The A-Team

I've never seen the tv series that this is based on, but pop culture has filled me in on all I need to know. We're living in the Age of the Remakes, and the big-screen adaptation of the A-Team sees when the four heroes put their team together, with an absurd, fun escape that just doesn't seem possible. Of course, over the next two hours, these four characters weave themselves in and out of impossible situations, but always manage to escape, no worse for the wear, and able to quip about their close calls. And of course, they work in their well-known lines with Hannibal saying, "I love it when a plan comes together," while Baracus steadfastly refuses to get on an airplane. As expected, they also are framed for crimes they didn't commit, making them fugitives on the run. Make no mistake, this is a campy film. It is not award-winning stuff. The plot is more than a bit convoluted, and villains repeatedly pass up chances to kill our heroes until... sometime later.

This is a pretty by the numbers action movie so there isn't much to talk about. With Liam Neeson leading the team as Hannibal, they definitely cast the right actor to lead the ragtag team of ‘soldiers of fortune. Bradley Cooper also is perfectly cast here as "Faceman," the smooth-talking, womanizing member of the squad. Sharlto Copley is the goofy Murdock character here. And of course, Quinton Jackson plays the character B.A. Baracus, who was famously played by Mr. T in the TV version and sadly doesn't cameo here in the film.My only real gripe with this movie is the same I have with lots of action movies these days: It's way too rapidly edited, to the point that I found it hard to register what the hell's going on during some of the action sequences. I also find a few of the characters a tad annoying, but it wasn't enough to distract from what was a pretty solid action movie.

Final Fantasy XIII

Sure took me a long to complete this game. I've had it seen it was released back in March and was playing it randomly since then. I haven't played too many of the games in the main Final Fantasy series, just III, X, X-2, and the beginning of XII. At the end of the day I liked this one but I have to say that your opinion on Final Fantasy XIII will depend greatly on your ability to like the story, or rather its storytelling method. Like every Final Fantasy game since VII, XIII’s storytelling is derived from anime, and if you don’t like anime for its melodrama, long winded dialogue, and over exaggerated movement, I don’t think you’ll be too happy when the characters start spouting extemporaneous prose posing as conversation at each other like a couple of professional wrestlers cutting a promo in the middle of a ring. This style of storytelling derives from the theatre of ancient Greece, where the primary purpose of their morality plays was further development of their characters, and it is here where XIII’s story truly shines.

As for the gameplay, the first thing that has to be brought up is that the level design is extremely linear. Actually, The first 60% of XIII isn’t just linear, it’s a straight line. There’s very few branching paths to speak of, and the ones that are there aren’t very big. Chapters one through twelve are designed for two things: to tell you a story and to train you how to fight. This sounds like a long tutorial, and it somewhat is, but there’s not a lot of downtime. You’re constantly learning new things, developing the story, changing locales, and you are always moving forward and never backward. It gets kinda boring, but once you hit chapter thirteen, that all changes. Suddenly you’ll be in a big open world with all the optional areas, side quests, and treasure that you were looking for most of the game. This is where Final Fantasy XIII the game really starts to live up to its potential. It's a shame then that you can't fight everything you see, because the difficulty of some of the random enemies suddenly spikes, which brings me to my next point: Final Fantasy XIII's difficulty is a very random. I frequently destroyed my opponents for a bulk of the game's routine encounters and suddenly found myself outclassed by the time I reached the second half of the game.

The combat doesn’t get off to the same blistering speed as the story does, as the game spends the first ten or so hours slowly feeding you the basics of the battle system and this is a good thing, as throwing the unique and complex mechanics at once could’ve been too much to handle for some. In a first for the series, you only have control over the party leader, and instead of micromanaging what each character does, any point during combat, you can initiate a paradigm shift to change the role that each character plays in battle. The combinations of classes your characters can be at any given time are limited to pre determined commands that you can select in the options menu before battle. It's certainly a unique combat setup, but the only downside that the game ends whenever you leader is knocked out, regardless of the status of the other two party members. It's annoying, but it just another of a few small flaws in an otherwise solid game. The JRPG genre has been one that has been starving for innovation and a refreshing change of pace, and Final Fantasy XIII is certainly that. Its originality derives from its streamlined nature and its no-nonsense approach to progression. I've played better RPGs than this and though I can't compare it to other entries in the series, it gets the job done.

Sex and the City

Never thought I'd watch this as I'd never seen the series that inspired but, here I am watching the Sex in the City movie. The movie finds Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda four years after the hit HBO series ended, as they continue to juggle jobs, friendships and relationships and start to navigate motherhood, marriage and Manhattan real estate. Most importantly, the main plot of the film finds Carrie and Mr. Big decide to get married. The film then races through various themes of love, commitment, individuality, forgiveness, friendship, loss, loneliness and just about every other human condition you can think of.

I'm surprised that I really liked this movie. The film was funny. Pure and simple it did the one thing I didn’t really expect it to be able to do: It made me laugh. A lot. The humor was more “male” than I expected it to be, and a little more crude at times. There were several solid laugh out loud moments and the rest was quite entertaining. In most movies, you have characters that make their way through the story. But Sex and the City didn’t really have a story. The characters WERE the story, and in this context it really worked because of the diversity in the 4 main characters and their legitimate charm and likability (aside from the Miranda character)… but most importantly because of the long tested chemistry between them all. The chemistry of that on screen friendship was palpable and carried the movie.

Although sometimes a bit forced, I found the emotional and touching scenes worked. Each of the main characters go through significant challenges in the movie and at times it is communicated quite well. As good as the film's drama is...there was simply too much going on. For some reason the producers felt the need to give each and every one of the 4 main characters a significant story line sub-plot instead of one central story or without tying them together. 4 full stories takes screen time, each one interrupting the other and causing far to many themes to be brought into it. It’s not that any of the stories weren’t good, nor that any of the themes introduced weren’t worthy ones to be explored, it's just that Sex and the City had too many things going at the same time, and as such it hindered my ability to savor or appreciate any single one of them. In spite of that I loved this movie and while I may not check out the series anytime soon, but I'll be watching this movie every now and then.

Hal Sparks: Charmageddon

I've only known of Hal Sparks from acting on Queer as Folk and his appearances on VH1's I love the 80s series. I've never knew he was a stand up comedian and a pretty good at that. His takes on the difference between women and men,sexting and anything else of pop culture,his take on comedy is definitely refreshing and straight forward. From beginning to end his set is packed full of intelligent, hilarious, and perfectly executed comedic insight that's so close to my own that I found myself exclaiming "Exactly!" "Yes!" and "That's so true!" in between fits of uncontainable laughter. His fundamental beliefs on "unsweetened" tea and drink sizes are raised to new levels with his passionate delivery and his priceless insight into the history and execution of "sexting" will made me sigh an enthusiastic "Nnnff..."! Sparks has a way about him, a command of himself and his audience that is at once disarming and just plain hot. And in this one hour special, he showcases his many levels of awesomeness perfectly. "Charmageddon" is indeed charming, but not in a wholesome and quaint B&B way; certainly not in a old school Austen hero way. It, and Sparks, are charming in a "woke up in bed with some guy you just met and are not sure how he managed to get you there or where your pants are" kind of way. And by that odd analogy, I trying to say that I really liked Charmageddon.

