The game is set in a post-apocalyptic, retro-futurist Las Vegas following the Great War between the US, China and other countries, a conventional and nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours despite causing immense damage and destruction. Before the Great War were the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid, and Canada was annexed. ... fallout.wikia.com

New York inhabitants seeking to extend their filmic Japanorama need look no further than the Japan Society's upcoming screening of Kenji Misumi's 1962 breakthrough film, Destiny's Son (Kiru.)

Forming part of their Monthly Classic Series, The Double-Edged Sword: The Chambara Films of Shintaro Katsu and Ichikawa Raizo, Destiny's Son sees Misumi (Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub) set the formidable Raizo Ichikawa on a visually stylistic journey of revenge and redemption. 

Destiny's Son screens Friday Feb. 19th at 7.30pm.

See Japan Society for tickets and more info. on current and upcoming events.

Slow Songs Vol 1 is a really nice collection of downtempo tracks from London based "Ending In Ing". If your a fan of lush soulful downtempo electronica from the likes of Aim, Tycho etc. your more than likely going to find a lot to love here.

Download: Slow Songs Vol 1 from Ending In Ing

MySpace | Soundcloud

"The 14 tracks chop and dice samples from classic soul and funk, riding atop some amazingly dirty beat constructions and rude synths, to create a mixtape that flows effortlessly, fusing classic elements with modern production techniques and a fresh attitude."

Depakote Myspace | Highpoint Lowlife (record Label)

Download: Depakote – It Ain't '94 Anymore

When writer-director Jim Groom conceived the idea for an unrelated follow-up project to his underrated 1992 comedy-horror, Revenge of Billy the Kid, little could he have predicted the series of unfortunate events that would set the project back a testing 11 years. But persistence and unfaltering willpower paid off as, with several years now elapsed since Room 36's inception and 2005 theatrical release, this labour of love has finally seen the light of its DVD release day. 

In addition to the smart Brit comedy/noir thriller feature that pitches a chain of unsavoury events in a suitably seedy setting, the DVD comes fully equipped with bonus features that will delight wannabe-filmmakers and those with an interest in the machinations of the industry. On top of trailers and deleted scenes, you'll find a 9-minute featurette on the gross-out, bestiality comedy film extraordinaire, Revenge of Billy the Kid and a feature-length documentary, 11 Years in the Making, which follows the trials and tribulations of the titular feature. 

Affectionately sub-headed The Most Informative Documentary On How NOT To Make An Independent Feature Film, 11 Years is an eye-opening and invaluable watch not only for those who've been following this epic release, but also for those with an interest in embarking upon independent film production themselves. 

Available now from Amazon UK and other quality retailers.

Functionalist design-hunters with an eye for the craftily scholastic pieces of Formes Scandinaves can, for a starting price of £7,633, furnish their lives with this classic contemporaneity by Poul Kjærholm. Introduced by iconic Danish furniture design company Fritz Hansen in 1958, the PK31 Easy Chair is a free-standing integration of comfort and artistic conception met with leather and a matt chromed sprung steel base. Leather is available in a choice of seven colours. 

Available at Nest

Concept: freedom; realisation: space-egg.

When faced with the limitations of building regulations concerning house extension, dmvA Architects hatched a unique solution; the hard boiled egg-like structure that is Blob VB3. This mobile/art construction is the product of 18-months work of skirting around strict building codes, with the result a polyester ovate spheroid of highly flexible, mobile usage. At 20m2 and containing all relevant necessities for occasional human habitation (bathroom, kitchen, lighting, bed and storage,) Blob VB3 is ideal as an office, guest house or simply a nucleal retreat. The rovin' ovum is currently on exhibition at the Verbeke Foundation.

Have a peek at the construction on our Tumblr.

If you've been wondering what's next on Sony Ericsson's agenda for release from their "communication entertainment" portfolio, wonder no more, for the first quarter of 2010 will bring their new Vivaz handset to the market. 

The Vivaz promises HD video capture and direct upload via pre-loaded applications for the shoot-and-share generation, coupled with the 'human curvature' ergonomics introduced with the Xperia X10. Operating on the Symbian S60 5th edition system and featuring an 8.1-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, Media Player and 3.2-inch wide touchscreen, the Vivaz aims to offer an intuitive and spontaneous user experience. The handset will be coming to you in four out of this world colour options - Moon Silver, Cosmic Black, Galaxy Blue and Venus Ruby.

Check out LateMag's Tumblr for Sony Ericsson's Daniel Sandblom giving a video presentation on the Vivaz. 

After a run of bad luck, John (Steve Buscemi), a compulsive gambler, runs away from Las Vegas and toward a normal job and life.  Taking a nondescript position in an auto insurance company in Albuquerque, he tries to get ahead in the straight world, amid the ever-present temptations of scratch-off lotto tickets.

When his boss, Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage), asks John to accompany his top fraud debunker, Virgil (Romany Malco) on an investigation of a dubious car “accident” near Vegas, John sees an opportunity to get a promotion , though he’s concerned about  returning to the gambling game. Before  leaving he becomes involved with his eccentric co-worker Jill (Sarah Silverman), a dalliance that has the potential to become a real relationship.

