Entertainment Stop!

We Need To Talk About
Kevin

A hit book doesn't necessarily mean its movie counterpart is going
to be as successful, especially when one considers the difficult subject matter
but all credit to filmmaker Lynne Ramsay
who manages to translate Lionel
Shriver's harrowing novel to the screen with impressive results.

Helped in no small part by a towering performance from Tilda Swinton but also from some clever
casting of Kevin, who is seen in the film at 3 stages of his life, we are led
into the mind of a tormented mother who is driven to despair and beyond by her
– at times – quite evil child.

Anyone who thought that
kid was bad the Omen and is likely to be pushed over the edge by what they see
here.

Not the kind of film to watch if you are having troubles with your
own teenagers or looking for escapism. We
Need To Talk About Kevin is difficult subject matter handled intelligently
by a team of professionals who tell it how it is, not perhaps how you want it
to be delivered.

You have been warned.

We Need To Talk About
Kevin is available now on Blu Ray, DVD and through iTunes.



Contagion

Our fears as a species switch with each generation and as technology
forms a bigger part of our lives – dispatching the more traditional forms of
horror through scientific explanation – we
look to different sources to keep us trembling under the covers.

It seems we have gone full circle in the cycle of horror. We used to like to see our monsters in all
their glory and now the less we see the better. Perhaps that is why films
like Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism and even Insidious have proven so
popular of late.

Contagion is the latest from director Steven
Soderbergh and features an impressive ensemble cast that includes
heavyweights Matt Damon, Jude Law,
Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet, all fighting against an invisible
airborne disease that threatens to wipeout humanity.

The premise is plausible
and the demons in this particular instance, a terrible virus that is just as terrifying by its absence.

Some have called this movie science fiction rather than horror but I
would disagree. It is a harrowing
journey that debates the "what if" scenario of a global epidemic without
discrimination for its victims. Black, white, gay or straight, if you catch it
you're dead.

What is refreshing is that science is the hero and maybe its sending
a message out to the generations that follow that the

Contagion is available now on Blu Ray,
DVD and through iTunes.



Rayman Origins

Rayman has enjoyed a bit
of a resurgence of late and the excellent Ubisoft release last year Rayman Origins on the major home
consoles demonstrated that if done correctly, a series reboot is the perfect
opportunity to introduce a gaming classic to a whole new generation of players.

Not content to sit on
their laurels, the innovative developers have offered up a scaled down version
for the PS Vita that is just as entertaining and
perhaps more importantly, just as much fun.

In most respects it replicates the 360 and PS3 versions on the small
screen to impressive effect and represents why Sony's boast that they have one of the strongest first and third party
line-ups for a new console release is valid.

Rayman Origins on Vita is
a title you should consider buying if you love platform games because there is nothing better out there on the system as things
stand today.

Rayman Origins is out now on Sony Vita
and is still available for PS3 and Xbox 360.

FIFA 2012

Anyone who enjoyed FIFA 12
on the PS3 or Xbox, will be pleased to note that the emergence of it's younger
cousin on the PS Vita is a welcome addition to the series and ensures that fans of football need never be deprived of their
favourite console kick about, even when on the move.

It also provides us with the opportunity to match up the Vita
version against the iTouch and iPad incarnations and send out a resounding recommendation for Sony's
console against any of the other portable versions. Call me old fashioned
but there's still something satisfying about real "thumb against the plastic"
control over virtual joysticks that cannot be equaled.

The biggest surprise is the authentic and entertaining feel the game
offers and anyone familiar with the full
console versions is going to be impressed at just how closely this edition
mirrors the gameplay on the bigger, more powerful devices.

All credit to EA games on this title. Forget your Apple and Android
devices, Vita is the new home for
portable FIFA.

FIFA 2012 is available now on Sony
Vita.

Everybody's Golf

This series has followed Sony's console releases around like a
faithful dog, always there to entertain and remind us that when all else fails,
there are still some traditional and
familiar comforts we can fall back on.