Shrek Forever After

Dreamworks can't hold a candle Pixar. The Shrek movies come close in a different manner, but everything else Dreamworks does looks either uninspired or just plain awful, and I'm never interested enough to see if my first impressions (and most critics) were wrong. As their sole successful franchise, the Shrek movies have had a pretty good run. The first two were surprisingly entertaining films, but the third entry was a dull, lazy film that seemed to descend into the very thing the first movie seemed to parody – generic, cliché, pop-culture trash (Okay maybe I'm being rough on a film I've only seen once several years ago). But it seems that the series is finally ready to close it doors as Shrek Forever After is apparently the last in the series (aside from a Puss in Boots spin off movie). Thankfully, Shrek Forever After turns out to be a surprisingly funny and enjoyable affair.

The plot is basically a take on "It’s A Wonderful Life", which reflects a world in which Shrek was never born. In viewing the trailers, I felt this came off as a rather underwhelming and lazy plot. However, the writers Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke manage to do enough with the material and place Shrek in quite an entertaining setting where his friends and family do not know him. The best main character here is the lead villain of the story Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpel is played like a conniving, snake-like Southern Californian swindler with a Napoleon complex. All the best scenes and material come from Rumpelstiltskin, although the true show-stealer and crown jewel of the movie is the minor character of a little fat kid in the beginning of the film who only has 3 lines of dialogue and manages to be the funniest character in the film (my friends and I are still quoting him).

The frustrating aspect of the movie comes from DreamWorks’s penchant for casting big names in very minor and borderline bit roles, such as Jane Lynch as a random ogre by the name of Gretched. Jon Hamm makes his voice acting debut as an ogre named Brogan in Fiona’s resistance movement, but Hamm is left with little to do, making his casting rather pointless. DreamWorks Animation features tend to rely on celebrity stunt casting more than any other studio and nearly rival the Simpsons in terms of pointless celebrity guest stars. If Shrek Forever After is to be the final chapter of Shrek’s story, at least the franchise ends on a positive note. In no way does the movie exemplify revolutionary or fine cinema such as Pixar’s works, but it possesses a good sense of humor, provides a few good chuckles, and is even touching at times making the movie feel satisfying if this is the last they ever do.

Glee - Season 1b

The extra nine episodes that were added to Glee's first season really feel that they should have given room to breathe as its own complete season. In fact, I spend a bit of time musing about how different the storyline would have developed if it was the proper 2nd season. These episodes "add on" status forces the various plots to rush themselves and squander their potential. The back nine episodes have certainly given us some great episodes of television - "Dream On" and "Theatricality" are probably the series' strongest hours, with "The Power of Madonna" coming out as the most fun. But overall, the conclusion to the show's first season is a bit uneven. The mid-season premiere Hell-O left a lot to be desired as it quickly undoes all that characters had accomplished in the prior run, while a great arc about Rachael finding her mother is rushed to hell and back. I mean, they have a small build up to it, the reveal tied nicely to the main arc, and then their relationship is quickly explored and wrapped up in one episode...as a B-story (well, as a b story to a really good main plot, but still more time could've been given to the story).

Perhaps, even worse is the revelation that the writers have no clue how to handle relationships. Will and Emma are somewhat tolerable. But the season's main triangle between Rachael, Finn and new boy Jesse St James. For one thing, The thrust of Jesse's relationship with Rachael is that he's exactly like her...without all the quirks that make Rachael enduring to watch. Also their relationship wasn't believable as Jesse's intentions weren't clear. The writers just kept flip-flopping about whether Jesse was actually in love with her or was just using her, so when the big betrayal comes along and Jesse starts going on about how he's the victim in the all of this, it extremely difficult to buy into because their relationship was poorly developed. It really really was the worse relationships I've seen played out on television in some time.

Anyway its not all bad. As I said, The back nine episodes have some of the season's best episodes. Sometimes, the show amazes me by bouncing great humor off of strong dramatic moments. The songs here are even more infectious the the last batch, the dancing is fun and the drama is both what you would expect from a high school show, while also making fun of the genre. The writers can do a great job when they put their minds to it and I guess they'll have had more time to plan the entirety of season two as it's produced. They get some good guests like Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris, and it's mostly enjoyable week in and week out. It definitely walks a fine line every time out, but I don't think they've really stumbled yet. I'm definitely interested in seeing more.

The Killers - Sam's Town

Sam's Town is The Killers second album and it holds a special place in my heart as the album I was listening to in late 2006: when I got my first job and was looking forward to buying the Wii. I'd compare this album to a second date: you realize that your new crush has flaws you hadn't noticed the first time around, but you're just that much more endeared. And flustered. And optimistic for the future. The band goes for a more rock-oriented approach, leaving behind much of the glam/disco undertones of the previous album. It's not as endearing as their debut showing, but its nonetheless, a thrilling ride. It instead showcases the growth of a more mature band moving forward musically. Flowers' voice is much rawer and emotional here, not buried under layers of modulation, and the band's sound is more vibrant and diverse. The band notes that this record was influenced by Springsteen, but this album does not have much of a Springsteen sound, at least, none that I caught.

The addictive opening track "Sam's Town" has the same punch rhythmically as "Somebody Told Me" from the first album, but is less reliant on synths and more on electric guitar. The piano-based "Interlude" showcases a softer sound with Brandon Flowers' voice fragile and emotional before it amps up and punches into the rocking first single "When You Were Young." Despite its title, the soaring "Bling(Confession of a King) has shades of the late 80's U2 musically but Flowers can't quite match Bono's vocal style. "For Reasons Unknown" and "Read My Mind" delivers a synth-heavy up-tempo sound that is somewhat reminiscent of the early 80's Talking Heads.

Grounded by a solid bass line, "Uncle Jonny" makes for a great track that thankfully is not overly commercial. Flowers' takes his vocals down a notch for the excellent "Bones" decorated with some great trumpet and sax. The sound of Queen returns with the bombastic track "My List" and "This River Is Wild" is hook-filled and rocking enough to make this a solid second single. "Exitlude" is a nice touch that speaks to the fans, "We hope you enjoyed your stay..it's good to have you with us, even if it was only a day." I do have some misgivings about the way the album was recorded. Unlike the band's stunning debut, there are some songs on Sam's Town that I will outright skip as the song tries too hard or they just don't work for me ("Why Do I Keep Counting" is the only song to really cover those two comments). And there are some noticeable pitch problems with the vocals--baffling on a major-label, Flood-produced album. But all in all, Sam's Town is a great album and while it may not be their best work, it will grow on you with every spin.

E3 2010: Overall Impressions

Well, E3 ended last week and it took me awhile to get to this point as I've been pretty busy over the last week. After thinking about it for a while I decided that E3 2010, like last year, was decent, but nothing mind blowing. The big difference is that most of what was really good about this years showing only came from Nintendo while Microsoft and Sony were weaker than they usually were which I guess I should elaborate on.

Out of the big 3, I think everyone agrees that Microsoft had the worst showing without a doubt. They didn't have have much to present that wasn't already known or guessed at in some shape or form and half of that had to with the fact Microsoft unveiled half of their stuff in the weeks leading up to E3, Gears of War 3 being the biggest spoiler. Last year Microsoft had 90% of their game shown before the conference and this year that total is somewhere around 99%. Microsoft needs to learn that part of the fun in E3 is the surprise and wonder in what new game could possible be shown off. Even worse was Microsoft's Kinect. Their answer to the Wii turned out to be nothing more than a straight up rip-off as every game looked and played a like poor man's Wii game and considering that the 360 is more powerful than the Wii, this is just pathetic. The gadget's use for interacting with the console itself is less impressive than it was last year as it looks like it would be easier to just use the controller, which defeats the purpose of Kinect entirely...I don't know what the hell Microsoft is thinking...

