The TV and Film Guy's Reviews

Better Off Ted Makes Tuesdays... Better

2009-12-23T14:20:00.001-08:00

Last week I argued that Scrubs had not so much hit a speed bump as gone completely off the rails. Not only is that wholly unfortunate for Scrubs and our memories of that great series, it is also hurting the show that comes after it, Better Off Ted. Most people don't watch Better Off Ted, but more people should, and with Scrubs as a lead-in they probably won't.

I'm not going to go and call Better Off Ted pure genius, but I will make some sort of overly cute statement about us all being better off for it — it's funny, and funny is good. It's not your sort of typical 'Mike messes up and Jason and Maggie create a punishment that Mike creatively gets around' funny, it's more funny in fits and spurts and much of the funny comes from the dialogue. Consequently, it's not really one of those shows you can watch while doing 12 or 13 other things (but then, if you watch, you probably already know you don't want to watch while doing 12 or 13 other things).

Shall I provide a couple of examples? Excellent.

How about Veronica (Portia de Rossi) to Ted (Jay Harrington) last night: "You should jump on that Ted, before the crazy outweighs the hot." Veronica was, in her no-nonsense and utterly weird fashion discussing Linda (Andrea Anders), who is, in fact, a crazy but attractive underling of Ted's. A lot of the reason the line works (or worked last night) is not just the truth in the statement, but the fact that Portia de Rossi is able to say such things in an incredibly deadpan, totally serious fashion. Plus, the statement is the exact sort of thing you're not supposed to say – at least in that way – even if it is true.

Veronica would actually go on last night to tell a story to Linda about how, as a child, Veronica was worried that her younger sister would overtake her so she gave her sister some injections which not only caused the poor girl to get awfully hairy but also get kicked off the gymnastics team for doping. Where Scrubs would have given us a look at hairy sister getting booted from the gymnastics team for doping (and Scrubs could have absolutely made that work), Better Off Ted just had the story recited and then moved on. The show doesn't highlight or draw attention to such things, they just deliver the joke and keep going.

The show doesn't only work verbally either, they do actually work in sight gags as well. Last night one of the scientists, Lem (Malcolm Barrrett), was showing his mother about a new type of popcorn he was developing – one which pops due to the heat from your mouth. Lem tossed a bunch of kernels in his mouth and then (in another shot) began to spew a whole lot of popped popcorn out of his mouth. It kept going longer than one would have thought possible, and they somehow made it almost believable that the kernels he had eaten did in fact pop.

Every week that I sit and watch Better Off Ted, I do so knowing full well that when I see the ratings the next day I'm going to be depressed. And yes, it does appear as though the comedy is soon to see its last days, but I watch and laugh anyway. Why? Because it's funny, and that's really enough.

Top Gear Ventures to the North Pole

2009-12-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of July of 2007, the folks in England got a real treat – the Top Gear Polar Special. That's right, for those who don't know, someone thought it was okay to send Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond to the North Pole. Actually, that's not accurate, no one sent them there; it was worse than that. Someone made the three men get to the Pole on their own (but with a little help). Here in the States we finally got to see this bit of brilliance last night.

It was, in short, the best of times and the worst of times. What the guys were doing was obviously terribly dangerous – as they pointed out several times, there was the real possibility of death. Sure, they were going in the summer, but it's still awfully cold in the Arctic during the summer. However, if something truly terrible had happened to anyone one of them we would have known about it long before. Top Gear episodes filmed well after this one have already aired here, and not only have all three men been in those episodes, but they've been in them with all their appendages intact. On the other hand, watching the men struggle to reach the Pole was absolutely brilliant.

Two thoughts really struck me going into the episode – first, it's something of a miracle that these guys don't kill themselves on a regular basis going around the track in England; sending them to the North Pole where things are even more dangerous was almost asking for trouble. Second, some of the series' best episodes are those in which the guys get travel – anywhere. They just have to go somewhere (the Botswana trip instantly comes to mind as being the best of these).

The episode certainly did not disappoint. It was utterly fantastic. I'm not sure I really buy the excuse they gave for the show doing the trip: a race between dogsled and a car — a car that would be the first to ever make it to the Pole – but what ended up on tape was enough to make any excuse enough. Clarkson and May went by a modified Toyota Hilux and Hammond went by dogsled (with an experienced person along to help). I won't ruin the ending of the race (even if it has aired already in much of the world), but that's not really where the fun was. No, the fun was in watching these men battle the elements and each other.

I'm not at all sure that the episode would wholly work if one wasn't already invested in Clarkson, Hammond, and May or the series in general. For those who are invested though, watching the men give it their all to actually do something wondrous (and going to the Pole is wondrous no matter how you travel) was an exceedingly fun time. The journey, even in a car, wasn't an easy one. There was much chopping away at snow and ice in what had to be insanely cold temperatures. The guys did get some cold weather training in advance, but they didn't take it all too seriously (as one would expect).

And that, their not taking it seriously, does bring up an issue or two I had with the episode – issues that take all the fun and excitement out of the whole thing (for which I'm sorry). I just feel as though there should have been a behind-the-scenes reality to what was happening that we didn't entirely get last night. For instance, although the men goofed around repeatedly during the cold weather training, I have to believe that if they hadn't met certain requirements the producers (or the insurance companies) never would have allowed the guys to go on the actual trip. Then, Clarkson and May commented that they were running on "fumes" as they were approaching the Pole. If they were nearly out of gas upon their arrival at the Pole, how did they get home? Yes, there were two other cars travelling with them, but if those cars had tons of extra gas (as I assume they did), Clarkson and May were never in dire straights. They may have lost some time due to the need to fill up, but there was never really a worry about them getting stranded.

Okay, complaining finished. Those quibbles do hurt the reality behind the show, behind the reality of the show itself was that these guys – even if there was behind the scenes help did do something impressive, and they did it in Top Gear-style.

I just can't wait to see what they do next.

There is a (Karaoke) Revolution Coming

2009-12-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

With some games, as soon as you turn them on you just know they're going to be awesome. There's something about the splash screen or the music or the introduction that just hits you and makes you aware that you're about to be in for a whole lot of fun. When I first loaded Karaoke Revolution, my Nintendo Wii crashed. It sat there, pretended as though it were loading something (but with no progress bar), and after 10 minutes of watching the same hints/tricks/info about the game pop up over and over again I shut the Wii off. Upon rebooting, I was in fact, finally, able to access the game… and with virtually no load time.

The first stop in Karaoke Revolution is creating one's own personal character (because what fun would the game be if you didn't create a character to pretend was you), and things didn't get any better there. The menus in the game are a mess. It is difficult to find the options you're looking for and things don't act as you think they should – as a normal person would suggest they ought to be. In starting to create my avatar I opted to do the face and body before the clothes – that way I'd get a better idea of what I would look like in the outfits.

Accessing the menu to alter one's face and body, I opted to start with my hair as the short yellow hair completely threw me off, but oddly their was no way to change either hair length or color (eyebrows were changeable there however). Weird, but I pressed on, creating a very cartoony version of myself – with short yellow hair. Next up was the outfit menu, and there I found the option to change hair. Very weird. I then opted to change the hair color to a more appropriate brown, and with that done went to change the hairstyle, and doing that reset the hair color – style has to be chosen before color can be (something to do with rockers wanting funky hair cuts and odd colors, I gather). However, with facial hair, color can be chosen wholly independently of style.

In short, after first causing my Wii to crash, once I was able to access the game itself I was in no way more impressed. Karaoke Revolution just doesn't have the feel of a well-organized, well-structured, well-presented game.

While playing the game didn't change the above opinion, Karaoke Revolution – and the 50 songs it contains – did prove to be incredibly fun and almost entirely made up for the early deficits of the game. It plays out much like one would expect – plug in the included microphone (which one certainly wishes was wireless, but wireless is only available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions); choose a mode, Career and Party being the ones you'll most frequently choose from; if playing in Party mode select the various options you want to employ (if you can find them in the menus); and sing until your throat gets sore.

As with singing/rhythm games, the closer you perform a song to the way it ought to be performed, the more points you score and, in career mode, the more stuff you unlock. There is no maximum score multiplier, so if you hit the right notes throughout in a long song, scores can go exceedingly high.

The graphics, as stated above, remain cartoony throughout – cartoony being the default Wii graphical choice as it allows for an overly broad, none-too-detailed approach. Additionally, you'll find that your avatar doesn't always mimic your singing (or the song as it should be sung) quite as well as it should. The lips often seem slightly out of time, and the dancing is stiff. The audio is good, and background and lead singer volumes can be adjusted independently and in the middle of a song.

Karaoke Revolution has a lot of good things going for it – there are tons of venues (which are customizable) to choose from, lots of ways to alter matches between two people, acceptably customizable avatars, and 50 songs (and on the PS3 and Xbox 360 version one can download 200 songs from earlier installments in the franchise). It is, however, badly laid out with none-too-pretty menus. Additionally, it should be noted that it is almost essential to go out and purchase a second microphone so that two players can perform at once.

The long-running franchise has probably done the right thing by dropping the American Idol theme from the game, but still seems to have some kinks to work out before it's really ready for the spotlight.

Karaoke Revolution is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Crude Humor, Lyrics, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol. This game can also be found on: PS3 and Xbox 360.

three stars out of five

Doctor Who Deftly Avoids "The Waters of Mars"

2009-12-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

When the previous Doctor Who special, "Planet of the Dead," aired, this reviewer suggested that it was a perfectly fine episode of Doctor Who, but that it wasn't particularly special, and that with so much build-up for so long heading into these specials, we really needed something more from them. I am pleased to say that the latest Who entry, "The Waters of Mars," which airs this weekend on BBC America more than delivers — it goes somewhere beyond special and into the realm of utterly fantastic.

One of the great things about Doctor Who is the series' ability to be anything on any given week – it all depends on where and when the Doctor (David Tennant) finds himself. The show can go from being light comedy to philosophical to pure science fiction to horror from one week to the next. "The Waters of Mars" starts out in the well worn space horror genre (remember, in space, no one can hear you scream). The Doctor finds himself on Mars in the mid-21st century just as Earth's first permanent colony there, Bowie Base One, is about to suffer a catastrophic issue. An alien entity living in the water (hence the title) takes over one scientist early on in the episode and, as evil alien entities do, slowly tries to pick off the crew one by one.

This time out, the Doctor actually knows exactly what is going to happen. The events at Bowie Base One, he tells us and the Captain, Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan), are famous in the future and that the events on Mars are wholly unchangeable. And at that point the episode turns into more than sci-fi horror. It becomes a fascinating look at moral and philosophical issues, a pondering of greater questions.

For those not versed in current Doctor Who lore, this question of a changeable versus an unchangeable event is an important one. Some events are "time locked" (though it is not clear if all unchangeable events are time locked or if time locked is a special designation for certain unchangeable events). The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords (sort of, but that's neither here nor there for this special, but it will be for the next one). The rest of his race was wiped out in a massive battle with the Daleks, a battle that occurred sometime between the end of the original Doctor Who series and the start of this new one. It is a lonely place for the Doctor to be and when he has been asked why, if he can travel in time, hasn't he gone back to those events and saved his people, he has explained that the Time War (as it is known) is time locked – the events are unalterable. Except, of course, that they're not because they have on occasion been altered, but not by the Doctor. The Doctor has steadfastly insisted that some events happen, that no matter what, they happen. To try to stop them is either wholly impossible in general or will cause a paradox and quite possibly the destruction of the universe – that's not a good thing.

