FatDave

Lol. Microsoft have shown their true colours, they've revealed how they think of the cattle they milk of their hard earned. I've pre-ordered my PS4 now, and no amount of backtracking by MS will make me change my mind. Once the first few waves of Xbox are sold they can change the rules however they want, bring back everything they have just taken away without a thought for the end user, and there's not a thing anybody will be able to do about it. I've had PS3 and now have 360, and always preferred the 360. But I'd rather have the console I didn't prefer than one where the company treats its customers the way MS have done.

Hmm, odd that there would be two writing events on days that I'm off work, you must've got the dates wrong. I'm a fairly confident writer, but a very nervous reader. I kind of feel like the Barnsley accent should never be used in public. How many people tend to turn up to these events? I'm fairly keen on the idea of the one at the Red Deer, Dutch courage and all that.

My dad used to have a ferret in a cage on his pigeon allotment. Apparently the smell of the ferret would keep the rats away.

Star Wars Galaxies (PRE-CU) Civilization 3 (though 4 was better, 3 was the first I played, and by God how I played it) Metal Gear Solid (the first one that came to Playstation) Final Fantasy 7 (again, I preferred 8, but 7 was the first I played and it blew me away) Morrowind It's hard narrowing it down to 5, I feel like I'm doing such a disservice to all the amazing games out there.

I love Shyamalan's ambition, bringing fantasy and sci-fi into a realistic world, but I think he needs somebody sitting on his shoulder to tell him, 'no, M, too far pal, reign it in a bit.' That said, he's a brilliant director, and never seems to rely on just plonking a camera in a room and getting people to act when he can make it dance.

After Earth - 8/10 Quite dark and contemplative for sci-fi, though that isn't too bad a thing. Though it's beautifully shot, and fairly well written (a little overuse of deus ex machina I felt), there's not enough pew-pew to be remembered I'm afraid. I can't help but to think that in 10 years they'll have a round on Pointless entitled Will Smith films, and this will be one of the pointless answers. It fits into neither mainstream nor cult camps. If it was a director school final project for Shyamalan, or an acting school final project for Billy Smith, then they'd get A+, but as a movie it only barely works. Still... Enjoyable, just don't go in expecting Star Wars.

Oh God, THANK you! I loved the first Metal Gear (by this I mean the Playstation instalment, not the previous ones before anybody feels the need to correct me(http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080507223121AAvG6He)). It was so well made and intelligently written, but then after that it just turned into conspiracy silliness. If you put enough twists into a story, again and again, then they become expected, and clichéd. I've not played any of the games since Metal Gear 2, and when I see footage of the newest instalments (Revengence??? Really? That's THE worst name I've ever heard) I'm confident that I made the right decision.

When Meadow gives Tony the Billy Big Mouth Fish. His expression is genius.

Bill The Butcher from Gangs Of New York is chilling. Amon Goeth from Schindler's List.

The greatest ever: Unbreakable. The next few are all awesome but in no particular order. Hulk (the first one with Eric Bana) Watchmen The Dark Knight Darkman Hancock Mystery Men Hellboy 2 Kick-Ass As for bad ones. there are too many to mention.

Just watched it. It's like Shameless with narration. Feels honest though, and it challanges everyone to form a second opinion of the people they cross the street to avoid.

If you want a laugh, have a look for some of the fan made Star Trek episodes on youtube. It seems the fitness requirements at Starfleet have been relaxed somewhat.

Star Trek Into The Darkness - 8.5/10 Decent story, though plenty of plot holes and style over substance. I felt a lot of scenes/action existed only because they looked pretty, but made no sense at all, like the hiding place of the Enterprise in the opening scene. The photographic daredevilry of the first didn't carry over, and Abrams just couldn't resist using the 3D to throw stuff at the audience for a cheep scare, but it was used well in later scenes, especially during the end scene. There are a couple more gripes I have, but I can't really mention them as they include spoilers, but overall this film has banked JJ Abrams a little bit of redemption for Lost.

When it came to selling all my Orks, Tyranids, and Tau online, I found that ebay was a dirt cheap way of buying loads of figures. I'd spent well over a grand on the game when I quit, and ended up getting about £120 for everything. Not ideal if you want to paint them yourself though, as most come built and play ready.

Corrected.

It's considered the best zombie novel ever written, but that's because it's one of the few that isn't trash. I enjoyed it, but it was limited by its choice to not really keep any character for more than half a dozen pages. Must have been a nighmare to research. If you liked WWZ, have a go at Closure Limited, by Max Brooks. It's only a short book, a collection of about 4 short stories actually, but it shows Brooks's skill as an author, and that he's adaptable within his genre. I can't understand why they would buy the rights to the film, then COMPLETELY change the format. They film is so far removed from the book that they might as well have called it something else, therefor not angered the book's fan base.

