An expansion of the universe from Robert Ludlum's novels, centered on a new hero whose stakes have been triggered by the events of the previous three films.

This film starts out awesomely, but made me feel bloody cold (maybe not helped by the soaking I got on the way to the cinema) straight off the bat, as we start in a frozen waterfall creek in Alaska with Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) training and on a scavenger hunt training.

We're very quickly introduced to the new program Aaron is part of, a couple of steps up from the Treadstone Program that Jason Bourne took down and made public in the other films and this time, its a drug helped super soldier program and damn, if those pills were real, I'd take them each day!  Might even be worth selling my soul to the government for too (although the training looks bloody cold and being hunted by wolves must suck)

We're soon introduced to one of the lab workers that does the soldiers work ups every three months, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) and how her life goes to hell as one of her coworkers turns terminator and kills all the other doctors on the program, she finds herself back at home, tieing up some loose ends and about to go get a flight to her sisters in Montreal, when FBI and a doctor come to check up on her and turn out to be a government team to silence her, Aaron saves her and they make a break for it

Bourne Legacy is typical Bourne without Jason Bourne himself (although this is mostly carrying on during the events of the seconed Bourne film and the start of the third, even including big scenes from Bourne 2, which was pretty cool

Some have said its a little slow, but actually, thats one of the films strengths, its methodical, fight scenes are short and sweet takedowns rather than long drawn out encounters and the final chase is compelling to watch (why do Bike chases come across better nowadays than car chases?)

A great film and for fans of the Bourne trilogy a must see, especially as its the start of more in the series, so thats awesome!

a solid film through out 8 outta 10

~Lonesamurai

Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

OK, from the out set, I know it's a Disney Pixar film, so if you are not into cutesy Disney, then you probably won't like it, but if you give it a chance, you bloody well will, I loved this film

The voice cast for this are, of courser, suitably stunning, Kelly Macdonald brings a warmth to the main character of Merida, in her family battle with herwinderful, yet misguided mother Elinor (the wonderful Emma Thompson), as an adult, you can see both sides of the war and it genuinely drags you in.  All helped by Merida's triplet baby brothers (who are the baby brothers everyone really wants, but parents wish they never had…   like three mute Stewie Griffins, they get into all sorts of mischief and mayhem and are generally darned cute throughout (I see a Pixar short about these three in the future))

The real stand out character in the side story of why Merida needs to marry, but also would rather she follow her own path is her father, The Bear King Fergus (Billy Connolly), who is stand out brilliant throughout the film, especially when sparring with the three lords, Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane), Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd) and Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), who come to Merida's castle with their three son's to vye to take her hand in marriage and become the next King, obviously the three sons all have some ineptitude and these are brilliantly played out (especiallys Young Macguffin's hideously strong Glaswegian acent that no one can really understand)

Obviously this is all too much for Merida though as she makes off in anger after a fight with her mother about wanting to live her own live and the Wisps show her the way to an old Witches home (Julie Walters) and preceeds to give Merida a potion laced cake to change her mother's plans for her mariage, however the spell turns her mother into a bear and Merida must not only help her mother become human again, but bond with her again as mother and daughter

This was a genuinely heart tugging tale, with lots of great comedy moments from the triplets (especially when they also get turned into bear cubs, so CUTE!!!) and of course from Billy Connolly's King Fergus!

Brave will definitely be finding a place in my Disney/Pixar dvd/bluray shelf when it releases and even if you don't have kids, this is a great feel good film that needs to be watched

Genuinely enjoyment from this film, an easy 9 outta 10

~Lone

Valve Software, developers of popular gaming client Steam, which allows games to be purchased online (often at seriously low prices) and sync them with your Steam Account so that they update online automatically; and in many cases also allow your games, game saves, achievements and so on to be retrievable on other computers, announced today that due to growing customer demand the company is expanding beyond gaming and making "creativity and productivity software" available through its store.

Starting September 5th, Steam will allow users to purchase and download non-gaming software from the Steam Store and link them to their account. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, leading to the exciting prospect that the software, like most Steam games, will automatically update while connected to Steam and may even sync documents or settings wherever you take Steam with you. After the initial launch line-up, the collection of available downloads will be regularly added to with new software on a regular basis.

The below is the official Press Release:

Aug 8, 2012 — Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first set of Software titles are heading to Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform most commonly known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games.

 

The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, such as easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space so your files may travel with you.

 

More Software titles will be added in an ongoing fashion following the September 5th launch, and developers will be welcome to submit Software titles via Steam Greenlight.

 

"The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Mark Richardson at Valve. "They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests."

Exciting, no?

Originally posted on Technically Motivated – For those who don't understand Technology; and those who do. Our Motivation is Highlighting Tech Innovation.

The New Xbox. Three tiny words that have been used a million times on the internet over the last two years. But never before by a Microsoft executive.

But those were exactly the words used by Microsoft general manager Brian Hall in a Windows 8 focused video interview with The Verge, which you can see below.

Said Hall: “We just decided it was time to do something new and bring the best from each of those and put them together and release it right in time for the new wave of products that we could have coming out with Windows 8, with the new version of Office with the new Windows phone and the new Xbox.”

Some outlets have interpreted this as meaning the New Xbox will launch alongside Windows 8. But with the new OS having an end of October release date that seems highly unlikely. Scrap that – it’s impossible.

What it does mean though is that previous suggestions that Windows 8 will include some tied functionality with Xbox Live are spot on.

And, of course, the first official mention of a new Xbox from the mouth of Microsoft must mean that a reveal is drawing ever nearer.

Source:  http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/microsoft-utters-three-long-awaited-words-the-new-xbox/0100815