It seems like Microsoft and Nintendo switched places. While Microsoft was trying to damn hard to grab some casual gamer attention, Nintendo actually showed off a surprising amount of new games. Even more shocking is that most of these games are from franchises that the company has ignored on the Wii. The fact that Kirby, Donkey Kong, and Kid Icarus are getting high profile games alongside Metroid and Zelda is nothing short of mind blowing. The only thing they could have done to make this any better would have been holding off on revealing Mario Galaxy 2 last year and showing it now. Nintendo seemed to finally realize that they can target hardcore and casual gamers with their classic series and it paid off wonderfully. Even though I can't comment on the system, the way they handled the 3DS unveiling was just the icing on the cake. It truly was Nintendo's E3...

Sony managed to convince to buy a PS3 last year with they're comparatively stronger showings and its a purchase I haven't regretted yet. I've play my PS3 more in the past 6 months than I played the 360 in the two years I've had the thing. Sadly, Sony fell in the same trap Microsoft did, only they aren't in as deep. Only Twisted Metal was a true surprise announcement and everything else was shown beforehand. It doesn't speak well that the game I'm most excited for is The Sly Collection...a group of games released roughly 5 years ago. Sony's games are at least more interesting than Microsoft and I say that I'll actual try to play most of them. Their attempt at a Wii counterpart, The Move is somewhat more respectable as it appears to work much better than the Wii does and the games seem kinda interesting, but like Kinect it seems to be 4 years too late. Unless casual gamers with a Wii happen to also have a PS3 or 360, I don't really see the market for either motion control device. They still haven't given me a reason to get a PSP, although I think the thing has enough games that I could justify getting a used PSP...still better than anything Microsoft has come up with.

So in summation, E3 2010 was okay. Microsoft was the worst, no question asked. Some of Sony's games mentioned should be pretty good. And Nintendo did the reverse of the other two and give everyone what they want.

Score below is as follows.

CONFERENCE PLACING:
1st: Nintendo
2nd: Sony
3rd: Microsoft

E3 2010: Additional Game Impressions

Here's My quick thoughts on some additional games that were on display at E3 but not shown off during the conferences.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS): The N64 classic and self proclaimed best game in the universe will be released on Nintendo's new handheld system. I never played the original game as I didn't get into the Zelda series until Wind Waker. All I've heard about this game is that its really good and the water temple is bitch, which apparently is going to be made a tad easier in this version.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Really..another Kingdom Hearts game? I love the series but they're really just stalling with the third game. We've already got a prequel coming on the PSP and two handheld titles that take place between the first and second games. Its unknown where in the timeline the game will take place in, but I'll probably play and at least the 3DS's analog nub will make the game more playable than the DS iteration of the series that came out last year.

Sonic Colors (Wii and DS): This looks like it takes what worked about the sonic levels in the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed and made them into their own game. Sonic has some power-ups to use that don't seem to impede the gameplay so is shaping up to be a pretty good title...lets just hope that Sega doesn't predictably mess this up...

Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS3, Xbox 360): I guess this is the Vs. Capcom's series answer to Street Fighter IV. I don't play Marvel vs Capcom 2 that much but I might give this a shot when my fighting game friends get a hold of this.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (Multiple Platforms): This is just further devaluing of the Star Wars series. The purpose of the first game's plot was to bridge the gap from the prequel series to the original movies so making a sequel to that seems kinda pointless...I did kinda like that game, so I'll check this one out in spite of my bitching...

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Multiple Platforms): seems to play more like the DS games than an actual continuation of the original series, but I'm intrigued by the episodic content and my fondness for the series pretty much forces me to want to download this. If I had a choice between Sonic Colors or this, I'd guess I'd go with this one.

Okamiden (DS): I still need to finish the Wii version of Okami before I can even try this, but I like what played in that game and I hope this handheld version doesn't disappoint.

Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Miniland Mayhem (DS): Sadly, this game continues the Mini Mario gameplay that second game used...I want them to go back to the Donkey Kong Arcade style gameplay from the first game.

Star Fox 64 3D (3DS): WooHoo! I love Star Fox 64 and having a portable version of it is a dream come true. I don't know what will be added to the game other than 3d effects but I hope it doesn't mess up with what made the original game.

And so E3 2010 comes to a close...

E3 2010: Sony Impressions

Last one...After the unexpected domination of Nintendo at their conference, Sony's turn at bat was surprisingly disappointing. Not as bad as Microsoft's waste of space, but still pretty underwhelming. This mainly had to do with Sony not reveling anything that everyone was already aware of. There's still some games worth discussing though.

Killzone 3: I'm not sure what sets the Killzone series apart from other shooters on the market other than it being the only shooter franchise of any value on the Playstation systems. Everyone seems to be really excited for this one and I don't see much reason why. It looks pretty and some of the action is intense, but I have to say that don't like the Playstation controller for standard shooters, I'd much rather play it on X-Box...see I don't completely hate my 360....

The Sly Collection: I'm kinda pissed that Sony didn't dwell on this outside of an announcement that it was coming and it would in 3-D and be compatible with the Plystation move. The Sly Cooper series will be getting the God of War treatment by having it PS2 entries scaled to HD and released in a PS3 collection. I loved the Sly series and I can't wait for fourth entry in the series, but being able to play the older titles on the PS3 with thorphy support will be a the things that dreams are made of. The best part is that more of this collections are rumored to be coming. Keeping my fingers crossed for a Ratchet and Clank collection...

Playstation Move: Mircosoft's motion control device had a name change in the last year. Sony's device was just lucky enough to get a name. Like Kinect, the Move doesn't look any different or better than what was shown off last year. It offers full 1:1 motion control which is on par with what Wii motion plus can do and while the devices line-up of games is a lot less rip-offy than Kinect's offerings, they still aren't interesting enough to warrant a look. Sure, I think the Move is stronger than what the Wii offers, I just don't think the Market is there for it. The thing will launch this launch this September and there are bunch of different add-on devices to go with it.

Sorcery: Good job Sony! You made a Harry Potter game for the Move that looks even less interesting than they do.

Heroes on the Move: The idea behind this is somewhat intriguing. The game's a crossover between Sly Cooper, Ratchet & Clank, and Jak & Daxter and uses the Move to pull off attacks. from what was shown in the trailers, it looks like all the characters the do are their most basic attacks: Sly swings his cane, Ratchet swings his wrench, etc. I love two of the franchises on display here (piss off Jax...), so if I ever do get a Move, I'll have something to check out.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta: I knew that although God of War III is the final game in the series timeline, the franchise was just gonna do a Metal Gear Solid and release a bunch of games that take place at different points in the series history. This one takes place between the first and second game as Kratos is getting use to position as the new God of War. I don't have a PSP yet and I would have preferred that GOW III turely would have been the last of the franchise, but I might play this one.

Little Big Planet 2: I didn't like the first game, it came free with my PS3 (along with the amazing Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time) and just didn't live up to the hype and success that the franchise has garnered. The sequel looks like it could be an improvement. There's more customization options (no shock there), and the series is make a jump to cover more game genres than just platformers, so this one could be worth a look.