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 1/10 The 1 point is for the fact that this isn't a remake, more a distant sequal. Poorly written, predictable non-plot, scripted by people who must have never seen any films*, poorly acted characters so flat and lifeless you can pretty much see the strings**, unimaginitve storyboarding, generic camera work, music? I'm not even aware there was any, though I'm sure there was. What a pointless film, this is what happens when idiots make films for idiots. This film should be shown in universities where the media is studied as a lesson in what not to do. *it actually has the line, "not on my watch," and when Leatherface is attacking on the other side of a door, woman points shotgun at door and pauses to say, "welcome to Texas motherlover," then promptly misses completely (the word lover replacing the actual word used). She wasn't even from Texas, he was, how's that make sense? **I should have been sitting on the edge of my seat, praying that these innocent kids would escape grizzly deaths; instead I WANTED them to get hacked up with a chainsaw. Not just the characters, but the actors too. And the crew. Even the key grip. I've learned to avoid films with 3D in the title, but I loved the original so much I had to watch its 3D murder. I love 3D, mainly because it shows up poor film makers from the great ones. 3D adds such a massive challenge to the photography, James Cameron knows how to use it, adding depth of field so the viewer feels they are watching out of a window. This, like all with 3D in the title, relies on cheap jump tactics, like throwing a chainsaw out at the audience, which breaks the illusion and makes a gimmick of 3D. I watched on a non-3D screen, but I could see all the pitfalls and poor attempts at 3D usage which destroy what 3D was meant to do. In a few years, when 3D is a thing of the past, people will be able to look back on films like this and say, "that's why."

That link must be broken, you describe it as looking good, but it took me to the most stupid clip I've ever seen.

Yeah, do. The film is a belter. This is speaking as someone who hasn't read any of the books, and I do understand fan loyalty.

Mama - 8/10. About as good as a horror can get. The story leads nowhere, same old ghost who feels wronged malarky, but it's presented really well. The youngest girl was quite a hipnotizing actor. Guillermo Del Toro's fingerprints are all over this film. ---------- Post added 26-04-2013 at 19:39 ---------- Movie 43 - 5/10 Three kids search for a super secret online video called Movie 43 that they think they made up as a joke. In doing so they find some strange underground videos... Celeb studded and storyless, this isn't really a film, more a feature length gross-out sketch show. There are respectable actors all over the shop, and I couldn't help imagining them being talked into their rolls with the words, 'come on, it'll be a laugh.' The film was completely pointless, and if we all die in nuclear fire I hope no copies are ever found by future exploring aliens, I would hate to think that they thought this was the limit of our dreams. That said, it did make me laugh from time to time, and that is in itself a point to its existence... I suppose... Kind of... And so 5 grudging points just for that.

Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. Primarily concerns the affairs of middle class NIMBYs and their fight on their small villiage council to be dissasociated with a nearby overspill estate. The book was slated, and I can kind of see why. It's overwritten with carelessly used adverbs and imprecise adjectives. She's trying too hard to be a writer, when all she has to do is relax and tell the tale. I felt that some scenes could have been culled, and were only there because she'd thought of a clever way of saying something, rather than because they added anything to the character or story. That said, it was still a great read. She has written snobbery and poverty with equal realism. The first scene we're introduced to the toddler Robbie Whedon and his junkie mother left me feeling really disturbed, if only for its believability, and I gave my daughter an extra cuddle because of it. In short, ignore the critics, don't be put off by the books size, and don't expect a kids story just because it's Rowling (an early scene set around a breakfast table has a lot of words beginning with F, and then a few beginning with C. I was genuinely shocked, and said aloud, "how does she know them words?")

Bought a child's car seat last year and in the instructions there was an overhead drawing of a car to display the seats where you can and the seat where you shouldn't use the chair. Guess which was the only seat with a red cross? Yep, the drivers seat. The entire purpose of the illustration was to show that you shouldn't use the baby's chair in the driver's seat. I often wonder if there's a story behind some of these dumb instructions.

Broken City - 7/10 Good solid story, well performed by Russell Crowe and Marky Mark.

When the banking giants robbed the economy to ruin, the bailouts HAD to happen, and the shortfall had to be made up. There were four targets to claw back some of the money needed to cover the massive ransom the banks had set: Other countries, private companies, the rich, and the poor. The government then sold shares in the country, which were bought by other countries, private companies (including the banks which caused the crash), and the rich. These investments offered decent, guaranteed returns for the loan, so that business and the rich would be rewarded well for their contributions. Then they simply take the rest from the poor. They introduce new taxes, expand the old ones, and cut back on the services this money is supposed to pay for. So whereas they borrow the money from those who can spare it, paying for the privilege, they take the money from those who need it most, the powerless majority. Capitalism at its finest. As a homeowner, this tax does not affect me, but will I sign the petition? Absolutely I will, because this is just one of many examples of the poor being wrung dry to feed the rich. During the summer riots a few years ago I was ashamed by the actions of my countrymen, but every month that passes I feel let down by the government more and more, and each is as bad as the other, so much so that I now eschew my right to vote. It's time we sacked those who consider themselves governors of our lives, and I believe that the spark is already in the air.

Gangster Squad - 3/10 - entirely forgettable. High expectations for this one, turns out it was just another one of the thousands of brainless action films.