alive only to see the ultimate fulfilment of Jehovah’s purpose. Once His purpose has come to fruition, Satan will be destroyed.

What does freedom from slavery to sin and death mean? John 3:16

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.”

No sin means no death. No death means, obviously, everlasting life. Everlasting life for mankind is part of God’s purpose and Jesus’ role is vital.

It was impossible for Jehovah to send himself to Earth as a human and die because he cannot die. It was impossible for us to pay the ransom of a perfect human life. But God didn’t want this to be a Catch-22 and so he gave his Son and his Son willingly submitted. He could be sent to Earth and offer his perfect human life as a ransom sacrifice, once for all time.

This talk doesn’t begin to cover every role that Jesus has in God’s purpose. But when we remind ourselves of these things, even briefly, and meditate on them it should have an effect such as that described at 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15:

“For the love the Christ has compels us, because this is what we have judged, that one man died for all; so, then, all had died; and he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised up.”

To compel means to exert a strong, irresistible force on. When we think about Jesus, the love he showed for Jehovah and for us and his vital role in God’s purpose, it has a profound effect on our attitude, conduct and goals in life.

We want people to know that this is why we are Christians: to unitedly exercise faith in Jesus and tell people about the vital role he plays. This is why we are a worldwide brotherhood identified by love: because Jehovah and Jesus loved us. This is why we look forward to the future: because Jehovah has a purpose and because Jesus has made it possible for it to be fulfilled.

Lie To Me 1.13 Sacrifice (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Cast / crew Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Creator: Samuel Baum Mekhi Phifer: Sean Patrick Thomas: Molly Price: Jonathan Banks: Hayley McFarland: Emily Lightman Anthony Azizi: Bernard White: Jennifer Beals: Zoe Landau Supervising Producer: Josh Singer Co-Executive Producer: Dustin Thomason Co-Executive Producer: Adam Davidson Writer: Josh Singer Writer: Dustin Thomason Director: Adam Davidson

Lie To Me 1.13 Sacrifice (2009) The FBI use Lightman when a suicide bombing destroys a bus full of passengers. 7/10 Of course it would be marvellous if all suicide bombings could be cleared up inside a day but that’s the nature of television dramas and the story is interesting and unpredictable enough to close Lie To Me on a high. The episode title Sacrifice gets one worried that the writers had run out of ideas and would be killing off one of our heroes but, refreshingly, that’s not the case. The sacrifice comes in the form of the comic book cliché “with these powers, I shall become a superhero” and the famous Star Trek quote: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” Lie To Me has proved to be an entertaining and interesting new show and I look forward to a second season. This Lie To Me episode contains unpleasant scenes. Links Previous episode: Blinded Next episode: The Core of It

Lie To Me 1.12 Blinded (2009, TV) – 8/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Mekhi Phifer: Daniel Sunjata: Clea DuVall: Emilio Rivera: Consulting Producer: Elizabeth Craft Consulting Producer: Sarah Fain Writer: Sarah Fain Writer: Elizabeth Craft Director: Milan Cheylov

Lie To Me 1.12 Blinded (2009) Lightman is asked to try and break a copycat rapist / murderer case but his opponent seems rather more adept at lie detection and manipulation than he is. 8/10 An episode about power and how to take it from someone who has it. It looks like Lightman has met his match and, although we know he’s the hero and this can’t possibly be, the villain is clearly causing Lightman to work really really hard for his goal. Despite the subject (serial rapist / murderer) this is good fun because it concentrates on the mind-games. This Lie To Me episode contains adult dialogue and extremely unpleasant scenes, extreme melee violence. Links Next episode: Sacrifice Previous episode: Undercover

Lie To Me 1.11 Undercover (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Kevin Tighe: Fletcher Currie Graham: Tim Guinee: Alec Foster Sean Patrick Thomas: D.B. Woodside: David Warshofsky: Jason Beghe: Martin Papazian: Consulting Producer: Tom Szentgyorgyi Writer: Tom Szentgyorgyi Director: Seith Mann

Lie To Me 1.11 Undercover (2009) Lightman tries to determine if a pair of detectives are lying in the near-fatal shooting of a young man but finds there is much more at stake than he could have anticipated. Meanwhile, The Lightman Group are being sued for their role in losing the funds in the Joseph Hollin case (in Depraved Heart). 7/10 Poses an interesting moral dilemma: should you allow a definite miscarriage of justice to go ahead if it might prevent a possible catastrophe in the future? The resolution to the Alec Foster affair storyline turned out better than expected with SPOILER him having a cocaine problem and the woman being his support contact but Tim Guinee has already added another slime-ball to his entirely resistible gallery of ne’er-do-wells. Links Next episode: Blinded Previous episode: Better Half

