BS #22

Black Static #22 received today from TTA Press.

This issue includes my regular 'Blood Spectrum' column of DVD & blu-ray reviews. Here's a list of month's line-up (coverage of 24 releases on 10 pages), but due to budget deficit cutbacks affecting numbering of ratings, there are no 8, 9 or 10 scores this month. The figures won't run to anything that high!

And Soon The Darkness - remake (3/10)
Bathory: Countess Of Blood (4/10)
Death Notice - Ikigami (3/10)
Marchlands (1/10)
Phenomena (7/10)
Saw: The Final Chapter (6/10)
The Beyond (7/10)
Savage (5/10)
Age Of The Dragons (3/10)
Husk(2/10)
Island Of Death (1/10)
Primevil (3/10)
Demon Empire (6/10)
Wake Wood (3/10)
Blooded (1/10)
Caged (3/10)
The Last Lovecraft (1/10)
Prowl (2/10)
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest (7/10)
Monsters (7/10)
Rubber (6/10)
Tekken (3/10)
Chain Letter (2/10)
The Door (7/10)

New printer

Following 'death' of my old Epson 660, its replacement is a HP DeskJet 1050 all-in-one (printer, scanner, copier) J410 series.

Setup is relatively easy, although I cannot figure out why the USB cable for connection to a desktop PC must be bought separately.   

Build quality seems a bit plasticky, and the machine is somewhat noisier than I had expected, but the very fast A4 printing speed is impressive, and it spits out address labels in a second.

Full-colour A5 printing is fine, but I haven't tried it with any photo-paper yet. 

Interzone

The latest issue of Interzone magazine (TTA Press) includes my 'Laser Fodder' column of DVD & blu-ray reviews.

Here's the line-up of reviewed titles, plus ratings:

Interzone #233

Psych: 9 (4/10)
Alien vs. Ninja (5/10)
Operation: Endgame (5/10)
Paradox Soldiers (3/10)
Vamp (3/10)
Paranormal Activity 2 (0/10)
Primal (6/10)
The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra (0/10)
Altitude (4/10)
The Universe: 7 Wonders Of The Solar System (2/10)
Skyline (6/10)
The Gathering (5/10)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (8/10)
Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole (2/10)
Ink (4/10)

Epson660

My venerably ancient Epson Stylus 660 printer has finally died... 

Habitually creaking and whirring, partly fossilised, always prone to ‘communication errors’, it’s now announced its own demise with a full set of flashing red warning lights, and a complete failure to even attempt cleaning its own thoroughly clogged print-heads.

Bit sad to see it go, after all this time, because this was the last piece of equipment still in use from my very first desktop PC system; bought when this century was still new and shiny, and everything was beige.

BS #21

My 'Blood Spectrum' DVD & blu-ray column in Black Static #21 (TTA Press) has 22 reviews on nine pages:

Shogun Assassin (6/10)
Piranha 3D (5/10)
A Serbian Film (9/10)
Mirrors 2 (3/10)
Outcast (5/10)
Amer (7/10)
I Spit On Your Grave - remake (5/10)
Buried (8/10)
Let Me In (5/10)
We Are What We Are (3/10)

        Damage Control: Round-up
Ghosts Of War (4/10)
Choose (2/10)
Open House (3/10)
Sinbad And The Minotaur (1/10)
In Their Sleep (3/10)
Burke & Hare - remake (5/10)
Gnaw (0/10)
Bedevilled (3/10)
Terror Trap (1/10)
Damned By Dawn (3/10)
Someone’s Knocking At The Door (4/10)
The Unforgiving (1/10)