Stepping back from Whoniverse lore, and back to this episode, here the audience gets to see what happens when the Doctor comes face to face with an unchangeable event. It is an interesting question and explored here in great fashion (though telling you how would significantly hurt your enjoyment of the episode).

"The Waters of Mars" features a good performance by Lindsay Duncan as the gruff Brooke, as well as solid outings by the actors whose characters comprise the Bowie Base One crew. Tennant delivers another outstanding performance which makes one both incredibly excited at the prospect of the next two Doctor Who specials ("The End of Time" parts one and two) airing, and incredibly sad as they will be Tennant's last trips in the TARDIS.

For now though, with "The Waters of Mars," we have been given exactly what a Doctor Who special should be. It functions beautifully as a sci-fi horror genre piece and manages to expand beyond those confines into loftier issues without ever losing the core thread.

Doctor Who – "The Waters of Mars" airs at 9:00pm on BBC America, December 19.

It's Good to be the King (and Great to Watch him on Blu-ray)

2009-12-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

It's good to be the king, and for years, Mel Brooks has been one of the kings of the moving picture. Though he hasn't directed that many films, 11 in total, his influence on the field of comedy has been immense. Just in time for Christmas, but oddly halfway through Hannukah, eight Brooks-directed films and one Brooks-starrer are hitting Blu-ray in a single set.

The Mel Brooks Collection features The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, Silent Movie, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, History of the World: Part One, and To Be or Not To Be (1983, this last is the non-Brooks directed movie). It also, as one might surmise, features some of the funniest filmic moments of the past 40 years. Though he has perhaps not won as many awards as others, via his films Mel Brooks has created some of the most memorable characters to grace the silver screen as well as innumerable classic film moments. Two of the best known films in this set, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, both appear in the top 15 of AFI's list of the 100 funniest movies (and 1968's The Producers, not included in this set, is also in the top 15).

With a set like this, however, everyone will have their own personal favorite film. Some will say that Blazing Saddles, and its lampooning of racism and Westerns is the funniest of the pieces. The film stars Cleavon Little as the new – and black – sheriff as well as Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Brooks himself. The film is full of incredibly memorable scenes like Mongo's punching a horse. There is, perhaps, a minimal amount of plot to the film, but it still manages to be an almost continuous series of laughs.

Others will prefer the other Wilder film in the set, Young Frankenstein. Filmed in black and white, it manages to lampoon more than one Frankenstein film and the Universal monster movies in general. From beginning to end, the film is a perfect send-up, and completely hysterical.

When Brooks' films are at their best, as one may have already surmised, they do more than just make cheap jokes, they make cheap jokes and beautifully mimic – or perhaps mock – both history and styles of filmmaking. A film like Silent Movie, with the exception of one word of a dialogue is, actually, a silent movie. And, the one word in Silent Movie is uttered by Marcel Marceau. The idea of making a big budget silent film in the last quarter of the 20th Century (or the beginning of the 21st) may seem like the sort of thing that Hollywood would never accept, and yet not only did Brooks make an hysterical film, he got Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft, and James Caan to do cameos.

This reviewer's personal favorite of the included films is High Anxiety in which Brooks plays off of one famous Hitchcock moment after another. The film also manages to create a plausible Hitchock MacGuffin of a story on which to hang the jokes. History of the World – Part One, with its Spanish Inquisition song ranks a close second.

Certainly less good – but far from bad – are Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The films both feature big stars in the cast and several laugh-out-loud moments, but still feel more one-note than the other films.

Outside of Brooks and some of the other stars he used over and over again (Harvey Korman & Dom DeLuise to name two) appearing in more than one film, another commonality is the inclusion of a musical number. Even when the screenplays are not the greatest, like in Robin Hood, the musical numbers and through them Brooks' talent shines through. It is impossible to watch the Spanish Inquisition song in History of the World and not laugh.

The technical aspects of the release are a mixed bag. Some of the films have been previously available on Blu-ray, and these films tend to look far less good than the others. Particularly disappointing is what many will consider the funniest of the films, Blazing Saddles. Within certain scenes in the film the coloring and clarity of the differing shots don't match, and the differing looks within a single scene is hugely disconcerting. None of the films look great, dirt and scratches appear in the majority of the older films, but it is only Blazing Saddles which one will feel should have gotten better treatment. In terms of audio, each films contains a DTS-HD Master Audio track. These tracks are free from defect and sound particularly good when music plays. , but older comedies are not the best place to show off your entertainment system to begin with.

The on-disc extras that accompany the set are not terribly special. There are commentary tracks on Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, & Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The majority of the films – though not Twelve Chairs – contain some sort of behind-the-scenes documentary/discussion. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein both contain deleted scenes, and Saddles also has the TV pilot for Black Bart, a spin-off of the film. Trivia tracks can also be found on Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the Word – Part One, and To Be or Not to Be.

The highlight of the set in terms of extras is the nearly 120-page hardcover book that accompanies it. Part biography, part filmography, the book is wholly engrossing It is not all-encompassing book, but the tour it gives of Mel's life and work and the stills that accompany it is something no fan of Brooks or comedy will be able to put down.

If you happen to still be looking for that perfect holiday gift for someone who loves comedy, look no further than the Mel Brooks Collection. It is a little disappointing that The Producers is not included, but even without that film, the set is a great one.

Poor, Poor Scrubs, and Poor us for Watching

2009-12-16T11:05:00.001-08:00

Let it be said up front that it hurts me to write this piece. I remember very distinctly the first time I saw Scrubs. I know exactly where I was, I know exactly whom I was sitting with. I can almost remember what I was wearing. Through the years, even if it was never a massive ratings success, it's a show that I've cared for, that has always been there. It wasn't always treated well by NBC. It now hasn't always been treated well by ABC. All of that is true. All of that hurts me as the show has a special place in my heart. What hurts me more though is the fact that the show is now not treating us well.

Or, to put it more succinctly, what exactly are they thinking doing this season at all? What are they thinking doing this season like this? Why couldn't they have left great alone? Why couldn't they have left well enough alone? Why couldn't they have left my good feelings and memories intact? Why did they have to come back with this new, still-called-Scrubs-but-isn't-really-Scrubs season?

I'm going to keep watching the show—it would seem a complete betrayal of the other seasons if I didn't—but it hurts me a little. I imagine that years down the line perhaps I'll purchase the complete series on DVD (or Blu-ray), and that I'll quickly pull this season and any which may follow out of the set and pretend as though they never existed. The show has simply stayed too long at the party.

In case you're not watching, JD left Sacred Heart Hospital at the end of last year. Magically though he's back at Sacred Heart this year, except that it's not the Sacred Heart we've come to know and love. No, this year Sacred Heart has been rebuilt and JD has returned to be a professor – except, of course, if you've been paying attention to the press releases (and if you haven't… SPOILER), Zach Braff isn't going to be on all season. In fact, in next week's episode he gets ready to say goodbye… again.

The entire show has shifted focus from doctors to medical students. They've changed the way they title episodes (they used to almost always start with "My" and now start with "Our") and lost a lot of the original cast members. It is, in short, a different show. Watch the opening credits, after the Scrubs title flashes off of the x-ray it even say "Med School" down at the bottom. Let me say it again: it is a wholly different show.

The basic problem with these massive changes is that even if the new show was funny—and I'm not at all sure that it is—it seems so much less funny because it's trading on Scrubs' former glory. It is currently taking all those great memories I have of the series and wiping them from my brain (I hope only temporarily).

This new series really only seems funny when it focuses on the old characters, every new character they've come up with is incredibly grating. The show has always been built on odd characters, but not annoying ones. With the med students that has all changed; they are all pure caricatures without depth and they are not fun to watch.

What this all amounts to isn't hate, it's love. I love Scrubs. I have loved Scrubs for years. I will always continue to love Scrubs. The show ABC currently has on the air at 9pm on Tuesday night may call itself Scrubs, my TiVo may think it's Scrubs, but make no mistake, it is not Scrubs.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas - A True Holiday Classic

2009-12-15T17:01:00.001-08:00

This year, as with every year, I find myself watching many a Christmas special. I tell you, I could watch Scrooge McDuck get the bejesus scared out of him by Pete as the Ghost of Christmas Future three or four times a year, but sadly these specials only come around once a year. Or, at the very least, one season a year – because goodness knows that they're now shown over and over again every year.

The one that still delights me more than any other though is one I always feel like gets short shrift – 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. I know that I've talked in the past about my great affection for this piece of Bass/Rankin genius, but I don't feel as though I've ever truly given the show its due.

As with many a Christmas special what the producers have done is taken a tale that probably takes around five minutes to tell, or, in this case read, and expanded it to roughly 24 minutes. In the case of something like How the Grinch Stole Christmas it was done by taking the basic premise and more fully exploring each situation. For 'Twas the Night Before Christmas such an approach couldn't really work. Clement C. Moore's poem is absolutely brilliant, but it doesn't necessarily lend itself to an expansion of what is contained within. Consequently, this special is more of a wholly separate story being dropped onto the poem.

The basic story of the animated show is pretty simple – Santa is angry at a town because one mouse, Albert, dared write that Santa was a "fraudulent myth." Santa has decided that the town in question – Junctionville – will not be getting a visit this year. A human clockmaker, Joshua Trundle (voiced by Joel Grey!), figures out how to get Santa to forgive the town – he creates a clock which will sing a song to Santa as he passes overhead on Christmas Eve.

Trundle's plan ought to work, except that Albert breaks the clock. That doesn't happen out of malice, just because Albert is curious. The entire question then in the show – which is told as a flashback – is whether or not the clock has been fixed and if Santa will come to Junctionville.

The special contains a few great songs, including one of my personal favorite Christmas songs ever – "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand." The song that Trundle puts into the clock, "Calling Santa," gets a better position in the story, but "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" puts forth a set of ideas I like better. Sung by Trundle, the song comes forth at a moment when his children are terribly upset by the notion that Santa won't be coming and he tells them as he does what he can to fix the situation, "You hope and I'll hurry/You pray and I'll plan/We'll do what's necessary/Cause even a miracle needs a hand." It's a powerful idea and I think that's why it resonates so well. Trundle is telling his kids that there are two different aspects to making what you want come true – hoping as hard as you can hope and taking constructive action towards accomplishing the goal. For me, it's that song that make the entire special work.

Stylistically, rather than being claymation, Rankin/Bass produced this as more of a traditional animated piece. Stylistically the choice works – while focused on the same holiday, it doesn't feel like part of the same line of stories as Rudolph, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The entire story here may revolve around whether or not Santa is going to come, but Kringle himself is, until the very last moments, an idea who casts a shadow over the proceedings, not a full character. Those other tales have Santa in a much more central location, so the difference doesn't make it feel as though they've changed their intrinsic notion of the holiday.

That being said, the one issue I have with the show itself is the actual depiction of Santa himself. It may be true to the notion as put forth by Moore – that of a "right jolly old elf," but he's not Santa as I choose to see him (or, if you prefer, as the media has decided we should see him). It may sound like a small quibble, but for a show which works so perfectly to that point, the depiction of Santa is something of a letdown.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas doesn't get the same sort of respect as Rudolph or Frosty or The Year Without a Santa Claus, but it's going to be on ABC Family for their "25 Days of Christmas" at least twice on the 24th, so find it and watch. You won't regret it.

