Disney+ confirms ad-supported pricing tier for UK and Europe
by Ian Collen
If you were an early adopter of Disney+ when it launched back in March 2020, the chances are you’ll be receiving your annual subscription renewal notification around this time - and it’ll be a little more than the original £49.99 introductory offer.
Commanded by a fabulously curmudgeonly performance by Paul Giamatti, his reunion with writer/director Alexander "Sideways" Payne makes for a surprisingly uplifting festive feast.
Can you get better value opting out of a Sky subscription?
by Ian Collen
With one forum member ditching Sky Stream for a custom set-up from several sources, others have also been sharing ways they’ve been cherry-picking their favoured content at the best prices.
Ad-supported Amazon Prime Video loses Dolby Vision and Atmos
by Ian Collen
With numerous members reporting the loss since the additional ‘Prime Video Ad Free’ charge was introduced, it's looking like you'll now need to pay the premium price for that premium Dolby content.
A new generation of the CX Series could be on the way, with this upgrade on the popular CXN V2 introducing a new DAC and the improved in-house Gen4 StreamMagic platform.
The Custom Integration range will launch with the CI-Uniti 102 streamer/amplifier, 8-channel CI-NAP 108 power amplifier, and the CI-NAP 101 mono power amp in time for the summer.
Not content with revitalising the budget streaming market, Wiim has turned its attention to amplifiers. Is the Wiim Amp as talented as the digital front ends?
True Detective: Night Country (Sky) Premiere TV Show Review
by Tom Davies
True Detective comes to HBO and Sky with a new season and something that many have been asking for since 2014: a return to the quasi-supernatural madness encountered by Rust Cohle and Marty Hart back in Season 1. And it’s a very encouraging start.
How do you organise your digital music collection?
by Ian Collen
There are plenty of apps and streaming services out there, but do their built-in systems offer the best way to catalogue your music, or are there some handy manual tricks to make finding your favourites even easier?
Though perhaps one of the more understated arrivals during CES, the integration of the new Wi-Fi 7 features could still be a key addition to many of the year’s big releases.
Martin Dew reviews Lyngdorf’s MP-50 12-channel preamp/processor after living with it for nearly three years. A long-term test, we might call it. Does an elevation to the world of high-end home cinema processors really make a difference in performance terms?
UPDATED WITH CONFIRMED DATES AND PRICING.
Existing UK and US members will be among those getting additional adverts in their future film and TV show viewing, with the option to upgrade to a costlier ad-free alternative.
The new service launches in a partnership with Apple TV 4K to offer 70 Freeview channels, along with its own set-top box options providing wider access to a host of Sky, TNT, and on-demand content.
Best Movies, TV and 4K Blu-rays of 2023 - Editor's Choice Awards
by Cas Harlow
The movies team takes a look back at 2023, highlighting some of the best theatrical and streaming movie releases TV shows, and 4K discs, as well as the studios behind them.
Everyone’s favourite slightly toxic lovable loser Scott Pilgrim is back. But here's a question: A comic, a movie, a videogame and now an Edgar Wright produced Netflix anime, haven't we seen this story before? Answer: No.
Monarch (Apple TV+) Season 1 Premiere TV Show Review
by Tom Davies
Apple's Monsterverse TV show delivers intrigue and action in equal measure, but its real strength is the casting of father/son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell as its lead character. But if none of that is enough to recommend it to you... Godzilla is in it!
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Movies & TV Shows
Desperation Road Movie Review
by Cas Harlow
Defying its DTV gun-toting marketing, Desperation Road is a small-scale Southern noir that deserves credit for aspiring to be something like Scott Cooper's Out of the Furnace.
The Killer gives David Fincher an opportunity to round up all the skills he’s honed as a director. But no matter how well-drawn the characters, or how taught the component pieces, disappointingly, it’s all in service of some very tired hitman revenge plot beats.
William "The Exorcist" Friedkin's last film may feel distinctly TV-movie in style, but it's a solid courtroom drama that provides a fitting final feature to bookend an impressive career - now available in the UK!
Ruark Audio announces R810 High Fidelity Radiogram
by Ian Collen
A vintage design meets modern streaming technology, with this flagship all-in-one system as much a part of the furniture as it is a home for your music.
Coming full circle back to the birth of Johnny Cage in the JCVD era of the 80s, the latest Mortal Kombat Legends entry is absolutely Grand Theft Auto: Vice City come to vibrant life but it can't quite find its footing between aping both Bloodsport and Big Trouble in Little China.
Netflix raises its prices in the UK and US with immediate effect
by Ian Collen
French users are also among the first to see the latest round of subscription increases, with the ad-free Basic and Premium packages going up by a pound or two.
Denzel Washington takes the only franchise he's ever participated in to a surprisingly satisfying conclusion in this western-themed, Italian-flavoured small-town thriller, on digital now.
AppleTV+ dives into the industry of making shows you can just vibe with... but the vibes here are not all good in Kelly Marcel's adaptation of Victor Lavalle's folklore-inspired horror. UPDATED FOR FULL SEASON REVIEW
Conceived as a continuation of the story of Anakin Skywalker's padawan and later trailed as a live-action continuation of animated hit 'Rebels', is the latest Star Wars TV show too involved in its own lore or can it learn to stand on its own two feet?
- UPDATED FOR FULL SEASON
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Movies & TV Shows
Castlevania: Nocturne (Netflix) Season 1 TV Show Review
by Tom Davies
Castlevania is reborn in Netflix's new animated series 'Nocturne' bringing a whole new cast of demon hunters to hold back the tides of darkness, now threatening to overrun revolutionary France. Can the show carry on without Dracula?
Those waiting to find out about the fallout from the end of season 3 of The Boys will undoubtedly find Gen V a welcome distraction in the meantime. Those less enamored by the franchise’s signature blend of irreverence and extreme violence won’t find much in this spin-off to change their mind.
It’s not cheap and it does seem to divide opinion on the forums, so does the music platform offer real value for money, or could other cheaper/free alternatives be a better choice?
We’ve looked at the ridiculously talented Wiim Mini so now it’s time to see what the next two tiers of their model range can do with the Pro and the Pro+. Do they offer the same precocious value?
Audiolab introduces new flagship 9000N network player
by Ian Collen
Audiolab's high-end addition to its 9000 Series has been built from the ground up, with a new Arm processor and Sabre DAC ready to play.
Hi-Fi
Lumin set to launch D3 network music player in the UK
by Ian Collen
Courtesy of Sound Design Distribution, its latest streaming solution will be shipping soon with an upgraded processing system and precision analogue output stage, plus a new compact aluminium chassis.
Taking the basic premise of the Cruise/Foxx/Michael Mann thriller, Collateral and injecting Joel Kinnaman and Nicolas Cage into the mix, Sympathy makes for a fabulous showcase for Completely Crazy Cage.
After more than 15 years away Babylon 5: The Road Home represents a welcome, if disappointingly lightweight, opportunity to spend time with a sorely missed cast of characters... and it still has a surprise or two up its sleeve.