Lie To Me 1.10 Better Half (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum David Harbour: Mireille Enos: Hayley McFarland: Emily Lightman Kurt Caceres: Karis Campbell: Jennifer Beals: Zoe Landau Supervising Producer: Josh Singer Writer: Ilana Bar-Din Giannini Writer: Josh Singer Director: Karen Gaviola

Lie To Me 1.10 Better Half (2009) Lightman’s expertise is called upon by his ex-wife Zoe Landau (some sort of state attorney) in the case of an arson where a child was injured and a grandmother died. Another child claims he saw a TV reporter start the fire but while Lightman doesn’t think he is lying, he doesn’t think he is telling the truth either. 7/10 Though this is directed without pace and feels much longer than it should, there is more than enough plot turns to keep things interesting. Jennifer Beals turns up as Lightman’s ex-wife and bears an uncanny resemblance to on-screen daughter Hayley McFarland; from looks alone you could easily believe them to be related.

Lie To Me 1.09 Life Is Priceless (2009, TV) – 6/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Shea Whigham: Fredric Lehne: Lauren Bowles: Cheryl White: Richard Brooks: Co-Executive Producer: Dustin Thomason Writer: Dustin Thomason Director: Clark Johnson

Lie To Me 1.09 Life Is Priceless (2009) Lightman and Dr. Foster assist a FEMA rescue attempt to try and clear up the truth as to the locations of three missing men. Loker and Torres get an offer they can’t refuse from a billionaire businessman who wants to know if his fiancée knew about his wealth before she met him. 6/10 Two consulting producers that appeared last week, disappear this week and the opening credits return (Brand New Day by Ryan Star). Odd. While the Lightman / Foster side of the episode is pretty unconvincing this time (they seem horribly out of place), series’ morals are explicitly stated toward the end which reminds us of how unusually positive Lie To Me is: lies are found out, lies beget harder lies, lies cause damage. It is extremely unusual for Western television shows to evangelise such commendable traits. American shows, in particular, tend to advocate selfishness and power, particularly in the context of treating comparable bodies with disdain (for example, the CSI treat police as stupid or doctors will treat police as stupid or old women will treat police as stupid). Links Next episode: Better Half Previous episode: Depraved Heart

Lie To Me 1.08 Depraved Heart (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Daniel Benzali: Megan Dodds: Kirk B.R. Woller: Hayley McFarland: Sunkrish Bala: Co-Executive Producer: Dustin Thomason Co-Executive Producer: Adam Davidson Writer: Dustin Thomason Director: Adam Davidson

Lie To Me 1.08 Depraved Heart (2009) Lightman involves himself in the suicide of two sisters while Dr. Foster is assisting a SCC investigation into a stolen pension fund. 7/10 The connection between the suicide victims was interesting, not something I’d seen before (SPOILER they were all surrogate mothers being taken advantage of by an immigration official). There’s something about the show which is really working emotionally. Critical scenes are hitting the mark with surprising force. This week, it’s the final scene between Lightman and his daughter as he prepares to tell her that her grandmother committed suicide. Depraved Heart is an American legal term referring to causing death by action or inaction that shows callous disregard for human life. Links Next episode: Life Is Priceless Previous episode: The Best Policy

Lie To Me 1.07 The Best Policy (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum D.W. Moffett: Tim Guinee: Alec Foster Rick Hoffman: Alexa Fischer: Deidrie Henry: Writer: T.J. Brady Writer: Rasheed Newson Director: Arvin Brown

Lie To Me 1.07 Best Policy, The (2009) Lightman’s life-long, best-friend ever in the history of the world ever asks him to discover who broke into a pharmaceutical lab and stole a secret formula. Dr. Foster assists the State Department with the release of Americans due to be executed in Yemen on drug trafficking charges. 7/10 The introduction of a lifelong, best friend on a television show always means that that friendship is about to come to an end. While Lie To Me is ticking off all the television drama clichés, it is working and that unquantifiable is critical. Roth does seem to be regressing into Thade (from Planet of the Apes) as the series progresses though. However, this episode does highlight a fascinating situation. In Yemen, drug trafficking carries the death penalty. Two Americans are caught carrying drugs and are will be sentenced to be executed. America throws a hissy fit and demands their return. Why? It’s not like they aren’t guilty. Links Next episode: Depraved Heart Previous episode: Do No Harm

Lie To Me 1.06 Do No Harm (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Mahershalalhashbaz Ali: Stacy Edwards: Christine Adams: Megan Follows: Bradford Tatum: Madeline Carroll: Writer: Jami O’Brien Director: John Behring

Lie To Me 1.06 Do No Harm (2009) Lightman and Dr. Foster work a child abduction case. Loker and Torres are asked by a publisher to make sure that their author is telling the truth about not partaking in war atrocities. 7/10 One wishes all child abduction cases could be resolved so nicely. While it doesn’t exactly paint the police as complete dolts, it does portray them as ineffectual until Lightman arrives. As noted before, Lightman is our hero but you do wish that television shows would present a more balanced portrayal of the other professional people in the episode. Links Next episode: The Best Policy Previous episode: Unchained