What a Bunch of Inglourious Basterds

2009-12-14T12:00:00.001-08:00

If ever anyone needed proof in this day and age that the auteur theory still holds some merit, they need only look at the films of Quentin Tarantino. His films seem to have a certain style and logic all their own, and his use of dialogue is always something to behold. Arriving on store shelves just in time for the Christmas holiday is Tarantino's latest work – and a perfect example of his style – Inglourious Basterds. The film has cast with international stars and a sprawling, multi-faceted plot which revolves around two attempts to kill Hitler in France during the Second World War. As with many Tarantino films, Basterds is divided into chapters and features several different story threads which come together as the film progresses.

Without spoiling the plot, the threads are most easily divided into three main stories, that of a Jewish woman, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who has taken on a false identity in France; a Nazi soldier who hunts Jews, Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz); and a team of American soldiers led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) who are in France to kill Nazis with something of a "take no prisoners" attitude. These three stories all come together as the movie theater Shosanna runs is going to end up hosting the premiere of a new Nazi-made film, Landa is running security for the event, and Raine and his group are tasked with gaining access and killing premiere attendee Adolf Hitler.

It may sound like an entirely improbable set of events, and certainly over the course of the two-and-a-half hour runtime it goes far more in depth than described here, but save for the climactic scenes it feels completely believable. This is true for two very good reasons – not only is the cast a top-notch one, but as with all of Tarantino's films, the dialogue is absolutely superb. When these two things – the acting and the dialogue – are combined, what one is left with is an incredibly engrossing affair.

Tarantino, as has been well documented, has an encyclopedic knowledge of films and filmmaking, and this knowledge comes across in every movie he makes. Even the name of this film is a reference to an earlier movie, The Inglorious Bastards, about World War II. Of course, the negative side of this encyclopedic knowledge and his brilliant writing is that at times the film gets bogged down. There are several scenes in Basterds, most notably one in a bar, which run excessively long. As pieces of acting they're good, their well-written and well-directed, and if viewed by themselves might prove completely mesmerizing. However, when viewed as part of the whole film, one gets the sense that Tarantino may be his own worst enemy – these scenes significantly hurt the pacing of the film and if Tarantino wasn't as good a writer of scenes as he is, no one would ever have thought these should be included in their current state. To be fair to Tarantino and those involved in the movie, a longer version of the bar scene does exist in the special features, so some cutting was done, but it was not enough.

The acting, as stated above, is good all-around, even if Brad Pitt does seem to be hamming it up a little much. The stand out actor here is Christoph Waltz, whose Hans Landa is the epitome of Nazi evil. He is an intelligent, good-looking, well-educated man who positively exudes evil. To make it worse, it is an evil that Landa is both aware of and revels in – he knows just how bad a guy he is and he loves it. Waltz gives a performance which is both humorous and chilling at the same time.

The Blu-ray release of the film comes loaded with special features, even if they sometimes are moderately confusing ones. It comes with extended and alternate scenes; a digital copy; the full-version (which is still brief) of the film within the film, Nation's Pride; a piece on the making of Nation's Pride (which is a joke); a chat Tarantino and Pitt have with Elvis Mitchell; a piece in which Mitchell discussing the posters used in the film; some of the "Hi Sallys" (shout-outs to Tarantino's editor); and a interview with actor Rod Taylor, who appears in the film. Those all make sense, even if the roundtable with Tarantino, Pitt, and Mitchell is little more than a fluff piece. What makes little sense is a piece called "Quentin Tarantino's Camera Angel," which is a series of clips of the woman who worked the clapboard for the film; a short piece in which Rod Taylor discusses drinking Victoria Bitter with Tarantino; and the grossly disappointing – or at least poorly named – "The Original Inglorious Bastards." The first of these are, perhaps, a little odd, but in good fun, and certainly not the oddest special features ever included in a film. The last piece however, is at best exceedingly badly titled, and at worst purposely misleading. It is even touted on the box as being included and certainly makes it sound as though the original Inglorious Bastards is included as a bonus feature. It isn't. This extra has a brief interview with Enzo G. Castellari, the director of the original film; some behind the scenes moments from his scene in the new movie; and a trailer for the original film.

The technical aspects of the release are truly outstanding. The colors are bright, the amount of detail excellent, and the amount of dirt or other imperfection negligible. The audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and it too is free of blemishes or other imperfections, the sound is crisp and clear and beautifully balanced. The film's look and sound is up to Tarantino's wordplay and Waltz's acting.

Told in Tarantino's classic wordy, bloody, and well-polished style, Inglourious Basterds is a very good film which one can't help but leave feeling as though it should have been great. To use a sports' metaphor, this is a hit off the top of the wall triple, one which scores all the runners but leaves everyone with the sense that it really could have – and should have – gone out.

Following the Assassin's Creed II

2009-12-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has been following the release and reviews of Assassin's Creed II will note that this review is slightly behind those on other sites. The reason for that is distressingly simple – once the game was inserted into the PlayStation 3, this reviewer found it absolutely impossible to tear himself away long enough to put fingers to keyboard. Assassin's Creed II is not a perfect game – and we'll certainly discuss some of its faults here – but it is absolutely bloody brilliant, a must-have for anyone who likes history-based games, platformers, sandbox games, action adventures, and people who just want to have a whole lot of fun while videogaming.

Though this game is a sequel, it is unnecessary to play the original Assassin's Creed in order to be up to speed with the new one. The majority of game takes place during the Italian Renaissance, though that all occurs via the "genetic memory" the main character, Desmond Miles, unlocks while sitting in something called the Animus 2.0. (the original Animus being used in the original). And that little bit of insanity is just about the worst part of the game. Very happily, the game doesn't spend a lot of time in the near-future (when Desmond lives). While the not-travelling-back-in-time-but-playing-in-the-past is, perhaps a necessary evil, in order for some of the high-tech things that occur to take place without destroying the illusion of the game, it is one of those weird, over-the-top moments that instantly turns off all non-gamers. Seriously, try to explain the Animus and that storyline to anyone who doesn't play games, you'll lose them immediately, but if you solely focus on the Italian Renaissance stuff they'll be enthralled.

In ACII, while Desmond Miles may be the main character, that's only because it's his genetic memory – the memory of his ancestors which lie in his DNA – that is being accessed. The player actually spend much of their time as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a poor lad coming of age during the Italian Renaissance who witnesses the brutal murder of much of his family at the start of the game. Ezio's mission is to uncover the plot that led to his family's demise, part of which has to be accomplished by finding Codex pages strewn over the country. Desmond's mission as Ezio is to uncover the evil secrets of the Knights Templar and locate the various "Pieces of Eden" which the Knights desperately want their hands own for their own nefarious purposes.

While that is the linear plot, the gameplay itself is much more open. Certain areas only become unlocked through playing the linear plot, but there are almost always other side quests. In fact, one of the greatest joys in the game is picking up various short assignments around one of the numerous locations in Italy Ezio visits (Tuscany, Rome, Venice, and Florence among them). Side quests include delivering letters, carrying out assassinations, and beating up people who completely deserve it (adulterers, bullies, those sorts of characters). One can even just travel around the city stealing from anyone – thieves make particularly good targets – or killing guards (because the establishment is evil).

Doing these sorts of things however will, unless their done very stealthily, raise Ezio's notoriety. Once Ezio has done enough to raise his profile in less than stellar ways he becomes "notorious," and he'll no longer be able to follow that bit of the assassin's creed that deals with stealth, the guards will spot him instantly and attack. This can be fixed with a few well placed bribes, the elimination of wanted posters, or the killing of certain characters, but can cause momentary headaches.

Cash in the game isn't only earned by thievery and the accomplishment of various tasks, Ezio is placed in charge of his uncle's villa and the surrounding city, and can earn money by purchasing various improvements for the area and finding different items across Italy. Investing in various shops – tailor, doctor, blacksmith, etc. – not only earns Ezio cash, but discounts as well, and there is much to purchase in the way of armor, weaponry, and ancillary items.

Ezio moves around in kind of a Parkour Prince of Persia style – jumping from one ledge to the next, climbing walls, and swinging on anything that will allow it. The fact that the game looks outstanding makes Ezio's rooftop running and jumping and swan dives into stacks of straw a beautiful thing to watch. The camera is at times problematic, but can generally be made to do what one wants by adjusting it with the right analog stick.

Though the look of the cities are the highlight, the rest of the game's graphics are outstanding as well. Characters and clothing are beautifully detailed and differentiated. The areas outside the cities are, perhaps, a bit sparse, but still look good. It is a bit odd that Ezio is allowed to run through small shrubs without seeming to actually touch them outside the cities, but perhaps that's because Ezio's memories have been corrupted within Desmond. The sound, too, is good, with appropriate sound effects for running, jumping, and fighting. And, if Ezio turns around as someone is speaking to him, the voice will move from speaker to speaker in fluid fashion.

The AI present in the game is good, but not outstanding. It is relatively easy to take on a large group of enemies at a single time – most of them will stand around and watch as only two or three actively attack Ezio. Different enemies are better and worse at pursuing and following Ezio across rooftops and spotting him in his hiding places. While the best of the enemies are quite intelligent and function realistically, the lowest level of pursuer are, perhaps, slightly less mentally swift than seems plausible.

Despite the fact that Ezio and his actions may be fictional, the game is built around actual historical facts and figures – Leonardo da Vinci appears as does the Medici family and others. Additionally, beyond real names of cities being used, some Italian landmarks are included as well. This historical backbone to the story – and not Desmond's reality – are what help drawer one into the game and make it sure an incredibly worthwhile experience.

With the promise of a minimum of two different DLC packs coming in the new year, hours upon hours of open-world fun in the main game, beautiful graphics, and a mostly compelling story, Assassin's Creed II represents the best videogaming has to offer.

Assassin's Creed II is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language. This game can also be found on: Xbox 360 and PC.

five stars out of five

Shortcut Happy? How About a Gboard?

2009-12-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

The ability to do more in less time drives many an innovation. One of the latest technological shortcuts to come about – and just in time for Christmas too – is called the Gboard and the basic idea behind is quite simple. The Gboard is a small numberpad sized keyboard which attaches to a computer via a USB port and requires no special software. It contains 19 different color-coded buttons which function as Gmail shortcuts, thereby saving one's time by alleviating the need for a mouse in Gmail.

The color-coding certainly makes the Gboard buttons easy to locate, and the entire device a good-looking one. Additionally, a small blue light sits at the top of the Gboard, allowing one to know when it is plugged in, and that is a crucial bit of information.

As the keys on the Gboard are hardcoded to the keyboard shortcuts within Gmail, they are actually simply duplicating various letters on one's true keyboard. Consequently, the Gboard doesn't only allow things to happen in Gmail, it works in any program – though one will have a devil of a time trying to figure out in advance (unless one has all the Gmail shortcuts memorized) what pressing each button will do. While pressing the "next thread" key in Gmail will flip to the next e-mail thread, in Word, it will display the letter "k" (because that's what the keyboard shortcut for "next thread" is).

Ultimately, the question that has to be answered is whether or not the Gboard will save one's time, because, after all, that is the point to – to save one's time. In the short run, it isn't. The keys on the Gboard are certainly laid out logically and the color-coding does differentiate the various categories, but they are not laid out in the same relationship as the Gmail shortcuts themselves. As stated above, "next thread" is a "k," while "previous thread," which sits just below it on the Gboard is a "j," which does not sit below "k" on a Qwerty keyboard. While those two are at least close together on a traditional keyboard, other keys Gboard have far less – or no – relation to a traditional key layout.

In the long term however, should one choose to put in the time to learn where the keys are on the Gboard, one might forget their Qwerty relatives' locations. But, is that worth it? Is the time one would have to put in so to learn the keys worth it – will they get that time back in their not having to move the mouse later?

