ScreenScribe

The BBC natural history series Madagascar may be a Blu-ray disappointment after Planet Earth and Africa but it will still look better in 1080i than it ever did in sub-standard definition on Prime. “Madagascar’s 1080i/VC-1 encode is, sad to say, less than spectacular. It’s quite underwhelming actually. “Colours are certainly vibrant: greens are lush and […]

Jaws and 101 Dalmatians are the pick of this week’s back-catalogue litter. The Blu-ray of Steven Spielberg’s benchmark blockbuster sounds mouth-watering, “with a spectacular high-def presentation … “Bruce the Shark, in particular, shows a few scars not seen before, and its fish skin is looking especially slimmer and smoother than ever. “Overall, this is a […]

Prime has just announced a renewal of its BBC Worldwide deal that will see the network continue to screen Top Gear first in this territory. The agreement also includes first-run episodes of international versions of Top Gear Australia and Top Gear US. But with no timetable in place for Prime’s conversion to HD, Jeremy Clarkson […]

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Sunday. A fledgling teenage vampire joins a circus of freaks in this tepid horror movie directed by American Pie’s Paul Weitz that’s not as dire as his latest, Little Fockers, but can’t match his In Good Company or American Dreamz. John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Selma Hayek and Josh Hutcherson […]

Among the Christmas curtain-raisers the networks will unwrap in HD are a swag of DreamWorks movie spin-offs, the first Ice Age and the partly-animated biography of the farmyard critters sweetheart, Beatrix Potter. TV3’s Ice Age and TV One’s Miss Potter will screen at 7pm and 8.30pm respectively on December 19, the same night TV2 launches […]

To herald the Blu-ray release of Shrek Forever After, Paramount is slashing the price of a slew of its HD ‘toons. Selling for under $20 from November 3-December 24 will be Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Madagascar 2 and Shrek the Third. The same price also will buy you Grease, Hotel for Dogs, The […]

Appaloosa: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Saturday. This stirring, elegiac western reunites A History of Violence’s Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen but this time they’re on the same side of the law – as town tamers who avenge the murder of a marshal by ruthless rancher Jeremy Irons. There’s much more to Harris’ second stint as a […]