District 9 (2009, Science Fiction Action Drama) – 6/10 movie review

Cast / crew Producer: Peter Jackson Director: Neill Blomkamp Writer: Neill Blomkamp Writer: Terri Tatchell Producer: Carolynne Cunningham Sharlto Copley: Wikus Van De Merwe Jason Cope: Christopher Johnson, Grey Bradnam – UKNR Chief Correspondent David James: Koobus Venter Vanessa Haywood: Tania Van De Merwe Mandla Gaduka: Fundiswa Mhlanga Kenneth Nkosi: Thomas Eugene Khumbanyiwa: Obesandjo Louis Minnaar: Piet Smit William Allen Young: Dirk Michaels

District 9 (2009) Twenty years after they arrived in a broken spaceship, extra-terrestrial aliens in District 9 are being forcibly moved into another camp further away from Johannesburg and humans. MNU bureaucrat Wikus Van De Merwe is put in charge of serving the eviction notices to the "prawns." 6/10 Perhaps surprisingly for a film featuring mistreatment of a group of beings set in South Africa, Neill Blomkamp’s star-making (of himself) directorial debut doesn’t seem to have anything in the way of convincing social commentary or dramatic depth. Thanks to a stupid, foul-mouthed, quickly unlikeable but cringingly convincing lead character (after being exposed to alien fluid and having his arm broken he refuses to go to hospital claiming ‘he’s okay’) and an off-the-shelf plot, it’s left to the technical rather than dramatic elements of Blomkamp’s film to keep the audience’s attention and, on this level, he delivers a visually remarkable movie full of completely convincing and imaginative visual effects achieved at a fraction of the 9-figure budget this kind of movie normally costs. This movie contains frequent sexual swear words, adult dialogue and extremely graphic and extreme violence, gory and extremely unpleasant scenes. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

PlayStation 3 Backwards Compatibility Update: The Fast and the Furious

You can access the full list using the 360 PS3 BC link at the top of the page.

Key

• The game is new to this list because I have purchased or borrowed it or it has been added to the Xbox 360 BC list.
• The game was already on my list but its status has changed.

Backwards Compatibility Lists

PlayStation 3 (PS3) 60Gb PAL:

No known issues

Title	Product Code	Widescreen	System
The Fast and the Furious	SLES 54483		3.15

House M.D., 6.15 Black Hole (2010, Black Comedy Medical Drama) – 5/10 TV review

Cast / crew Hugh Laurie: Dr. Gregory House Lisa Edelstein: Dr. Lisa Cuddy Omar Epps: Dr. Eric Foreman Robert Sean Leonard: Dr. James Wilson Jesse Spencer: Dr. Robert Chase Creator: David Shore Peter Jacobson: Dr. Chris Taub Olivia Wilde: Thirteen Cali Fredrichs: Abby Nash Nick Eversman: Nick Dennis Boutsikaris: Artie Jennifer Crystal Foley: Rachel Taub Sunil Malhotra: Mr. Damon Producer: Marcy G. Kaplan Producer: Sara Hess Co-Executive Producer: Lawrence Kaplow Co-Executive Producer: Greg Yaitanes Executive Producer: Hugh Laurie Executive Producer: David Shore Writer: Lawrence Kaplow Director: Greg Yaitanes

House M.D. 6.15 Black Hole (2010) House insists that their apartment’s lack of furniture says something about Wilson. Meanwhile, he treats a young woman who’s symptoms leave him and the team completely stumped. 5/10 A poor episode with a director trying to cover a seriously unconvincing and thin story with flash special effects (!) while the back-up plots of Taub’s marriage and furniture in Wilson’s apartment are not as fun or sharp as they have been. This House M.D. episode contains adult dialogue and gory and unpleasant scenes. Links Previous episode: Private Lives

House M.D. 6.14 Private Lives (2010, Black Comedy Medical Drama) – 7/10 TV review

