This Is 40 and GI Joe Retaliation trailers

This Is 40 and GI Joe Retaliation trailers

New trailers have dropped today for GI Joe Retaliation....



And there's a new red band trailer for This Is 40 too...



Both films hits NZ next year.

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force PS3 Review

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force PS3 Review

Released by Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS3

It's no secret I'm a big fan of the platforming experience that is Ratchet and Clank.

Every single one of their titles has had the trademark mix of good solid platforming, shooting things, collecting things and humorous story telling. So, I have to admit, I was a little wary when I saw this new title was just to include simply one of those things - just the shooting of things.

There's a brief story with this title - also known as Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault - and it goes a little something like this.

Qwark is now retired and looking around in space for some adventure with R&C - when a baddie mysteriously appears on the scene and plunges a whole heap of planets into chaos, it's upto Q Force (Qwark, Clank and Ratchet) to head down to each one and fend off the alien invasion and nasty hordes of creatures. You've got your own base on each planet - but here's the twist; you can't simply head off and attack the bad guys as you have to defend your patch too as they are prone to attacking your base at any given time. Thankfully you can pick up weapons around the worlds to fight your corner.

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force is actually more playable than I had expected, given some of the ingredients of the formula had been left off. Despite the real lack of the storyline running throughout, it means you can pick up and put down the levels without any real loss of continuation. After each one is completed, you can also replay again to beat various targets which have been laid down.

You'll need to be tactical so Ratchet and Clank: Q Force isn't just a game about shooting things and leaving your brains at the door. You have to be strategic and build up defences for your bases so that when you're trying to tackle something on the other side of the planet, you can be confident that it'll stand on its own two feet. Collecting bolts once again helps with that - and replenishing ammo and health is a lot simpler given that the boxes rejuvenate every few minutes.

What's problematic about that is also that when you've cleared one area of bad guys, if you head off to get some ammo and supplies, reinforcements are dropped in the area and you have to start all over again. It's a frustrating touch, particularly when some of your weapons don't hold as much ammo as you could need.

Graphically, when the bases become overwhelmed, there's plenty to watch on the screen and it all works well together without any real sign of any glitches or freezing.

Ratchet and Clank: Q Force is a good, strong fun title - a shooter which offers up online and multiplayer capabilities - you may actually find yourself enjoying it more than you'd thought.

Rating:

Sports Champions 2: PS3 Review

Sports Champions 2: PS3 Review

Platform: PS3 and Move
Released by Sony Computer Entertainment

Sporting simulations are two-a-penny on the gaming front.

They usually involve various permutations of button mashing, hands being thrown up in the air and generally waving controllers around trying to get your athlete to do what you want them to do.

The latest, Sports Champions 2, takes in the PlayStation MOVE technology and camera to ensure you get the best out of the events unfolding in front of you. The tech takes on an array of sporting accessories - bowling, skiing, tennis etc.

After a brief calibration exercise, you get into the action - and begin to work your way up through the ranks. For the likes of bowling, it means using the MOVE controller as an extended arm piece and learning how to twist and turn the ball to achieve maximum points. Gradually, you move up the ranks and end up facing off a big boss at the end for a medal championship.

I can't compare Sports Champions 2 to its predecessor, having never played it, although I can say this title offers a lot of fun to the armchair sports enthusiast and the team player as well. Multiplayer options mean this could be a fun event to have a few mates around for at Christmas. Graphically, the game handles well and the MOVE technology works well - it's good to see that MOVE is generally becoming more integrated into games and their accessibility for all.

All in all, Sports Champions 2 will be a fun title for the social crowd - and for serious sports gamers, the simulation is effective, smooth and extremely playable.

Rating:

Screen Actors Guild 2013 nominations revealed

Screen Actors Guild 2013 nominations revealed

We're heading into awards territory now as we approach the end of the year.

And the first cab off the ranks are the Screen Actors Guild nominations which have just come out.

As expected Les Miserables and Lincoln, along with The Silver Linings Playbook are the big scorers - all of which hit NZ cinemas early next year.

The full list is as follows:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (“Pat”) - Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Abraham Lincoln”) – Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
John Hawkes (“Mark”) - The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Hugh Jackman (“Jean Valjean”) - Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Denzel Washington (“Whip Whitaker”) – Flight (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain (“Maya”) – Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures)
Marion Cotillard (“Stephanie”) – Rust and Bone (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence (“Tiffany”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Helen Mirren (“Alma Reville”) – Hitchcock (Fox Searchlight)
Naomi Watts (“Maria”) - The Impossible (Summit Entertainment)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin (“Lester Siegel”) – Argo (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Javier Bardem (“Silva”) – “SKYFALL” (Columbia Pictures)
Robert De Niro (“Pat, Sr.”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Lancaster Dodd”) – The Master (The Weinstein Company)
Tommy Lee Jones (“Thaddeus Stevens”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field (“Mary Todd Lincoln”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
Anne Hathaway (“Fantine”) – Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Helen Hunt (“Cheryl”) – The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Nicole Kidman (“Charlotte Bless”) – The Paperboy (Millennium Entertainment)
Maggie Smith (“Muriel Donnelly”) - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureArgo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion PictureThe Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Misérables
Skyfall

Drama Ensemble
Homeland
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Mad Men

Drama Actress
Claire Danes, Homeland
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story Asylum
Drama Actor
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Comedy Ensemble
Modern Family
30 Rock
Nurse Jackie
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
The Office

Comedy Actress
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

Comedy Actor
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louie
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Stunt Team
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Game of Thrones
Sons of Anarchy
The Walking Dead

TV Movie or Miniseries - Male Actor
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Ed Harris, Game Change
Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn
Bill Paxton, Hatfields & McCoys

TV Movie or Miniseries - Female Actor
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Charlotte Rampling, Restless
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals
Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias

The SAG Awards will be broadcast on January 27 on TNT / TBS. 

New Man of Steel trailer drops

New Man of Steel trailer drops

Good news for fans of Superman...

The brand new Man of Steel trailer has arrived!

From Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures comes "Man of Steel", starring Henry Cavill, directed by Zach Snyder. The film also stars Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Henry Lennix, Christopher Meloni and Laurence Fishburne.

Star Trek Into Darkness villain revealed

Star Trek Into Darkness villain revealed

After the awesome Star Trek Into Darkness trailers last week, we've got our first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain of the film - and a name for him too...

The first look image from Star Trek Into Darkness has been unleashed....

And here it is - with some spoilers below:

Zachary Quinto is Spock, Benedict Cumberbatch is John Harrison and Chris Pine is Kirk in Star Trek Into Darkness.

And of course, the extra footage Japanese version...

New trailer for The Last Of Us unleashed

New trailer for The Last Of Us unleashed

A brand new trailer for the awesome looking Last Of Us has been released.

The Last of Us is genre-defining experience blending survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Cities are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature. Remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States. 

The Last of Us is being developed by Naughty Dog, exclusively for PlayStation 3 (PS3).