Here’s some disappointing news for fans of the immensely popular TV show, House as Fox have decided to end the show after the eighth season when it ends in May. According to Deadline who broke the story (and have a full report), Fox will give it’s creator David Shore the chance to end the show earlier than some may like so that he can give the characters a ‘proper ending’.

I’ve never actually seen House but I know so many people love it and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news if HeyUGuys is where you’re reading this news first.

House stars or has starred Hugh Laurie as the title character, Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps, Jesse Spencer, Peter Jacobson, Jennifer Morrison, Olivia Wilde, Kal Penn, David Morse, to name but a few.

Premise: He has little patience for patients, but misanthropic Gregory House is a brilliant diagnostician who probes life-and-death medical mysteries while ‘CSI’-style graphics follow each disease’s progression. ‘X-Men’ director Bryan Singer is one of the executive producers.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. I’m sure most of them will be rather gutted to hear the news.

The Foundation are behind some of the most popular television shows for children for the past few years, including Mister Maker, Scorpion Island, Finger Tips, Dani’s House and Waybuloo.

But one of their shows that is still airing on CBeebies since it’s debut in 2008 is Big Barn Farm, a live action television show that stars barnyard animals who have adventures around the barn they all live on.

Three DVDs have been released this week (Welcome to Big Barn Farm, Greedy Goat and Other Stories and Best in Show and Other Stories) and rather than reviewing each one separately in different articles, I will review the DVDs in terms of the quality of the show and the episodes in these products.

These DVDs each feature five episodes from the television series and introduces viewers to the Farmyard Bunch, a group of farmyard animals that all live at Big Barn Farm.

The Farmyard Bunch is made up of four young animals – Petal the Piglet, Dash the Donkey, Gobo the Goat and Digger the Puppy. Every episode always follows these four characters on adventures around or on the farm, bumping into other characters including Madam the French Cow, Mrs. Snuffles the mother pig, the Duck Girls and Lester the rooster. Told entirely in the animals’ point of view, the only human beings that ever appear are either the farmer or one of his family members that only come in as part of a plot point.

But what makes the show interesting is the fact that they use similar techniques from the film Babe to make the series.

The actors and actresses (including Shelley Longworth and Ben Fairman), all bring good voice acting to each of the individual animal, making them unique and appealing for each other. Computer animation is used to make the animals mouths move for long pieces of dialogue, while their mouths do often move on their own as well. The voice actors really bring charm to the cute, young animal stars, making it very appealing to very young children.

These episodes are also narrated by Ben Fairman, who brings a good sense of storytelling towards the viewers before Dave Lamb (who narrates Come Dine With Me) took over the role since series two.

While young children will enjoy this with the animal characters and the voice work involved, older children and grown-ups might get a bit bored by this. This is mainly due to the fact that at times some of the characters do something naughty in a couple of the episodes and manage to get away with it or have very little consequences which they might be a bit wary about what the target audience are learning from it. With the presentation and music specifically aimed at young viewers as well, they might feel as though it isn’t aimed at them, which is probably why the second series had Dave Lamb to do the narration.

Each of the DVDs only feature five episodes and this may be a little disappointing for those who want to get them for a child or themselves, especially since they are each priced at around five pounds.

Compared to the other DVD releases from The Foundation’s other productions, they too only offer episodes (as television shows from CBeebies rarely offer special features), but some additional episodes would have been nice as parents might want to keep their children entertained a bit longer. Waybuloo generally features around eight episodes for each of their DVDs and because they are twenty minutes per episode, it’s nearly twice as long as the seventy minutes of the Big Barn Farm releases.

For those who have not seen the series, this is a pretty good introduction to the format and has a nice, charming appeal that children might be interested in for just over five pounds. Just be warned that if the running time is a bit too short for you at the price it is set at, it might be best to get another DVD package that offers more content.

***~~ (3/5)

Judd Apatow has been busy building his presence on the big screen as producer, writer and director, but he is back on the small screen for now, as producer of HBO series “Girls”. Yes, it’s set in New York City, yes there is some sex, no there is no Sarah Jessica Parker. Instead, we have (as far as can be gleaned from a relatively brief trailer) laughs, winning performances and no small amount of frankness regarding sex (“why do we need to get lube?”).

HBO tend to be associated with very high calibre television and regardless of what you might think of Apatow’s big screen ubiquity and the danger of quality dilution that often goes along with that, it looks like this should be a winner. US TV seems to have a pretty short shelf-life these days, so Girls will have to prove itself quickly if it is to endure. But if there’s any justice and if this trailer is symptomatic of the rest of the show, all should be well.

Source: Collider.

Fans of BBC’s TV series “Hustle” will be pleased to know that another series is in production and I was lucky enough to catch up with them when they were filming on London’s South Bank.

“Hustle” has been running since 2004 on the BBC and this marks the eighth series since its inception by creator Tony Jordan although he has said that this will be the last series, at least in its current form and with its existing cast.

The series stars The Man From U.N.C.L.E’s Robert Vaughn plus Robert Glenister, Adrian Lester, Kelly Adams and Matt Di Angelo.

Click on the photos for larger versions

House M.D. is the multi-award winning US TV series starring English actor Hugh Laurie alongside a host of other stars including Lisa Edelstein, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jesse Spencer, Peter Jacobson and Olivia Wilde. The show has received four Emmys from twenty-three nominations, two Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild awards and has gone from being a speculative entry into the already crowded market of TV medical dramas to being an outstanding show.

Hugh Laurie plays grumpy and sarcastic Doctor Gregory House whose bedside manner is entirely absent and whose constant companion is his walking stick as he struggles to manage his constant physical pain while running the diagnostic unit of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Historically the standard fare of medical dramas has been to have a mix of the medical and the personal but House has raised the bar on this with outstandingly complex relationships partnering almost unbelievably mystifying medical cases requiring detective skills reminiscent of the likes of Sherlock Holmes.
What took the programme to a new level was that the while House is generally recognised as being a brilliant doctor his natural inclination maintain a solitary existence has had to be balanced with the understanding that he needs the context of a creative team to be able to unleash his diagnostic talents.

One of the most complex relationships from the first six series was that between House and hospital boss, Lisa Cuddy, and the “will they, won’t they” tension of the earlier series was an ever-present factor but series seven is the one in which they explore their relationship, having finally got it together, although as with all things to do with House nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

I have to confess that after five series of House my love for it began to waver during series six as my fear that the developing relationship between House and Cuddy would see the series slide into the realms of the formulaic so when series seven came around I found myself giving excuses for not watching it. As a result I’m somewhat surprised to report that seeing series seven has rekindled the embers of that fading fire and that my particular highlight of the series being the surreal and masterfully bonkers episode “Bombshells”.

The DVD set includes all twenty-three episodes as you would expect and while it’s not packed with special features it does have a couple of episode commentaries plus some peeks behind the scenes and again I’d have to recommend the one where they look at the “Bombshells” episode as being a great example of what makes this series such an outstanding one.

Series 7 of House M.D. is available from 26th September.
CONTENTS

Disc 1

1. Now What?
2. Selfish
3. Unwritten
4. Massage Therapy

Disc 2

1. Unplanned Parenthood
2. Office Politics
3. A Pox on our House
4. Small Sacrifices

Special Features:

1. Meet Martha Masters
2. Huddy Dissected

Disc 3

1. Larger Than Life
2. Carrot or Stick
3. Family Practice
4. You Must Remember This

Disc 4

1. Two Stories
2. Recession Proof
3. Bombshells

Special Features:

1. Anatomy of an Episode: Bombshells
2. Bombshells commentary with director Greg Yaitanes and series star Lisa Edelstein

Disc 5

1. Out Of The Chute
2. Fall From Grace
3. The Dig
4. Last Temptation

Disc 6

1. Changes
2. The Fix
3. After Hours
4. Moving On

Special Features:

1. Moving On commentary with creator/executive producer David Shore and director/executive producer Greg Yaitanes

To celebrate the release of Wrecked, out on Blu-ray on August 29^th, we are giving away a home entertainment package and of course a Blu-ray copy of the film! The Blu-ray player is a Philips BD3200 Blu Ray Player and the TV is a Bush 19’’ HD ready TV.

Regaining consciousness in a wrecked car, Adrien Brody’s (The Pianist, King Kong) character finds himself trapped, injured and alone with a dead body in the back seat, a glove compartment filled with cash and absolutely no recollection of where he is, who is or how he got there.

In a season rich with sole-survivor films, Wrecked’s effortless talent and agonising attention to detail places it high above the rest. Visually inventive and gripping from the first scene, make sure you experience this tale of one man’s struggle for survival against all odds and bring the horror-thriller Wrecked into your home cinema from 29^th August!

So, to be in with a chance of winning this rather fantastic prize, we need you to answer the following multiple choice question using the form below:

What other famous film did Adrien Brody star in?

1. Casino Royale
2. The King’s Speech
3. The Pianist
4. Black Swan

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 12th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Believe it or not, it’s been just over 20 years since the final episode of Dallas aired in the US on 3 May 1991. It ran for 14 seasons which just shows how popular the show was. The show could do anything including resurrecting one of the key characters after they’d died! Amazing!

Obviously real-life bank balances have reduced somewhat in that time as many of the original cast are back for the re-birth of the famous show which is set to hit Summer, 2012. TNT have released the first teaser trailer for the series which sees Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray all back as JR Ewing, Bobby Ewing and Sue Ellen Ewing but this time it’s all about their kids! As usual, Booy doesnt want to see money taking over the family but let’s face it, we all love it!

Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo and Brenda Strong all form part of the new modern cast. I guess time will tell if the show becomes as popilar as the original show.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Should the show come back or should it be left alone to revel in classic TV gold?

I still can’t listen to the theme tune without singing these words that I learnt in my school playground way back when. I invite you to sing along with me!

‘He’s rich, he’s rich, his wife is a bitch, he drives a white sports carrrrr… He lives in a palace in the middle of Dallas and he calls himself JR!’

Thanks to CinemaBlend for the heads up.

Here’s a TV programme I’m sure my dad watched religiously which I know next to nothing about other than the crazy haircuts!

The Professionals was a TV series which spanned for five seasons between the years 1977 and 1983. It starred  Gordon Jackson, Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins and at its peak, pulled in millions of viewers with even the re-runs in the late 90s attracting over over million views on the now deceased TV channel, Granada. The show was created to mimic US rivals like Starkey and Hutch and had a rather memorable opening soundtrack which I’ve placed below in a clip.

This press release announces the news that Lionsgate UK and Eight Wonder pictures will produce the cinematic version and we’ll obviously keep you up to date with casting and release dates etc.

Here’s a clip from the original series… you’ll see what I mean about the haircuts!

Lionsgate UK  and Eighth Wonder Pictures to produce big screen adaptation of cult British TV crime series “The Professionals”.

Iconic characters Bodie and Doyle to hit the big screen

LONDON, U.K., March 28, 2011 – Lionsgate UK has acquired the rights to produce a feature film version of era-defining British crime action series The Professionals.

The project is expected to start shooting on location in the UK later this year.

Lionsgate UK partnered with Callum McDougall and Richard Whelan to produce the feature film via their production company Eighth Wonder.

McDougall and Whelan have been producers on a number of  films, with McDougall executive producing the last two James Bond films “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” and currently  the “Clash of the Titans” sequel,  and Whelan having recently completed producing duties on “Captain America” for Marvel.

Reinventing the TV series for the big screen, The Professionals will be an exhilarating, emotionally-charged action-thriller that re-forges the seminal TV series for a new generation.

The Professionals will see ex-Spec Ops Mercenary Bodie and Counter Terrorism Detective Doyle burst back onto screens in this blistering origin story that sees the iconic characters unite in their first mission for covert British Security Unit CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5).

“The Professionals was such an iconic British crime series that  it’s a fantastic opportunity for Lionsgate to be able to bring it to the big screen for the first time,” said Zygi Kamasa, Chief Executive, Lionsgate UK.  ”This production will combine the wit and fast paced action of the original TV series but also completely reinvent it for a new, modern audience and we’re really looking forward to working with talented producers Callum and Richard on the film.”

Said Whelan: “To take this 70′s TV classic and launch it onto the big screen, is a dream come true.”

Added McDougall:   “We are delighted to be partnering with Lionsgate UK  on this exciting project,  and we look forward to working with them closely in the future”.

Originally created by Brian Clemens, the TV series of The Professionals became a cult hit in the UK in the late 1970s and its central characters Bodie and Doyle household names on London Weekend Television when the first series first aired in 1977.

I’ve had the same TV (a 32″ Toshiba WLT 58)  for around 5 years now and when I bought it, I was completely blown away at how great it was but at the time, £1200 would buy you a 32″ TV which was HD Ready at 720p. Five years on, TV’s have got an awful lot bigger and the prices have come tumbling dow with advert after advert coming on the TV for cheap TVs which claim to be better than ever.

For the average consumer, HD was just talk 5 years ago and the price of a decent full high definition television was astronomical but if you were going to buy a TV in 2010 / 2011, you’d be silly not to contemplate anything but full HD or possible even a TV with 3d capability.

Panasonic have sent me one of their new LED Viesta TV’s, the Panasonic TX-L37D28BS 37″ and suffice to say it’s absolutely incredible. I guess throughout this post, we have to remember that I’m comparing everything I see to my five year old television but like many people, the January sales are the time when we’ll start to see people upgrading their television sets to one they may have had 5+ years ago.

This new TV has some many features on it I dont really know where to start. Here’s some of the spec’s from the tech sheet to start us off.

Sony wanted to think of a way to launch their brand new Sony Bravia 3d TV’s and decided that the way to get it out there was to host a gaming competition along with their new game, Gran Turismo 5, get 10 of the best GT5 players along and get them to compete at the HMV Oxford Street. The event looks like an awful lot of fun and coincided with showing off the new TVs for sporting events that we can now watch without having to leave our sofa!

Our friends from Upbeat were in attendance and were able to follow the action as it unfolded with the likes of BBC  Formula 1 presenter, Jake Humphrey who commentated on the final and presented the away. The winner would be given a trip to Madrid along with a brand new 40″ Sony Bravia TV. I’ll let you have a look at the video below for the full lowdown.

GT 5 is out now to buy.

The lovely chaps at Sony know how much you love watching movies so what better way to do that than to give you one of their very fine products to watch them on! Together with Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, we’re giving you the chance to become the proud owner of this rather nice Sony 32″ KDL32EX301U along with a copy of the movie which is OUT NOW on DVD. You can find out more about the TV here.

Three runners up will also get the chance to win a copy of Stomp the Yard: Homecoming.

The new movie is directed by Rob Hardy and stars Collins Pennie, Terrence J, Stephen “tWitch” Boss,Kiely Williams, Pooch Hall, Tika Sumpter and a featured appearance by Columbus Short.

Synopsis: In the countdown to a national step-off, rivalries at Truth University run red hot. The Theta Nus are counting on new pledge Chance Harris (Collins Pennie) to lead the team to victory. But he’s too caught up in his own problems to focus. At odds with his father, caught up in romantic troubles and targeted by a street gang for an unpaid debt, Chance must decide what is truly important and make the choices that will shape his life. Stomp the Yard: Homecoming unites a powerful cast featuring Terrence J and Pooch Hall with a soundtrack packed with pulse-pounding tracks.

Directed by Rob Hardy (The Gospel), Stomp the Yard: Homecoming is from a story by Albert Leon and a screenplay by Albert Leon and Meena Payne. Columbus Short served as executive producer, with William Packer producing.

Check out the trailer below:

To be in with a chance of winning this rather great prize, all you have to do is become a fan of the HeyUGuys Facebook page, post a link to the competition on your Facebook Wall (link in the URL bar at the top of your browser window) and answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed Stomp the Yard: Homecoming?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close on Monday 13th December at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No alternative prize is available if unsuitable

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Sky One have sent us this brand new deleted scene from their new TV series, An Idiot Abroad.The show is the brainchild of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant who have sent their friend, Karl Pilkington around the world to try and muddle his way through as best he can.

In this clip, we get to see Karl meet ‘Jesus’!

The full show will be screened on Sky1 and Sky1 HD this evening at 9pm and you can find out more on the official website here or on the official podcast / vodcast for thes how here.

Check out the clip below for the sort of things you can expect to see!

Josh Schwartz, the creator/executive producer of The O.C., Chuck and Gossip Girl, is working on a brand new TV series for NBC, with Rachel Bilson (The O.C.) set to feature prominently.

Ghost Angeles, a supernatural romantic comedy, is expected to center on a young woman in Los Angeles who can talk to the dead, helping the spirits as much as they are helping her.

Ghost Angeles was co-created by Schwartz and Henry Alonso Myers (Ugly Betty), who will also act as series writers.

The TV series is a co-production from Fake Empire and Warner Bros. TV.

In my opinion, the premise sounds a lot like the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer, but I’m hoping Schwartz and Bilson can create something new, unique and well-worth watching.

Deadline reported this first.

Season 6 of Lost is released next Monday 13th September on DVD and Blu-ray (pre-order here) and although we won’t unfortunately be attending the 80 hours solid of the J.J. Abrams series, Walt Disney have been kind enough to give us two deleted scenes to share with our lovely readers. I posted the first scene yesterday called Epiphany which you can see here. The second below is called Fatalities.

In the clip, John Locke leads Claire to the other island and explains that she needs to shoot them so that they can leave the island. John also explains why he can’t leave the island and why he can’t break the rules.

We currently have a competition where you can win season 6 blu ray box set. Click here to enter.

More info:

Since its debut in 2004, Lost has engaged audiences worldwide following the Oceanic Air Flight 815 crash survivors in their quest to stay alive by working together against all odds and discovering that nothing is as it seems. Starring a host of award-wining stars including Matthew Fox (Jack), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Naveen Andrews (Sayid) and Terry O’Quinn (John Locke), their survival is continually threatened by predators and enemies including the island’s inhabitants known only as the “Others”. Forced to depend on each other in order to stay alive, the diverse group of survivors are bound by dark secrets and complicated relationships, with the truth behind each character slowly revealed throughout the seasons.

Providing the long awaited answers to the mysteries of Lost, Lost The Final Season and Lost The Complete Season Box Set, are must haves for both fans and everybody wanting to get lost.

Lost The Final Season Blu-ray and DVD bonus features:

• Bloopers and deleted scenes
  • Audio Commentaries
  • The End: Crafting A Final Season – Examining the challenges of ending a landmark series
  • A Hero’s Journey – Which survivors of Oceanic 815 are true heroes?
• See You In Another Life, Brotha – Unlocks the mysteries of the flash sideways
• Lost on Location – Behind the Scenes featurette
• New chapter of the island’s story from Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

Season 6 of Lost is released next Monday 13th September on DVD and Blu-ray (pre-order here) and although we won’t unfortunately be attending the 80 hours solid of the J.J. Abrams series, Walt Disney have been kind enough to give us two deleted scenes to share with our lovely readers. I thought I’d split them up so one is below to build the anticipation!

The first deleted scene is below and is called Epiphany. It shows a scene where John Locke leads Desmond and Ben through the jungle. In the scene, Desmond and Ben have a discussion where they discuss what happened when Des was brought to the island. Obviously the word bloody is used in the scene as Desmond is unable to have any lines of dialogue without that word being used!

We currently have a competition where you can win season 6 blu ray box set. Click here to enter.

More info:

Since its debut in 2004, Lost has engaged audiences worldwide following the Oceanic Air Flight 815 crash survivors in their quest to stay alive by working together against all odds and discovering that nothing is as it seems. Starring a host of award-wining stars including Matthew Fox (Jack), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Naveen Andrews (Sayid) and Terry O’Quinn (John Locke), their survival is continually threatened by predators and enemies including the island’s inhabitants known only as the “Others”. Forced to depend on each other in order to stay alive, the diverse group of survivors are bound by dark secrets and complicated relationships, with the truth behind each character slowly revealed throughout the seasons.

Providing the long awaited answers to the mysteries of Lost, Lost The Final Season and Lost The Complete Season Box Set, are must haves for both fans and everybody wanting to get lost.

Lost The Final Season Blu-ray and DVD bonus features:

• Bloopers and deleted scenes
  • Audio Commentaries
  • The End: Crafting A Final Season – Examining the challenges of ending a landmark series
  • A Hero’s Journey – Which survivors of Oceanic 815 are true heroes?
• See You In Another Life, Brotha – Unlocks the mysteries of the flash sideways
• Lost on Location – Behind the Scenes featurette
• New chapter of the island’s story from Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse

© ABC Studios

J.J. Abrams’ hit TV series, Lost came to an end earlier this year but that doesn’t have to be the end of your viewing experience as the Season 6 Box Set and LOST: The Complete Collection are set for release on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday, 13^th September. You can pre-order the box set here.

The lovely people at ABC Studios have been kind enough to give us copies of the Lost Season 6 Blu-ray box set to give away to five of our lucky readers!!

Synopsis: With only 18 episodes left until the final episode of Lost, the island’s violent shifts through time were ended by Locke when he traveled off-island in an attempt to persuade the Oceanic 6 to return. Back on the island, the survivors’ stay in late ‘70s Dharmaville was over when their covers were blown and they were accused of aiding “The Others,” and Sayid was gravely wounded during their flight. In addition, Ben killed Jacob at Locke’s request. But since Locke’s body was found to still be inside the coffin, exactly who – or what – is John Locke? And if Juliet was successful in detonating the hydrogen bomb, was she able to reset time, allowing Oceanic Air 815 to land safely in Los Angeles, or was the island destroyed along with all of its inhabitants?

To be in with a chance of winning this quite frankly, awesome prize, all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character of John Locke in Lost?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close Monday 13th September (release date) at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Blu-ray Extras Include:

• Original Scripted Content that goes Deeper into Some of the Stories, Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD Produced by Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse
• Bloopers and Deleted Scenes
• Lost on Location
• Crafting a Final Season
• Audio Commentaries
• And MUCH More!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

As you all know, the Football World Cup is fast approaching, beginning this Friday, 11th June. It’s not a movie but anything that captures the entire planet’s attention for a month is well worth talking about, even on a movie site! Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a lovely 42 inch TV to watch all your favourite movies on after the World Cup has finished? Well, thanks to the lovely people at Argos, here’s your chance to be able to do just that!

Argos have given us an LG 42LF7700 42 Inch 100Hz Full HD Freesat Digital LCD TV to give away to one lucky reader of HeyUGuys. Not a bad prize eh! To view the full specs on the TV, head over to the Argos website which has the full low-down.

To be in with a chance of winning this awesome prize, you must become a fan of the HeyUGuys Facebook fan page (if you have an account), and then simply answer the following question using the form below:

Question: What year was Argos founded?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only.
• Only one entry per household will be counted.
• The competition will close Wednesday 23rd June at 15.00 GMT.
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

As mentioned above, this awesome prize has been supplied courtesy of Argos.co.uk, who provide a wide range of LCD TVs, Plasma TVs, and LED TVs.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Sky Movies HD are currently airing the HBO TV mini-series, The Pacific every Monday night. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers but not seen anything from The Pacific yet, they’re you’re very much missing out. The Pacific looks at the US Marines journey across The Pacific as they fight the Second World War against the Japanese. The series is based around two of the characters memoirs With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have produced this amazing series and every week I’m gripped as I watch the reality of war before my eyes.

Those lovely people at Sky Movies HD have sent us this new clip from tonight’s episode 7 entitled ”Never Lay Down When You Can Sleep’. I’ve been lucky enough to see this episode already and for me, it was the most emotional and disturbing episode in the series so far. Hopefully most of us will never get to understand what these men had to endure to make the world a free and better place but this series really does do it’s best to make the whole experience as real as possible.

I’ve embedded the clip below and you can watch the episode in full, tonight on Sky Movies HD at 9pm.

There were quite a few 3D movies released in theatres last year, certainly more than any other year in recent memory. Along with the news that 3D televisions and even video games were in development, 3D was already on the horizon. Then of course came Avatar, and the great technical work and huge box office takings proved 3D cinema was both financially viable, and in big demand.

It was inevitable that production of 3D movies would ramp up. Alice in Wonderland came next, and scored huge at the box office, opening bigger than Avatar. The post-production 3D process however meant that the 3D work was hugely inferior to that seen in Cameron’s movie. Then just over a week ago Clash of the Titans was released. The once again post-production 3D conversion was this time rushed through by the lowest bidder, and was reportedly awful.

Clash of the Titans didn’t open nearly as big as Alice.Whilst the presence of Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton behind the camera will have boosted Alice’s box office appeal, and lower review scores will have also dented Titans’ chances, i think certainly some of the blame for this can be attributed to the disappointment felt by those that went to see Alice expecting it to match up to Avatar in the 3D stakes. After that experience, a lot of movie-goers were probably put off of paying out for Titans only to be disappointed once again. Unfortunately, the far superior 3D work in How to Train Your Dragon went unseen by many, as it has made far less than either Titans or Alice, although interestingly all three are currently continuing to make money.

The problem facing the 3D boom is the cynical attempts by studios to cash in on its popularity. By rushing through movies with ropey post-production 3D conversion, they risk alienating the audiences that were so wowed by Avatar’s revolutionary visuals. With 3D ticket prices rising, viewers expect a great 3D feast, and aren’t currently getting it. Studios need to start being careful, they can’t afford to let down the people willing to pay extra for the 3D experience. This audience will quickly become fed up of paying out huge amounts of money to see lazy conversion, and underwhelming 3D effects. The danger is that when movies are finally released with great 3D work, there will no longer be people willing to pay the money to see them.

The whole 3D boom comes at an interesting time. The 1990′s were a time of independent films, where well written, intelligent stories were pulling in the crowds. As a result big budget productions waned, as they weren’t so economically viable. Over the last decade, particularly last year, blockbuster popcorn movies have come back in a big way. Movies like 2012, Transformers 2 and other effects heavy productions made the lions share of the profits over the last 12 months. IMAX theatres reported record takings, and of course 3D movies like Avatar drew in huge audiences. This draws some parallels with the first time 3D was introduced to cinema audiences.

By the 1950′s, television had hit homes in a big way. For the first time, audiences could stay in with their families and be entertained by a visual medium, without having to pay for tickets. As you’d expect, cinema attendances suffered. To combat this, the industry went back to making big budget movies, historical epics and elaborate musicals, re-introducing spectacle to the big screen. Studios proliferated the use of  technicolor and stereo sound, and wide-screen, CinemaScope and 3D were introduced. Film company bosses knew that to rival the power of television, they had to provide something that TV shows couldn’t. Now, of course, TV has been well established for decades, but in the last ten years television shows have increased in quality greatly. Shows like The Sopranos and The Wire have shown that writing in television shows can equal anything found at the cinema, and the likes of 24, Battlestar Galactica and Glee have shown that good production values, special effects and elaborate musical numbers can be enjoyed nightly from the comfort of your armchair.

Once again, studios might be trying to draw people out to theatres by providing the kind of big budget event movies, and cutting edge IMAX and 3D visuals that cannot be seen on a television set. The approach was only moderately successful fifty years ago however, and today’s audience will quickly tire of style if it isn’t backed up by a reasonable amount of substance. Ironically, with the imminent release of 3D televisions, and the news here in the UK that satellite company Sky have ordered over 15,000 3D televisions to give away to pubs for showing 3D sporting events, it seems that the movie industry needs to rush the 3D cinema revolution along so they don’t actually fall behind television for the first time.

Ultimately, with the list of movies set for 3D conversion growing all the time, and more and more directors considering shooting with 3D technology, it looks like 3D cinema is indeed here to stay. But that said, the movie industry cannot afford to take it for granted. More thought, not to mention time and money, needs to be put into making sure that 3D movies are up to scratch, and aren’t just attempts to cash in on Avatar’s success . If this doesn’t happen, the increasing number of 3D screens may find themselves losing out to the regular 2D ones, or worse, that audiences choose to stay at home and watch great 3-dimensional scripted television instead.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

UK fans of Twin Peaks have had a long time to wait to own the whole series on DVD. The first season was released many years ago but the second season box set never materialised in the UK. The second season was released in America though and there was also a box set released in America and other parts of Europe that contained both seasons and was described as The Definitive Gold Box Edition. This Gold Box Edition has now finally been released in the UK and it was worth the wait.