Fans of keyboard shortcuts certainly might. In fact, for those who regularly use keyboard shortcuts or who tend to have issues with mice, the Gboard could work very well. Currently available only through Gboard's website, the pad sells for $19.99 and has a wonderful feel to it. It neither feels cheap nor shabbily made, and as with many regular keyboards, it can be made to sit at an angle.

For those who do not like keyboard shortcuts or who have no issues with mice will be far more hard-pressed to want to spend their time learning where the various keys are. Beyond that, no matter how one feels about shortcuts, one's hand will have to be moved away from the standard home keys on a keyboard to operate the Gboard – a move which may take less time than using a mouse, but certainly more than using one's actual keyboard to utilize the shortcuts.

It may be unlikely to win many converts to the use of shortcutting, but it looks great, feels great to use, and just seems cool. It is, at the very least, something for those who use Gmail on the web browser to seriously consider.

Come on Everybody and Ride... The Choo-Choo Express

2009-12-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

Every year on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Mickey and the gang get the opportunity to see Santa Claus. This year, Mickey gets to meet the big guy as a part of a double-episode, "full-length adventure," Choo-Choo Express.

It doesn't start off with Santa though, it starts off with the ever-wacky Professor Von Drake heading off to Mistletoe Mountain to make snow that doesn't melt. Oddly enough, the Professor is successful, but he does need help getting the new "easy-freezy" snow back to the Clubhouse. And that is where the aforementioned Choo-Choo Express comes in – Mickey and the gang have to take the train up to the mountain to get the Professor and his snow back.

It all starts off as a classic episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – an off-beat problem is presented at the opening, Mickey and friends grab Toodles and some Mouskatools, and they proceed step-by-step until their goal is accomplished. At that point, normally, they sing the "Hot Dog," do the "Hot Dog Dance" and go on their merry way.

Instead of that happening here, once the snow is back at the clubhouse, the gang heads out again on the Choo-Choo Express to pick up some friends for a snow party. Again, Toodles shows up, more Mouskatools are received, and the gang goes about accomplishing their goal, and only then do they do the "Hot Dog."

Though Mickey and his friends aren't universally liked, they do seem to find their way awfully quickly into the hearts of children. Geared for preschoolers – Mickey Mouse Clubhouse airs as a part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney lineup – the show is full of bright colors, great animation, and characters children either know and love or will soon know and with this as an introduction, love. Adults will notice quite easily that Choo-Choo Express is simply two episodes put together, but the intended audience will remain blissfully unaware. Instead, at least with the preschooler I watched, it was just special that they used a second set of Mouskatools. The show does make some attempts to be educational, in this case teaching about things like telling time on analog clocks and different shapes. The show doesn't linger on these moments, but they are present.

The DVD release of Choo-Choo Express contains an extra episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (only available in 1.33 format, not optimized for widescreen televisions as the main feature is) as well. Entitled "Mickey's Big Job," it features Mickey and company helping out Willy the Giant when Willy goes off to see his mother for the day. The bonus episode can be watched either regularly or in "Interactive Adventure Mode" which stops the episode occasionally to ask questions of the viewer.

There is something wonderfully special about Christmas, and something equally fantastic about Mickey Mouse. When the two get put together, even if Santa and Mrs. Claus only make a brief appearance, it ends up thrilling many a youngster. This DVD, which also features a new song by They Might Be Giants (they wrote the theme song and the "Hot Dog" as well), is sure to delight the Mouse's youngest fans.

Concerning Men of a Certain Age

2009-12-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

Created by Ray Romano and Mike Royce, and starring Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher, TNT's Men of a Certain Age examines exactly what it title suggests – men of a certain age. In this case, the age happens to be their late 40s, or if you prefer, "middle-aged." While it may be wishful thinking on the part of these three men to think that they are only entering middle-age in their late 40s (and of the three leads, only Braugher is actually still in his 40s), if you can suspend disbelief long enough to get past that, you will actually get to experience an enjoyable show.

The three actors star as Joe (Romano), Owen (Braugher), and Terry (Bakula), three friends from college who have managed to stay close for the decades that have elapsed since their graduation. Joe is the about-to-be-divorced father of two and owns a party supply store; Owen is the happily married father of three who works as a car salesman at his father's dealership; and Terry is the single, virtually washed-up actor who works as a temp in order to make ends meet. It is a simple enough setup, and even if the characters initially appear somewhat stereotypical (and they do), the show quickly dives beyond those broad generalizations to create interesting and believable storylines for the characters.

The best of those stories over the course of the first three episodes belong to Braugher's Owen. Owen's father, Owen Sr. (Richard Gant), is an overbearing man who is disappointed in his son's apparent lack of work ethic. Senior treats his son more harshly than everyone else on the lot which, rather than inspiring his son, tends to depress him. The two have an incredibly uneasy professional relationship and consequently seem to have virtually no personal one. Braugher handles the upset about his character's job and father beautifully. Owen is upset and angry and resentful and yet still desperately wants his father's approval.

Romano's Joe, at least in the first few episodes, is a far more stereotypical character as he copes with his impending divorce and tries to find his footing in the world again. He is unsure about how to relate to his kids but does his best to be an everyday – or almost everyday – part of their lives. Joe is a good father, but as any father can tell you, being a good father isn't always the same as feeling as though one has done a good job. Even so, Joe does in fact perform admirably as a parent. From the audience's perspective, the far larger issue with Joe's character is his multi-episode, ever-building gambling problem. Perhaps the worst of the storylines in the show, Joe has had gambling issues in the past and as he is trying to rebuild his life, those issues are starting to reemerge. While being a divorcing middle-aged father has, of course, been done before, the gambling issue feels like one television cliché too many.

As with so many drama series these days, Men of a Certain Age isn't strictly a drama. Though more serious than funny, the show does manage a couple of good laughs in its first few episodes. Many of those are provided by Bakula's Terry. Terry's acting career may not have turned out quite as well as he would have liked and it is something that definitely irks him, but he still manages to coast through life without seeming to get overly concerned about it. He dates younger women, slacks off at his temp job, and still has many admirers even if he doesn't have a job in the entertainment industry.

Despite any issues the show may have with its establishing of the main characters as individuals and not stereotypes, it is the friendship between the men that makes it all work. Whatever their issues may be, the three men are always there for each other, even if it is only to make a joke at their friend's expense. Joe, Owen, and Terry all do care for each other, and are always willing to give advice to each other (though they often seem unwilling to listen when they receive advice). It is the friendship that sees these men through and it is their interactions with one another that make Men of a Certain Age worth watching. Some of their personal storylines work and some don't, but when the men come together to discuss their lives the show excels.

Men of a Certain Age premieres December 7 at 10pm on TNT.

An All-New Alice (2009)

2009-12-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

The channel formerly known as SciFi and now known as Syfy is delivering their latest miniseries this week. Entitled Alice, the four-hour adventure is something of a re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's classic Wonderland tales. Both fun and distinctly odd at times, the Halmi-produced event is a reminder of just how much the television landscape has changed over the course of the past decade. Ten years ago this sort of big budget, beautifully produced, all-star event would have aired on a major network during a ratings sweep. Now, it will air on the NBC-Universal owned and ever more and more popular Syfy.

Written and directed by Nick Willing (he also directed SciFi's Tin Man in 2007), this version of Alice stars Caterina Scorsone in the lead role. Alice is no longer a young girl in England, but rather a 20-something karate instructor in the States. Following her kidnapped boyfriend, Jack Chase (Philip Winchester), the story rapidly finds Alice herself falling through a mirror (or, looking-glass, if you will) and into Wonderland.

Still ruled by the evil Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates), Alice finds herself learning all about this odd land which the Queen rules by bottling the emotions of "Oysters," which is their term for people from our world. The Queen's evil Suits led by the White Rabbit (Allan Gray) have been kidnapping humans for years and Alice rapidly finds herself on the wrong side of the law.

Through the course of her misadventures, our Alice meets up with the Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts), White Knight (Matt Frewer), a resistance leader named Dodo (Tim Curry), Doctors Dee and Dum (Eugene Lipinski), Caterpillar (Harry Dean Stanton), Carpenter (Timothy Webber), and the King of Hearts (Colm Meaney) among others. Or, in other words, people at least similarly named to those who figure in Lewis Carroll's tales.

The story Willing has constructed here is an interesting one, and it is certainly well conceived, but its relationship to the Carroll stories is not always an easy one. In this Wonderland there is certainly the story of another Alice, a legendary Alice, but what exactly this Alice did is unclear. It would seem impossible – or highly improbable – that the Alice of legend had the sort of interactions in Wonderland that Carroll wrote of, particularly as a version of all those characters is present here.

Scorsone is good as Alice, making the famous role (or a version of it) hers. She makes the absurd seem believable and serves as the perfect fish-out-of-water to function as a proxy for the equally confused and unaware audience. The true standouts here are Potts and Frewer, both of whom are exceptionally funny and charismatic. The rest of the cast, while obviously quite capable, are never really given as much of a chance to shine as they deserve. There are so many characters presented, and they are all somewhat different than our previous understanding of them that it may have behooved Syfy to give the miniseries a third installment just so that we could get the opportunity to get a better feel for the characters and this new Wonderland.

That is not to say that Alice's tale is not completed by the end of the miniseries, it most certainly is, but there are so many other tales present here, so many other things that Willing has conceived of, that it seems a shame that the audience doesn't get more.

Perhaps though the most unfortunate part of the tale is that of Alice's father. As this story goes, Alice's father disappeared many years before. Once the audience is made aware that the inhabitants of Wonderland kidnap humans, it becomes all too obvious that Alice's dad is among the kidnapped. Oddly, it takes Alice significantly longer than the audience to work out that her father is in Wonderland. In a story which otherwise works, and with a character who otherwise seems intelligent, the tale of the father seems unnecessarily tacked on and it feels as though Alice has a rather large blind spot.

Pitfalls aside, there is certainly more good than bad to this Alice. Willing has conceived of and constructed a new and interesting take on a beloved classic. He is blessed with a strong cast and if one of the biggest complaints of the miniseries is that one is left wanting more tales about the characters who inhabit this version of the story then he has clearly been very successful. Maybe one day he will even get the opportunity to revisit his Wonderland and provide us more tales from within his looking-glass.

Alice airs December 6 and 7 at 9pm on Syfy.

Handy Manny Braves the Open Road in Manny's Motorcycle Adventure

2009-12-03T15:17:00.001-08:00

In recent years, the Disney Channel has managed to score with not just tweens, but with an even younger crowd as well, preschoolers. Their "Playhouse Disney" time block has managed to pump out some substantial hits for the channel, including Handy Manny. And, as with other Disney Channel fare, Handy Manny's adventures aren't only available on television, they can be purchased on DVD as well.

The latest Handy Manny adventure to make its way to store shelves is Handy Manny: Manny's Motorcycle Adventure. Touted as a "full-length adventure," the story runs about 46 minutes and features, as the title indicates, Manny going for a ride on his motorbike. The choice of vehicles seems an odd one for the series – bikes being far less safe than cars and therefore perhaps a bad message to deliver to preschoolers – but Manny does at least wear a helmet and certainly doesn't drive recklessly.

In fact, though Manny is taking a motorcycle for his trip, the trip is certainly not about the motorcycle. The story here revolves around family, and all the different types of family that one can have. Manny is driving off to a family reunion with his talking tools, who are curious about just what family means. In a semi-desperate search to find a family of his own, one of Manny's tools, Pat the hammer, goes off searching for a hammer just like himself. For a time, Pat believes he's on the right track – a company's logo has a hammer with a face just like Pat's – but instead of finding genetic brethren, Pat and a couple of other tools get separated from Manny and everyone else.

