The Impossible - Real life tragedy or big budget blockbuster?

  Warning: Article not the usual level of 'funny'! 

The Impossible is an 'epic' film based on a horrific real life natural disaster that occurred just over eight years ago. An earthquake in the Indian Ocean thrust a tsunami inland killing over 200,000 human beings who had lives, family and friends. The Impossible, eight years later and with a massive budget, reinacts these events from one family's perspective - for our entertainment. Movie-goers pay good money, sit in a dark room for nearly two hours and watch actors run about pretending to be in a life-changing, unimaginably grim scenario that is the sort of thing that usually 'only ever happens in the movies'. They then leave the cinema tweeting about much they 'cried', perhaps forgetting that they'd probably have cried a lot more had they or a loved one really been there. What is the message The Impossible and films like it are trying to portray, and how much time should pass between the disaster and the movie based on it? Generally, is this cinematic trend doing everyone involved more harm than good?

Podcast 2.3 - Glastonbury & Instagram

Roo & Will sit down for another chinwag and this time it's all about the perils of attending a live gig - in the mud! Is Glastonbury worth the money? Would you cook yourself to see Prince? Why is there no such thing as 'Farscape On Ice'? Afterwards, Will googles 'JLS' but finds a stack of handguns and Roo asks what would happen if Instagram stole your pictures and whether or not it's worth spending any time on Twitter! Could you cope without any form of social media for up to a month?

You can find every other HCTV podcast over on our Podomatic page or on iTunes, which of course means you can sync us with your iPhone and never again miss another new episode! Spread the word and be sure to tell your friends via Facebook and Twitter how much fun you have listening to Roo and Will babble about various unimportant topics on your way into work, or on your break, or on the lav, or in a tent at Glastonbury, or...

Creative Opinions: Physical Vs Digital

HMV and Blockbuster both collapsed in on themselves about a week ago leaving both music and movie-lovers feeling slightly lost. Where will they peruse the latest releases or pay a mere £3 for a DVD? Where will they find a deal as fab as the infamous '2 for £10' or such a relentlessly massive collection of headphones? Happy memories playing video games with complete strangers may fade and future generations could be at risk of never knowing what a 'CD' is... but does it really matter? Has the digital age finally taken over, wiping out all things physical in the process? Are Waterstones, and books in general, next to drop dead? Or will people rediscover the value in something you can wrap your arms around and hold dear to your heart, triggering a resurgence of independant stores? HCTV asked eight media-savvy individuals to exchange their opinions...

Podcast 2.2 - Tom Daley, Abraham Lincoln & Keith Chegwin

Another new podcast here from your favourite internet crushes, Roo & Will! To begin, Roo introduces you to a brand new game! It's quite simple really - guess which famous TV/movie theme he's humming. Although it's filled with fun, Will comes to the conclusion that it's all easier said than done. Afterwards, it's time for some Saturday night television! Did you ever watch Cilla Black's Moment of Truth? Did Chris Tarrant ever show you some boobs late at night? And who the fuck is Keith Chegwin?

Be sure to send HCTV a tweet or drop us a line on our Facebook page if you correctly guess any of Roo's mystery theme tunes, or if you have a favourite Saturday night TV show we forgot to mention. Spread the word and tell your friends that we're available on iTunes to sync with your iPhone and forever cheer up those long commutes! A great big thank you to everyone who listened to the previous episode - so far that's 600 people! Check out the whole collection on Podomatic!

Review: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D

  Warning: Blood splattered spoilers - in 2D! 

This latest Texas Chainsaw adaptation/sequel/reboot in a long line of adaptations/sequels/reboots is horrific, but not in the way you'd expect. It's so shockingly empty and uneventful, so dull and so bland, so predictable and remorselessly unaffected by any sort of desire to put out something new or in any way imaginative or - and here's the ultimate flaw - scary. Basically, it's a brainless excuse to shower a 3D-goggle wearing audience with masses of blood and gore that's so unrealistic it's laughable, so why the hell John Lussenhop felt the need to put so much of it in is unfathomable.

Podcast 2.1 - Skyfall, piles & chocolate

It's back! How have you coped so long since the last of HCTV's podcasts? Join Roo & Will as they power up the the microphone for a brand new run in a brand new year filled with brand new films and TV shows! But in the time that has passed since some terrible Elvis impressions, the epic Skyfall has been and gone - the biggest Bond film ever - so what's the verdict?! You've read the review already, but you haven't heard Adele's theme tune get compared to Chris Cornell's while a big box of Christmassy chocolates are scoffed! It is of course important to realise that there are, obviously, spoilers in this Podcast. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing 007's most recent adventure it's best to save this until later!

If you're wondering whether or not Roo's managed to sit Will down to watch Prometheus yet, the answer is yes! Find out what he thought by clicking play below, or by syncing via the iTunes!

Review: Doctor Who - 'The abominable Snowmen'

 Warning: There is very little to spoil. 

After a shockingly naff batch of episodes last year, the Doctor Who christmas special held the promise of new adventures and a new companion, perhaps a new vibe and even a new Tardis! No more poxy Ponds - maybe it could be a new lease of life for the show! An opportunity to stop fucking up, once and for all! But no, as it turns out, it was the usual mess with added shoddy CGI snowmen - another episode that's ultimately utterly pointless, a waste of an hour of your life where the day is saved in a completely illogical way harking back to when an enormous Cyberman blew itself up because it realised it was a Cyberman.

A look back at 2012 in the cinema

2012 has been a massive year for cinema. Bond struck back with Skyfall, The Hunger Games began, Spider-man did it all over again and The Cabin In The Woods pretty much reinvented everything we know about horror. Prometheus both amazed and appalled audiences, The Hobbit was either too long or not long enough and nobody even knew John Carter happened. The Avengers did 'comic book movie' better than ever before and Batman finished his run. It's been epic - so here's the best and the worst of the lot of it...!