Lie To Me 1.05 Unchained (2009, TV) – 6/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Paul Calderon: Deirdre Lovejoy: Brad Beyer: Brett Rice: Matt Bushell: Troy Winbush: Ross Thomas: Supervising Producer: Josh Singer Writer: Josh Singer Director: Lesli Linka Glatter

Lie To Me 1.05 Unchained (2009) Lightman tries to assess whether an incarcerated gang leader has truly reformed. Dr. Foster looks into the death of a fireman. 6/10 While not a terribly good episode with transparent storylines lagging behind audience perception, Tim Roth does get to munch a burger in someone’s face and the climax involving the is-he-or-isn’t-he-reformed gangster works emotionally. Links Next episode: Do No Harm Previous episode: Love Always

Lie To Me 1.04 Love Always (2009, TV) – 6/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Tom Verica: Sean Patrick Thomas: Tim Guinee: Alec Foster Brian Tee: Co-Executive Producer: Adam Davidson Executive Producer: Steven Maeda Executive Producer: Samuel Baum Writer (Screenplay): Tom Szentgyorgyi Writer (Story): Tom Szentgyorgyi Writer (Story): Steven Maeda Director: Tim Hunter

Lie To Me 1.04 Love Always (2009) The whole team assist the Secret Service at the wedding of the son of a South Korean Ambassador when news of a possible political assassination is discovered. 6/10 Monica Raymund is certainly proving an irritant (oddly this would disappear once she started wearing her hair down, amazing) but the show is working. Just a single plot this week and while I was hoping that SPOILER the bride did it, there was plenty of entertaining hidden truths to reveal before finally getting to the real assassin. This Lie To Me episode contains graphic gun violence. Links Next episode: Unchained Previous episode: A Perfect Score

Lie To Me 1.03 A Perfect Score (2009, TV) – 7/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Anthony Michael Ruivivar: Isabella Hofmann: Sasha Roiz: Matt Malloy: Hayley McFarland: Steven Flynn: Sarah Ramos: April Parker Jones: Executive Producer: Steven Maeda Executive Producer: Samuel Baum Writer (Screenplay): Steven Maeda Writer (Story): Samuel Baum Writer (Story): Steven Maeda Director: Eric Laneuville

Lie To Me 1.03 Perfect Score, A (2009) Lightman’s daughter gets herself in trouble with the police. Professionally, he assists an investigation into the death of a student while Dr. Foster is consulted by NASA when one of their planes crashes without any apparent technical failure. 7/10 The acting is generally more subtle this episode and it helps. Also, both storylines generate critical empathy in that the audience can legitimately put themselves in the emotional situations presented even if we aren’t a rich dad or a space pilot. However, the structure of the show is exhibiting the same problem that the CSI franchise has. A behavioural scientist, like a forensic scientist, is only a consultant on investigations. They don’t replace detectives, they assist them and provide them with analysis and expertise that may point the detectives in certain directions. Admittedly, it’s a difficult element to balance as our behavioural scientist is our hero but it is a terribly obvious exercising of dramatic license. Links Next episode: Love Always Previous episode: Moral Waiver

Lie To Me 1.02 Moral Waiver (2009, TV) – 6/10 review

Tim Roth: Dr. Cal Lightman Kelli Williams: Dr. Gillian Foster Brendan Hines: Eli Loker Monica Raymund: Ria Torres Writer (Creator): Samuel Baum Charles Parnell: David Anders: Staff Sergeant Russell Scott Supervising Producer: Josh Singer Co-Executive Producer: Adam Davidson Writer: Josh Singer Director: Adam Davidson

Lie To Me 1.02 Moral Waiver (2009) After debunking the latest polygraph with an egg and a babe, Lightman is requested to determine whether a female soldier who has accused her sergeant of rape is telling the truth or not. Dr. Foster investigates a charge of bribery against a high-school basketball player who is due to turn pro at the end of the year. 6/10 The information on micro-expressions and body language is fascinating, as are the real-world examples of such; fascinating enough to paper over the frustratingly routine framework and characterisation and clumsy portrayal of the micro-expressions and body language. That won’t last, however, so Lie To Me needs to add guile and subtlety to give it legs. It also seems anachronistic of Lightman to dismiss polygraph tests while his associate uses voice stress analysis (which has the exact same weakness) to help with the second case-of-the-week. Links Next episode: A Perfect Score Previous episode: Lie To Me

Earth Defence Force 2017 (2007, Game, 360) – 8/10 review

Earth Defence Force 2017 (2007) 8/10 Though this was slammed for poor graphics, that doesn’t tell the whole story of this game that engenders insane loyalty for its fans, including me, and vitriolic disbelief from everyone else. There are, however, outrageously beautiful explosions, especially from the spectacular giant walking robots, there are hundreds of giant insects all over the shop and you can destroy every building you can see. For real. In short bursts, it’s simply delirious. There’s a super-ginormous playtime to get all achievements (over ninety for me to get to 900) and it would be easy to become jaded but play it for less than half-an-hour at a time and you will have great fun, especially with a friend. This game contains mild swear words and extreme gun violence against giant extra-terrestrial bugs and robots.