It is left up to Manny to travel out of his way on his motorbike with his less-than-full complement of tools in order to rescue Pat and the other absconders. Though he ends up missing much of his family reunion to do it, Manny doesn't mind. After all, as everyone parent knows is coming, at the end of the episode Manny explains to the tools that there are all different types of families, and that he and the tools are one.

It's a simple message and one filled with bright colors, lots of songs, and a bunch of Spanish words thrown in to, hopefully, expand a child's learning experience. As with other Handy Manny DVD releases, though there is nothing here to particularly impress or thrill parents, there is little here to annoy or bother them (save, perhaps, for Manny's riding a motorcycle). Perhaps more importantly though, preschoolers seem to absolutely love it.

The DVD comes with an extra episode of Handy Manny, "A Very Handy Holiday," which can be watched either normally or in "Interactive Adventure Mode" which pauses the episode occasionally to pose simple questions that viewers can answer using their remote. The questions are perfectly suited to be answered by the younger set, with answers that will be obvious to adults but which might cause a preschooler to pause and think. Oddly, though currently par for the course for Playhouse Disney releases, though the main feature will default to fill the screen on widescreen televisions, the bonus episodes only appear as 1.33.

Though calling it a "full-length adventure" may be overreaching, Manny's Motorcycle Adventure has everything necessary to excite and impress preschoolers. Plus, there's a holiday Handy Manny episode included and DVDs make great stocking stuffers. If you're looking for a good gift for a younger child, Manny's Motorcycle Adventure just may fit the bill.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Lacks Rage and Blast

2009-12-02T16:28:00.001-08:00

One of the best things about 3D (or 2D) fighters is the fighting. Nice environments, good graphics, great sound, and a decent story are all nice, but the actual fight mechanics are the most important thing. Thus, when one plays Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, the latest Dragon Ball fighter, one might find themselves momentarily impressed by the look and quantity of content included (as with some of the other DB games, there are over 70 characters), the game is ultimately a massive letdown. The fight mechanics are distinctly subpar and the entire experience suffers greatly for that.

As with previous entries into the fighting franchise, this game allows for several different kinds of attacks to be performed – smashes, melees, Ki blasts, and signature moves – but the melees, which should be a fighter's bread and butter, are woefully inadequate. The game responds sluggishly if at all – playing the game one will definitely experience several times in each battle where they swear that they pressed for a punch and nothing occurs. The emphasis within the game doesn't lie in any sort of basic attacks, it lies in the special moves, Ki blasts, and signature attacks, and even those don't always seem to work when one presses the right combination of buttons. This issue is all the more frustrating when the game actually suggests a move to perform and following the on-screen instructions nothing – or the wrong thing – happens. The instruction to perform the special move then stays on the screen, still encouraging the player to perform the action and, unintentionally, mocking them.

The game itself is divided into several different sections including Dragon Battle Collection (story mode), Super Battle Trial, Versus, World Tournament, and Online Battle. Then, in keeping with Raging Blast's desire to put quantity over quality, Dragon Battle contains several different sagas (storylines from the Dragon Ball cartoon) and "what-if" scenarios one can play through, and Super Battle Trial and Versus has several different types of battles one can engage in. Perhaps the oddest of these is Time Attack in Battle Trial. One would assume that in a battle that revolves around a time limit, that has "Time" in its very title, would show a timer. It doesn't, not until time has nearly run out at which point a timer will appear to let the player know that it's just about too late to win unless they're but a few blows from victory.

There are several different stories one can play through in the game's Dragon Battle Collection mode. While those who know the various storylines may find themselves right at home, those who don't will have to read the optional introductions to the battles to be able to figure out what exactly is taking place (except for there being good guys and bad guys and a whole lot of fighting).

The game does feature a lot of wide-ranging environments, all of which contain a large number of destructible objects, and it certainly is fun tossing an opponent into a mountainside and either seeing the mountain crumble to dust or the nefarious evildoer get momentarily dazed and stuck in the middle of the mountain as cracks form emanating out from the bad guy.

Raging Blast, though, never seems to have a pro without having a con. The massive environments are fun, but the camera and camera control is less than optimal. It is incredibly hard to figure out where one's foe might be if they're not in sight. There is a way to have one's player head directly towards their opponent, wherever they may be, but approaching an opponent and knowing where they are is not the same thing. One might definitely want the latter but not have the former forced upon them.

It is possible that Namco Bandai has realized that the game is less than stellar as they recently announced that there will be a series of over a dozen free DLC packs made available for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The packs are set to include customized versions of characters which different powered-up abilities for use in Versus battles.

Make no mistake, the game looks utterly fantastic, beautifully replicating the cartoon series. The game also contains a ton of content, but there is little depth to any of that content – the emphasis here is clearly on quantity with little thought having been given to quality.

Fans of Dragon Ball will almost certainly embrace Raging Blast, but those who have not already invested a serious amount of time in the franchise in any form would do better to start off (or stick with) any number of other DB games that have been released through the years.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence and Mild Language. This game can also be found on: Xbox 360.

three stars out of five

The Who Dr. Seuss' Horton Heard Heads to Blu-ray with the Elephant Riding Shotgun

2009-12-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

The genius of Dr. Seuss lies not just within his words, within his pictures, or within the sentiments those words and pictures contain. Rather, it lies within his amazing ability to combine the words, pictures, and sentiments into something both grand wholly relatable to people of all ages. As the perfect example of this, Warner Bros. has released the 1970 animated classic Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! to Blu-ray.

The animated tale, clocking in at approximately 25 minutes, follows, as does the book, Horton the Elephant and he does his best to provide protection to an entire society of people who live on a speck of dust. No one in Horton's jungle believes the elephant, but he is utterly insistent that there is life on the speck and that, as he puts it, "a person's a person, no matter how small."

Horton's belief, as true as it may be – a person is in fact a person, no matter their size – isn't something that the other animals in his jungle appreciate. Instead, led by Jane Kangaroo, the jungle animals taunt and mock Horton, stealing the flower upon which his Who-filled speck of dust sits and later threatening to boil the flower in bezelnut oil. Quite logically, it is the smallest of the small in Whoville who eventually makes the Whos' presence known, thereby saving them all and Horton to boot.

The special features offer some great Seuss songs and a teleplay written by Seuss himself. It holds true to all that makes the book a classic and Horton (who first appeared in Horton Hatches the Egg) a great character. Horton is the type of person we'd all like to be, and the enemies he faces are those we all would face if we ever had the opportunity to follow in the elephant's footsteps. Though he may be a pachyderm, Horton is who we all would ideally be, and has strength of character that many of us would not.

Originally a television special, the show looks and sounds better than one might expect on Blu-ray. The print is relatively clean, but certainly not perfect. There is a noticeable flicker to the background and the occasional bit of dirt or scratches on the frame. The sound comes through loud and clear, even that oh-so-important "Yopp!" which eventually saves all concerned.

There is certainly nothing outstanding or over-the-top wonderful about the look and sound, but the main feature certainly looks substantially better than the two bonus Dr. Seuss tales included, Daisy-Head Mayzie and The Butter Battle Book. The latter, which deals with the Yooks fighting the Zooks over the correct way of eating buttered bread (butter side up or down) was created while Dr. Seuss was still alive, but the former, which follows a girl with a daisy growing from her head, was produced based on a screenplay found by his wife, Audrey.

While both of these tales are certainly Seussian in their absurdity, Mayzie holds together far less well than The Butter Battle Book. Mayzie contains Seuss' whimsy and charm, but the basic plot seems a little more scattered than other Seuss tales and certainly gives the impression that he wasn't quite finished with it.

As stated previously, neither of these two special features look remotely as good as Horton in this release. The animation in both features terribly jagged lines that clearly are meant to be straight. It is as though the disc attempts to output far more detail than actually exists within the frame.

The Blu-ray also contains the full-length "In Search of Dr. Seuss." Not quite a movie and not quite a documentary, the piece stars Kathy Najimy along with other terribly famous faces as she explores but Seuss' work and life. It is the exact sort of hybrid piece of truth and fiction one imagines Seuss himself would be quite appreciative of. Lastly, the disc contains a music video sing-along from Horton, and a digital copy which, in a fit of Seussian absurdity, is only Windows Media compatible and therefore can neither be played in iTunes or on an any Apple product.

Shortcomings in the bonus features aside, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who is a true classic, both in terms of its televisual age and its being the work of a master artist at the top of his game. Seuss may have seen the world differently from the rest of us, but one would be hard-pressed to argue that his version is not far superior to ours and that his ideals should not be the ones to which we all aspire.

A Charlie Brown Christmas hits Blu-ray

2009-11-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest things about the Christmas holiday is the availability of Christmas specials from years' past. Even when though specials sit on one's DVD (or Blu-ray) shelf, they really only come out once a year. These specials contain iconic moments – moments which are, perhaps, known universally. Out of all of those moments, all of those sad and happy scenes, there is perhaps nothing more iconic, nothing more memorable than Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. That sad little Christmas tree not only encapsulates Charlie Brown beautifully, but perhaps also our own Christmastime frailties. The special which brought that tree into all of our homes, the first Charlie Brown special ever, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is now available on Blu-ray.

Charlie Brown's main issue throughout the 25 minute runtime is the crass commercialism of the holiday. Charlie Brown looks around him and notices that everything at Christmas has become about purchasing gifts, about selling things, that it is no longer about the Christmas story itself. He is left saddened by what he sees all around and in the face of that he opts to purchase the saddest Christmas tree on the whole lot, hoping to salvage some sort of truth about the holiday.

As the special reminds us, Charlie Brown is, in this instance, absolutely correct. Christmas is about more than just what can be bought and sold during the holiday. It is, at its core, a religious holiday, and one that has expanded into being about love and family and hope in general. Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree can be made beautiful, all it needs is some tenderness and love, all it needs is for people to get into the Christmas spirit.

The special has been released several times previously, including last year in a "Remastered Deluxe Edition." This new Blu-ray contains the exact same material as that release, save for the fact that the main feature as well as the second Charlie Brown special that appears on the disc, It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, are in high definition. The one other special feature, "Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas," appears in standard definition, and the digital copy of the special is not compatible with any Apple device.

The story in A Charlie Brown Christmas is a simple one and a small one, but what makes it so endearing is the fact that it is well told and manages to resonate so well today. There may be an argument to be made here about the irony of this special getting released to DVD (and now Blu-ray) repeatedly, that doing as much is the exact sort of thing Charlie Brown rails against in the special. However, it does look exceedingly good on Blu-ray. There are still bits of dirt and imperfections in the print, and there are those odd little moments when a character's skin will suddenly change tint a few times within a single scene, but that is part of the charm of the entire affair. The dialogue here is unquestionably muffled and somewhat disheartening as well, but as the documentary that accompanies the main feature reminds us, the special was made under severe time constraints.

From the music by Vince Guaraldi; to the classic dialogue ("of all the Charlie Brown's in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest."); to the simple, unadorned story, A Charlie Brown Christmas is simply beautiful. It is difficult to contemplate purchasing this new Blu-ray version if one purchased last year's Remastered Deluxe DVD (or possibly any of the earlier DVD releases), but for anyone who in any way appreciates Christmas or anything to do with Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas is a must own.