If you like your golf games colourful, easy to pick up and instantly
engaging, then Everybody's Golf on the
Vita is the perfect choice, suited to all age ranges.

Packed with courses,
challenge modes and a host of unlockable content,
this pick-up-and-play title is the kind of game that you can easily occupy five
minutes as you might five hours with.

It might be a little too cute for the sports purists but there is
little here to complain about and you get exactly what you pay for. If fun golf is your aim then Everybody's
Golf should be your title of choice.

Everybody's Golf is available now on Sony
Vita.George R Vaughan We have a copy of We Need To Talk About Kevin on Blu Ray to give away to one lucky subscriber.For your chance to win all you need to do is answer the following question:Who directed We Need To Talk About Kevin?Send your answer to competitions@womentalking.co.uk ensuring you put the word Kevin in the subject header and you include your Women Talking username with the submission.The competitions closes on April 8th and the winner will be contacted soon after.Please note this competition is only open to Women Talking subscribers and any submission without a valid username will not be allowed to enter.

Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/entertainment/entertainment-stop-2/

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THISBy Tracey Spicer

March 1, 2012

I don't know what's more heartbreaking.

Watching the ABC footage of cattle being tortured and mutilated by abattoir workers in Indonesia; or knowing the federal government is too shortsighted to see there's a simple solution.

For years, the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Meat Workers Union have lobbied for live exports to be phased out, replaced by a chilled and frozen meat trade.

Animal activists and abattoir workers are unusual bedfellows.

But their Humane Chain campaign provides compelling evidence this can protect animals AND jobs.

Each year Australia exports more than four million sheep to the Middle East and almost a million cattle, predominantly to Indonesia.

Tens of thousands of animals die on board the ships. Those that survive the journey often have their throats slit while fully conscious. Four Corners opened our eyes to this horrific practice in May last year.

This prompted the Federal Government to ban live cattle exports for two months. It was the right outcome at the wrong time. Farmers simply weren't ready.

Many had to shoot starving cattle as the ban dragged on.

Facing a backlash, the government resumed the trade under 'strict guidelines' stating exporters must guarantee the welfare of all livestock leaving Australia.

This is impossible to police, unless you put a hidden camera in every abattoir.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/it-doesnt-have-to-be-like-this//

FORCED ADOPTION: WE'RE SORRY

FORCED ADOPTION: WE'RE SORRYBy The Hoopla

February 29, 2012

“(A nurse) started strapping up my right wrist. I was puzzled, I didn’t know what she was doing, and then she secured me to the side of the bed… I became unconscious. And I don’t know how long I was unconscious for, but when I eventually came to, my son was gone.”

* In latest news: A NATIONAL apology and financial reparation is owed to parents and children who were victims of forced adoption policies, a Senate committee has found.

The community affairs committee says the practice was wrong not just by today’s standards but by the laws of the time.

The committee has called for governments and institutions involved in forced adoption from the 1940s to the 70s to set up grievance processes and provide redress where wrongdoing is established.

And it says the states should provide financial reparation schemes for the victims.

Did you watch the Four Corners program Give or Taken? on forced adoption this week?

It was deeply affecting and, at times, harrowing to watch. No doubt many tears of sympathy were shed across the nation for the women bullied and coerced into giving up their babies.

The program was also a testament to the endurance of mother love – perhaps the most powerful of all human emotions.

Reporter Geoff Thompson talked to some of the women who lost their children. They told the truth about the way they were treated in the hours after they gave birth. Heartbreaking.

Until the 1970s, having a child out of wedlock was seen as a social disgrace and young women who fell pregnant were either sent away or actively encouraged to give up their babies for adoption. A ‘clean break’ it was called. Women were given sedatives and drugs to dry up their milk.

Something we forget when we talk about the 'good old days'.