Portal 2: Like everyone else, I love Portal and although I want more, I don't really care for the notion of a full blown sequel. The first game was an independent masterpiece, taking a small idea an pushing it to its limits and working with little resources the development team had to its max. The sequel is getting a bigger team and seems to be going for the whole bigger is better idea that games stupidly fall for.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: I finally completed Final Fantasy XIII a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean I'm icthing for more and it certainly doesn't mean I want that more to be an online game. I didn't like FF XI because it was online and my stance has changed here...didn't i say that last year? Oh well...

Gran Turismo 5: Again, I don't really have much interesting in racing outside of Mario Kart and Burnout so Gran Tursimo is pretty much a moot point to me. Looks really pretty though. Its stated for release nest year but given the infamous delays of the last game, I'm only interested in seeing rather or not it actually comes out.

Infamous 2: Infamous is on my list of Playstation exclusives that I need to play now that I own a PS3. Even though I haven't played that, I can't really say I'm excited for this and its for its for the dumbest reason...I can't stand Cole's new character design...his hair looks so damn out of place. Anyway the game's developer Sucker Punch also develops the Sly Cooper series and it goes without saying that I'd rather they make a new Sly game than new Infamous.

Twisted Metal: I've never played a game in this series before, but it looks cool, like a twisted version of Mario Kart. Not much was shown apart from some muliti player modes, but I could get into this.

And so E3 2010 ends...

E3 2010: Nintendo Impressions

Wow...that's all I really can say about Nintendo's press conference. It truly feels like this year was an apology for the last two years of so-so and just terrible E3 showings. Nintendo rocketed back into what they do best, showing off great games. The best thing about the conference was that long dormant home console franchises are getting Wii games this year and almost every game they presented seemed worth checking out.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: So the first official Zelda game made specifically for the Wii was finally unveiled and it looked great. The graphical style seemed to combine the cel shading of Wind Waker and the more detailed Twilight Princess. The Wii Motion Plus is required to play the game and apart from a new beetle item, what they showed here was just generic Zelda gameplay, though there is a twist to typical story that has yet to revealed. The game is slated for release sometime next year.

Mario Sports Mix: Mario's sole game for the time being. After going on two proper adventures, the plumber finally takes a break and goes back to all the sports plaaying we usually have to put up with inbetween those big adventures. The difference this time is that instead of the whole game focusing on one sport, there are at least 3 sports on display: hockey, volleyball, and a second go round with basketball. The game will also release sometime next year.

Wii Party and Just Dance 2: Nintendo showed how fair they've moved from casual gamers as these were the only two games aimed directly at them during the show. From what was shown, Wii Party is just Mario Party with the Miis and Just Dance 2 is...well Just Dance 2. Neither of them were interesting but neither of them looked horrible either.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: The Golden Sun DS title that they showed off last year and haven't given any info on since has finally gotten a trailer, the subtitle of "Dark Dawn" and vague release date of this holiday season. If there's one thing that really bugged me about Nintendo's conference its was their failure to set a concrete release date for anything. Anyway, the trailer looks cool and I can't wait to try it.

Goldeneye 007: A semi remake of that popular N64 game. The only thing I know has been changed for sure is that James Bond's Pierce Brosnan appearance had been updated to that of the current James Bond: Daniel Craig. Never played the original game so this should be a treat.

Epic Mickey: This one kinda disappointed me, mainly because the pre-release screen shots and character models looked really dark and steampunk like, while the material shown to us here didn't reflect any of this. I guess that just wasn't in this portion of the game. What was shown was very straight forward platforming material and that is enough to get me a little interested in it.

Kirby's Epic Yarn: I was so happy for this game's announcement. Kirby hasn't stared in a home console platformer for over a decade (Kirby 64 was the last one). The game's art style is incredibly unique what with everything looking like strands of yarn. It also looks like Kirby's traditional vacuum ability has been altered in some fashion. I can wait to get my hands on this one this holiday.

Metroid: Other M: Some actually gameplay footage was shown in the new trailer and it still looks cool, but they didn't say anything new about the game Nintendo had had already been releasing info about the game throughout the past year. In one of the few release dates given, the game will launch August 31st.

Donkey Kong Country Returns: Retro Studios, the people behind the excellent Metroid Prime series are working a revival of the original Donkey Kong Country series. The classic team-up of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong returns and lots of elements of the previous country titles as will as Donkey Kong 64 show here. I'm looking forward to its release this holiday (so tired of that vague release date)

Nintendo 3DS: So, this is it. Nintendo's successor to the DS. its capable of 3d images without the need of those dumbass glasses. I can't really say anything about this because the problem of the showing of a device like this is I can't talk about it without playing it myself. It looks cool and the analog stick is an interesting addition (maybe Super Mario 64 DS will actually play well now) and the graphics shown off were amazing for a handheld. I want to try it out.

Kid Icarus: Uprising: Everyone's really excited for this 3DS launch title as the first title in the franchise since some game boy game released in like 1991 or something. I'm not terribly excited in it since I never played either Kid Icarus game and what I saw of the original wasn't that great. I did notice a lot of voice acting (for a handheld Nintendo game) and It the games premise seems interesting enough to give the game a shot.

So yeah, Nintendo really stepped up their game this year.

E3 2010: Ubisoft Impressions

Ubisoft's press conference was better than EA's and most certainly better than the one they had last year were James Cameron talked for roughly 15 mins about his Avatar movie. They still have a bit of a problem spending too much time on one game as the conference ran for 90 mintues when it could have easily been done in an hour.They kept Joel Mchale as the host of the show which was great since I adore everything that man does, even though he still feels out of his element here. As for the games themselves they were pretty intriguing and I could I see myself trying some of these games out in the future.

Child of Eden: They spent roughly 5 and half minutes on Tetsuya Mizuguchi using the Kinect to basically play what looked like a first person version of Rez. I sure it will be a fun little diversion game but it didn't need as much face time as it got.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: Once again, I need to play the previous two games first, which I might do since I can get both for under 50 bucks. This looks to be a lot more action oriented than the last two games, and could be a decent filler game until the inevitable third installment rears it head.

Shawn White Skateboarding: So I guess Shawn White is suppose to be the new Tony Hawk since he seems to everywhere now-a-days. Apparently that snowboarding game he released a few years ago did well enough to allow him to do a skateboarding follow-up (I didn't know he was a skater). I was actually impressed as it appears to take all the good aspects of the Tony Hawk games that the Tony Hawk games seem to have forgotten. There's also an odd "De Blob" vibe to it as the levels have you skating the life and color back into a black and white area. They only announced this for the Wii but I'm sure it's going be on PS3 and 360 as well.

BattleTag (have no clue what this is called): This is an odd one, its not really a video game, it's just laser tag in the comfort of your own home. The tv screen keeps score and there's some weird brick that you scan with your gun in a race. I don't think this will really work because most people don't have enough space in their homes for the action that the players were showing off. They didn't even bother telling us what systems this would be on, but they did say it would be out by the end of the year.

Innergy: Some breathing exercise game that I believe uses the Wii vitality sensor, didn't' really look that interesting and its main purpose is to help you relax.

Two Games that I don't care about: After the Innergy thing, They spend what seemed like 15 mintues going on about You Shape Fitness Evolved...again...why...I dont' think anyone gives a crap about your Wii Fit rip-off. Then they covered a new game in the Ghost Recon series, but apart from some aspects of the Splinter Cell series, I don't really care about Tom Clancey games.

Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time: I thought that Rabbids Go Home game from last year was suppose to be the end of this series, but I guess not. Heard that game was pretty good, so I should check that one out sometime. All that's really known about this game is that it involves time travel and will be released November 9th.

