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/

Car, TV Ownership Tied to Higher Risk for Heart Attack (1/11/2012)

Car, TV Ownership Tied to Higher Risk for Heart Attack

But getting active during work and leisure hours can lower the odds, study finds.
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- People who own a car and a television tend to be at increased risk for heart attack, a new study finds.

On the other hand, people in developed and developing countries who are physically active during work and leisure time have a significantly lower risk of heart attack, the researchers found.

The findings come from an analysis of data from more than 29,000 people in 52 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America, Europe and the Middle East. The study was published online Jan. 11 in the European Heart Journal.

"Until now, few studies have looked at the different aspects of physical activity both at work and during leisure time in relation to the risk of heart attacks," first author Dr. Claes Held, an associate professor at Uppsala Clinical Research Center and the cardiology department at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, said in a journal news release.

"Much is already known about the association between physical activity and cardiovascular risk, but what this study adds, among many other things, is a global perspective. The study shows that mild to moderate physical activity at work, and any level of physical activity during leisure time reduces the risk of heart attack, independent of other traditional risk factors in men and women of all ages, in most regions of the world and in countries with low, middle or high income levels. Interestingly, heavy physical labor at work did not protect against heart attacks," Held said.

The data analysis revealed that people who did light or moderate physical activity at work had a 22 percent and 11 percent lower risk of heart attack, respectively, than those who did little physical activity at work. However, heavy physical labor did not reduce heart attack risk.

Compared to those who did little physical activity during leisure time, the risk of heart attack was 13 percent lower for people who did mild physical activity and 24 percent lower for those who did moderate or strenuous activity during leisure time.

People who owned both a car and TV had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack than those who owned neither a car nor TV.

A higher percentage of people in low-income nations had sedentary jobs and did less physical activity in their leisure time, compared to those in middle- and high-income countries, the researchers noted.

"These differences in PA [physical activity] were most pronounced regarding leisure-time activity," they wrote. "This may partly be explained by differences in education and other socio-economic factors. In addition, this may also reflect differences in culture and in climate." It's less likely that an individual will performing leisure-time physical activity in tropical or hot climate zones than in more temperate areas of the world, they added.

All people should be encouraged to get daily moderate exercise in order to prevent heart disease, the researchers concluded.

"The data have some real-life implications," Held said. One suggestion could be getting lower-income countries more involved in promoting physical activity as their societies start to use more labor-saving devices, he said.

Source: http://www.womenshealth.gov/new//news/headlines/660549.cfm/