Authorities argued this was done with good intentions, but now a Senate Committee has heard evidence that tells a very different story. It will release its report tomorrow.

Many young, single mothers were never given the option of keeping their child.

Unmarried mothers automatically had their hospital records marked ready for adoption – even before giving birth.

There is evidence that some were sedated. Others were denied access to their babies as they were making crucial decisions about their future. As a result, these women have suffered terrible emotional distress throughout their lives.

One person who examined a variety of evidence said:

“I have no doubt that some illegal activity occurred, I have no doubt that women were subject to what nowadays… we would call abuse; that forged consents occurred.”

Over the past decade individual hospitals and the West Australian Government have offered an official apology to the women who lost their children.

“Given or Taken?” Reported by Geoff Thompson and presented by Kerry O’Brien will be replayed on Tuesday, February 28 at 11.35 pm on ABC 1 and can also be seen in ABC News 24 on Saturdays at 8pm, on iview or at abc.net.au/4corners.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/forced-adoption//

Efforts to Improve Research on Kids' Drugs Paying Off: Report (2/29/2012)

Efforts to Improve Research on Kids' Drugs Paying Off: Report

But information still limited on long-term safety, efficacy, especially for infants.
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Federal laws requiring medical companies to conduct pediatric drug studies have helped provide guidance on whether it's safe or effective for children to use certain medications, a new U.S. report finds.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report noted, however, that there's still not enough data on the use of drugs in newborns or the long-term effects of drugs on kids generally. The IOM, part of the National Academies, is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides advice to U.S. policymakers, health professionals, industry and the public.

Congress has attempted to increase the number of pediatric studies of medications with the passage of two laws: the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which offers companies financial incentives to conduct the studies; and the Pediatric Research Equity Act, which requires pediatric studies in specific situations.

In reviewing these laws, which are due for reauthorization this year, the IOM committee found that both laws have had a positive effect on the use of drugs in children. The committee noted, however, that the laws could be more effective if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used its authority to require that drug makers undertake long-term follow-up studies after products have been approved for sale.

Long-term studies are especially important for young patients because children's bodies and minds are not fully developed and they could be taking medications for chronic conditions over the course of many years, the report stated. The IOM committee added that newborns are also more vulnerable to the side effects of medications.

The report, released Feb. 29, concluded that Congress and the FDA could step in to improve research in these areas and force drug manufacturers to conduct timely long-term studies on the risk of medications among children or face penalties. This may be necessary, the report authors suggested in a news release from the National Academy of Sciences, because conducting research on children is more difficult and often yields less lucrative results than studies involving adults.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/662238.cfm/

TONY'S WOMAN PROBLEMBy Tracey Spicer

Booze and Family History of Colon Cancer a Bad Mix: Study (2/3/2012)

Booze and Family History of Colon Cancer a Bad Mix: Study

Red meat, smoking and skipping veggies also associated with a raised cancer risk, research finds.
FRIDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) -- People who consume a few alcoholic drinks a day and have a family history of colorectal cancer are at increased risk for developing colon cancer, new research suggests.

For the study, researchers in Boston examined data from more than 87,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 47,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and found that 1,801 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed among the participants from 1980 onward.

People with a family history of colorectal cancer who drank an average of 30 or more grams of alcohol per day (about 2.5 typical drinks in the United States) were at increased risk for colon cancer, according to lead author Eunyoung Cho, of the Channing Laboratory, department of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues.

Those at greatest risk also ate the most red meat, smoked more and consumed the least folate, which suggests they ate fewer green vegetables and cereal. The findings indicate that other lifestyle factors, such as diet, play an important role in colon cancer risk, the researchers said.

Although the study uncovered an association between these factors and colon cancer risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Among people who did not have a family history of colorectal cancer, no significant association was found between alcohol consumption and colon cancer. Greater alcohol intake was not associated with a consistent increase in cancer risk, the authors noted in a news release from Boston University Medical Center.