Driver: San Francisco: I doubt this will be any good, because I've never heard anything good about this series. I notice about this was that you're constantly chasing after you're arch nemesis and there are tons of side missions to preform.

Project Dust: I have no clue what this is suppose to be, but it is pretty and could have the potential to be really good. It comes out on the PS3 and 360 next year.

Rayman Origins: Finally...poor Rayman has gotten out of the shadow of those Raving Rabbids games and returned to making platformers. All that was really shown was that game will be hand drawn in manner reminiscent of Wario Land: Shake It. Don't have too much hands on experience with the Rayman game, but I've heard good things.

Michael Jackson: This is basically Ubisoft's early Just Dance Wii game with Michael Jackson. I think they were hinting that they had this in development before Michael's death, but I'm a skeptic.

Seems like Ubisoft's got some great games to complement the big three's titles.

E3 2010: EA Impressions

I didn't cover EA and Ubisoft's press conferences last year, mainly because they weren't very good, they only really seem to exist so the main conferences won't have to cover any of them for the most part. Anyway, EA holds up their reputation for just endlessly squealing everything as only one game showcased here was a new IP...

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit: I wonder who actually plays all of these games as this has got to be like the 15th or 20th iteration of the series. This one has this neat online component where you chase after your highest ranking friends as a police officer and try to ram them off the road Burnout style. I haven't played a game in this series since Underground back in 2001, but I might check this one out when it releases November 16th.

Dead Space 2: I keep forgetting that Dead Space was actually a success and not some kind of cult hit. Horror is not my genre of choice and while this won't change my opinion of the genre, its doesn't look too bad. The only complaint I have about what was shown was that Issac kept using the same move to dispatch of his adversaries: freezing them and filling them with bullets. The demo ends with a cliffhanger that will concluded at Sony's conference...which seems like a waste of time if you ask me. Oh well, I might play this if someone else is in the room. I believe January 21st was the release date given.

Medal of Honor: A war game series that's been gone for about three years but no one really noticed because they were too busy playing Call of Duty. It follows Modern Warfare's footsteps by taking place in modern war as opposed to WWII for the millionth time. They showed off a 24 payer mulitplayer mode that has beta launching on June 21st while the actual game will release on October 12th.

EA Sports: I skipped this part, the sports game are what EA is infamous for, all of them looked the same as they're last version from the wrestling game to Madden so moving on...

Sims 3: I've always wanted to play the Sims but never got around to. I can give a shot now that Sims 3 is coming to consoles, but it doesn't look like anything new was added so I really don't know why they spent so much time talking about it.

Crysis 2: I don't play computer games so, I didn't play the first Crysis and still don't since most people seem to say that its nothing more than a mediocre shooter with really pretty graphics. This sequel is gonna be released on the PS3 and X-Box 360 and it actually looks like fun. You get to fight giant mechs and escape from crumbling buildings. It may be cliche but it seems to do the routine with style.

Bulletstorm: Another game from Cliff Blenszinski. This one is a first person shooter that rewards you for finding skillful ways to kill your enemies kinda like Madworld for the Wii from last year. Not much was shown apart from roundhouse kicking a few enemies into electrical wires and the characters ability to say cheesy one-liners. Its just different enough to warrant a look when launches February 22.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Much like last year, they showed another long ass trailer that had zero game footage so it doesn't count. I more intrigued by how long LucasArts can go by just releasing Star Wars games. Remember when they use to make non Star Wars games? Yeah, its been a while. I'm not sure, but I think they said they'd have an actual demo on the show floor tomorrow, if they do I'll certainly watch it.

All in all, EA has a decent show and I came away from it with a few games to try out.

E3 2010: Mircosoft Impressions

Seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was blogging about E3 2009. Okay it was a little over a year ago but damn that year went by pretty damn quick. Microsoft started off the event as usual and...to be honest, I couldn't really care less. In the past year, the X-box 360 has really fallen out of favor with me. I haven't played a new game on the system since Prototype, which was last summer, and The only games I go back to the system to play are the X-Box Live Arcade versions of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. This press conference didn't offer any real new announcements or surprises, just clarification on stuff we already knew about. This really was the worst showing Microsoft had in years...

Call Of Duty: Black Ops: The show kicked off with the yearly offering from the Call Of Duty series. Now, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I don't care too much for shooters anymore, largely because the 360 has run that genre into the ground. And I'm only bringing this up now to cover up the fact that there is nothing to really talk about for this game, the demo they showed was incredibly standard and boring and since this is one of those odd numbered bland Call of Duty games coming from Treyarch and not Infinity Ward, who work on the more notable entries in the series, only makes this game even more uninteresting. Like all the other games, this one will be released in November.

Metal Gear Rising: Well, they have actual footage (roughly 8 seconds of actual gameplay) from the game this year and it looks like fun. I'm still hold to my previous comment that I'm going to get this for PS3 instead as that platform the franchise was designed for. Oh, yeah and precision cutting on watermelons is awesome.

Gears of War 3: From this point on, Microsoft made it obnoxiously clear that every game was going to be exclusive to the X-Box brand. Gears of War 3 follows Halo 3's path by adding four player co-op to the mix and probably new weapons and other stuff. I actually did play Gears 2 around the time it came out and found it to be a pretty enjoyable outing, certainly more deserving of its praise than Halo ever was. If there's one exclusive game for the system I'm gonna play its going to this one.

Fable III: Never did get around to playing the second one like I said I would, but this still looks pretty interesting. Peter Molyneaux pretty much said most of same things he used to described the other two games, but the only real difference is that this takes place several decades after the second. I'll have to more into it, but only other thing I know about the game right now is that its going to be released on October 26.

Halo Reach: Bungie continues to crush people's hope that they'll work on a new franchise by showing more from a game that we've already heard too much about. Nothing that was shown in the demo looked new to the series, but I'm probably wrong. Anyway this game comes out sometime in September and I'm sure I'll end up playing it when one of my friends end up getting it. I will give Microsoft credit though, they actually got all their big name franchises out of the way in the first half of the show and left the rest of the showings to somewhat new faces.

ESPN on X-box: I understand that this is a big deal, but did they really need to spent 7 or 8 minutes going on about this, They didn't really do anything with this feature that we couldn't have figured out on our owns and did they really need to get those guys from Sporstcenter to show up. Great for sports fans and great move for Microsoft, but the whole thing was just an extended demo for my next subject...

Kinect: Kinect is new name for Project Natal and is what the remaining 40 or so minutes of the conference focused on. Its an impressive piece of hardware but its a shame that they spent the rest of the show covering it because apart from the actual games, they didn't really show anything new from last year so my opinion of it hasn't changed from last year: The voice interaction is pure awesome sauce, but the full body motion control aspect only seems to be a little better than the Playstation Eyetoy that was released several years ago and given that what the eyetoy brought to the gaming table wasn't much, I doubt that Natal's implementation in games will be too much to gush over. Its use to enhance movie watching and chatting with friends is cool, but the games...not so much, which brings me to...

