The Fountain (2006, Romantic Fantasy Drama Movie) – 6/10 review

Director: Darren Aronofsky Writer (Screenplay): Darren Aronofsky Writer (Story): Darren Aronofsky Writer (Story): Ari Handel Hugh Jackman: Tomas, Tommy, Tom Creo Rachel Weisz: Isabel, Izzi Creo Ellen Burstyn: Dr. Lillian Guzetti

Fountain, The (2006) A conquistador attempts to force access to the temple of the Tree of Life. A scientist races to find a cure for his wife’s cancer and hits a breakthrough using material from a tree in Central America. A man and a tree in a bubble in space is traveling to a far nebula. 6/10 What is it about film directors’ personal films and getting their lead actors to shave their heads? That said, there is some real quality here, principally from Hugh Jackman, who really connects emotionally with the part and the audience. There is also a stand-out scene when his character uses the sap of the Tree of Life to repair a stab wound, the film generally looks quite striking and it’s definitely a film worthy of discussion for film students. It’s the kind of film that no-one in their right mind would green light as a commercial prospect but that 20th Century-Fox and Warner Bros. can be proud to have in their catalogue as an intriguing piece of art that works on a level higher than a series of images flickering before your eyes; a movie that should be made and watched, even if you don’t like it or understand it. This movie contains a sexual swear word and graphic violence, gory and unpleasant scenes, an unexpected sort-of-unpleasant scene and sexuality. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

Jumper: Griffin’s Story (2008, Third-Person Action Movie Game, 360) – 2/10 review

Jamie Bell: Voice of Griffin

Jumper Jumper: Griffin’s Story (2008) Griffin is a Jumper – capable to instantly teleporting himself to any other location he can think of – but his bid for vengeance for the death of his parents means he has to go up against the only people who have the technology to stop him: the Paladins. 2/10 Joyless, ugly and staggeringly short (one of the Achievements Is complete the game in less than forty-five minutes!) movie spin-off. Part of the reason is that the game consistently ignores your input making it unnecessarily difficult to, for example, run or roll away from enemies. Or hit them. Or turn around. Potential for some nice platform-hopping puzzles is never realised either despite the gameplay mechanics being present. It’s odd as the game designers have clearly thought about the concept of the spatial warrior and come up with an agreeably imaginative control scheme. They’ve also accurately translated Jamie Bell’s ‘two-broken-legs’ style of running. Critically, though, they never get around the fact that our ‘hero’ never needs to fight a single soul: his ability means he can escape any fight when not tethered and can defeat any foe by dropping them in a volcano. This Jumper game contains extended strong violence, some very unpleasant scenes. Classified 12+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 12 or over.

Who Is Your God?

Now on this subject we’re given the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

King Nebuchadnezzar had set up a golden image, probably of the chief Babylonian god Marduk. He ordered his government to come and worship the image. For the Jews, though, this was a big problem thanks to Commandments One and Two.

Exodus 20:3-5a “You must not have any other gods against my face. ⁴ You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. ⁵ You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion…”

This exclusive devotion made the Jews unique among the ancient nations in that they were the only ones who could not worship foreign gods. Babylonians had no problem giving worship to Jehovah in addition to their own gods but Jews could worship only Jehovah.

Unfortunately, the punishment for not worshipping Nebuchadnezzar’s image was death by fiery furnace. For the longest time, i.e., until I prepared this talk, I thought that Nebuchadnezzar had a special furnace just for throwing people into. As if he’d gone down B&Q: “Yes, I’d like a fiery furnace. No, a big one.” In reality, it was probably a furnace used for making bricks and horrific death was just a bonus feature. Anyway, we know how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego responded:

Daniel 3:18 “…let it become known to you, O king, that your gods are not the ones we are serving, and the image of gold that you have set up we will not worship.” ”

But no-one will throw us in a fiery furnace for being a practising Christian. It’s not an immediate matter of life and death. If false worshippers don’t treat religion as all that important, will that apathy rub off on us?

In our increasingly secular society, the question ‘who is your god’ doesn’t really matter to many. Will that apathy rub off on us?

A religious commenter wrote: “The greatest development in modern religion is not a religion at all—it’s an attitude best described as ‘apatheism’ … a disinclination to care all that much about one’s own religion.” [1] Will that apathy, that apatheism, rub off on us?

