Articles

BOMBSHELL: Oscars Best Picture Race Expands to 10 Nominees by Seth Abramovitch
and
Who Stands to Gain the Most From Oscar's Best Picture Bombshell? by S.T. Vanairsdale
(from Movie|Line)
I believe some people call things like this a "game changer", but that sounds silly. Instead of the traditional five (and it's not all that traditional, actually) there will be ten films competing for the big prize at next year's Oscars. Will everyone else follow suit in the bid to retain Oscar-predictor status? Or will this go down as a bad experiment by the Academy and it'll be back to five in 2011? Only time will tell...
(The first article is the news and press release, the second some analysis.)

Avatar - Footage of James Cameron's sci-fi 3D film has been seen and it is stunning
(from Live For Films)
"The first footage from James Cameron's Avatar has been screened to the public for the first time in Amsterdam at the Cinema Expo International. It looks as if everyone who saw it was stunned."
Read the article for what they had to say. I'm beginning to wonder if this can possibly live up to its hype -- it's going to have to look genuinely 100% real throughout to match the boundless praise being heaped upon it, and that's a tall order for anything. A more moderated response and flaws would be more forgivable, but at this rate, no flaw will be accepted.
And, in all honesty, part of me hopes it fails miserably and takes the equally-over-hyped 3D revolution with it.

BBC denies Doctor Who reunion reports by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
To be honest, they didn't really deny it at all -- so little, in fact, that the article doesn't even quote their comment til the final paragraph! Still, rumours of an all-Doctors Children in Need special have been doing the rounds for years, so there's no good reason to assume it's any more likely this year than before. Even if it does happen, I seriously doubt it'll be the first appearance of the 11th Doctor... though that might be quite cool.

Johnny Depp discusses Pirates 4 by Lara Martin
(from Digital Spy)
...and doesn't say much. Still, it's on its way.

Magazines

What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision: Ultimate Guide to Television

My quest for the best setup in my new lounge continues with this What Hi-Fi?, which basically covers everything in one handy magazine. No, I don't need to know about projectors or £160 all-in-one remote controls, but there's plenty of very useful information elsewhere.

I'm virtually set on my telly, for example, but the range covered led for some pauses to think. The same can't be said for Blu-ray, where my choice of player is almost dictated by the need to have it region-free (luckily it's also the best budget player around; though for an extra £80 the slightly snazzier one is available region-free too), but the comparisons are undoubtedly worthwhile to anyone who hadn't already decided.

Even more useful for me were the reviews of various TV services (like Sky+ HD and V+HD, which gave me some decent food for thought. Plus, lots of information on sound systems -- I'm not intending to buy a new one, but I finally have answers about some concerns with my current one. Mainly, it should be possible to connect it up and have it work fine with surround sound from both Blu-ray and Sky HD.

The section games consoles was somewhat laughable though, picking them apart for their film & TV content and seeming almost baffled that the Wii has been such a success. It's because (it would seem) all most people want is a well-made fun-to-play games machine, not a multimedia behemoth, and the Wii is admirable in sticking by its notion that, as it's a games machine, a games machine is what it is.

Bloody PS3 giving people ideas about games consoles rising above their station, etc.