LATEST ADDITIONS

Blu-ray players are evolving. No longer is a straight HD upgrade to DVD enough to tempt cash-strapped buyers. We demand more from our kit; we want 3D, networking, rainbows and kittens.

Conan the Barbarian may not be particularly faithful to Robert E Howard’s original pulp writing, but this 1982 flick is a rollicking piece of fantasy filmmaking that almost single-handedly made Arnold Schwarzenegger a Hollywood superstar and heralded a renaissance in the swords n sorcery genre. Written by Oliver Stone and directed by John Milius, it’s a suitably bleak and macho piece of filmmaking where men are muscular, women are barely dressed and camels exist only to be punched in the face. In other words, it’s bloody brilliant.

The Adjustment Bureau is the latest in a long line of middling Hollywood films to by inspired by the writings of Philip K Dick – in this case a loose adaptation of his 1954 short story The Adjustment Team. Essentially a discussion of the play between free will and destiny masquerading as a sci-fi-infused romantic thriller, the film stars Matt Damon as a promising congressman who falls for Emily Blunt’s carefree dancer. Trouble is, destiny has other plans for the duo, and before long the mysterious agents of the Adjustment Bureau are hot on their tale and trying to keep the pair apart to ensure that everything runs like it should.

Not everyone ‘gets’ 3D. Indeed, there are days when I’m not sure I totally need it myself. But not so today.