It could, but I’m sure we don’t want it to.

Is apathy a quality you’d use to describe the response of the three Hebrews? Do you think there was any question in their mind when the issue of exclusive devotion came up? Do you think they wondered: “guys, where exactly do we stand on this?” No, because their lives were clearly centred on Jehovah. They must have kept him close in mind continually. They were spiritually minded and proud to be His servants. So when their faith was tested, they didn’t have to think. They knew: “the image of gold that you have set up we will not worship.”

Just like the apostles in Jerusalem: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

We too can fight apathy by being spiritually minded and proud of our identity. How do we do that? One religious magazine [2] listed the following:

• Continually reaffirm your relationship with God
• Prove Bible truth to yourself
• Seek to please God, not man
• Make your Christian identity known
• Cherish your spiritual heritage
• Immerse yourself in Christian activities

When we do these things, we will be able to respond definitely and without hesitation, like the three Hebrews would have, to the question ‘who is your god?’

---

• [1] “Let It Be” by Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic May 2003
• [2] The Watchtower 2005 2/15 Safeguarding Our Christian Identity p.17-21

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (2008, Alternative History WWII First-Person Shooter Game, 360) – 6/10 review

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (2008) Without the charismatic leadership of Winston Churchill (who died in a car accident several years before), the German invasion of Europe has gone in favour of the Nazi’s and they’ve set their sights on America. A New York construction worker finds himself putting down his hammer and picking up sub-machine guns and putting the forces of evil back in their place. 6/10 Desperately unpolished and technically deficient first-person alternative history shooter. There’s no accuracy to the shooting, not because that is just the nature of the weapons, but because the game has wads of invisible scenery that you can’t shoot through surrounding every object in the game. It’s a big shame as the premise has potential (you see off a 1950′s Nazi invasion in New York, Washington D.C., and London; locations not available to traditional World War II games), the bomb-wiring mini-game works well and there’s something endlessly satisfying about putting down evil dictators who want to rule the world. It also has a certain old-school PC shooter charm and, being shorter than average but long enough, doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. A generous six, then. This game contains bloodless gun violence, melee violence, occasional strong 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.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003, Fantasy Action Movie) – 7/10 review

Director: Gore Verbinski Writer (Screenplay) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Ted Elliott Writer (Screenplay) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Terry Rossio Writer (Screen Story) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Ted Elliott Writer (Screen Story) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Terry Rossio Writer (Screen Story) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Stuart Beattie Writer (Screen Story) Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Jay Wolpert Writer Based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Jay Wolpert Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer Johnny Depp: Jack Sparrow Geoffrey Rush: Barbossa Orlando Bloom: Will Turner Keira Knightley: Elizabeth Swann Jack Davenport: Norrington Kevin McNally: Joshamee Gibbs Zoë Saldana: Anamaria Jonathan Pryce: Governor Weatherby Swann

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, The (2003) The pirate crew of the Black Pearl are delighted when they find the last piece of cursed gold. Local blacksmith Will Turner is less happy, however, as they also took the love of his life along with them. He determines to rescue her but needs the help of someone who knows the pirates better than anyone else: the recently incarcerated pirate and former captain of the Black Pearl Jack Sparrow. 7/10 Fun, with truly astonishing special effects and a delightful Johnny Depp. Geoffrey Rush is charismatic in support and Keira Knightley is luminous throughout. The writers and director applaudably treat the project much more professionally that expected and make a great job of taking nothing (a park ride) and successfully theming a movie and characters and story around it. It is a bit too long, however, and the movie ends twice rather weakly. This movie contains mild swear word and strong bloodless blade violence, a gory scene, unpleasant scenes. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Links Next: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Call of Duty: World at War (2008, 360, PS3) – 9/10 World War II first-person shooter game review

Cast / crew Creative Director: Corky Lehmkuhl Gary Oldman: Sgt. Reznov Kiefer Sutherland: Sgt. Roebuck