Kinect Launch Games: Okay, so there are 6 of these and none of them are really noteworthy. Kinectimals is basically a mix of the Milo demo they showed last year and Nintendogs. Its kinda cool and cute and I could have an actual interest in playing this if I didn't already have a dog to take care of. Kinect Sports is just Wii Sports...that's it...oh, and its made by Rare, the same people who gave us Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country, and Goldeneye. It only showcases how far they've fallen as a game company. Kinect Joy Ride is just a kart racer that looks really generic, Kinect Adventures actually looks like its fun to play with friends but like most casual Wii games won't gain much interest. Your Shape Fitness Evolved is just those wii fitness games they made on the Wii and Dance Central is the same thing as that Just Dance game for the Wii. All of this and Kinect itself will be available November 4th.

Star Wars Kinect: Our first look at how Kinect could be used in a more traditional game and it seems kinda lame. Yeah, it was only about 30 seconds of gameplay that mostly involved moving forward and swinging the lightsaber, but it seemed really underwhelming. Its due out next year.

Turbo 10 (or just "10"): I couldn't tell what the title was but this looks like Forza Motorsports with Kinect thrown in. All it really did was show how a controller is probably easier for games like this. I mean, you actually have to walk around and do specific motions just check out your car, when you do it a few seconds with a controller.

Slimer X-Box 360: So the conference ended with a pretty big shocker, not the redesign of the console itself, but the fact that its available right now (though I kinda saw it coming when they playfully asked when we thought it was going to be released.) Other than that it comes with a 250GB HDD, built-in Wi-Fi, a shiny new coat of glossy black paint. Also everyone that attended the conference got one for free in what felt like an homage to Oprah's "free car" moment. It was a nice way to end the conference.

So yeah, this was probably the worst year for Microsoft...ever...

Milk

Milk is a bit outside the normal range of films that I tend to gravitate towards but its subject matter, strong casting and it's best picture nomination of 2008 was enough to make me give it a shot. Despite being a film from two years ago its still quite relevant, with the Proposition 8 battle that's very reminiscent of Proposition 6 in the film. We still aren't where we should be with gay rights, but thanks to the work of people like Harvey Milk, it's only a matter of time.The movie tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to "major public office". This isn't a biopic about his whole life so much as just the important part, the decade in which he began to make a difference in his community.

The film mixes scenes with the actors and real footage from the time effectively, grounding it in the period. It took me some time to get into it, but I ended up being riveted by the performances and the story. Sean Penn is pretty brilliant as the titular character, Franco and Hirsch were both good, and Josh Brolin seemed perfect in the role. I'm not sure where he came from but he's got a nice career going. The climactic scene is completely brilliant. The film makes no secret of the fact that Harvey and the Mayor are both assassinated, but the way it all comes together is about as well as you can do it in cinema. Every single shot has a purpose, and the sense of dread as you realize what is happening is palpable. The whole movie makes really good use of reflections at times of importance, and you can tell when something's going down just from how it's filmed. As both a film and political message, Gus Van Sant created a real triumph.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

For the first time, Nintendo has released two 3D Mario platformers on the same console and like most people I couldn't be happier. I really could just repost my blog about the first Mario Galaxy, as for all intents and purposes, this is the same game with a few additions. This is largely way I wasn't too thrilled about the prospects of a Galaxy sequel when it was announced at E3 last year. But the fact that my only really complaint is that its more of the same is really a petty gripe when that "more of the same" is some of the best gameplay of this console generation.

Much like the first game, the level design in Super Mario Galaxy 2 is unparalleled and, ultimately, the real heart of the whole experience. From the familiarity of spontaneously shifting gravity and bounding across miniature planets to newer takes on the classic haunted mansion and drills that allows Mario to go through planets, Super Mario Galaxy 2 keeps the most memorable level varieties from the first title and combines them with some fresh ideas. Despite sometimes having to combine patience with split second timing, the level design remains extremely intuitive, rarely leaving you guessing where to go next. One of my only complaints with the first Super Mario Galaxy was the lack of difficulty. The whole experience was rich and rewarding, but it was hardly a challenge. While doing the bare minimum to save Peach and finish the game in Galaxy 2 is only a tad more difficult, going for full 100% completion of 242 stars can actually put you to the test from time to time. The final star in particular may be the hardest thing the franchise has presented in years.

The biggest (and my favorite) addition to the game is that of Yoshi. My favorite game character shows up immediately on the first level is loads of fun as you get to devour enemies and use power-ups such as speed-inducing peppers and blueberries that turn him into a blimp. I have to give the developers credit as they give Yoshi far more to do, and by that logic, far more respect than they did in New Super Mario Bros Wii. While Mario’s bee and spring power-ups return, There's some new tricks in the form of Cloud and Rock Mario and succeed in their role to aid in the solutions to platforming puzzles that are fun, challenging, but never hinder the momentum of the game.

Something I really adored about this game was all shout outs and references to previous Mario games. Some familiar foes return from the first game, along with some older baddies from the rogue’s gallery and treat to see a lot of them make the transition to 3D for the first time (like the Hammer Bros.). There were plenty of nerd-out moments for me as noticed things like the laser statues from Mario 3, or the fact that first the Yoshi level looks like something straight out of Mario World (the game in which he made his debut). While New Super Mario Bros Wii used nostalgia as a shield and was basically the whole experience, Galaxy 2 uses it to enhance the game and present those old memories in new fashion. The only thing that keeps this game from being better than first for me is simply the fact that as a sequel, it doesn't wow and impress as much the original did. So yeah, I like the first game a little better, but its follow is pretty close. Its still easily one of the best games of the year.

Family Guy - Season 8

With its eighth season, not only has Family Guy aired double the amount of episodes it aired before it was initially canceled, but it also reached it's 150th episode. I noticed that quite a few animated shows that I watch reached some kind of milestone episode this year: South Park reached 200, Simpsons reached 450, Aqua Teen made it to 100, and now this show has 150 under its belt. At this point the show has gone full on insane, trying everything in its power to show that there's still life in this show and that they haven't run out of ideas. This tactic actually works as this may be the strongest season since the 4th, when the show originally returned to television. They finally reduced their reliance on cutaway jokes and started to focus more on telling weird stories.

The season started off really strong with their traditional "Road To" episode that had involved traveling through a bunch of parallel universes. Its may well be the best episode of the show in years. The episodes only get more bizarre from there and I really liked that started to get the other characters more involved in the plotlines as opposed to using them solely for a quick joke. The 150th episode is one of the more notable episodes as its a completely character driven show that has Brian and Stewie trapped in a bank vault, and mostly focused on their unique relationship. It was surprisingly dramatic and while not entirely entertaining, I'd say it was one of the better efforts the show has ever put out. I don't know how much longer the show is gonna gone on, though Seth MacFarlane had stated that he has expressed ending the show after at least 2 more seasons, but we'll see if the promise of more money doesn't change that.

The Cleveland Show - Season 1

This show confuses me. For one thing, does Seth MacFarlane really need an hour and a half of television every Sunday night? I mean, I could see this show appearing if Family Guy or American Dad were finished, but to have three series in production at the same time seems to be overkill. Second, I can understand why Cleveland was chosen to have a spin-off, he's was (depending on who you ask) the most developed of Peter Griffin's entourage and would have the most to gain from having his own show...but why has his personality become so negative? They basically completely changed his personality to make him having his own show work and that may be one of the bigger faults for the show. He was the sanest member of Peter's group and was a likable supporting character, but here they keep trying to play up the idea that he's a horrible person and it just doesn't feel right. This personality swap became more apparent when in an latter Family Guy episode, Peter and the gang pop up at Cleveland's house and Cleveland acts more like his old likable self.