Cast / crew Hugh Laurie: Dr. Gregory House Lisa Edelstein: Dr. Lisa Cuddy Omar Epps: Dr. Eric Foreman Robert Sean Leonard: Dr. James Wilson Jesse Spencer: Dr. Robert Chase Creator: David Shore Peter Jacobson: Dr. Chris Taub Olivia Wilde: Thirteen Laura Prepon: Frankie Adam Rothenberg: Taylor Christina Vidal: Sandy Gonzalo Menendez: Stuart Producer: Marcy G. Kaplan Producer: Sara Hess Co-Executive Producer: Doris Egan Executive Producer: Hugh Laurie Executive Producer: David Shore Writer: Doris Egan Director: Sanford Bookstaver

House M.D. 6.14 Private Lives (2010) The team treat a blogger who insists on publicly documenting everything about her life. 7/10 The non-medical bits this week are an absolute hoot as Chase discovers how good-looking he is and Wilson has an old acting job come back to haunt him. However, this episode does heavily feature the baffling contemporary American television insistence that pornography is morally acceptable. This House M.D. episode contains adult dialogue and unpleasant scenes. Links Next episode: Black Hole Previous episode: 5 to 9

Ratatouille (2007, Hateful Third-Person Action Movie Game, 360) – 1/10 game review

Cast / crew

Ratatouille Ratatouille (2007) Remy teams up with Heavy Iron Games to suck your soul dry. 1/10 I really like the opening company credits sequence. That’s it. Otherwise, this is an instantly awful movie game even given the execrable competition. The controls are terrible, overly complicated and inaccurate. The gameplay in the first, tutorial, level features endless high-fall deaths while the second level saps whatever desire you may have had to continue playing the game thanks to cheap deaths from control and presentation difficulties. The third level introduces mini-games and now you genuinely want to use the game as a suppository for the game designer. Classified 3+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 3 or over.

Creative ALchemy: Cross Racing Championship 2005 aka CRC 2005

 

To restore surround sound to Invictus Games’ Cross Racing Championship 2005 for Creative cards under Windows Vista and Windows 7, use the following setting in Creative ALchemy.

Use Registry Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Invictus-Games\Cross Racing Championship\InstallDirectory

Indigènes aka Days of Glory (2006, WWII Movie) – 5/10 review

Delegate Producer: Jean Brehat Producer (Presents credit): Rachid Bouchareb Co-Producer: Jamel Debbouze Jamel Debbouze: Saïd Samy Naceri: Yassir Roschdy Zem: Messaoud Sami Bouajila: Abdelkader Bernard Blancan: Sergent Martinez Mathieu Simonet: Lreoux Benoit Giros: Gapitaine Durieux Mélanie Laurent: Marguerite Antoine Chappey: Le Colonel Writer: Olivier Lorelle Writer: Rachid Bouchareb Director: Rachid Bouchareb

Indigènes aka Days of Glory (2006) Africans in French colonies patriotically and wholeheartedly commit to the war against Germany. They soon come up against racial prejudice but believe that if they continue to fight and die equally alongside their French compatriots, that France will treat them with equality after the war. 5/10 Never quite recovering from one-armed Jamel Debbouze as a fully-limbed gun-carrying soldier casually strolling around World War II with his (non) hand in his pocket (a commenter on IMDb brilliantly said it was as distracting as half a moustache), this does highlight a situation of racial inequality (French colonial soldiers not being treated equally as native French soldiers) that, sadly, was still in effect when the movie was released. The final, very good, battle sequence is, by far, the best part of the movie and is followed by an appropriate coda, leaving the viewer with a good impression of a largely nearly-dull film. This movie contains a single sexual swear word and war violence and sensuality. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Heavy Rain (2010, Serial Killer Mystery Adventure, PS3 exclusive) – 7/10 game review

Cast / crew Writer: David Cage Director: David Cage Producer: Charles Coutier Pascal Langdale: Ethan Mars Jacqui Ainsley: Madison Paige Judi Beecher: Madison Paige Sam Douglas: Scott Shelby Leon Ockenden: Norman Jayden