Call of Duty 5 Call of Duty: World at War (2008) World War II: Russian Pvt. Dimitri Petrenko is pushing back the Germans to Berlin and American Private Miller is pushing back the Japanese to Okinawa. 9/10 Beautifully polished World War II first-person shooter which is atmospheric, extremely playable, very smooth and controls, looks, animates and sounds brilliant. There’s only one real complaint (aside from a couple of dispiriting bugs which require level restarts) and it’s an old one: disagreeably obvious infinite spawning soldiers who direct 90% of their fire directly into any orifice they choose whether they are looking at you or not, whether they are holding a weapon or not, whether you knew you were going to pop out or not, whether they’re on fire or not, whether they’re dead or not, whether they’re being run over by a tank or not, whether they’re being riddled with your bullets or not, whether a grenade has just exploded in their face or not. Hardened is great fun as it is really tough and satisfying but, unlike Veteran, you don’t get punished for your lack of clairvoyance skills. What is always good about the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty World War II games is that you never forget that this was a real conflict in which real people died real horribly. The ease with which you die, even though it’s a game (you can take three or more bullets which is rather more generous than real-life) becomes, rightfully, a slightly sobering experience. This Call of Duty game contains sexual swear words and extremely graphic gun violence, graphic blade, fire and melee violence, extremely unpleasant scenes. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over. Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence. Classified Bad Language by PEGI. Game contains bad language. Classified 18+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for adults who have reached the age of 18 or over.. Links Previous: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Lens of Truth Head-to-Head: 360 Eurogamer Head-to-Head: 360 IGN Head-to-Head: PC IGN Head-to-Head: 360 Next: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Call of Duty Screened by Slimm

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008, Animated Comedy Action Movie) – 5/10 review

Ben Stiller: Alex Chris Rock: Marty David Schwimmer: Melman Jada Pinkett Smith: Gloria Sacha Baron Cohen: Julien Cedric "The Entertainer": Maurice Andy Richter: Mort Bernie Mac: Zuba Alec Baldwin: Makunga Sherri Shepherd: Mom Will.I.Am: Moto Moto Director: Eric Darnell Director: Tom McGrath Writer: Etan Cohen Writer: Eric Darnell Writer: Tom McGrath Head Of Character Animation: Rex Grignon Tom McGrath: Skipper Eric Darnell: Joe the Witch Doctor, Poacher #2 Tom McGrath: Lemur Chris Rock: Additional Zebras

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria leave Madagascar and crash land in Africa, right where Alex originally came from. 5/10 Depends how funny you find ritual sacrifice, inferred inter-species love / sex (something DreamWorks’ Shrek and Bee Movie also did; kid’s movies that promote bestiality?) and extreme violence against and from terrifyingly designed grannies. As a tiny kid movie, it does work but for anyone in double-digits, it only just staves off boredom and features what feels like a cut-and-paste screenplay from other, equally unimaginative, franchise stimulators. Terrific animal character visual designs are the selling point here but the principle artistic merit of the movie is to help you appreciate contemporary Pixar, Aardman and classic Disney even more. This movie contains mild bad language, mild adult dialogue and extreme comic violence. Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All.

Wipeout HD Fury 1920×1080 and 1920×1200 HD widescreen wallpapers

Flagship PlayStation Network title Wipeout HD is receiving an expansion pack this July (2009) and over at the PlayStation EU blog they released some screenshots highlighting a couple of the new modes.

1920×1080	1920×1200

 

Original Photographs

These are links to the original images on PlayStation EU blog’s Flickr page. The original images are 1920×1080.

Links

• Images are hosted on shareapic.
• Wallpaper RSS.
• All wallpapers.

Get Smart (2008, Comedy Action Movie) – 5/10 review

Director: Peter Segal Steve Carell: Maxwell Smart Anne Hathaway: Agent 99 Dwayne Johnson: Agent 23 Alan Arkin: The Chief Terence Stamp: Siegfried Terry Crews: Agent 91 David Koechner: Larabee James Caan: The President Executive Producer: Peter Segal Executive Producer: Steve Carell Writer (Characters’ Creator): Mel Brooks Writer (Characters’ Creator): Buck Henry Writer: Tom J. Astle Writer: Matt Ember Consultant: Mel Brooks Consultant: Buck Henry