The study was published in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source: http://www.womenshealth.gov/new//news/headlines/661274.cfm/

WHOSE FUNERAL IS IT ANYWAY...By Alan Kennedy

Fashion Statement with Suzannah Roach

The Last
Resort?

What is it about the January fashion news that gets me so
wound up? The constant reminder that we are all meant to lose weight with the "Celebrity diets that work" headlines? The New Year insistence that we should also
be improving our careers, our houses and updating our wardrobes? Or is it
the models, celebrities and anyone in the media spotlight flaunting it along a
beach in Barbados or St Barts in the Resort
Collections of the luxury brands?

Oh yes! It is actually the Resort Collections that wind me up the most. It's the neon and
monochrome images of the Resort
Collections not the diets or the skinny models who look like they haven't
even eat a slice of turkey never mind the entire box of Quality Street.

So what are Resort
Collections? Officially, they are targeted at the more seasoned traveller
who holidays between November and
February in hot climes, or as Versace once described these customers "our more seasoned jet-setters". These
clothes are aimed at the higher end customer and bearing in mind which designers
focus on this capsule wardrobe it says a lot. Chanel, Dior and Ralph Lauren lead the way, with other more
main-stream clothing designers leaving them to this small, illusive, affluent
customer.

However, over the past couple years there seems to have
been more emphasis put on this short-of lived and elitist range. Not only is the higher end of the high
street trying this niche market but the men are getting in on the act too.
The tricky economy is causing retailers to look for that extra market share in
any which way. Resort Collections
are a chance to encourage customers to make that additional purchase, tucked in
between the autumn/winter range usually based on chunky knits and boots, and
the spring/summer range veering towards light summer dresses and sandals.

Retailers now have to move faster to find the pulse.
Consumers, ie you and I, are no longer prepared to see images in a magazine or
on web pages of next season's likely trends, then wait another two to three
months before these fashion items are available to buy. Ready to wear ranges have to be faster and more readily available.
This has led retailers to review their ranges and their manufacturing. Ranges
are changed more regularly and customers are now able to buy something new from
their favourite retailers much more frequently, whether it's high end or high
street retailing.

Whether you like this new shopping mentality or not, there
is no doubt that fast and furious
fashion is here. People's buying habits are becoming more considered since
the economic downturn. There was a stage a few years back where people were
spending without thinking and pushing retailers to be less thoughtful about
their ranges and, some would even say, more cut-throat with their manufacturing
as well as their marketing. Thankfully, retailers as well as customers are
becoming more aware of quality. The general public wants quality, something
that will last. The one-wear mentality
has gone, replaced by cost-per-wear. 

This brings me back to my January exasperation. Resort fashion just flies in the face of
everything that has improved in fashion over the past few years. It has
retained that feeling of decadence and
wealth. Amid economic talk of double-dip recessions, Resort Fashion Collections continue to grow. Luxury brands continue
to grow, albeit thanks to wealthy Russians propping up this market.

Retailers will only provide these additional ranges if
there is a market for them and they are continuing to expand. Everyone likes a
pick me up in these depressing months but there is something about Resort Collections that just seem to
rub the majority of the public's nose in it. While we feeling the pinch from
Christmas (in the wallet and waistband), there are still the select few who
parade down beaches in their Resort
Collections with never a thought about the cost of that extra range that
has slipped in between seasons.

It feels too ostentatious during this uncertain
period. I am all for people celebrating their own success and enjoying
their time off if they have worked hard. But do we really need to see bright neon shorts and bra tops that are so on
trend this Resort season when we are all huddled over a leafy salad waiting for
the decent TV series to start again?

A small
neon green monster seems to be nudging my elbow as I write. Resort fashion fury? Might it just be jealousy? I'll
leave you, dear reader, to decide.

Suzannah Roach

Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/fashion/fashion-statement-suzannah-roach-13/