Rare Round-Up: Entertainment News of the Week (20/10/2023)

As we start to wind down from all the classic 90s hits we’ve been blasting this week from National Album Day, let’s take a look at what’s new in the worlds of film, music, and games this week.

Starting with New Music Friday! There’s a whole host of new and remastered music from a variety of artists hitting both physical and virtual shelves today. Namely Bob Dylan, Blink 182, Within Temptation, The Shins, Pet Shop Boys, Katy Perry and of course the biggest musical release this week: The Rolling Stones! With their first collection of new material since 2005, people have been calling Hackney Diamonds their strongest album in decades. Get yours now!

The ever-popular NOW! That’s What I Call Music collection continues to grow, and this year hits the milestone of 40 years! NOW have been providing us with the biggest hits through time since 1983. For their 40^th anniversary, we’re getting 4 albums for each decade plus a triple LP/ 5 CD set of 43 and 100 tracks respectively with a selection of the very best from NOW through the years from the first edition to the present day.

Speaking of the present day: After repeated delays, English rock musician and former Genisis vocalist Peter Gabriel’s latest album I/O is coming just in time for your festive basket. It will mark Gabriel’s first full-length album of new material in over two decades and the longest gap between two studio albums in his solo career.

Staying with English rock, The Libertines are also back after an extended absence of new material. All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade is the band’s first new album in almost a decade. Coming early 2024, it's available now to pre-order!

Also, a selection of ABBA’s albums are getting special treatment with limited edition releases featuring picture disc with imagery from the band’s original era as well as B-side companion tracks.

Oppenheimer leads film news this week with Christopher Nolan’s biographical epic about “the father of the atomic bomb” J. Robert Oppenheimer is available now for pre-order on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K! If you didn’t manage to get to the cinema to see it on the big screen, you owe yourself the pleasure of a high-definition home viewing of Oppenheimer!

Steven Spielberg’s 1985 historical classic The Color Purple is getting the 4K treatment as part of Warner Bros 100. Adapted from the novel of the same name and featuring Whoopi Goldberg in her breakthrough role and Oprah Winfrey in her film debut, The Color Purple remains influential and now you can experience it like never before!

The latest in the Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is available now for pre-order as well as, if you want something a little more festive, Violent Night.

I know it doesn’t sound particularly Christmassy other than the title’s little play on words, but if it’s a Christmas movie you’re after but without those Christmas movie tropes, David Harbour as a badass Santa Claus hitting people with a sledgehammer might be down your street! Or maybe it's not but you should check it out anyway!

As for what’s out now, Meg 2: The Trench has thrashed its way onto home video this week with Jason Statham’s toothy foe back for more chum and you can get your copy today!

An exciting one for movie buffs is the 4K restoration of the serial killer classic Peeping Tom. Often considered the first “slasher” film, Peeping Tom was so controversial for its time in 1960 that it left director Michael Powell’s career in tatters and was made unavailable for many years. Today regarded as a classic, you can experience all that even sharper in 4K. Order yours now!

For video games, there have been four big releases this week across platforms and age groups in Sonic Superstars, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Hotwheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged and Lords of the Fallen. Get your controllers ready and take to the vast and immersive world that each one offers!

What are you most excited for this week?! Let us know!