Gadget – Amazon Kindle 3

Dan Newham
There are many who dismiss eBooks as a passing trend, claiming that they’ll never replace the physical book. One thing they surely all have in common is that they’ve never used Amazon’s fantastic new reader. The Kindle 3 is a delight, it combines inexhaustible battery life with an almost unbelievable screen clarity and an onboard memory capacity you will likely never fill. It’s small, it’s light and whilst it’s pricey at £100 you will undoubtedly earn your money back in time, mostly on saved excess baggage charges and exponentially cheaper reading material from the Amazon store. Two words: Buy It.

Film – Howl

Dan Newham
The kid once known for being ‘that one from Spiderman’ is now a superstar. Hot off the Oscars red carpet, James Franco’s latest role is that of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and it’s a toughie to review. Having never been particularly arty, I find most poetry to be contrived, pretentious and tiresome. I can occasionally see the merit if you are in that way inclined however and ‘Howl’s exactly the same. Franco’s fantastic but it’s dull subject matter with little focus and it often drags. I’m open to the possibility of it simply going over my head, but it’s unlikely.

Film – The Adjustment Bureau

Dan Newham
The Adjustment Bureau was marketed as a Bourne / Inception lovechild and for this reason I wasn’t expecting much. The film’s a complete success however. Damon is a NYC congressman who unwittingly steps into the world of the titular bureau who ensures that life happens as it’s supposed to. They’re angels for want of a better world and their task is to stick to The Chairman’s plan which immediately sees seemingly-perfect-couple Damon and Emily Blunt being kept apart. It’s essentially a love story but it never becomes contrived or ridiculous, merely a beautifully told battle between free will and fate.

Game – Dead Space 2

Dan Newham
Dead Space was EA’s big surprise hit of 2008. Its claustrophobic atmosphere, genuinely fearsome enemies and memorable settings set pulses racing and cash registers ringing. The sequel was inevitable and thankfully it wasn’t hurried, isn’t lazy and doesn’t disappoint. The setting has shifted from the ISS Ishimura to a ‘moon cracking’ base on Titan. Isaac has once again awoken in hell and he’s got to fight his way to the alien ‘marker’ with little help from others. The enemies are relentless, the weapons are as satisfying as before and there’s even a strong replay value to keep you crawling back.

TV – Boardwalk Empire

Dan Newham
HBO’s iconic titles have become something of a seal of quality in their time, a guaranteed hour of entertainment whatever the subject. Boardwalk Empire is their latest sensation, a hyper-dedicated realisation of 1920’s Atlantic City during Prohibition era. Steve Buscemi excels as gold-hearted but corrupt treasurer Enoch Thompson and is ably supported by broody war hero Michael Pitt. By America’s standards this is a short season and as such shouldn’t be missed. A second season was quickly commissioned, this delight has got a lot of legs in it yet so catch it on the sensational Sky Atlantic, channel 108.

Game – Assassins Creed: Brotherhood (PS3)

Dan Newham
All worries that Brotherhood would be rushed are thankfully unfounded in this masterful story, laden with ambition, variety and an attention to detail that puts most developers to shame. You again play as Ezio Auditore, a 16^th century Italian assassin tasked with taking down the evil Borgia family and also drop-in as Ezio’s modern-day ancestor Desmond Miles. Unlike AC2 in which you’d travel between cities, Brotherhood is based solely in Rome and the game benefits for this. Quick travel, renovation and factions integrate well into the experience and leave you wanting more in this final chapter of the Auditore story.

TV – Archer Season 1

James Cain
The Social Network proved that audiences can dig a little rapid-fire dialogue, especially when the dialogue is good. Archer has a television equivalent of TSN’s dialogue speed, except this programme houses a different kind of wit. A very black adult comedy set in a 60s / modern day mash-up universe where people dress like Mad Men and the USSR is still in full swing. Archer focuses on a government unit set on indulging their whims. This gives quotes such as “baby-town frolics” and “Karate? The Dane Cook of martial arts?”. A very witty show with darkness and style – it’s SO NINJA!

The Ashes: 1st Test – England’s 1st Innings

Dan Newham
That’s the sound of inevitability and reality crashing into each other. It sounds like an Aussie laughing. What began as a hopeful foray into the unknown quickly descended into the same old as Peter Siddle’s hat-trick consigned us to a feeble 260 all out. Silver linings were performances by Cook and Bell, the two question marks outperforming the rest as they both passed 50. The first 20 overs of the Australian innings are crucial now, take 2 or 3 wickets and we’re back in it. If they reach lunch tomorrow with 8 or 9 in tact though, we’re in trouble.

Film – The Social Network

Dan Newham
Naively calling this a film about Facebook would be idiotic, it’s more character-based legal drama than biopic any day. Set in two periods, it flicks between when socially-inept Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site, and a future time in which he’s being sued for it. Jesse Eisenberg and new-Spiderman Andrew Garfield lead well but the biggest surprise is Justin Timberlake’s portrayal of Napster’s Sean Parker. He’s inviting whilst sinister and just eats up screentime. The ending is somewhat abrupt but what remains is still a potentially Oscar-worthy tale that’s essentially about nothing more than a boy and a girl. 9/10

We’ve been away…

Apologies for the lack of content lately, due to Sky’s continued incompetence we’ve been without regular internet access for nearly 3 months. My recommendation, don’t use them if you’re in a flat. You get single feed Sky+ which isn’t any help whatsoever and they’re dramatically incapable of finding your flat for the internet either. Their neanderthal call-centre staff aren’t much help either, if they somehow manage to remember their name and job for more than 5 seconds, it’s at the cost of what you called up to ask in the first place. Somewhat fittingly, this rant/update is 100 words exactly.