Heavy Rain (2010) Ethan Mars is put to the test by a serial killer who abducts his son, Shaun, and then offers him the location of his son in return for completing five extreme tasks before Shaun drowns in a well of ever-rising rainwater. 7/10 Because it’s so close to brilliant, inadequacies in story and acting feel rather more important than they are. The story both makes more sense and falls apart once the identity of the killer is revealed and the acting, especially from the children, is not as good as you’d expect; it’s not as good as in animated movies. However, this should not diminish the sterling achievement in fashioning this near-masterpiece, a largely satisfying interactive serial killer mystery thriller in the vein of Seven. Here is a game that makes you feel joy when rebonding with your son (The Park) and shock when you SPOILER think you haven’t rescued him in time at the end; a game that makes you feel something other than satisfaction or excitement (though it also does that brilliantly) is certainly a must-play. This game contains sexual swear words, adult dialogue and fictional substance abuse and strong violence, some graphic violence, unpleasant scenes, an extremely unpleasant scene and nudity, lesbian sensuality, optional sex scene. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

The Mentalist 2.15 Red Herring (2010, Light Crime Drama) – 6/10 TV review

Cast / crew Creator: Bruno Heller Simon Baker: Patrick Jane Robin Tunney: Teresa Lisbon Tim Kang: Kendall Cho Owain Yeoman: Wayne Rigsby Amanda Righetti: Grace Van Pelt Federico Dordei: Ludo Elaine Hendrix: Julia St. Germain Brian Howe: Arliss St. Germain Gina Lapiana: Hannah Dina Meyer: Abigail Jon Polito: Duesterberg Skyler Stone: Kevin Robin Weigert: Eliza George Wyner: Coroner Steiner Producer: Charlie Goldstein Writer: David Appelbaum Director: Eric Laneuville Executive Producer: Bruno Heller

Mentalist, The 2.15 Red Herring (2010) A top chef keels over, poisoned to death, at the beginning of a prestigious culinary competition. That’ll give something for Jane to get his teeth into. 6/10 Good fun with an agreeable, if probably unlawful, climax. The Mentalist certainly suffers from the Columbo syndrome where he almost certainly gets the right man but frequently won’t have enough irrefutable evidence or a confession without duress that would stand in a court of law. There’s a good plot element this week that sees both Jane and the detectives learning the same piece of information (about an affair) through their own methods; the detectives via detective work and Jane through observation of people interacting. I would like to see more of that because, while we like our maverick hero detectives, it’s nice to see the police not treated as a bunch of fools. Interesting to note that there does not appear to be a CSI department in Sacramento, presumably due to a shortage of sunglasses or something, so Rigsby has to do the forensic examination of the victim’s apartment himself. This Mentalist, The episode contains mild swear word, adult dialogue and unpleasant scenes. Links Previous episode: Blood In, Blood Out Next episode: Code Red

Hairspray (2007, Sixties-set Musical) – 8/10 movie review

Cast / crew Director: Adam Shankman Choreographer: Adam Shankman Writer (Screenplay): Leslie Dixon Producer: Craig Zadan Producer: Neil Meron Executive Producer: Marc Shaiman Executive Producer: Scott Wittman Executive Producer: Adam Shankman Composer (Song Music): Marc Shaiman Composer (song Lyrics): Scott Wittman Composer (song Lyrics): Marc Shaiman Composer (Score): Marc Shaiman John Travolta: Edna Turnblad Michelle Pfeiffer: Velma Von Tussle Christopher Walken: Wilbur Turnblad Amanda Bynes: Penny Pingleton James Marsden: Corny Collins Queen Latifah: Motormouth Maybelle Brittany Snow: Amber Von Tussle Zac Efron: Link Larkin Elijah Kelley: Seaweed Allison Janney: Prudy Pingleton Jerry Stiller: Mr. Pinky Paul Dooley: Mr. Spritzer Nikki Blonsky: Tracy Turnblad Writer (Original Screenplay Adaptation) "Hairspray" (1988): John Waters Writer (Original Play) "Hairspray" (2002): Mark O’Donnell Writer (Original Play) "Hairspray" (2002): Thomas Meehan Composer (Original Play) "Hairspray" (2002): Marc Shaiman Composer (Original Play) "Hairspray" (2002): Scott Wittman John Waters: Flasher Adam Shankman: Talent Agent

