LATEST ADDITIONS

Adrian Justins  |  Aug 14, 2012  |  0 comments

This attractive beast is rammed with cutting-edge technology – including four remote controls if you count your mouth and arms as two of them. Gesture and voice control can make you feel self-conscious and possibly embarrassed as you gesticulate and yell basic commands at the TV. Frankly, it’s a pointless gimmick.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 13, 2012  |  0 comments

These days it seems I can’t spin up a Blu-ray without being confronted by actor Michael Fassbender. It feels like he’s been in at least half of the films released last year. But I’ll keep watching as long as he gives performances like his remarkable central turn in this riveting exploration of sex addition from acclaimed director Steve McQueen.

Team HCC  |  Aug 12, 2012  |  0 comments

The 3D Blu-ray market is exploding. Where once stereoscopic HD titles were as rare as a decent movie starring Michael Madsen, you can now fill your 3D disc-shelf with everything from music concerts and documentaries to kids’ toons, sci-fi extravaganzas and blood-soaked slasher flicks.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 11, 2012  |  0 comments

Invisible aliens. Now there’s a way for a studio to save a big old pile of money. However, when it comes time for the big reveal, your alien beasties better be worth the wait – something that can’t be said of the CG ETs that pop up in this invasion flick. Despite some moderately impressive MVC 2.40:1 stereoscopic visuals (the 'flat' 2D presentation looks pretty spiff too) and very lively DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, The Darkest Hour is really no better than made-for-TV fodder like Sand Sharks or Camel Spiders. In other words, it’s complete crap.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 10, 2012  |  0 comments

The first couple of Max Payne games played like the hard-boiled crime fiction of Frank Miller’s Sin City comics filtered through the action of vintage John Woo movies. With the franchise now coming under the control of Grand Theft Auto creators Rockstar Games, this belated third entry looks to shake things up in terms of aesthetics. As evidenced by the mis-registered imagery, random subtitles and sickly green and yellow palette, this is Max Payne as envisioned by somebody who has spent too much time watching Tony Scott’s Man on Fire and Domino [that’s me – HCC Ed].

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 10, 2012  |  0 comments

CyberLink has launched its 2012 Summer Movie Festival, a new online contest allowing particpants to vote for their favourite film characters and maybe win some prizes along the way.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 10, 2012  |  0 comments

Now here's a strong contender for my favourite Blu-ray release of the year. Dan O'Bannon's splatterpunk zombie comedy has received a heck of a lot of play over the years in my household on first VHS and then DVD. And this sensational new hi-def release ensures that it will get plenty more in the coming years.

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 10, 2012  |  0 comments

Subversive subject matter. Lengthy takes. A detached approach to its characters. There’s not a single element of this film that doesn’t scream ‘debut movie’. Julia Leigh’s frustrating flick wants to have its cake and eat it, enticing viewers with lingering shots of Emily ‘Sucker Punch’ Browning’s naked body while making vague statements about being complicit in acts of voyeurism. Yawn...

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 09, 2012  |  0 comments

In Part 1 and Part 2 you’ve seen how we designed and specified this mid-range home cinema room project. Now we’ve arrived at the delicate point of fitting the rear speakers and the projection screen casing. It’s a case of ‘all hands on deck’, as the massive screen arrives and we start to wonder whether the ceiling will hold it…

Anton van Beek  |  Aug 09, 2012  |  0 comments

There has been no shortage of games that try to make you feel like a superhero, with Batman: Arkham City still reigning supreme as the benchmark for the genre. If Prototype 2 doesn’t quite measure up to that title, it’s not for want of trying, and in the process it comes closer than any other game.

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