GAMES
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
THE CREW, MULTIPLE PLATFORMS
If there's a strong trend emerging on the next-gen consoles, it's games that don't have a particularly defined storyline, but instead give you access to a huge world to explore at will. Grand Theft Auto, of course, popularised the "free roam" gameplay style, and the latest reboot for the new platforms delivers an incredibly detailed city in which to test your moral fibre. Far Cry 4 is similarly vast, creating a Himalayan countryside teeming with wild animals wherever you roam. The Crew is even more ambitious still, a car game that lets you drive the breadth of the United States – a modern version of The Cannonball Run. Initially, the sense of freedom is intoxicating: you can literally drive anywhere, including through fields, up mountains, or down the wrong side of the freeway, and there are no boundaries. You're joined by potentially thousands of other players online, who you can team up with, or challenge to races. On paper, then, it's an impressive achievement, and quite mind boggling the first few times you play. Yet... it doesn't quite live up to its initial promise. Setting Far Cry in a free-roam world has made it a very different experience to the games that predeced it. But it hasn't done the same for The Crew, which fundamentally remains a lot like every other street racer game: you spend most of your time smashing into things, evading police pursuit and upgrading the shiny bits on your ride. Great fun, for sure, but not the revolution we were hoping for. AH
FREE-TO-AIR
AT THE MOVIES, DECEMBER 9, ABC, 9.30pm
It's the end of an era as Margaret and David – surely the only local TV presenters to be known only by Madonna-style single names –bow out with what promises to be their zaniest ever edition of At The Movies. The ABC assures us we can expect a "fun-filled hour" of bloopers (one can only imagine), behind-the-scenes footage and "funny discussions". Oh, and there'll also be some film reviews – of upcoming summer releases (including Birdman, Foxcatcher, Exodus and Unbroken) as well as school holiday family films guaranteed to elicit some grimacing from David, the legendary pair's top five films of 2014 and even a look ahead to some of the most anticipated films of 2015. Tuesday nights won't be the same. KN
CLASSIC
THE COURT JESTER Paramount (G)
Are we due for a revival of the fey comedy stylings of Danny Kaye? This 1955 farce about a timid carnival performer turned swashbuckling hero provides an ideal showcase for his tongue-twisters and patter songs; the script by hardboiled gagmen Norman Panama and Melvin Frank (who also jointly directed) looks back to Gilbert and Sullivan and forward to Mel Brooks. The film's fans include Joss Whedon, who echoes many of its qualities in his own work from Buffy the Vampire Slayer onward: the themes of masquerade and mind control, the tweaking of genre convention, and the rapid-fire banter set against a grim backdrop of murderous intrigue. Basil Rathbone as a scheming courtier and Angela Lansbury as an imperious princess lend proceedings some dramatic weight. JW
PAY TV
OLD JACK'S BOAT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: THE CHRISTMAS QUEST, DECEMBER 12, CBEEBIES, 6.40PM
Bernard Cribbins is one of those veteran British actors as familiar and comfy as an old dressing gown. He was the narrator of The Wombles, and has been in just about every memorable series to come out of the United Kingdom – from Fawlty Towers and Worzel Gummidge to Coronation Street and Doctor Who. As the eponymous retired fisherman of this rollicking children's series, Cribbins weaves fantastical stories aboard his permanently moored boat, The Rainbow, his trusty Salty Dog curled at his feet. Old Jack's yarns from the sea are artfully embellished with animated illustrations, but it is his masterful storytelling that really brings them to life. In this seasonal special, he is joined by EastEnders' Don Gilet in his quest for Christmas gifts of significance.
SERIES
THE NEWSROOM - SEASON 2, Warner Bros (M)
The Newsroom appeals directly to the tastebuds of news junkies. It's fictional, but smells a lot like CNN, America's first dedicated cable all-news TV network. The plotlines detail the motives behind contemporary news – what the competition is running, how scoops come into play, how the staff deal with the constant pressure. Jeff Daniels, as news anchor Will McAvoy, is outstanding. He has the right amount of cool and ego to make you love him and hate him at the same time. The supporting cast is also impressive. Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie McHale is the ultimate executive producer; powerful and instinctive. John Gallagher and Alison Pill as young producers Jim Harper and Maggie Jordan are complicated – good at their jobs, not-so-good at personal relationships. This second season is an intense exploration of what went wrong with a huge investigative story the network broke, alleging misdeeds by the United States military in Pakistan rescuing captured American soldiers. The show's third and final season has just gone to air in the US on HBO. It is still worth following. Created by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), it will be remembered for marking a particular period in American history. In this case, fiction tells a story that reality cannot package so easily. JK