Hairspray (2007) Tracy Turnbald idolises Link Larkin from the Corny Collins Show on television and dreams of strutting her stuff and dancing with him. But she’s fat and if the face doesn’t fit… 8/10 A big happy surprise from director / choreographer Adam Shankman who had most recently been seen making entirely forgettable movies with Steve Martin (Bringing Down the House and Cheaper by the Dozen 2) and Vin Diesel (The Pacifier). The story is about unnecessary intolerance and clearly so. However, it never ever punctures the fun, happy tone of the movie. The songs are bouncy and joyously infectious and the cast knock them out of the park. Lead Nikki Blonsky is an agreeable whirlwind of energy and hair while all the big names – John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, James Marsden and Queen Latifah – bring conviction and life to all their roles. But, overall, it’s a happy film and that’s the feeling you’ll be left with and, in these days of endlessly ‘dark’ movies, how great is that! This movie contains adult dialogue and sensuality. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.

FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage (2007, Action Racing, 360, Games for Windows Live) – 8/10 game review

Cast / crew

Flatout 2 Flatout: Ultimate Carnage (2007) 8/10 This is an Xbox 360 / Games for Windows Live version of Flatout 2 with improved smoke, dust and water effects, more stuff to drive into (cars and objects) but, thanks principally to now-pathetic blink-and-you’ll-miss-it driver ejection in crashes (think Guybrush Threepwood in the spitting competition) which needed to be hilariously over-the-top, it still doesn’t feature the endearingly insane feeling of the original Flatout. The handling is better than you’d expect (Scandinavian flicks are possible and useful) and every race is a thrilling hoot. As an action racer, then, it is one of the best and still, three years on, looks fantastic. This Flatout 2 game contains disguised but prominent and frequent sexual swear words in song and potentially unpleasant scenes. Classified 12+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 12 or over.

The Mentalist 2.14 Blood In, Blood Out (2010, Crime Drama) – 5/10 TV review

Cast / crew Creator: Bruno Heller Simon Baker: Patrick Jane Robin Tunney: Teresa Lisbon Tim Kang: Kendall Cho Owain Yeoman: Wayne Rigsby Amanda Righetti: Grace Van Pelt David Barrera: Frank Rodriguez Alexandra Holden: Crystal Hargrove Sandrine Holt: Elise Chaye Jon Sklaroff: Adam Reed Producer: Charlie Goldstein Writer: Ken Woodruff Director: John Polson Executive Producer: Bruno Heller

Mentalist, The 2.14 Blood In, Blood Out (2010) Cho’s best friend from his gang-banger days is shot to death after trying to contact Cho for help. Cho is reluctant to get involved in the investigation, ostensibly because it’s an open-and-shut case of gang rivalry but more because he wants to avoid the guilt that may come from knowing he could have helped and didn’t. 5/10 A ‘this time it’s personal’ episode for supporting character Kendall Cho and, despite containing decent character material, feels silly and unconvincing, especially in the transparent climax. Though it remains mindlessly entertaining enough, through it’s undisguised predictability, The Mentalist is in serious danger of losing viewer interest. This Mentalist, The episode contains adult dialogue and substance abuse and violence, brief graphic gun violence. Links Previous episode: Redline Next episode: Red Herring

