September 23, 2008 Archive

Gaming

• Spore in Retrospect

  Or: On Disappointment, Dinosaurs, and DRM

  Opinion in Gaming — by Nathaniel Edwards — on Sep 23, 2008

• Nintendo Wii Review: Hell's Kitchen

  Simple game play and challenging multitasking of ingredients are substituted for deeper cooking simulation elements in Chef Gordon Ramsey’s television show adaptation.

  Review in Gaming — by Tall Writer — on Sep 23, 2008

• Xbox Live Arcade Review: Gin Rummy

  Addictive card game with a clean interface. But do you have friends who will play?

  Review in Gaming — by Ken Edwards — on Sep 23, 2008

• Good Old Games Beta Impressions

  A brand new site for legally downloading old classics has arrive. Is it worth your business, though?

  Opinion in Gaming — by Brian Szabelski — on Sep 23, 2008

• Xbox 360 Impressions: Fracture

  Does LucasArts' third-person shooter deliver, or is it just hype?

  Opinion in Gaming — by Brian Szabelski — on Sep 23, 2008

Politics

• Fool Me Twice: Why Trusting Bush on the Bailout is Not an Option

  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Why skepticism about the bailout is unsurprising and necessary.

  Opinion in Politics — by Barbara Barnett — on Sep 23, 2008

• The Audacity of Freedom

  If I could ask Barack Obama one question, it would be regarding the privatization of Social Security.

  Opinion in Politics — by Media Tycoon — on Sep 23, 2008

• Anti-War Ignorance and Disrespect, British-Style

  If the British want to be British, why are they mimicking infantile American behavior circa 1972?

  Opinion in Politics — by Mark Edward Manning — on Sep 23, 2008

Video

• DVD Review: Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season

  Smallville season seven continues the story of Superman before he became the superhero everyone knows.

  Review in Video — by Blake Matthews — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Recap: Supernatural – “Lazarus Rising”, Part Two

  Sam uses his powers, and Dean meets an angel. Yep, it's a whole new show.

  Review in Video — by Alice Jester — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Review: Prison Break - "Safe and Sound" Returns to Amusing Us

  Prison Break is fun again... but inconsistency in the quality of writing might be its blunder!

  Review in Video — by Sharmila — on Sep 23, 2008

• Motivation Be Damned: Accusing the Well-Intentioned

  Doing well by doing good?

  Opinion in Video — by Stephen Foster — on Sep 23, 2008

• Box Office Update 9/19-9/21: Lakeview Terrace Takes Aim at the Top

  The summer purge continues as we head into fall.

  News in Video — by Chris Beaumont — on Sep 23, 2008

• DVD Review: Grey’s Anatomy - The Complete Fourth Season

  Our characters have become predictable and although that is comforting, it can’t last for much longer if it stays this way.

  Review in Video — by The Masked Movie Snobs — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Review: Dexter Season Three Preview

  The first few episodes of the third season of Dexter show us it is good to be bad.

  Opinion in Video — by Michael Prince — on Sep 23, 2008

• DVD Review: Wall Street Warriors - Season 2

  Reality series about the world if finance is sometimes interesting, but relatively uninformed viewers may have a hard time following the action.

  Review in Video — by Damian Penny — on Sep 23, 2008

• DVD Review: Snow Angels

  Domestic clutter.

  Review in Video — by Louis Boram — on Sep 23, 2008

• DVD Review: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Remastered Deluxe Edition)

  With the Halloween season approaching soon, many of us will be looking forward to the rebroadcast of this animated special.

  Review in Video — by Anna Creech — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Review: Saturday Night Live Hosted by James Franco

  SNL comes up short on laughs.

  Review in Video — by Sherry Lipp — on Sep 23, 2008

• Some Thoughts on Monday Night's Premieres

  My eyes may have gone glassy at some point, but boy did I watch a lot of TV last night.

  Opinion in Video — by Josh Lasser — on Sep 23, 2008

• The Emmy Awards Embraces Its Inner Shatner

  How can I hate these people when they are armed with all these post-modern, hip, ironic writers?

  Opinion in Video — by Brad Laidman — on Sep 23, 2008

• Blu-ray Review: Redbelt

  A movie hardly even deserving of a white belt.

  Review in Video — by Matt Paprocki — on Sep 23, 2008

• DVD Pick of the Week: L.A. Confidential

  Plenty of new movies to squeeze in between the new TV shows.

  News in Video — by Chris Beaumont — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Recap: Supernatural – “Lazarus Rising”, Part One

  Dean rises from Hell. Everything changes, and it's awesome.

  Review in Video — by Alice Jester — on Sep 23, 2008

• TV Recap: Project Runway - Season Five, Episode Nine

  Signs portend sulking ahead, as the cast is reunited for a zodiac-inspired challenge. The results are more en garde than avant garde.

  Review in Video — by Brandy — on Sep 23, 2008

• Blu-ray Review: Heroes Season 2

  We get the Blu-ray treatment with great extras and audio to balance out an average season.