Get Smart (2008) After all their agents are compromised, CONTROL is left only with Agent 99 (fresh from facial reconstruction) and newly promoted star analyst Maxwell Smart to combat the conniving evil of KAOS. 5/10 It feels mean to say that there’s two-and-a-half minutes of fun with the minimum required imagination in-between to fulfil the running time but, even though it’s just entertaining enough, the vacuum of intelligence, a disdain for the audience and an uncertain tone (is he a doofus or not?) really use up goodwill generated by the stars Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson. And will somebody please give Dwayne Johnson something amazing to be brilliant in. Remarkably, his fun feature film debut The Scorpion King remains his best starring role. This movie contains mild swear words, mild adult dialogue and violence, some extreme violence and a homosexual sex joke. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Azu Manga Daioh (2002, School Anime, TV) – 7/10 review

Writer Published in Japan by Media Works "Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh": Kiyohiko Azuma Series Supervisor: Ichiro Okouchi Director: Nishikiori Hiroshi Tomoko Kaneda: Chiyo Mihama Yuki Matsuoka: Ayumu Kasuga Chieko Higuchi: Tomo Takino Rie Tanaka: Koyomi Mizuhara Yu Asakawa: Sakaki Houko Kuwashima: Kagura Akiko Hiramatsu: Yukari Tanizaki Aya Hisakawa: Minamo Kurosawa

Azu Manga Daioh (2002) Six friends go through three years of high school together, each has different personalities, abilities, talents, hopes and dreams but the sharing their experiences will make the time so much sweeter. 7/10 Relentlessly positive and sweet high school comedy drama which … An assertion that school friends will be together forever is a reassuring lie kept in for the younger viewers but most of the remainder is recognisably human. There’s no mistrust, deception or conniving and don’t we all wish we could always think and see the best in others rather than focusing on their faults. This series contains mild swear words, mild adult dialogue and mild ‘fan-service’, sexual references. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil (2008, Third-Person Action Game, 360) – 6/10 review

Ron Perlman: Hellboy Jürgen Prochnow: Von Klempt Lead Game Designer: Chris Palu

Hellboy: Science of Evil, The (2008) Hellboy continues the fine tradition of punching evil Nazi’s until they stop trying to use the power of the occult for their own nefarious nastiness. 6/10 Though not a direct movie tie-in (it was released in the same year as Hellboy II: The Golden Army), this feels like one but, by and large, a good one. Though the boss battles are disagreeably protracted, the levels don’t flow as part of a worthless story badly told, animation takes precedence over slightly odd control (shoot is on the left trigger and your Y charge attack is frequently ignored), and poor collision detection means you can’t grab enemies or items unless you are exactly on the same level and where the game wants you to be, this game features good-looking enemies and environments, good length, decent voice work, good game animations and it’s all rather sensibly presented. Somewhat remarkably, however, Konami never released the whole game with two chapters and 160 gamerpoints missing from the retail disc and never made available as DLC. This is a shame as it’s clear that developer Krome Studios have put some love into this. This game contains mild bad language and extended extreme stylised fantasy violence. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over.

Race Pro (2009, Racing Game, 360) – 8/10 review

Creative Director: Diego Sartori Game Designer: Diego Sartori Technical Director: Ola Olsson Lead Programmer: Michael Andersson

Race Pro (2009) 8/10 I hate AI that isn’t affected by grass and gravel and kerbs and camber and G-forces and momentum and variable grip and their line through corners and your car being in their way and you driving into the side of them at 100mph and, like most racing games, Race Pro is guilty of this. So why the high score? Communication. Race Pro communicates the relationship of the driver to the car and car to the track more successfully than just about any other console game. This means that every single time you crash, understeer, oversteer, slide or nail a corner oh-so-sweetly, you know exactly why. Every time. Forza Motorsport 2 and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue are more forgiving and far more polished and Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli has more heart, but this is probably the best driving experience available on 360 or PS3 at this time. Classified 3+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 3 or over.