The Mentalist 2.13 Redline (2010, Light Crime Drama) – 6/10 TV review

Cast / crew Creator: Bruno Heller Simon Baker: Patrick Jane Robin Tunney: Teresa Lisbon Tim Kang: Kendall Cho Owain Yeoman: Wayne Rigsby Amanda Righetti: Grace Van Pelt Paul Ben-Victor: Noah Landau Mark Deklin: James Kinsey Richard Kahan: Jeff Sparhawk Peter Onorati: Oliver Westhoff Kevin Rahm: Brad Elias Currie Graham: Walter Mashburn Producer: Charlie Goldstein Writer: Jordan Harper Director: Bill D’elia Executive Producer: Bruno Heller

Mentalist, The 2.13 Redline (2010) A saleswoman is found dead inside the trunk of an expensive car in Los Angeles’ most prestigious car showroom. 6/10 There’s some good fun as Jane and the plot steamroller into a rich guy who is delighted, or, rather, thrilled, to be a murder suspect. Currie Graham does a great job of mixing potential murderer and gleeful rich boy. The murder mystery is reasonable enough with the exception of the murder weapon: it is almost impossible to deliberately kill someone with a car. This Mentalist, The episode contains bad language and unpleasant scenes. Links Next episode: Blood In, Blood Out Previous episode: Bleeding Heart

Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Final Fantasy XIII

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 to the full list.

•   Battlefield: Bad Company 2
•   Final Fantasy XIII 

Sleuth (2007, Distasteful Unnecessary Remake Thriller) – 1/10 movie review

Cast / crew Michael Caine: Andrew Jude Law: Milo Writer (Original Play): Anthony Shaffer Writer (Screenplay): Harold Pinter Director: Kenneth Branagh Producer: Jude Law Producer: Simon Halfon Producer: Tom Sternberg Producer: Marion Pilowsky Producer: Kenneth Branagh Producer: Simon Moseley

Sleuth (2007) Successful novelist Andrew Wyke arranges a face-to-face meeting with his wife’s lover, Milo Tindale, and convinces Tindale to accept an unexpected proposition. 1/10 More atrocious than you can possibly imagine and, I think, I am capable of describing, this takes a lauded stage play which has already been brilliantly adapted by the original author into a lauded movie and adds a lot of embarrassing, unpleasant, unconvincing bad language and a pervasive sense of distastefulness while subtracting any sense of cunning, intelligence, subterfuge or fun. It simply doesn’t feel like a battle of wits but a series of intellectual, foul-mouthed, distasteful euphemisms. At any point, either character could say each other’s lines and it would make no difference. Director Kenneth Branagh zips through it and delivers some intriguing compositions but he should have dumped Harold Pinter’s humiliatingly awful screenplay straight in the bin. Then set fire to it. This movie contains frequent sexual swear words, strong adult dialogue, bad language, strong innuendo and very brief gun violence. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

Volver (2006, Spanish Drama) – 7/10 movie review

Cast / crew Writer: Pedro Almodóvar Director: Pedro Almodóvar Penélope Cruz: Raimunda Carmen Maura: Irene Lola Dueñas: Sole Blanca Portillo: Agustina Yohana Cobo: Paula Chus Lampreave: Tía Paula

Volver (2006) Many years after the death of their parents in a fire, Raimunda and her sister, Sole, still travel from Madrid to their small home village to tend the grave. A time of great upheaval is soon to encroach, however, as, when they return home, Raimunda’s daughter Paula finds herself in a very serious situation. 7/10 This is a film that deals with some very serious subjects (child abuse and murder) with a wonderfully deft, down-to-earth touch. Almodóvar is not always the most subtle of directors so this movie comes as a pleasant surprise (it could easily have been a BBFC 12A on another day). What we do expect from the legendary Spanish director is his wonderful ability to write and direct women who are so much more than somewhere to put a penis. Penélope Cruz is charismatic, engaging and, yes, voluptuous as the lead character while the story turns out to be much more interesting than us short-sighted fellas might expect of an all-female drama. It all feels simple and easy but this is down to the skill of writing and acting. Volver is the name of the song Cruz’s character sings (but not Cruz herself). This movie contains a single sexual swear word, adult dialogue and substance abuse and unpleasant and gory scene and inferred masturbation scene. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.