The best thing I can say about The Cleveland Show is that its at least better than what the promos made it out to be. The show is decent but while Family Guy and American Dad specialize in bizarre story lines, Cleveland is just a straight up sitcom with harsh jokes thrown around every couple of seconds. The only real standout moment from the season was a rap battle between Cleveland Jr. and a rapper played by Kanye West. Sure, there were funny jokes here and there, but nothing I can remember off the top of my head. There's room for improvement and I assume that the show did as well as the other Seth MacFarlane-produced shows. I guess I'll see what they can do with their second season.

The Simpsons - Season 21

Yep, The Simpsons are still doing their usual thing every Sunday night. And as usual I'm there to watch it when there isn't anything better on. The 21st season is ,of course, just more of the same. While it's a no brainier that the season is no where near as good as the show's early runs, I'd have to say overall this was one of the shows slightly stronger years. Some of better episodes this year saw Bart getting his teacher fired and getting a younger, more modern teacher as a replacement, Marge entering the Ultimate Punch Kick and Choke Championships in an attempt to get it to end, and Homer wins a million dollars through the lottery but can't tell Marge because he ditched her at a wedding reception to get the ticket. The strongest episodes appeared at the end of the season, among which, was an admittedly touching episode where Lisa tries to save a beached whale and a Sideshow Bob episode that was a huge improvement over the last episode to feature my favorite villain (which was over 2 years ago, I need more Sideshow Bob, please...). Sadly, the season ends on a pretty weak American Idol parody that continues the shows tradition of wasting their celebrity guests. Oh well, the show's neither purely hilarious nor incredibly terrible at this point. It's just middle of the road, but it has just enough going for it that its never too much trouble to check out what the Simpsons are up to.

Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

I’ll get this out of the way quickly, Sonic Unleashed is not a return to form for the series. Neither is it an awful game. It’s a decently made game, built on poor ideas, lingering annoyingly between good and bad in the ‘average’ department. Now, when you consider the pile of garbage that the last main Sonic game, 2006's "Sonic the Hedgehog" was, this is nothing but a good thing. It’s clear to see when hearing about the Hedgehog Engine, or how Sonic Team spent months designing Sonic stages that cover hundreds of virtual miles that Sonic Team haven’t lazed about this time. They definitely needed to prove after Sonic 2006 that they can create a well-produced, non-glitchy game and on that note, they succeeded. As well produced as Sonic Unleashed is, however, it can’t escape the fact that it’s concept, ideas and design are flawed. The game begins with an astoundingly beautiful opening cinematic in which Sonic and Dr. Robotnik are busy having their final showdown. As Sonic corners the Eggman and is about to bring him down, it turns out that the whole thing was a scam by the good doctor, who traps Sonic, corrupts the Chaos Emeralds, turns him into a werewolf and wakes up yet another Sonic Team-created Final Fantasy monster, Dark Gaia. It's as absurd as any other recent Sonic plot, but the difference here is that it never takes itself too seriously, using some childish slapstick and a more cartoon-like approach overall. While not exactly engaging, I enjoyed it...kinda. The new sidekick, Chip, is pretty likable even though his singular gimmick of perpetual hunger gets grating after a while.

Gameplay is roughly split in two halves, with Sonic the Hedgehog performing speed runs through daylight stages, and Sonic the Werehog tackling Gaia monsters in a platform brawler style at night. The Sonic levels are similar to most Sonic games. Sonic will smash through enemies, jump from rail to rail, home in on airborne enemies to cross chasms. It's all somewhat enjoyable once you get used to it. Smashing the square button to ram Sonic through a pile of enemies was a real rush, and being able to drift properly (when I was actually able to do it without dying) is a great accomplishment. However, irony rears its head as Sonic actually runs too damn fast sometimes and as a result, you’re not able to see obstacles and bottomless pits in time to react, unless of course, you know it’s there in the first place. It doesn't help that the levels suffer from poor design choices that hold the speed stages back (and get progressively worse as the game goes on).

The controls were not designed for intricate platforming, and the piss-poor design of some of the stages doesn't help matters. In fact, just after checkpoints one of the more broken levels (Spagonia's Rooftop Run Act II), you are given an extra life that appears every time you restart. The very fact that Sonic Team had to put that life in indicates that they knew how broken the stage was. Covering your own ass like that doesn't make up for the fact that the whole level is shattered in terms of design. Yet the game is able to make up for itself with such stages at Rooftop Run Act I, which is, to be honest, beyond breathtaking. There are moments in Sonic Unleashed where I felt absolutely magnificent, and as Sonic hits 300 in-game miles-per-hour, blasting through stages, leaping from spring to spring and running along walls, I found it hard to stay mad at the game. Until, of course, yet another broken section rears its ugly head.

As for the Werehog, he actually isn't too bad. Like Sonic's gameplay, The Werehog's game is also roughly split between enjoyment and hatred. At its core, the nighttime stages make for some simple but pleasant brawling, with Sonic able to pull off some great moves. However, the Prince of Persia like acrobatics simply don't work. The controls aren't responsive enough for these platforming sections, and I often found myself falling to your death thanks to sluggish movement, poor camera angles, or both. More often than not thought, the Werehog stages work pretty well as a brawler. The Werehog has access to some powerful and impressive moves, and also has an "Unleash" meter which, when filled, gives him a little extra edge in battle. It's certainly not as much fun as something like Devil May Cry, but it's fundamentally solid action.

I think I covered everything I wanted to. I had a lot of complaints but I was hoping not to sound like I completely hated the game. Odd mistakes and ignorant design choices have dashed this game's hopes of being anything more than a decent outing at best. By all means, I'd say play this game just to experience the high points, as they are worth experiencing. But this is one of the most Bipolar games I've played in recent memory.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Season 7

Rewatching the Aqua Teen Movie got me interested in regularly watching the series again, something I have haven't done since season 5. I guess I picked a good season to jump back in as it's in this season that the Aqua Teens reach their 100th episode, and it's a pretty good run of episodes for something so late in the series lifespan. The best way to describe this season is really weird. The show has always been pretty damn freaky, but I guess the show's been stepping up the weirdness angle by a ton since I stopped watching. For the most part I have to say that this tactic was a bit hit and miss. The season actually began last year with a somewhat mediocre one-off Christmas episode where a Master Shake decides to cut a rap album and the season resumed in February with a run of decent episodes. The first episode "Rabbot Redux" had a lot of homages to the first episode ever, and at first, I couldn't tell if this was a reboot for the series or just another screwy premise.

Other episodes had the teens visit an island of creepy looking birds to use their eggs for a pinball machine, Carl finding out what his life would have been like if he had a head full of hair, and the guys trying to keep their hands on a giant hamburger until long after it is no longer edible. The 100th episode finale has the teens realize that due to the show's short running time they're only halfway to the hundred half-hour qualification for syndication and then somehow get lost in a Scooby Doo parody. It wasn't too bad of an episode, but I personally think the aforementioned "Rabbot Redux" would have been a better choice for the 100th show, what with its string of fan references. I don't how much longer the show can last at this point, but there's at least one more movie coming anyway. But I guess for now I'll have to go back and watch the other seasons I missed.

Dexter - Season 2

The second season of Dexter just barely fails to reach the quality of the first, what with all of the revelations and such, but they still manage to weave a web of interesting characters and surprising twists. Sadly, I first started watching this show at the end of this season, so I kinda robbed myself of all the extremely intense moments that pop up over the season. While season one's plot seemed like something that would appear later in a series, season two's story seems like it could work as a final story arc. Season two sees another huge serial killer gaining attention in Miami, but this time it's Dexter himself. His graveyard of victims underwater gets discovered by accident, and he has to do everything he can to keep himself in the clear.

