TV NEWS would like to thank everyone who watched the show during the past year but we have now closed down production on the programme.

The video games segment Platform32 will continue to run on their website and we urge to you support their show.

All recent competitions will continue to run and winners will be notified.

From everyone at TV NEWS we wish to thank you for your support.

Pictures of the controllers showing little screens are explained with  the text “Screen Stream will take the 1080p display the new high-  definition Stream is capable of, and split the four individual views of  multiplayer games, squirting one to each player’s controller. The TV  can then show different camera angles or even be turned off  completely.”

Should have saved that £800 quid for my HD TV then dammit.

The Nintendo Wii 2 or possibly “The Nintendo Stream” (of Wii?) is  rumoured to be releasing in 2012, but no one knows for sure. All we  do know is that Ninty have a great habit of producing the most  innovative and user friendly consoles ever and that it will also be  playable at E3. Which is where Platform32 is going this year, so more  news when we gets it!

The premise of Arthur is like a New York fairytale about a drunken prince (Arthur) who is given a choice: marry the wicked witch and remain a child forever, or relinquish the throne and find true love instead.

Arthur’s an embarrassment to the family corporation, he’s an embarrassment to his mother and family, and he’s squandering his considerable wealth and intelligence on a life of drunken debauchery.  Arthur, therefore, is a bit like Paris Hilton… but with charm… no sex tapes… or felony convictions. The film meanders its way through to the inevitably conclusion and moral lesson but with a lot less laughs.

Unfortunately I think this is a film really just for Brand fans. Arthur struggles with an inconsistent tone with penis jokes on one side and alcoholism, death, and neglect on the other. To its credit, the original Arthur never tried too hard to be much more than an irreverent comedy. Maybe the ghost of that original comedy hovers over this remake like a drunk’s sour breath, never letting it flourish on its own merits. Or maybe it’s just shit.

Also, with unemployment still hovering around 10 percent I do oppose a drunkard who throws unearned money around with reckless abandon. Well maybe not oppose… envy.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a US soldier who wakes to find himself inhabiting the body of a stranger on a busy commuter train. Eight minutes of panic and confusion are brought to an abrupt end when the train explodes killing everyone on board.

Repeatedly leaping between a strange capsule and the final minutes of the doomed train journey, Gyllenhaal is tasked by mysterious military figures with finding the location of the bomb and the identity of the bomber.

Source Code could so easily have been a disaster. Fortunately, Duncan Jones manages to strike just the right tone throughout; making a film that is both smarter and more entertaining than your average blockbuster.

The ticking-clock narrative is used to good effect, providing suspense and frustration in equal measure, and each rerun of the mission has enough variation to keep the audience engaged.

Gyllenhaal delivers a strong performance as the reluctant hero driven to increasingly desperate and extreme measures with each failed attempt, and he is supported ably by Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga.

It is by no means a masterpiece, and it’s probably best not to scrutinise the science behind the ‘source code’ too closely. But it’s fast, it’s exciting, and you’re guaranteed an explosion every eight minutes. In other words, perfect Friday night fun.

Sword and sandal epics have experienced something of a resurgence following the release of Gladiator back in 2000. Over recent years the likes of Troy, 300, Alexander, Centurion, and Clash of the Titans have fought for our attention at the box office. To that company we can now add The Eagle.

Based on Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel, The Eagle of the Ninth, the film tells an epic tale of loyalty and betrayal, friendship and hatred, honour and reputation. With a fair amount of action to boot.

In second-century Britain, Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) is honourably discharged from the Roman army having sustained injury bravely defending his fort. Partnered with an indebted slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus heads north, having heard rumours that the Eagle of the Ninth, a golden emblem which disappeared along with his father’s legion 20 years ago, has been seen.

Crossing Hadrian’s Wall into the wild and uncharted north, the master and slave relationship begins to shift and an unlikely friendship tested, as the two tackle an unforgiving terrain and the savage tribes that dwell there.

Working in a fairly crowded genre, director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) ticks most of the boxes and delivers an enjoyable, if unremarkable film.

The action scenes are expertly handled, particularly the opening battle, pandering to neither the gore-hounds nor the ratings board. Commendably, Macdonald manages to inject energy and genuine tension into set-pieces that will be familiar to even the most casual fans of the genre. By no means an easy feat.

Likewise, Tatum and Bell handle the physical demands of the film well, taking to the fight choreography with the grace and ease you would expect from stars with experience in dance films.

Unfortunately, it is in the quieter moments that they seem to falter. With accents that occasionally wander without warning, and a script that does them no favours, our investment in character and story is sadly undermined.

As the film meanders towards a predictable conclusion, it’s hard not to feel that we’ve been here many times before. Ultimately though, with a film such as this, it’s the journey not the destination that counts, and for fans of the genre, this is a trip worth considering.

If you like your thrillers then you must check out The Resident which is in cinemas from 11th March 2011. Hilary Swank stars as a young doctor who moves into what seems to be the perfect apartment, she can’t believe her luck, however, like most too good to be true scenarios, things soon start turning awry, when she suspects that she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn flat.  Is she going mad?

Well, without giving too much away she may be right… but who or what is watching her?   Maybe it’s her landlord Max, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is perhaps a little too clingy, or could it be August, played by Christopher Lee, the old man who lives next door to her and often watches her or maybe it’s her ex-boyfriend Jack, who just can’t seem to leave her alone.

You’ll be on the edge of your seat during this film and slightly disturbed by some of the scenarios, it’s frightening to think that this situation could actually happen in real life… it’s definitely worth the watch, so go see it.

The Rite is a supernatural thriller starring Colin O’Donoghue as a sceptical seminary student who travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school. It is there he meets an unorthodox exorcist (played by Anthony Hopkins), who is performing the ritual on a supposedly possessed girl. Will our protagonist’s faith in God be restored? Is the girl genuinely possessed by the devil? Haven’t we seen this one before?

Whilst all films featuring possession will inevitably invite comparisons to The Exorcist, The Rite perhaps shares more similarities than most.

The old priest / young priest paring, the untimely loss of a parent, and the possession of a young girl (complete with demonic voices and body contortions) are all present and correct. In fact, the only interesting addition to this well-worn story is the introduction of an exorcism school, but sadly this is sidelined early on in favour of more familiar fair.

Starring in his first feature film, O’Donoghue has the difficult task of having the most screen time and the least interesting character. His performance isn’t bad per se, it’s just overshadowed. Similarly, Alice Braga has little opportunity to engage as the reporter looking for a story, as she is brought in and out of the film with such jarring irregularity one suspects the majority of her scenes can be found on the cutting room floor.

That’s not to say that there isn’t fun to be has with The Rite. Hopkins is on scene-stealing form as the eccentric exorcist, and director Mikael Håfström throws in some half-decent jumps and scares along the way. Ultimately though, it’s all just a bit too derivative and unoriginal to be filed alongside the true classics of the genre.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 1:

Part 2: