Sherlock: The Blind Banker Retrospective

I wasn't very keen on Episode 2 of Sherlock, The Blind Banker, when it first aired last year, rating it at 3.5/5 for making lousy use of the 90 minutes it had to fill, featuring a fairly unmemorable cast (bar the leads) and only being redeemed by the sublime chemistry of Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes and Martin Freeman's Watson. I found it somewhat more enjoyable upon its repeat on BBC One last week (more worthy of 4/5), as it still managed to uphold the great modern feel of the series and capture well the 'case of the week' vibe needed for the episode in the middle of the series opener and the finale. Stephen Thompson, writer of this year's pirate Doctor Who adventure The Curse of the Black Spot, takes the story off on a completely different tangent to Steven Moffat's A Study In Pink, focusing more on the sub-plots of Chinese proverbs and John's new romantic relationship, and this works in its favour, adding new depth to the show. That said, I maintain that the hour and a half seems to move much more slowly than it did before, only boosted by the fast-paced finale and the brilliant cliffhanger's tease of Moriarty's reveal. Gemma Chen (recently Mia in Who's The Water of Mars) puts her heart into her role as a museum curator, especially when the protagonists catch up with her, but the same can't be said of the rest of the newcomers in this week's cast, which is a shame as those in Episode 1 showed such promise in every scene. The Blind Banker isn't a bad piece of television by any means, however it is a big step down from A Study In Pink, and from what I can remember the outright worst instalment of the three.

LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace Review (4/5)

Though the low calibre of previous LEGO mini-movies would suggest that feature-length TV episode LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace would not live up to its potential, the new offering from George Lucas and co is actually very likeable, carrying its own unique charm and wit. The plot is relatively simple- Yoda is leading a group of Jedi younglings on a tour of the Jedi Temple, when they are suddenly thrust into a series of events spanning locations and characters from across the saga. As self-congratulatory as using the aforementioned fan favourite places and people might seem, it actually adds to the fun of the show, and a host of grin-inducing moments which completely mess with the series' continuity are so light-hearted that you probably won't be able to help loving The Padawan Menace (one purely hilarious example: Count Dooku and Asaji Ventress cackle at how the Jedi have not fathomed their evil plot, and Darth Vader appears and begin to laugh too, only for a LEGO George Lucas to remind Darth that he's not in the script and drag him out of the shot). Most of the cast appear to have been taken from the Clone Wars television series, and no matter what your opinion on that spin-off programme, there's a strange sense of satisfaction at hearing characters like Yoda come out of their shells and yell 'Peace out!' in the middle of a battle. Yes, really! Occassionally, the plot can get a little confusing, which is surprising considering the toy name in its title, and its a shame the running time is so brief as this could actually have potential as an entire television show. Still, there's so much to love about The Padawan Menace, it's easy to forgive it its shortcomings- it's a bold, inventive and at times genuinely funny romp that I hope can be formed into a series, or at least more special episodes, in the future.

UK Film Charts: July 26th-31st

Zumba Fitness may be wrongly ruling the UK game charts, but at least something good is dominating those of the box office. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is certainly one of the better movies out to see this Summer, and if you haven't seen it yet and are a fan of the franchise then I recommend you do! Newcomers Horrid Henry: The Movie, Zookeeper and even Captain America: The First Avenger haven't been able to budge the Boy Wizard, notably as it's just passed the $1billion mark worldwide- now all that remains to be seen in the future is what film can possibly top it...
10. BEGINNERS
9. THE GUARD
8. TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
7. BRIDESMAIDS
6. ZOOKEEPER (NEW)
5. HORRID HENRY: THE MOVIE (NEW)
4. HORRIBLE BOSSES
3. CARS 2
2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (NEW)
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART TWO

Nominations For Golden Joystick Awards 2011 Open

Nominations for the Golden Joystick Awards 2011 have been opened to the public today. Run by the British magazine GamesMaster, the ceremony will be held this Autumn and showcase the best titles in video gaming from late 2010 and the first half of 2011. Here's a round-up of all the nominees, and my personal choice for each:
BEST SHOOTER- Brink; Bulletstorm; Call of Duty Black Ops; Crysis 2; Dead Space 2; Fear 3; GoldenEye 007; Halo Reach; Homefront; Killzone 3; Medal of Honor; Red Faction Armageddon; Singularity; Vanquish
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE- Amnesia; Assassin's Creed Brotherhood; Castlevania Lord of Shadows; Crackdown 2; Dead Rising 2; Deadly Premonition; Donkey Kong Country Returns; Epic Mickey; Enslaved; Infamous 2; LA Noire; LEGO Star Wars III; LittleBigPlanet 2; Mafia II; Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker; Okamiden; Portal 2; Shadows of the Damned; Yazuka 4
BEST RPG- Dragon Age II; Dragon Quest XI; Dungeon Siege III; Fable III; Fallout New Vegas; Golden Sun Dark Dawn; The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D; Pokemon Black & White; TacticsOgre; The Witcher 2
BEST MMO- Conan; Aion; DC Universe Online; Eve Online; Rift; World Of Warcraft
BEST FIGHTING- Arcana Heart 3; BattleZone; Dead or Alive Dimension; EA Sports MMA; Fight Night Champion; Marvel VS Capcom 3; Super Street Fighter 3DS; Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition; WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2011
BEST RACING- DIRT 3; F1 2010; Gran Turismo 5; Moto GP 10/11; MotorStorm Apocalypse; Nail'D; Need for Speed Hot Pursuit; Ridge Racer 3D; Shift 2 Unleashed; Test Drive Unlimited 2
BEST SPORTS- FIFA 11; Kinect Sports; MLB 11; NKA 2K/11; NBA Jam; NHL 11; PES 11; Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12; TopSpin 4; Virtua Tennis 4
BEST STRATEGY- Civilisation 5; Ghost Recon 3DS; Phantom Detective; Pride of Nations; Ruse; StarCraft II Wings Of Liberty; The Sims Medieval; Total War Shogun 2; Warhammer Dawn of War
ULTIMATE GAME OF THE YEAR- Assassin's Creed Brotherhood; Bulletstorm; Call of Duty Black Ops; Civilisation 5; DIRT 3; Fallout New Vegas; FIFA 11; Gran Turismo 5; Halo Reach; Killzone 3; LA Noire; Need for Speed Hot Pursuit; Pokemon Black & White; Portal 2; Rock Band 3; StarCraft II; Super Street Fighter 3D; The Legend fo Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D; The Witcher 2; Total War Shogun 2
ONE TO WATCH- Agent; Aliens Colonial Marines; Assassin's Creed Revelations; Battlefield 3; BioShock Infinite; FarCry 3; Ghost Recon Future Soldier; Guild Wars 2; Halo 4; Hitman; Zelda Skyward Sword; Mass Effect 3; Metal Gear Solid Rising; Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3; Saint's Row The Third; StarCraft II DLC; Super Mario 3D Land; Elder Scrolls Skyrim; Tomb Raider; Uncharted Golden Abyss (Arkham City isn't there as the show takes place after it releases, I found out after some researching, as that would have been my other choice! And yes, I know that's more than one choice, but I really think we should be keeping an eye on all of those!)