Terminator: Salvation (2009) – 6/10 science fiction action movie review

Cast / crew Producer: Victor Kubicek Producer: Derek Anderson Producer: Moritz Borman Director: McG Christian Bale: John Connor Sam Worthington: Marcus Wright Anton Yelchin: Kyle Reese Moon Bloodgood: Blair Williams Bryce Dallas Howard: Kate Connor Common: Barnes Jane Alexander: Virginia Michael Ironside: General Ashdown Helena Bonham Carter: Dr. Serena Kogan Producer: Moritz Borman Producer: Jeffrey Silver Writer: John Brancato Writer: Michael Ferris

Terminator: Salvation (2009) After being convinced to donate his body to science, Marcus Wright wakes up in a post-Judgment Day (nuclear obliteration) world where the last dregs of humanity are being exterminated by machines. He quickly hears of the Resistance’s star, John Connor, and is oddly determined to enlist the Resistance’s help to travel to Skynet. 6/10 There’s some really spectacular action (special mention for the scene where John Connor climbs in a helicopter flies off and gets blasted down in a single shot and all the explosions are satisfyingly enormous) but the climax is weak and non-sensical (despite a SPOILER highly welcome visit from 1984 Arnie as a T-800) and an awful lot of the movie does really silly things (like extraordinarily noisy building-size robots appearing silently when needed and John Connor being able to go mano-a-mano with a T-800 without getting crushed like a grape). Christian Bale is scripted amateurishly but what he brought to the project was, not thesping skills but, credibility. Sam Worthington doesn’t have charisma in McG’s hands; let’s see how he fares in James Cameron’s Avatar. All in all, the action rescues the film but the same story could have been great with a bit more thought for the words. This movie contains mild swear words and extreme melee violence, extreme mecha violence, extremely unpleasant scenes, gun violence and full male nudity obscured by darkness. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Links Previous: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

King Kong (2005, Movie) – 7/10 review

Director: Peter Jackson Writer (Screenplay): Fran Walsh Writer (Screenplay): Philippa Boyens Writer (Screenplay): Peter Jackson Writer (Original Story): Merian C. Cooper Writer (Original Story): Edgar Wallace Producer: Fran Walsh Producer: Peter Jackson Co-Producer: Philippa Boyens Naomi Watts: Ann Darrow Jack Black: Carl Denham Adrien Brody: Jack Driscoll Thomas Kretschmann: Captain Englehorn Colin Hanks: Preston Jamie Bell: Jimmy Evan Parke: Hayes Andy Serkis: Kong / Lumpy

King Kong King Kong (2005) Director Carl Denham takes a cast and crew to Skull Island, a mysterious uncharted location on a secret map he obtained (okay, uncharted except for that) where he will film what he hopes will be his breakthrough film in a location with scenery like nowhere on earth. 7/10 Though it feels nothing like three hours long (this makes it, quite remarkably, longer than the original and its sequel put together!) and mistakenly spending as much time on the rescuers as on the title star, Peter Jackson just about delivers near-triumph from a self-indulgent near-car-wreck of a movie. He is well-served with a wonderful, luminous performance from Naomi Watts (stunningly photographed by Andrew Lesnie) and outstanding work from Andy Serkis and the team at WETA Digital in the creation of an always entirely convincing Kong. When Kong’s on, the film’s great, especially during the Empire State Building climax. (Knock a star off for the extended edition.) This King Kong movie contains extreme fantasy violence, extreme monster violence, graphic spear violence, intense scenes of danger and mild sensuality. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (2008, Game, PS3) – 6/10 review

Creative Director: Paul Hollywood Director: Nigel Kershaw Technical Director: Mark Lomas Development Manager: Simon Benson

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (2008) 6/10 The problem for Evolution Studios was that the handling and sense of weight and inertia in the first Motorstorm was perfect. They’ve tweaked the handling considerably for this pretty sequel and… broken it. None of the vehicles now feel right, none of them handle predictably and they all feel like helium-filled clown cars where hitting a blade of grass sends your steel steed bouncing in the air and hitting anything bigger (including other vehicles) results in your car exploding. Despite this major, and eventually game-breaking, problem, the game is still absolutely thrilling to play and highly satisfying to win but there will come a point where the frustration outweighs the fun by too big a factor. Classified 16+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 16 or over.. Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence. Links Previous: Motorstorm