Godzilla (1998) Takes Manhattan

2009-11-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

One can't slam a monster movie for being silly – there is something inherently silly about a giant monster lumbering through a city destroying things. Yet, in the most basic sense, Roland Emmerich (writer/director) and Dean Devlin's (writer/producer) reimagining of the famed Toho monster, Godzilla, is silly. Titled quite simply Godzilla, the 1998 feature moves the monster from Japan to New York City, where, in true Hollywood style the monster (and the good guys) proceed to destroy landmark after landmark.

The film stars Matthew Broderick as Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, the ever-present monster movie scientist; Jean Reno as Philippe Roache, the French army specialist; Maria Pitillo as Audrey Timmonds, the love interest trying to make a name for herself; and Hank Azaria as Victor 'Animal' Palotti, the comic relief. They are all essentially stock characters in a stock monster movie flick.

If Emmerich's Godzilla does everything one expects from a monster movie, from featuring a massive, death-defying creature to destroying world-famous landmarks to loading the film with generic monster-movie characters, why does it fail to work? Why have, by including everything one thinks should be there, Emmerich and Devlin created such a dull, disappointing movie?

At least partially, the answer lies in the plot. A key piece Godzilla's reimagining changes the monster from a big, lumbering slowpoke into a big speed demon. Godzilla is somewhat less fun running and playing cat-and-mouse than he is standing and fighting (he does still get to destroy things pretty well). Additionally, there is an extensive portion of the film where Godzilla himself disappears, and in his stead the audience is treated to Godzilla's offspring, which look and act all too like low-rent versions of Jurassic Park's velociraptors. The mini-monsters ("mini" being a relative term) chase Broderick and company all over Madison Square Garden, destroying everything (including popcorn dispensers) in their path. Thus, not only do the creatures look like velociraptors, but they act like velociraptors, and the those whom our raptor-wannabes are chasing act just like the kids in the dinosaur flick. It is barely warmed over material than has been done far better elsewhere.

Perhaps it is unfair to knock the mini-Godzillas as velociraptor-esque as they most certainly do look like what one imagines the offspring of the creature termed "Godzilla" in this film would look like. That is to say, he doesn't very much look like the Godzilla we have come to know and love at all. Emmerich and crew very consciously chose to make a new monster and simply give him a similar origin story to the Tokyo-destroyer. It was a bad choice.

Though the film did win some Razzies the year it was released (and was nominated for several it didn’t take home), they were most likely undeserved. The film is not laughably bad, it's just grossly disappointing. Emmerich does have a talent for blowing things up, and the film is certainly at its best destroying things or panning over the aftermath of the destruction. But the rest of this film, and Godzilla's trip to New York, leave a lot to be desired.

Without a doubt, the film looks and sounds absolutely astounding on Blu-ray. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have a lot of experience destroying the world in his films and, like him or hate him, the man knows how to make an explosion look good. There are moments where the CGI shows its age as it is clear in some scenes that the human characters and monsters may be in the frame but clearly exist in different worlds. The print, however, is free from issues and the details – be they CGI or real – are abundant. The sound is, perhaps, even better than the visuals, with the 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack providing a completely immersive, bass-pounding, experience. The lackluster plot (and really, who could have expected a good plot from this sort of film) falls somewhat by the wayside with the experience the Blu-ray delivers.

The extras on the Blu-ray are in no way as exciting as the technical side of things. There is an audio commentary provided by the visual effects team; a brief, tongue-in-cheek behind the scenes hosted by Harry Shearer as his character from the film; a music video by The Wallflowers; and a collection of some classic Godzilla fight sequences which are included solely as promotional material for other Godzilla films currently available on DVD. The Blu-ray also comes with Sony's movieIQ feature, a PS3/PSP-only digital copy of the film, and (if one buys it soon enough) a code for a free ticket to Emmerich's latest film, 2012.

Emmerich and Devlin's Godzilla features a mayor named Ebert whose right-hand man is named Gene. They are a reference to the two famed critics who gave negative reviews to earlier work by the men (they even look like them). They are something of a silly and unnecessary swipe, only serving to add to the monster film's monster 139 minute runtime. Though the lack of restraint exhibited in the explosions and destruction here are certainly commendable, a little bit more restraint in the screenplay – and the creation of some better moments leading to the destruction scenes – would have behooved the film.

Gone with the Wind Goes Blu

2009-11-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

As gilded and over-the-top as the Old South itself, the Gone with the Wind 70th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray release is an impressive tribute to one of the best loved films of all time. The Victor Fleming-directed (at least Fleming gets the credit) classic, based on Margaret Mitchell's book of the same name, looks exceedingly good in high definition, and the bonus items (video and otherwise) which accompany the release are sure to please fans.

Everyone knows the tale of Gone with the Wind – Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) comes of age as the Civil War breaks out. It forces her to become an adult far sooner than she, and her family, may have wished, but Scarlett somehow manages – usually through conniving, lying, deceit, and other less than ladylike methods – to hold her family and her fortune together. That is, until true love (if it is true love) in the form of the dashing and handsome Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) comes along.

Gone with the Wind is an epic. It is a war film, it is a history, it is a love story, it is a melodrama. It is also one of those films which represents incredibly different things to different people. Someone in the film industry might note that the film has sold more tickets than any other film ever. Someone who focuses on fashion might note the incredible costumes worn by the characters. Some might note the idyllic way it paints the pre-Civil War South with much pomp and circumstance and the post-Civil War South as constantly having to struggle against wretched northern Carpetbaggers. Still others might note that the same portrayal of the South is full of negative portrayals of African Americans and that a film made in 1939, even if it is one that highlights plantation life, ought to have made a far stronger attempt to not create racial stereotypes.

As beautiful as the film is, and as great as the performances by Leigh, Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, and the rest of the cast are, it is hard to watch the film and not note these stereotypes. The film seems to be completely uninterested in drawing any representation of African Americans that is remotely three-dimensional.

Ultimately, and without getting too academic here, the most interesting question is whether or not the film approves of Scarlett and her actions and attitudes. Perhaps the film is rejecting of Scarlett's less than Southern attitudes towards men, love, business, slavery, dealings with the North, and/or the employing of convicts. Perhaps it's just upset that she left her childhood home and the land, or, perhaps the film happily accepts all of Scarlett's actions and leaves her exactly where she wants to be.

It is the fact that the film isn't necessarily as obvious and clear as one might think that makes it great. It does not squarely come down in one camp or another, and has left itself open to interpretation and examination in the decades since its original release.

The audio and video quality of the release are quite impressive. The picture itself is beautifully clean and generally very sharp. The only complaint one can issue about the image quality are with scenes that utilize rear projection. The rear projection footage looks substantially less good than everything else in not just the film in general but the rest of the shot in particular, creating an awkward – and bad – juxtaposition which pulls one out of the film instantly. The TrueHD 5.1 channel remix is impressive, with the surrounds mainly utilized for the film's score. As clean as the video track is, the audio one is equally impressive (and obviously uninfluenced by the rear projection issues).

In terms of special features, the Blu-ray set contains a double-sided DVD with the six-hour documentary MGM: When the Lion Roars which is hosted by Patrick Stewart and delves into the history of the studio. A good, and lengthy, look at the studio, it is somewhat odd that it is only included in the Blu-ray boxed set, not the DVD one. The Blu-ray set also contains a third disc with several hours more behind the scenes features. They are, quite wisely, divided on the disc into several sections, including: Behind the Story (this is a catch-all section with looks at everything from Hollywood in general to the film's production to its stars to its reception), Trailers (which contains trailers for the various re-releases of the film as well), Extras (which only includes a movie called Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War and is the story of the search for an actress to play Scarlett and stars Tony Curtis), and Additional Footage (which has the international prologue to the film and snippets of foreign language dubs).

An impressive compilation of recycled bonus material, there are also some "new to the collection" features, including: 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year and Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On, and the aforementioned The Scarlett O'Hara War. As 1939 features Kenneth Branagh as narrator and argues (as the title indicates) that 1939 represents Hollywood's all-time greatest moment in terms of quality of releases. The hour-long piece does make a good case and is extremely interesting, though there are moments when the script Branagh reads is less than stellar: "…Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, led by its tenacious leader, Louis B. Mayer." The Legend Lives On, mainly focuses on the history of the reception of film from its production to today.

It actually takes some digging into the box to get to the discs discussed above, because the massive, velvety box that houses the discs is a limited edition (each with a different number somewhere between one and 150,000) that also houses a large amount of ancillary materials. There is a 52-page photo and production art book, 10 five-by-seven prints, a reproduction of the original program, a CD sampler of the soundtrack, and some reprinted letters, memos, and telegrams written/dictated by David O. Selznick. While devoted fans of the film may find all this ancillary material fascinating, and others may find it momentarily piques their interest, there is something overly excessive about it all. At this time, Warner Bros. is not releasing a simple Blu-ray version with just the film, so anyone who wants to have the movie in high definition needs to spend their money on all the extras as well.

Gone with the Wind, an impressive feature when it was released 70 years ago, remains equally impressive today. Even if one is not a fan of the film, it is easy to see what would cause so many to be so utterly devoted to it. It looks and sounds great in high definition, far better in fact than one might expect, and much of what is included in the set is interesting even if it is, combined, over the top. Gone with the Wind is a film from a bygone era about an entirely different and yet equally bygone era, it is a piece of history about a piece of history, and it is truly captivating.

Crossing the Line or Just Looking at it - Last Night's The Amazing Race

2009-11-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

There's a line one shouldn't cross when going on reality television. Cross the line and everyone (at home and the people you're playing against) will hate you, don't cross the line and you may end up going home. The only real question that has to be asked is exactly where that line falls. Contestants, in my estimation, need to get right up to that line and yet not go over it – maximize their potential for success while minimizing their potential to be hated. Go the right distance and you Richard Hatch yourself into $1,000,000. Go too far and you'll forever be known as "The Next Omarosa."

For my money, while some of the teams on The Amazing Race last night approached the line, none of them actually crossed it. I think that while some of what they did may be questionable in social situations, on a reality show their actions were wholly appropriate.

First up last night we had Flight Time delaying Meghan & Cheyne's descending from the Detour. Flight had to wait for Big Easy before he could continue, but he descended from the scaffolding that marked the end of the Detour first and he did so slowly. The basic idea behind his action was that he could slow down Meghan & Cheyne until Big Easy was finished and they would all be able to progress at roughly the same time.

Was Flight Time out of line? You already know that I think he wasn't. The teams were fighting for first place, not last – there was no worry that an elimination was going to result from his actions. I'd also argue that what he did wasn't technically against the rules, he was simply doing everything in his power to legally slow down someone else. It should be noted though that I didn't buy it when Flight said he didn't have the idea of slowing Meghan & Cheyne down until Cheyne suggested it – Flight was smart enough to know what he was doing.

Next up in the questionable tactic area was Cheyne & Meghan teaming with the Globetrotters to get to the next location only to instantly ditch them once a cab came along. That was even less egregious an action than Flight's slowing Cheyne & Meghan down. There was no cab available where both teams were and Cheyne & Meghan did get the Globetrotters directions that the guys wouldn't have otherwise had prior to ditching them. Cheyne didn't approach the ditching well, he should have said "goodbye" or let them know his actions, not doing so was kind of rude, but he certainly wasn't wrong.

The last questionable action was Sam & Dan's stealing Brian & Ericka's taxi. Both teams were at the Detour and Brian & Ericka had requested that their cab wait for them. They were, presumably, paying that cab for his time. Sam & Dan, finishing the task before Brian & Ericka, went to their opponent's cab and paid him to ditch the married couple and take them.