Twin Peaks was a series created in 1990 by David Lynch and Mark Frost and ran for 30 episodes (including the pilot). It centres on an investigation into the murder of popular high school girl Laura Palmer whose body is found in the pilot washed up on a river bank and “wrapped in plastic”. I won’t go in to too much more detail about the story as there are already a few posts about the content of the series on HeyUGuys and we’ll be posting even more soon.

On the subject of the content though I have to admit that I am totally in love with this series; it mixes beautifully the thrilling mystery of the plot with horror, romance and comedy. I’ve now seen the whole series four times and I will definitely be revisiting it in the future.

I can say with certainty that, until we see a Blu-Ray release, the only way you should watch the series is this DVD box set. Having had to suffer the dreadful UK VHS release of this series which seemed to use the cheapest videos available and give little care to the transfer, it is so refreshing to watch this set of DVDs.

The picture quality in the Gold Box Edition (not done justice in these stills) is absolutely stunning and some of the best transfers I’ve seen outside of Blu-Ray. It is on par with the excellent work done by The Criterion Collection and Masters of Cinema and like many of their releases the transfer has been approved by someone involved in the original production, here David Lynch himself. The series was shot on film and a lot of red filters were used during the making of the series giving it the warm and almost off balance colour. This is beautifully restored on these discs and it is great to see the intended look of the series properly represented.

The audio is presented in both 5.1 and the original 2.0  and is clear and of exceptional quality. Angelo Badalamenti’s score sounds beautiful but the mix never lets it overwhelm the dialogue. Probably my only criticism of this set is that it is missing the commentaries that featured on the Region 2 DVD release of the first season which is a shame as without these it is not quite as definitive as the title suggests.

The extras included on this set are very good though and I am sure will be enjoyable to any Peaks fan. Probably the most significant extra is the feature length documentary, ‘Secrets From Another Place’, which includes brand new interviews and looks at a lot of different aspects of the show. I really enjoyed the documentary and even for a Twin Peaks Geek like me there was still a lot of interesting new information.

Although the deleted scenes on these discs are a good addition to the set they don’t actually add a lot to the series but I am glad they were included as they are of some interest. Also important in completing the set is the introductions to each episode by the Log Lady which you have the option to either have on or off. Other features worth noting are the SNL sketches which are pretty funny and ‘A Slice of Lynch’ which features Lynch taking a look back at the series with Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick and JohnWentworth.

On an incredibly geeky note I have to complement the makers of the set for the menu screens. Each disc has a different menu screen and each one is like a beautiful little scene from Twin Peaks. So often DVDs have annoying or lazily put together menu screens and it really nice to see that no detail in this set was ignored.

If you like Twin Peaks and you don’t already own the Season one box set (which includes the commentaries) then this set is a must buy. If you already own it you could just buy the Season two set but having the whole series in one beautifully put together set is really fantastic. I love this series so much and will be rewatching individual episodes and the whole series again in the future and I am very pleased that finally there is a box set that does justice to this excellent show and one that will make that viewing experience even more pleasurable.

I have listed the main features of the set below and embedded the trailer for the box set at the bottom of this post.

• All 29 Episodes plus the Original Pilot: Both U.S. network and international versions of the pilot
• Remastered Picture from the original negative with newly-created 5.1 Audio, personally approved by David Lynch – also includes original 2.0 Audio
• Deleted Scenes: Lost footage saved from the cutting room floor
• Exclusive feature-length documentary, “Secrets from Another Place,” exploring the show’s origins,production and impact – featuring brand-new interviews with the cast and crew and never-before-seen footage
• “A Slice of Lynch”: David Lynch takes a strange and amusing look back with help from Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick and JohnWentworth
• “Return to Twin Peaks”: Follow a group of devoted “Peaks Freaks” and cast members to the 2006 Twin Peaks Festival
• Interactive Map: The show’s unforgettable locations and how to find them in real life
• The complete Log Lady Introductions
• Saturday Night Live: Kyle MacLachlan’s monologue and the hilarious Twin Peaks comedy sketch featuring the SNL cast
• The “Falling” Music Video with Julee Cruise
• And Many Golden Nuggets: On-air promos, TV spots, production documents, rare photos and more