A Countess from Hong Kong (1966, Romantic Comedy Movie) – 6/10 review

Writer: Charles Chaplin Director: Charles Chaplin Marlon Brando: Ogden Sophia Loren: Natascha Sydney Chaplin: Harvey Tippi Hedren: Martha Patrick Cargill: Hudson Margaret Rutherford: Miss Gaulswallow Charles Chaplin: An Old Steward Music Composer: Charles Chaplin

Countess from Hong Kong, A (1966) A Russian countess stows away on a liner headed for America and complicates everyone’s life. 6/10 A mistakenly-cast Marlon Brando (original choice Rex Harrison would have worked a treat) catatonically drones his way through this romantic comedy which is otherwise smooth and good-looking (Sophia Loren in outsize pajamas, cool) but thin on both romance and comedy. This is Chaplin’s final movie as actor or director and it’s a shame he didn’t finish his career with Limelight. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

Terminator: Salvation (2009, Third-Person Action Game, 360) – 6/10 review

Terminator: Salvation Terminator: Salvation (2009) John Connor, a resistance fighter in a future war against machines, hot-headedly goes to rescue a fellow fighter stranded inside a Skynet facility against the orders of his commanding officer and knowing it’s likely a death sentence. But he’s human, not a machine, and the odds don’t matter when a life is at stake. 6/10 For everything Terminator: Salvation does right, the teammate AI does something wrong, typically stand in a really unhelpful place and never move. Play the game in human co-op, and the mild tactical requirements of gameplay (one of you has to distract an enemy while the other shoots it in a weak point, usually the back, and you must make use of cover) shine through and it’s good fun. The game is well enough presented, doesn’t spoil the movie and is simple to play. The Achievements are easy and the game doesn’t outstay it’s welcome; that’s to say, it’s short – about half the length of similar games – and you would be miffed if you paid full price for it. So rent it. This Terminator: Salvation game contains mild gun violence. Classified 16+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 16 or over..

Superman (1978, Movie) – 10/10 review

Producer (Presents credit): Alexander Salkind Marlon Brando: Jor-El Gene Hackman: Lex Luthor Director: Richard Donner Christopher Reeve: Superman / Clark Kent Ned Beatty: Otis Jackie Cooper: Perry White Glenn Ford: Pa Kent Trevor Howard: 1st Elder Margot Kidder: Lois Lane Composer: John Williams Writer (Characters’ Creator) Superman: Jerry Siegel Writer (Characters’ Creator) Superman: Joe Shuster Writer (Story): Mario Puzo Writer (Screenplay): Mario Puzo Writer (Screenplay): David Newman Writer (Screenplay): Leslie Newman Writer (Screenplay): Robert Benton Creative Consultant: Tom Mankiewicz Associate Producer: Charles F. Greenlaw Executive Producer: Ilya Salkind Producer: Pierre Spengler Writer (Additional Script Material): Norman Enfield

Superman (1978) Kryptonite baby Kal’el is sent to planet Earth to save his life before the planet Krypton itself is destroyed by a nearby Sun.The baby is discovered by the Kent family and brought up as a ‘normal’ human but here on Earth he has extraordinary talents and strengths. After the death of his adopted father, the now Clark Kent is impelled to go North and learns about his real identity. He decides to use his powers for good and is given the tag Superman by love interest Lois Lane. However, super criminal Lex Luthor has plans to destroy all of California in a landscam deal and has discovered a way to prevent Superman stopping him. 10/10 Superlative fantasy action adventure; easily my favourite movie. Even thirty years on, this is the greatest superhero movie ever made and, yes, you will still believe a man can fly. It’s greatest achievement, however, is that the movie has such a clean, good core; Christopher Reeve’s brilliant performance has an innocence with no darkness, no dishonesty, no possibility of corruption. Even Gene Hackman’s villain is effective and fun without being horrible or graphically violent. Thirty years on, filmmakers and writers have simply forgotten how to make superhero movies without extreme violence (see Superman Returns). That said, they also appear to have forgotten how to edit action sequences, how to portray character, how to tell a story, and how to have a point to your movie aside from generating money. The fact that this movie can never be matched for it’s heart due to the deterioration of the world’s morality and ‘movie violence solves everything’ ethos makes Superman even more special. This movie contains mild adult dialogue and scary scenes (being buried alive). Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

The Teeth of the Tiger (2003, Book) – 7/10 review

Writer: Tom Clancy

Teeth of the Tiger, The (2003) 7/10 A little less in the way of how-to-build-your-own submarine / nuclear bomb / capitalist economy (delete as appropriate) and more in the way of preparation for and execution of field work makes this entertaining skilful book simpler than some of Clancy’s other country-juggling Jack Ryan thrillers. The baton is passed to Jack, Jr., who closes the book by, essentially, thumbing his nose, wiggling his fingers and saying nah-nah-ne-nah-nah SPOILER to an enemy of America as he watches him die. It feels a little inappropriate given the navel-gazing done during the remainder but provides a fittingly American climax. This book contains sexual swear words and graphic violence, unpleasant scenes and references to sexuality.

