The Rock: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996, Music) – 10/10 review

Music Composer: Hans Zimmer

Rock, The Rock, The: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996) 10/10 Thrilling and memorable, this is as bombastically brilliant as action movie soundtracks get. From this point on, all action movie soundtracks endeavoured to sound like this. It’s entertaining and stirring even without the pretty pictures of Michael Bay’s movie. That said, it’s not perfect and, in some ways, not even good. The same music is used for heroes and villains and there are no peaks and troughs that help tell the tale of the movie. If you are a bit of a musical snob, you might be rather offended when it still makes you feel like a hero despite these, arguably, fundamental flaws.

Superman: The Music (1978-1988) "Blue Box" (2008, Music) – 10/10 review

Superman: The Music (1978-1988) "Blue Box" (2008) Film Score Monthly’s second box set (FSMBOX02 available worldwide exclusively through Screen Archives Entertainment) sees complete movie scores for the Christopher Reeve films joined by the songs from Superman’s III and IV and the score composed for the 1988 animated television series presented in a tidy blue box with a comprehensive hardcover book of history and annotation. 10/10 While it’s worth the money and 10/10 just for the best ever version of the best ever movie score (Superman: The Movie, by the way) this box set delights with the previously unavailable Superman IV score by John Williams and Alexander Courage which is surprisingly and genuinely very good indeed.

Doctor Slimm gets shot (a lot) in PlayStation 3’s Call of Duty 4

 

Doctor Slimm attempts to diagnose small tweaks that would have improved the playing experience, sometimes imperceptibly. They are presented in no particular order. This is not a sequel wish list or a bug list but tweaks to what is already there. 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) Single player: tackle terrorism in a contemporary battlefield as the world’s armed forces unite to remove a common enemy in a politically unstable country. Multiplayer: employ all your guile, skill and persistence and work your way up from a lowly private with stock weapons by partaking in various wargames against other people from around the world. 10/10 As good as first person shooters get whose only minor fault is that it sometimes feels like the action happens with or without you. This is utterly spectacular, beautifully paced, gorgeous to look at and listen to and, critically, features pitch-perfect controls and instant all-enveloping atmosphere. And who knew that being able to shoot through certain materials would be so rewarding? Even when the game is over, the goodness doesn’t end with a wry rap stressing the fact that Call of Duty 3 isn’t an Infinity Ward game, a bonus level set on an airplane (“Don’t call me Shirley.”) and a never-ending and worthwhile multiplayer component. This videogame contains a single sexual swear word, mild swear words and extended graphic war violence. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over. 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.. Classified Bad Language by PEGI. Game contains bad language.. Available on Xbox 360. Available on PC. Available on PS3. Available on Special Edition Xbox 360.

User-defined controls. In common with many console shooters, you cannot define your own controls in Call of Duty 4. You can choose one of the predefined control layouts which, impressively, include a few left-handed sets. However, the specific control I really wanted to change was Sprint which is assigned to L3 on all control schemes. I find it very difficult to sprint effectively in the game. Given the choice I would assign Sprint to Circle and Change Stance to L3. But I’m not given the choice.

Doctor Slimm found nothing else worth tweaking with the game. It’s that good.