Soon John is on the road with Virgil, where they encounter a series of offbeat characters, including a wheelchair-bound stripper (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a nude militant (Tim Blake Nelson), a park Ranger (Jesse Garcia), and a carnival human torch (John Cho).  While Virgil is the supposed leader of the investigation, it’s John who begins to finally assert himself, pushing the case closer to a conclusion.

Through the journey, John’s confidence builds, and he realizes that he can’t escape his gambling addiction by running away from it—it will follow him wherever he goes.  It’s only when he returns to Vegas  and his experiences there finally send him on the path to breaking free.

saintjohnmovie.com | twitter.com/StJohnLasVegas

Sony Ericsson has garnered quite a reputation over recent years for successfully cornering the snap-happy handset market, upping the Megapixel stakes with enough regularity to stay top of the game. Unsurprising, then, that their new Satio model is packing quite the shutter-punch of a massive 12.1-MP. However, this megapixel mammoth expands mere cameraphone kudos with its smartphone multi-media functionality running on the Symbian S60 OS. But does Sony Ericsson’s much-anticipated market competitor live up to the hype or is it just a pretty interface? 

Hands-On And Aesthetics

When you initially handle this surprisingly lightweight model you might well be of the thinking that the overall feel is somewhat marred by the slight extra bulk of the camera. However, as we shall come to see, once you’ve got to grips with testing out the camera functionality all will be forgiven. The 3.5-inch touchscreen is aided only by the call, end and menu hard keys on the upper face, with the sliding keylock, connector and camera control buttons located to either side. All this culminates in the Satio being a pleasingly clean and minimal handset to hold and behold. 

Usability And Functionality

The sliding lock mechanism and resistive touchscreen may be a little trying on the patience of some people who are accustomed to other methods, however, this issue is really one of personal preference. For me, even with my low-level patience, I still prefer to press with intent rather than deal with the hyper-sensitive capacitive option which I find can be massively aggravating when it takes it upon itself to do what you’ve not asked it to do, particularly when you’re in the middle of something else. Similarly, the lock mechanism is actually pretty handy once you’ve learnt to pay attention to it, especially when dealing with almost entirely touch-sensitive commands. If you’ve got sausages for fingers and are worried about getting your digits round the digits, fear not for the stylus is on hand to aid your dexterity.

Once on the home screen, several major feature icons help you access the main functions, so making your way around the handset is pretty self-explanatory. Basic phone functions are easy to use, although lack of hard QWERTY keyboard may take some getting used to if you’re not touchscreen familiar. 

Multi-media functionality is good, thanks largely to the 16:9 screen which makes viewing a pleasurable breeze. Likewise the net, accessed via Wi-Fi, is pretty speedy and when you tilt to widescreen it’s a lot less straining to scan. Movies can be downloaded at Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena, and if the demo video quality is anything to go by the resolution is high enough for excellent quality entertainment on the go. Musically, the downside is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack, although Sony Ericsson fans will know that traditionally, if you’ve opted for the cameraphone, that’ll take precedence over Walkman functionality (their W series has that covered.)With an adaptor, though, you’ll be able to enjoy the FM radio, TrackID and player shuffle capabilities. (Point to note here, though, is that onboard memory is not massive at 128MB, although since Sony have done away with their proprietary memory stick in favour of the microSD card format, that’s easily overcome.)

Camera

And so to the Satio’s true selling point, the mighty 12.1MP camera. As a cameraphone, this is where Sony Ericsson is, of course, seeking to take the leading edge over the competition, but how does it actually fare? Really pretty fantastically, actually. Picture quality coupled with camera functionality is as superb as you’d expect from the people who uphold  the reputation for excelling in this particular field. For a handset camera, this is as near as you’ll get to digital quality at the moment. Pics are crispy gorgeous, with truly impressive clarity in the natural light that’ll delight any roaming snap-fanatic (please see my flickr stream of snowy captures as examples.) Uploading is simple via USB connection, and Picasa and Facebook links are already included to directly share your lovely adventures, which you can happily whizz through with the handy scroll function. Indoor pics will appear a little grainy, though, if you’ve not enough natural light, but with the Xenon flash employed to work its magic, this is much improved. 

Whether you are a snap-and-go pro or less sure of finding your way around a high-spec cameraphone, Sony Ericsson has put in massive effort to ensure you have all you need at your fingertips. There is a vast range of features available to help you make the best of your photographic efforts, including Smile Detection for capturing your less miserable friends and BestPic which is ideal for capturing moving objects in quick succession at an interval speed set by yourself so you may pick the best photo, as the title suggests. Panorama, also, is handy for the great outdoors as it will fuse a triptych seamlessly as a single wide photo. Video shoot/playback/upload follows similar lines and a side button gives the option to move easily and quickly between photo and video.

Overview

Despite some minor niggles, much of which can be open to personal preference anyway, the Sony Ericsson Satio really is smartphone/cameraphone combo well worth investing in. Whether or not the Satio will encroach upon the iPhone market really is a moot point when you consider the steadfast brand loyalty. However, for those open to life outside the Apple brand, the Satio, with its superior camera and smartphone capabilities, doubtless has the edge on its rivals, such as the Nokia N97 and Samsung Pixon 12. Absolutely ideal multi-media phone for those who seek the integration of near-digital quality snaps.  

Sony Ericsson Satio