Pottermore: The Competiton Begins!

Earlier in the Summer, JK Rowling announced a new website called Pottermore, intended to be a place for fans to relive the excitement of the books by reading through the seven novels. It's nothing as mundane as it sounds though, because there will be a wealth of interactive content in each chapter and Rowling herself will even publish exclusive new insights into the world of Harry Potter online for the very first time. The site is set to open to the public this Autumn, but before that you now have the chance to gain early access. There is currently a competition running each day until this Saturday (August 6th), whereby one million fans will be able to register for a beta version of the site, giving feedback to prepare Pottermore for its worldwide unveiling. Each day, a 'clue', or rather a question relating to the specific book (so tomorrow is the third day, and thus there'll be a question on The Prisoner of Askaban), and when the entrants have worked out the answer, they simply write it at the end of the URL 'http://quill.pottermore.com' with a /. For example, if the question was how many Harry Potter books are there, since there are seven you would enter into the URL bar at the top of your internet browser: 'http://quill.pottermore.com/7' and be directed to a registration page if you are correct and fast enough (as spaces each day are limited). Depending on how early you may win, your access to the beta may not come for another few weeks due to the overwhelming demand the competition has had. However, you will definitely get to access it before the rest of the world! I'm trying to bag a world exclusive first look at the site using all my fandom knowledge of the series, so keep an eye on the blog in the next month for confirmation as to whether I've managed to get us said preview or not. Good luck to everyone who enters! For the rest of us/you/the world, Pottermore opens this October worldwide.

Bane Is Your Ally In Arkham City

As if the wait for October 21st- the day Batman: Arkham City releases here- wasn't feeling long enough already, at their ComicCon panel developer Rocksteady confirmed exciting new details on the upcoming game. First up was the absolutely thrilling revelation that fan favourite adversary Bane will be teaming up with the Dark Knight in the sequel. Bane appeared in the superb Arkham Asylum (10/10), and was last seen grasping at a crate of Titan after being plunged into the waters of Gotham by the Batmobile, but he and Batman must now work together to obtain a stache of contraband chemicals, for reasons as of yet unknown. Only Batman and the feisty Catwoman remain playable, however the chance for a team-up such as this in a seperate plotline of side missions is satisfyig enough, especially in the knowledge that side missions like these and battles against the Riddler, Victor Zsaz and Calendar Man form over 12-15 hours worth of play time, and this does not take into account the main campaign of the same length. Rocksteady reckon to complete all of Catwoman's main and side missions, you'll spend around 4 hours, so that this is only a small portion of the Caped Crusader's adventure means it's a sprawling, huge epic that every fan should be looking forward to playing through. Batman will also get a cool new gadget called the Remote Electrical Charge (REC), acting like a shotgun in dangerous close range fights, sending out a major charge to ground enemies. Alternatively, it can be used to power machinery. So far, a lot of attention seems to have been focused on the combat of Arkham City, so I hope there are still a good few stealth and detective sections thrown in for good measure, as they were what made Asylum such a hit. Batman: Arkham City is out October 21st.

UK Gaming Charts: July 25th-31st

Seven weeks. That's how long Zumba Fitness, a flab fighting-aimed, mediocre fitness title for Wii, has dominated the UK video games charts as a result of there being little else new to buy. Considering too that it came out in April, that's a really bad omen for the current games industry, highlighting how much of the good stuff is held back for the Autumn/Winter season and therefore how lost gamers are for new content earlier in the year. Worse still, none of the ten titles on this week's chart are new, which means we've basically gone a whole week with absolutely nothing of any interest to anyone made available.
10. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS (Why is this still here, a shooter which barely advances its formula on at all from the stunning Modern Warfare 2, when the likes of Portal 2, by far the best game of the year so far, aren't? Simply because there are too many fans of bland, overhyped shooters.)
9. LA NOIRE
8. FIFA 11
7. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2
6. DIRT 3
5. LEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
4. JUST DANCE 2: EXTRA SONGS (When a standalone expansion pack reaches this high a place, it shows there are truly no big new releases whatsoever)
3. CALL OF JUAREZ: THE CARTEL
2. CARS 2
1. PORTAL 2...just kidding, ZUMBA FITNESS