There's plenty of other subplots, like Dexter faking a heroin addiction to cover up his true secret and Deb trying to come out of her shell after what happened last season, and most of the supporting cast's roles are expanded and developed a bit. Whereas I found Angel and La Guerta to be pretty non-essential obstacles the first time, much more is shown about their true character, and they actually become somewhat sympathetic. The sole exception is Doakes. His actions rapidly cross the line into being just ridiculous. We're meant to believe that he has, quite literally, been following Dexter every single night for weeks now. Really? He's been portrayed as a smart cop in the past, but Doakes' "investigation" around Dexter is just silly. And his smug, hardass attitude doesn't make him any more bearable. Doakes being so suspicious of Dexter was a compelling idea and it definitely reaches an exciting climax, but its execution needed a bit more work. Kinda went off on a tangent there.

The show's still really about Dexter, and he's still a really great character, funny and resourceful as he has a major identity crisis and learns more about his past. I thought the background stuff revealed near the end of the first run came a little early in the series, saying too much too soon. But they proved that there's still plenty about the character we don't know. I also like how Dexter has to spend a good bulk the season playing defense and trying to manipulate the current crisis. I didn't care too much for the relationship drama Dexter endures, but Lila was a unique, interesting character that resulted from it. I also didn't care that the resolution to the story arc resulted more from him being lucky than smart, but that's not enough to distract from an otherwise excellent season and the first time I saw this it certainly made me interested to see what happens next.

Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful

Something More Beautiful is basically the sequal series/ second season of Mahoromatic. What we have is basically Mahoromatic with more odd characters, more dirty fantasies from the ever-insane Ms. Shikijou and ever more dramatic storylines with comedy sprinkled all over the place. No big surprises there. The animation quality is just about the same as the first season, so I don't think I really need to say anything more about that. The music in the show is also the same, down to the style of the opening theme and ending theme, except that I liked the season 2 opening tune a lot better, and I really don't like the ending theme to this series at all.

The new character, Minawa, isn't the most interesting of characters. She's just too quiet and soft-spoken and has that typical clumsiness that goes with personalities like that, although I will admit that the sheer amount of mayhem her clumsiness results in are rather amusing at times. I'm happier to see that Ryuga is still around, though, having decided to keep his job as a teacher at the school Suguru attend. As the leading representative of the alien organization Saints, his interactions with Mahoro and her panther sidekick Slash amuse me to no end.

To put it shortly, what's here is pretty much the same stuff going on as what went on in season 1, with this new, mysterious human organization taking over where the Saints left off to keep the suspense at the same level. The comedy is pretty much about the same things, but with Minawa's clumsy actions thrown in. The ecchi levels are about the same, lots of boob-shots and nudity of the not-quite-full-frontal variety. However, the ending really threw me for a loop when it arrived. I won't spoil it for you, but I suggest you brace yourself, because it was really jarring and I certainly didn't see it coming. I'm not saying it is bad, but there might be people who won't appreciate it.

Scooby Doo on Zombie Island

Scooby-Doo has had an…interesting lifespan. It started out strong in 1969 with Scooby Doo, Where are you? and continued with through the 80s with a string of shows that got progressively worse as it went along. Then, in 1998, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island came along. And thanks to it being absolutely awesome, the Scooby Doo franchise was revived. The movie takes place several years after the Mystery Inc. gang have gone their separate ways. Now a popular TV show host, Daphne, and her cameraman, Fred, are suddenly feeling nostalgic. They gather their scattered pals, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo, and set forth on a roadtrip for a new segment in Daphne’s show. They’re out to find real ghosts. Their journey eventually leads them to New Orleans, where they learn of a mysterious haunted house on secluded Moon Scar Island. The gang investigates the island and discover many strange happenings. Then zombies burst out of the ground...

The movie takes the franchise in a noticeably darker direction than previous Scooby cartoons. Indeed, this movie seems to have aged with the audience, if you can believe that. The zombies are gruesome and, well, actually kind of scary for something supposedly aimed at little kids. The origin behind the zombies is particularly dark and violent, involving lots of brutal deaths (all shown off-screen, of course). Future Scooby Doo animated movies would “lighten up”, and as such, this remains the darkest and most violent story in Scooby Doo history and, in my personal opinion, the greatest thing the series has ever produced. Even if you never liked Scooby Doo, I think you’d be pretty pleased with this movie. It’s very different from most Scooby material before and after it and it's worth a look.

Pokemon: Soul Silver Version

I've had this since it was released back in March and though I haven't played it in while and haven't finished the true final battle as of now (hey, my team has to be at least at level 80 for that), I've done enough to form an opinion of it. Soul Silver is a remake of the Gold and Silver games released on the Game Boy Color about a decade ago. They're exactly the same as any other Pokemon game: catch some pokemon, battle some pokemon, battle an evil organization, defeat the gym leaders, and take on the league champion. The only thing Soul Silver (and it's original versions) did that no other entry in the series has yet to do was allow you to revisit the location from previous game: in this case Kanto from Pokemon Red and Blue. It's a cool feature that I wish the other games would have utilized. Visiting and battling characters from the previous games and seeing how that world has changed since then added a level of nostalgia and continuity that the newer games sorely lack. Other than that, the only other new things added to this game was some poke'walker toy that I never bothered to use. This is pretty much the strongest game in the series. It managed to take what made the series addictive and squeeze it for all it was worth. There's no doubt that the series had run it course as this is still the same damn game we've been playing for roughly 12 years. There's already a new game on the way that promises to reinvent the series, but we'll just have to wait and see if they can deliver on that statement.

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind is an odd uneven film, but I kinda like it. This movie, despite what one might assume based on the actors, trailer, and plot summary, is not all that funny. There were multiple points (mostly towards the end) at which I thought, “I think this would be more interesting if it was actually funny". Clearly, I’m somewhat conflicted as I said that I kinda liked it. The movie runs through a lot of issues — gangs, poverty, ambition, copyright law vs transformative use, business morals, generational differences, stereotypes… I’m not kidding, it’s all in there, and the movie is billed as a comedy. I’m guessing that’s because to distract from all those issues, Jack Black wanders across the screen from time to time dressed in a tinfoil suit...it actually is pretty distracting. The plot finds a New Jersey man caught in a freak power plant accident and becomes magnetized and unwittingly erasing every tape in his friend's neighborhood video store, then they record over the tapes with condensed, low-tech reenacted versions of the movies and those start to become popular.

The idea of people remaking well known movies and renting them out is a fantastic idea andin this film the movie is at its best when they are doing just that. Jerry and Mike use fast talking, ingenuity and imagination to recreate some well known classics and it is an absolute pleasure watching them do so. They use props and costumes that they assemble made from junk that anyone could gather for themselves. The downside is that the story that held all of this together is quite weak. A lot of time is spent on the myth of a local Jazz Legend that really takes focus away from the story and adds an unnecessary mythos to the plot, mainly towards the latter end of the movie and its also why the movie isn't that funny. Mr. Fletcher , the owner of the store, is absent for much of the film, and to be honest his character adds nothing to the story. Like I said, I enjoyed this film, but it certainly had problems with its story. I would recommend this film because the cool parts are worth checking out and although I wasn’t busting a gut laughing – I did enjoy myself.