That was the closest any team cam to crossing the line, but I still say that they didn't get there. They certainly didn't win themselves any friends, in fact, all the other teams could easily end up hating Sam & Dan for stealing the cab, but it wasn't wrong. Those two teams were battling for last place, getting to the next clue first could have played a major role in who was going to get eliminated. I think one could almost argue that it would have been foolish of Sam & Dan to not try to steal the cab. Plus, can't we blame the taxi driver himself? After all, he took the money, ditching Brian & Ericka.

No team made friends last night on The Amazing Race, but they're not there to make friends, they're there to win $1,000,000. It has always bothered me before when teams don't play a cutthroat but within the rules game. Last night not one, not two, but three teams realized exactly what they had to do to win and opted to make those tough choices, even if those choices resulted in our maybe not thinking that they were all quite as swell people as we would hope.

Wouldn't you do whatever it took – within the rules – to get the money? I certainly would.

Longing for Sitcoms

2009-11-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

I hunger for sitcoms. There was a time that wasn't the case. There was a time when I hungered for more dramas, but that time has passed. It was back in the day, you know, when comedies were an 8-10 pm staple and dramas mostly limited to the 10 to 11 hour. Now that dramas are on almost all the time and comedies relegated to just a couple of nights a week, it doesn't matter how many comedies I watch, I still find myself with a hankering for more.

Maybe I'm looking at it all backwards though. Maybe the reason that I keep hankering for more comedies is not because there are so few on, but because the few that are on are of higher quality than the ones from back in the day. Never mind, I take this whole paragraph back, I'm talking about a time when Cheers, Friends, Growing Pains, and Seinfeld were on.

How about this then — it's the fact that a higher percentage of the comedies on today are good? No… that can't be it either. CBS and NBC combined air a fair number of unfunny comedies mixed in with their funny ones.

Let's forget all the possible reasons that I hunger for more comedies. Let's just accept the fact that I do. I say that mostly because I do, I do hunger for them.

There I was last night sitting in front of my TV (and by "TV" I mean streaming HAVA video player, but that's not relevant), watching The Middle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town, and just thinking to myself, "Oh goodness, how excited would I be if I could watch three funny comedies every single night." I answered myself, "Oh, you'd be excited, very, very excited." I then responded, "Yes, yes I believe I would." The conversation went on a while longer, but it's probably losing some of its gusto now, so I'm going to stop reciting it.

In any case, there were 90 minutes of funny on television last night. It's all a shame that it has to start at 8:30, but I've got my fingers crossed for ABC to work out what they're going to air at 8pm pretty soon. I don't know if it's the lack of comedies currently airing, but ABC was actually able to get stars, film stars, to guest on Modern Family. Ed Norton was on (Elizabeth Banks too, and Alan Ruck was on Cougar Town). Norton was in serious costume last night complete with a terrible wig, but it was definitely him, and, he was funny.

The best comedy storyline of the night though, hands down, goes to Travis (Jules' son) on Cougar Town. He pretended to come out to their next door neighbor Grayson. Travis kept him there for hours with Jules out of town, just to mess with him. In Travis' lie it was the first time he'd ever come out and so Grayson felt obligated to spend hours there. I don't want to say that "you had to be there" to find it funny, but perhaps you do have to know Travis and Grayson. Travis is the smart-alecky, dry-witted teenager type, and Grayson is the middle-aged male divorcee who sleeps with all the college-aged women he can. That is to say, Grayson had it coming, and who better to give it to him than Travis. Poor Grayson, he was just trying to help out the kid he was supposed to be looking in on while Travis' mom was out of town, and he ended up getting jerked around for hours. Good times.

I could go on, I could tell you all about the news promo during Cougar Town last night. It explained how the mall Santa Clauses want priority for swine flu vaccine, but I think the point about there being funny and my hungering for it has already been made abundantly clear.

Nothing Terribly Elite About Star Wars: Battlefront - Elite Squadron

2009-11-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

There was a point in time, one which lasted several years, in which every Star Wars game that one played featured a run down the Death Star trench. It is an iconic moment in film history and carries over exceedingly well into videogames – it's the classic hero moment. It may feel a little played out by the umpteenth game one has to negotiate the turrets and juke away from TIE's in that tiny little trench, but after an hour or so with Star Wars: Battlefront – Elite Squadron, it is a moment many might often wish to repeat. The second Battlefront title to appear on the PSP, Elite Squadron is more frustrating than trying to bulls-eye wamp rats in your T-16 back home.

The game spans multiple Star Wars films, and as with other Battlefront titles, while one may be a part of important battles and play crucial (yet unseen in the film) roles in the battles, they do not take center stage. Here, in Campaign mode (the main single player mode), the player is X2, a clone made from a Jedi, and younger brother-cum-twin (as they're clones of the same person) as X1. The two, as is apparent from the word "go," won't always be getting along in this game.

In terms of gameplay itself, while the reasons for the objectives and the planets that they're carried out on may vary in the game's Campaign mode (the main single player mode), the objectives remain awfully stagnant. In a typical level an enemy exists on the ground, in the air and/or space, and aboard a ship (Star Destroyers are a common theme there). Users have to eliminate the right people or disable the large vessel or blast enough small ones out of the sky to move to the next area. The levels may change, the enemies may vary slightly, but the typical objectives are the same. Perhaps the developers are making a statement regarding the nature of war, but it doesn't make for a particularly enjoyable game.

Frankly, it could be that the tasks would be more enjoyable and exciting if the controls weren't endlessly frustrating, and the various ways X2 can be equipped were interesting. Taking the latter first, though the weapons do change somewhat, they don't change in interesting ways – the various equipment combos only seem to exist so that the player can be required to travel great distances hampered by a lack of a second gun in order to blow up something big or fix a piece of equipment. There is no real-feeling advantage in playing with different loadouts, only greater and lesser disadvantages.

As for movement, controlling a player requires using the ever-annoying PSP analog stick, so if the user's hand doesn't cramp within the first 20 minutes of gameplay, they will find themselves disheartened at never getting X2 or the vessel X2 is flying to quite face the correct direction or go where they want, how they want, when they want. Then there is the fact that the camera is never positioned correctly, which means that even if one is in the right place, all too often they don't know it.

It is as though the developers were aware of this shortcoming as they put in an auto-targeting feature which will have the player snap to the correct position to fire on an enemy character. As with so many other good ideas in the game, if this had been carried out correctly, it could have improved things. As it stands though, the auto-targeting feature has a mind of its own and all too often won't target the closest enemy, won't target the enemy firing at the player, won't target the player's objective, and can't be made to switch very easily from one enemy to another. On the upside, as opponents never appear damaged even when they are, without the handy-dandy life meter that appears over an enemy's head when they're being targeted, one would never be able to figure out how close they were to taking the bad guy out.

Combat in space is far more enjoyable than on the ground or in a larger ship, with things being more separated and it being easier to get the ship oriented correctly so as to get a clear shot at the enemy. The controls are somewhat sluggish in space, but it is still a far better game there than on terra firma (or aboard a big ship).

Elite Squadron also features a Galactic Conquest mode which is a combo of turn-based strategy gaming (without much depth) and action-based battles. The basic goal is to, well, conquer a galaxy (bet you couldn't tell that based on the name alone). Conquest is actually a lot more fun than the regular campaign mode, if only because one can often ignore commands being given and just score enough points any way they want to in order to capture a planet and get one step closer to galactic domination.

Elite Squadron also features a multiplayer component in which one can play as better known villains and heroes, but the bad controls and faulty targeting scheme still make themselves far too well known to make multiplayer an enjoyable experience. Two users can also use a single PSP in order play in Galactic Conquest mode, which, in this form, resolves any takeovers of occupied planets by simulating the combat.

The Star Wars universe is a fun one. There are, as this game demonstrates, more stories that can be told, and even if they're side stories, they can still be both deep and interesting. That being said, Stars Wars: Battlefront – Elite Squadron is hampered by deficiencies in so many other areas, that even if the story here were as great as Empire Strikes Back, it still wouldn't be the best videogaming trip into the Star Wars universe one could take.

Star Wars: Battlefront - Elite Squadron is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for Fantasy Violence. This game can also be found on: Nintendo DS.

two stars out of five

Three Times the Kevin Smith Comes to Blu-ray

2009-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

It would probably be wrong to say that Kevin Smith speaks for my generation. He certainly has, as his production company name tells us, a View Askew, and that means that we'd all have to have the same sort of skewed view if he spoke for my generation. While it might be that we all see things somewhat off-center, I'm not convinced that we see things from the same off-center angle. Even so, while Kevin Smith doesn't speak for my generation, he certainly has the ability to speak to my generation — telling us things in a way we want to hear them.

Miramax is now releasing as a boxed set three of Smith's films on Blu-ray – Clerks (1994), Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It may seem like an odd group of Smith films to put together (it most likely has to do with which films Miramax has the rights to), but all the stories of all three films do take place in the same universe.

Clerks, Smith's directorial debut, is a terribly low budget piece, the vast majority of which takes place in a convenience store and which, as the title suggests, revolves around the lives of two clerks, Dante (Brian O'Halloran), who works at the convenience store and Randal (Jeff Anderson), who works at the video store next door. It is a film in which surprisingly little happens. Dante spends much of his time complaining, Randal spends much of his time cursing.

The success of Clerks, of all three of these films, rests not on what happens, but how it all unfolds via the dialogue. Smith, who wrote all three films, has a unique use of language. At its best, Smith's writing is full of smart references to all forms of pop culture – the dialogue is profanity laden but still smart. At its worst, the dialogue is full of references that were dated by the time the film hit the big screen and still profanity laden.

As smart and funny and low budget wonderful as Clerks is with its ability to tap into the ennui of apathetic, lazy, slackers from the New York suburbs, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back takes the stance that more is more. It takes two recurring characters from earlier Smith films, the titular Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), and moves them front and center as they travel across the country to stop a film based on comic book characters which are, in turn, based on them from getting made.

It is certainly possible to argue that Jay and Silent Bob are two of the funniest characters in Smith's earlier films (they appear in both Clerks and Chasing Amy as well as others), but – as is acknowledged within the film itself – the notion of the two of them carrying a film is a little far-fetched, it also doesn't come off quite as well as one would hope. The characters, as with many supporting characters in sitcoms, are funny as supporting characters.

Perhaps though the biggest problem with the film is the utterly outlandish nature of the plot. Where the other two films included here are merely improbable, the story here is utterly ridiculous, particularly the portion where the guys aid (albeit unknowingly) in a diamond heist.

The film does feature some great cameos and numerous references to Smith's earlier films – in fact, without seeing other Smith films not included in this set, some of the jokes will be missed. Those moments certainly prove satisfying to fans of Smith's work and pop culture in general, but they are only moments and don't improve the film itself.

The best of the three films herein is Chasing Amy, the third entry into Smith's "New Jersey Trilogy" (coming after Mallrats, not a Miramax film and therefore not included here, and Clerks). The film is filled with great dialogue, a funny – and yet wholly appreciated – view of comics, and good performances by leads Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The story, which centers on Holden McNeil's (Affleck) affection for Alyssa (Adams), who is a lesbian, is certainly the best crafted of the three features and the least juvenile as well (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with juvenile).

Though the story focuses on love and loss, Smith manages to handle it in a way which prevents it from ever becoming overly sappy. It is a love story, an odd one, but a love story, and as such repeatedly opens itself to moments where it could become tedious or bogged down. Smith avoids those pitfalls, and despite the serious nature of some of the discussions, keeps things moving appropriately and makes sure to crack enough jokes to keep the audience laughing.