The A-Team 1.01,02 Mexican Slayride (1983, TV) – 4/10 review

George Peppard: John "Hannibal" Smith Melinda Culea: Amy Amanda Allen Tim Dunigan: Templeton "Face" Peck Dwight Schultz: "Howling Mad" Murdock Mr. T: Bosco "B.A." Baracus Executive Producer: Stephen J. Cannell Co-Executive Producer: Frank Lupo Writer (Series’ Creator): Frank Lupo Writer (Series’ Creator): Stephen J. Cannell Writer: Frank Lupo Writer: Stephen J. Cannell Director: Rod Holcomb William Lucking: Colonel Lynch Philip Sterling: Grant Eldridge Sergio Calderon: Valdez Ron Palillo: Melody Anderson: Avon – Airplane Salesgirl William Windom: Al Massey Stunt Coordinator: Craig R. Baxley Second Unit Director: Craig R. Baxley

A-Team, The 1.01,02 Mexican Slayride (1983) Reporter Al Massey gets himself kidnapped in Mexico but friend and fellow reporter Amy Allen can’t get anyone to help or take her seriously when he doesn’t report in. She hears about a team of mercenaries called the A-Team and sets out to find if they really exist and if she can hire them. 4/10 It’s rather difficult to see what made the A-Team such a successful show from this pilot. It doesn’t have an interesting or even convincing story and the script is regularly so awful, it is as if the makers presume audiences don’t watch their show with the sound on. George Peppard doesn’t even play himself all the way through enlisting a back-of-wig double even for some dialogue scenes. The two things that do stand out about this pilot episode are a number of terrific vehicle stunts and, unforgettably, Mr T. He delivers the gruff exterior / sweet interior character with considerable charm and charisma and would be rewarded by becoming an international icon. This A-Team, The episode contains bad language and violence. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

Slimm GBPVR 1.8.3447.20163 released

To install:

• Ensure you have installed .NET Framework 2.0. It can probably be installed by accessing your Windows Update or you can follow this download link: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Redistributable

• Download and install SlimmGBPVR: Download from SkyDrive

For all details regarding current version, please see documentation which is installed alongside the utility and is available in the GBPVR start menu group.

 

This release:

Tray Features

• The tray icon can now have a tooltip allowing you to disable the balloon if you wish and still receive information by hovering over the icon. The Tray Configuration form has a new System Tray Tool-tip area to customise the tool-tip. They are also a couple of additional registry settings to customise the tool-tip.
• "Delay shutdown when intercepted" added to Tray Configuration/Advanced/Shutdown options.
• If Slimm GBPVR is already running, when you start a new copy it will terminate the old one. This is handy for when Windows Explorer crashes and doesn’t restore the icon. Now you simply run Slimm GBPVR again; the old instance will be terminated and the new one, with a shiny new icon, will execute. It has been used to provide command-line access to Slimm GBPVR’s delayed shutdown features.
• Command line switch /shutdown added.

Tray Bug Fixes

• If Slimm GBPVR cannot retrieve the tuner status (if, for example, one of your tuners has crashed), it will not execute an automatic (delayed) shutdown.
• Tuner Status warning and error messages (that appear when the tuner status cannot be retrieved once or several times respectively) now use balloon tips instead of message boxes.
• Auto-restart recording service now attempts to restart service a few times before throwing up an error balloon and not trying again.
• Multiple instances of Slimm GBPVR are now closed via PostThreadMessage WM_QUIT instead of Process.Kill. This means that the application closes properly and the system tray icon is removed.

Tray Coding

• Slimm GBPVR now sets ES_AWAYMODE_REQUIRED for SetThreadExecutionState in compliance with Vista’s new rules on power management.
• Vista and above only: Slimm GBPVR also sets ShudownBlockReason while GBPVR is recording so that when it prevents a system shutdown, Vista can tell the user why.

GBPVRcli Features

• /tunerstatus switch added.

 

Support:

You can post support queries on the Slimm GB-PVR forum hosted at GB-PVR.com.

 

Donations:

Donations gratefully accepted. Click the button to send me £1 or more. Thanks.