  Review in Video — by Michael Prince — on Sep 23, 2008

• Doug Stanhope: Can You Handle His Truth?

  Is Doug Stanhope a smut-monger or simply the gutsiest stand-up comedian alive?

  Opinion in Video — by Brad Laidman — on Sep 23, 2008

• House, MD: House and Wilson in "Dying Changes Everything"

  A closer look at that devastating final scene of the House season premiere.

  Opinion in Video — by Barbara Barnett — on Sep 23, 2008

Music

• New Album Releases 09/23/08: David Gilmour, Kings Of Leon, TV On The Radio, Cold War Kids, Plain White Ts, Pussycat Dolls, Jackson Browne, Replacements, McCoy Tyner & More

  It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas?

  News in Music — by Glen Boyd — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Tori Amos - Live at Montreux 1991/1992

  The beginning of the Tori Amos experience holds true 27 years later.

  Review in Music — by Fitz — on Sep 23, 2008

• Concert Review: Carrie Rodriguez and Alejandro Escovedo at the Bluebird Theater, Denver, September 19, 2008

  What do you get when an up-and-coming singer-songwriter teams up with a veteran showstopper? A winning combination

  Review in Music — by Michael Bialas — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Metallica, Dragonforce, Anathema, Khold, Sothis, Harmony, and East of the Wall

  From ambient jazzy metal to the darkest death it's MMM.

  Review in Music — by Marty Dodge — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Tom Fuller Band - Abstract Man

  I'm exhausted by all of this cliché avoidance.

  Review in Music — by Mark Saleski — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun

  The sun is shining on Brian Wilson as he releases his latest album.

  Review in Music — by David Bowling — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Demians - Building An Empire

  Building An Empire is busy building a huge reputation in the prog world

  Review in Music — by Jeff Perkins — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Glasvegas - Glasvegas

  From the meanest streets, an epic noise.

  Review in Music — by Andy Peterson — on Sep 23, 2008

• Music Review: Juliana Hatfield - How To Walk Away

  "How To Walk Away" is a good effort, but I can't help miss the sound I fell in love with when I heard Juliana Hatfield all those years ago.

  Review in Music — by The Masked Movie Snobs — on Sep 23, 2008

• Hello World: Meeting AMIT

  My conversation with up-and-coming "happy hardcore" artist AMIT.

  Interview in Music — by Jordan Richardson — on Sep 23, 2008

Culture

• Salvia Divinorum: The Choice Hallucinogen of Generation Y

  Should salvia divinorum, an herb used extensively for centuries in Mexico, be outlawed in the United States?

  News in Culture — by Dr. Juliann Mitchell, PhD — on Sep 23, 2008

• Theatre Review (LA): Ragtime: The Musical at the Hudson Theatre

  Directorial problems can't take away from this show's great music.

  Review in Culture — by Robert Machray — on Sep 23, 2008

Books

• Book Review: Unleash the Poem Within - How Reading and Writing Poetry Can Liberate Your Creative Spirit by Wendy Nyemaster

  Surprisingly entertaining, this introduction to poetry for women is authentic and diverse. However, I still don't understand iambic pentameter.

  Review in Books — by Jennifer Bogart — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: The Roswell Legacy - The Untold Story of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site by Jesse Marcel, Jr. and Linda Marcel

  Do extraterrestrials exist? Are the otherworldly visiting earth now? Do we have alien craft invading our airspace?

  Review in Books — by Bill Bennett — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard

  Lots of patterns, and lots of customization techniques.

  Review in Books — by Alyse Wax — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: Spanked: Red Cheeked Erotica, Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

  “There are an infinite number of ways to talk about the pleasures of getting spanked or spanking someone.”

  Review in Books — by Lisa Solod Warren — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: Near Death In The Mountains - True Stories Of Disaster And Survival Edited By Cecil Kuhne

  A gripping collection for those who climb up mountains and those who climb into comfortable chairs to read.

  Review in Books — by El Bicho — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: Noise/Music by Paul Hegarty

  If you would like to have an introduction to the noise genre, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

  Review in Books — by Ryne Barber — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: Postcards from the Asylum by Karen Knight

  It’s intense, sometimes terrifying, and sometimes exuberant, but never does the work become despairing.

  Review in Books — by Maggie Ball — on Sep 23, 2008

• Book Review: The Timewaster Letters by Robin Cooper

  A light, frothy bathroom reader which requires little thinking - done, in one case, just for the halibut.

  Review in Books — by Alyse Wax — on Sep 23, 2008

Tastes

• Kosher Wines for Rosh Hashanah

  Curious to find the most delicious, affordable wines for the high holidays?

  Review in Tastes — by Marisa DVari — on Sep 23, 2008

• Wine Review: Domaine de la Batardière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie 2007

  Curious what wine to pair with oysters and seafood?

  Review in Tastes — by Marisa DVari — on Sep 23, 2008