The new boxed set comes with a huge number of special features for Clerks and Chasing Amy, but only an audio commentary by Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and Mewes for Jay and Silent Bob. The other two also contain audio commentaries by Smith and Mosier. In fact, Clerks contains two commentary tracks, both with more than just those two (Mewes and O'Halloran are on both and Anderson on the second). The second track accompanies a "First Cut" version of the film, which has some added scenes and a new ending. Chasing Amy also contains a fantastic, new documentary on the making of the film, as well as a conversation with Smith and Adams and a Q & A (all of which is new). There are deleted scenes for both Amy and Clerks, an animated version of a deleted scene for Clerks, and several other special features all of which seem to have been released on the Clerks X 10th Anniversary Edition DVD. The only new bonus features here are an introduction by Smith for Clerks and a making-of piece on Jay and Silent Bob.

In terms of technical aspects of the releases, Jay and Silent Bob both looks and sounds the best of the three. This is no surprise as it was the highest budgeted and latest release of the three features. The transfer looks beautiful and sounds wonderful. Clerks, also not surprisingly, is the worst, although it does come across much better in high definition and with an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track than one might imagine. The aforementioned "First Cut" of the film is all but unwatchable. As Smith explains in the introduction for the cut from the 10th anniversary DVD, it was obtained from a Super VHS tape, which accounts for the truly poor quality of both the video and the audio, with poor, muffled, sound (and not the soundtrack which appeared on the final cut of the film) and overly dark, indistinct, complete with wavy black lines underneath it all video. The decision to not improve the look and sound, Smith says, was purposeful but does make it awfully hard to look at in high definition. As for Chasing Amy, it lies somewhere between the two. The print is clean and the colors bold and bright and wholly appropriate for a film which revolves around comics, and, also contains a 5.1 Channel DTS-HD Master Audio track which provides crisp, clean audio (and sounds particularly good when there is music).

Though there is not a lot in the way of new features for Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob, for many the chance to purchase Clerks and Chasing Amy on Blu-ray for the first time may be too big to pass up. And, even if Jay and Silent Bob isn't the greatest film, Smith's voice is a unique one and well worth hearing. Though his films may be filled with curses as well as lewd and suggestive behavior, there is an underlying heart and wisdom about the world in them (when they're at their best), and they make for interesting - and different - viewing.

Everything Old is New Super Mario Bros. Wii

2009-11-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes reinventing the wheel isn't necessary. Sometimes just giving the wheel a nice spit-and-polish is all that is needed to make the wheel seem shiny and new and tons of fun. As old as the wheel might be, even if it, horror of horrors, is from the 8-bit world, it can still sometimes be tweaked and updated to be wonderful on the consoles of today. Case in point – New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

For this entry into the venerable Mario franchise, the series has been converted from the 3D version we've gotten used to seeing on home consoles (save the Paper Mario series) back to a 2D side-scroller (Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is scheduled to be released next year, is going to be 3D). It's a change that hearkens back to Mario's early days (and the New Super Mario Bros. for DS, which though it has a similar name to this game, isn't the same). It also lends an air of nostalgia to the game. The fact that worlds are labeled old-school style with the traditional 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. only further enhances the nostalgic effect.

Make no mistake however, this is not the same Super Mario Bros. that was originally released on the NES. Levels still end with jumping on a flag and heading into a castle, and the set-up of some levels may look similar, but it is not the same game. Where it was possible to breeze through Super Mario Bros. (and even Super Mario Bros. 3 if one used a flute or two) in a single sitting, New Super Mario Bros. Wii will take far, far more time and be far, far more difficult. It is, however, time well spent.

Following in the footsteps of the latter 2D Mario games, this one features maps of the various worlds Mario visits, as well as, occasionally, the opportunity to choose which level within a world one will visit (multiple paths sometimes exist). As the game is so enjoyable though, the odds are that anyone playing will want to visit every single level available for play.

The gameplay itself unfolds just as one would expect from a 2D side-scroller. More often than not, Mario will start on the left side of the screen and have to progress to the right over the course of the level. Every few levels, Mario meets up with one of the Koopalings, who, in truly dastardly fashion have dared to kidnap Princess Peach on her birthday. Mario also comes face-to-face with tons of other old enemiess – Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros., Piranha Plants, and Dry Bones to name a few.

The levels are not only filled with enemies however; several other elements combine to make the game an often difficult one to progress through gracefully. Levels have plenty of moving (back and forth, up and down, and rotating) parts that Mario has to run on, jump off of, avoid completely, and any other possible combination one can imagine. Few of the worlds actually progress as simple point A to point B runs, as there is always a trick and always the huge potential for loss of plumber life.

While it might be wrong to suggest that the game is very hard, it is certainly tricky and certainly harder than many (maybe all) of Mario's other adventures. The one disappointment in this aspect are the battles with the Koopa kids who are not particularly worthy of being "bosses."

Mario does have some new tricks up his sleeve though. This game not only has power-ups we've seen before (stars, fire flowers, etc.), it also features new ones like a Penguin Suit and a Propeller Suit. The former of these allows Mario to fly briefly while the latter allows him to slide and throw snowballs (snowballs can also be tossed if Mario has received an ice flower power-up). The game also includes something called the Super Guide which can be activated after dying enough times on a particular level. Once active, Luigi will appear as an NPC and finish the level for the player (the player can take over for Luigi, but Luigi cannot be reactivated). Luigi won't find all the secrets on his way through the level, but one can get a good idea for where things are, and one can replay the course after Luigi has completed it. The Super Guide is a good addition to the game, one which helps broaden the age ranges who can successfully play the game. Some may see it as cheating, but, if used by one who doesn't actually need it, they're only really cheating themselves (and it will cost them a whole lot of lives to boot). Video tutorials can also be accessed to help players, but they have to be earned.

One of the other fantastic additions to the game is the ability to play simultaneous multiplayer. Up to four people can sit in front of a single Wii, all playing the game at the same time – one as Mario, one as Luigi, and two as Toads. While this mode can be a huge amount of fun, anyone that actually wants to progress in the game should avoid the mode – getting other people to do what one wants them to do when one wants them to do it in the game is not easy. Additionally, the game will zoom in and out (only so far) as players come together and separate – if one player causes the game to zoom out as another is trying to execute a tricky jump, the jumper will almost certainly fail.

Playable with either the remote alone or remote and nunchuk and complete with good graphics, peppy Mario music, a fast pace, tons to do, and containing a great formula at its center, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an outstanding game. It is nice to know that Mario still has a place in this world, and that even when he's in a game which consciously looks to his past, he still seems a few steps ahead of everyone else.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB for Comic Mischief.

five stars out of five

Going out with Rabbids Go Home

2009-11-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Rabbids, originally introduced in the Rayman series of videogames, are, essentially demented little anthropomorphic rabbits. They're less than intelligent, less than cunning, terribly violent, and sometimes mean creatures. They're also ridiculously funny things.

The Rabbids latest adventure, Rabbids Go Home, features the bunny-esque bullies attempting to build a massive pile of junk so that they can go home, to the moon. Is the moon their home? Does it matter? Is it possible to build a massive pile of junk big enough to climb there? Does it matter? Were one to attempt to build a pile of junk big enough to go to said home on the moon would they pile all that junk up in a shopping cart in order to give it to a sousaphone-playing Rabbid to hold onto, except for the really big stuff which they would instead shove directly into a toilet, then putting the sousaphone-held garbage into the same toilet in order to get all the stuff back to the junkyard where the pile is being built? Does it matter?

For the Rabbids, such a series of actions is wholly logical, or, at the very least, as logical as the Rabbids get. And that, is where the player comes into this game. Users get to help two Rabbids steer their shopping cart through various parts of Center City and its outskirts, throwing all the stuff with a white circle around it into the shopping cart. Anything without a white circle – people, dogs, vending machines, etc., – get yelled at or run into or both in an attempt to separate collectible items (like the dogs themselves, once they're docile) from non-collectible ones. It is a pretty simple concept, with pretty simple gameplay mechanics.

Every level contains 1,000 feet of junk, comprised of small items and larger ones. Levels can be completed only by getting the big stuff, however, it's still recommended that one grab little stuff as well in order to actually build a large enough pile to help the Rabbids achieve their moderately-insane task. The more feet of junk one collects, the more levels get opened, and the closer the Rabbids can come to… goodness knows what sort of reality.

Okay, so it's all insane, the real question is – is it fun; is it enjoyable to take these wacky little creatures through shopping malls, grocery stores, airports, office buildings, hospitals, etc., in order to get junk (like sick people in their hospital beds) to build the moon-bound pile? Sometimes.

Shopping cart physics are not the easiest thing to piece together, and having rabid fluffy creatures drive shopping carts around make them that much more complicated. Using the Wii remote and the nunchuk, players drive the shopping carts up walls, down ramps, and out windows, usually with great results. It is possible (once players advance far enough in the game) to turbo boost andthereby have even more high-flying fun. However, things are not always rosy in the Rabbid world. All too often, angles of jumps one has to hit are slightly tricky and made all the more difficult by poor and unalterable camera angles. Where exactly in midair is that bird with the white circle one needs to get? When the ramp one has to hit at a precise angle in order to get the bird puts the bird off-screen, it can be exceedingly difficult, and all too frustrating, to judge.

The levels are essentially linear, and while that is fine, problems result when the player is presented with two paths – one of which leads to a dead-end with junk in it and the other of which advances one (in a one-way direction) towards the end of the level – and it isn't clear which path does what. The first time through players will miss collecting all the bits of junk they need and miss a perfect score, simply because given a 50-50 choice with no clues, they chose the wrong path first.

That problem, though is, small in comparison to the way the game treats a player's death. Some objects and enemies – like the evil Verminators – can hurt the Rabbids, eliminating their life (displayed as three light bulbs), and falling off the side of a building means instant death. Rather than the game putting the player back to the last point where they dropped off their junk, or back at the beginning of the level, they're placed at some random checkpoint and without however many hundreds of feet of junk they may have had in their shopping cart at the time. As the levels tend to be uni-directional, one can't simply go back and get whatever stuff they may have picked up before hitting that checkpoint. Instead, players must complete the level and then go back and play it through again from the beginning in order to better their garbage-getting tally.

A second player can join in on the fun, but their job consists solely of pointing at extra junk and thereby adding it to the cart. In a game that otherwise seems to have been thought out very well, the second player aspect adds very little. The game features no other real multiplayer, except if one counts the ability to customize their Rabbids, which, beside making them playable in customized form within the game, also allows them to be uploaded with Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connect via a Rabbids Channel where contests are held to determine the best-looking Rabbids.

Graphically, the game looks good, but certainly not great. Objects are drawn very simply, are bright, and easily definable. Edges tend to not be as rounded as one might believe they should be, but don't detract and have a certain sense of style. Cutscenes come in several forms, one of which is more comic-book cartoony, and which are a great deal of fun to watch. Other cutscenes however stick with the game's main graphical style and look far less good. They seem to be not-quite-fully rendered, with odd lines and jump cuts breaking up the action. The truly unfortunate part of this is that some of the cutscenes with this problem occur at the end of every single level.

Different levels of Rabbids Go Home alter the basic gameplay slightly, and this is where the game is really at its best. Whether the change involves time limits, driving around an airplane engine instead of a shopping cart, or some other little or change, it are the variations on the theme that make the game so playable. However, when some levels fail to provide an interesting variation, the game, which is not terribly difficult to begin with, falls flat. It makes for an uneven experience, one with high highs and low lows, and hurts the overall impression of a game which could have been great.

Rabbids Go Home is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, and Tobacco Reference. This game can also be found on: Nintendo DS.

three stars out of five