BACK TO THE...Present

I an certainly understand why World War II is such a popular setting for video games. Most who play the games weren't alive during that time, and the Nazis were a clearly definable evil that needed to be stopped rather than the much more murky morals that have plagued most wars since then. But the glut of games (mostly FPS) that we've had based around that area has milked the cow until it's bone dry and then milked it even more. Thank god, the series the has set the benchmark for excellent WWII titles, Call of Duty, has finally stepped up to the modern era with it's latest entry, Modern Warfare. Sadly, my 360 was in the process of dying right when the beta started, so all I have are secondhand opinions, but luckily those opinions seem to be that this game will give even the mighty Halo 3 a run for its money.

I did actually go and see American Gangster today. I thought it was very well done and a definite recommend, but I think there's way too much material here for even the two & a half hours it runs. It probably should've been a miniseries, but then it might not have had so much good talent involved either.

And one last thing I want to comment on is the WGA strike. Mainly because two comments I seem to see way to often are some variant on-"TV/movies suck anyways" & "They are a bunch of rich crybabies". Yes, a lot of TV & movies suck, but there's also a lot of brilliance out there, and this strike won't affect just brainless big budget films that barely seem to have a script. It'll affect every single scripted TV show, indie movie, giant Oscar contender, etc. Also, with a few notable exceptions, writers make a ridiculously small amount of money. Many of them are lucky if they sell more than a couple of scripts a year, which they don't get paid all that much for. It's ironic & ridiculous that they are basically the lowest on the Hollywood totem pole hierarchy, but are essentially responsible for all the good creativity in Hollywood. These are the little guys we should be rooting for, unlike when ridiculously overpaid athletes strike. So I hope they get everything they ask for & then some, but I also hope it ends quickly cause I don't want to see extremely shortened or rushed seasons of my favorite shows.

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: MONKEY KART