A daily, one-stop pop culture and entertainment blast. With so-so writing. Minimal charm. And nudity.
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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 05:32 PM
by
BennyC
with 3 comment(s)
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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 12:42 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
I was talking with a buddy about the NFL this year and about how weird feeling it's been. We pinpointed that it was fine for about eight minutes then Tom Brady got hurt and things got all odd.
Now look at it. Up is down, down is up, etc. The Patriots are still doing ok, but they're fighting for the AFC East with the Bills and Dolphins. The AFC West is anybody's guess and the Cardinals might make the playoffs. WTF?
My buddy made a good point about the Titans, too, saying they were the least convincing 7-0 team he's ever seen and I had to agree. They're definitely good--you cant go 7-0 by fluke--but something is missing. Tennessee's oddness as frontrunners fits in with the rest of it all.
Try and think who will be in the Super Bowl. Last year at this time it was easy. Patriots-Cowboys or Patriots-Packers. But now? Maybe the Titans and Panthers? Or maybe the Bills and Redskins? How about the Patriots and Giants again? You're not totally laughing at that last one, are you.
This week has some pretty important match-ups, plus a game that, according to superstition, will predict the outcome of next week's U.S. Presidential election. Let's get to work.
SUNDAY
NY Jets at Buffalo
Winner: Buffalo
Detroit at Chicago
Winner: Chicago
Jacksonville at Cincinnati
Winner: Jacksonville
Baltimore at Cleveland
Winner: Baltimore
Green Bay at Tennessee
I don't know why but I'm feeling the Packers here. It seems like it's time for the Titans to lose their first game and Green Bay is as likely to make it happen as anyone else.
Winner: Green Bay
Arizona at St. Louis
Winner: Arizona
Houston at Minnesota
Winner: Houston
Tampa Bay at Kansas City
Winner: Tampa Bay
Miami at Denver
Winner: Denver
Atlanta at Oakland
Winner: Atlanta
Dallas at NY Giants
That win last week was pretty huge for the Cowboys--seeing as it's probably going to be their only one without Tony Romo.
Winner: Giants
Philadelphia at Seattle
Winner: Philadelphia
New England at Indianapolis
Remember when this was must-see TV? Does anyone remember that the Pats are still a 5-2 team? Have the Colts won at home yet? Yikes. I'm still going to watch this game though.
Winner: New England
MONDAY
Pittsburgh at Washington
So, there’s this whole superstition that the Redskins last home game before the Presidential election accurately predicts who will be the next U.S. President. Like, if Washington wins, then the incumbent party wins and if they lose, they lose—get it? It’s not that accurate any more but was for a bunch of times—maybe it will again? With that in mind, based on the polls and who I’d like to win (the election AND the game), I’m going with…
Winner: Pittsburgh
(Last Week: 11-3; Record: 78-38)
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Posted
Oct 30 2008, 05:59 PM
by
BennyC
with 1 comment(s)
24 Sneak Peak
Bauer Power is almost back. Check out this look at the new season quick because THERE ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!!!
Sherlock
Some set pics from Guy Ritchie's new take on the ole sleuth starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
Preacher
HBO may have abandoned the idea of turning this Garth Ennis comic into a TV series, but now director Sam Mendes is looking to do a big screen version. Nifty!
Zombies
Fidgit counts down the top zombie video games. They throw a lot of curve balls, I gotta say...
And finally…
Mad Men's Jon Hamm takes on Keanu Reeves + aliens and alien robots in the upcoming remake The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here's an extended look. I think it would be cooler if Don Draper did it, though. He could meet with them over tons of martinis and cigarettes and oysters, then make them climb a bunch of stairs and puke. Or something like that.
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Posted
Oct 30 2008, 11:21 AM
by
BennyC
with no comments
So let’s try out a new franchise here at HWA. Sometimes they stick, sometimes they don’t. In this one, I'll let you know what I'm playing, how that's going and what I think—if I’m thinking anything. If it's a newer game, it'll be less spoilery and more about my impressions as I try to figure out how I'm going to review the darned thing. If it's older, I'll get into a little more detail about what I'm doing in game.
Anyway, let's do this thing…
Going from Fable II to Fallout 3 is a lot like stepping out of a cozy, fire-warmed room into the depths of an Antarctic winter—in your underwear. With a stab wound in your face.
With its lush forests, sleepy villagers and mythical beasts, Fable is 100 % fantasy. It's a fairy tale and incredibly charming as a result. Some nice comfort food, which I guess is what the majority of fantasy (good or bad) is all about.
Fallout 3 is a nightmare. An irradiated, shattered nightmare. Much of it is spent wandering the crazy-hostile wastelands, with its random mutated creatures, raiders and slavers or in small survivors’ communities where your shaky moral compass consistently gets tweaked south.
And all around is the sound of the hollow wind and emptiness; the developers really nailed the emptiness. And the despair. When your choices are the sounds of the decayed wind or the rapidly approaching footsteps of some terrible foe, you know things suck. Forced to decide between two terrible choices is pretty much the dictionary definition of despair.
Sure, in Fable as you're wandering from place to place giant beetles or bandits attack you, but the actual land of Albion itself isn’t hostile. In Fallout, you not only need to watch for crazy mutants, slavers and whatnot, you need to watch you don’t get too big a dose of radiation from standing in the wrong place or drinking the wrong thing (or anything). Don’t even get me started on the traps.
Even your character's birthplace, the seemingly safe environs of the massive bomb shelter known as Vault 101 is creepy and feels unsafe.
Once I left the vault, I was happy to B-line through the wastes for the town of Megaton, where the second part of the main quest takes place. No exploring the wastes for me, thanks. Not without better equipment (my gun doesn’t even kill a person with a headshot from point-blank range.) I'm in the town now and not in a huge hurry to leave, I don’t mind saying. Besides, they have a lot of problems there I can help out with.
Even FarCry 2 (an excellent game I've been playing in tandem with Fable II and now Fallout 3) seems idyllic in comparison. Sure it's set in a rapidly imploding African republic, where you’re a mercenary that plays both of the main warring factions against one another and is rife with violence, poverty and post-colonial angst—but much of the game is about the 50 square kilometers of African countryside you get to explore and, as a result, can be quite peaceful and serene.
That’s not to say there isn’t humor or even hope to Fallout, but my first foray was definitely a gut punch and I really need to acclimate away from Fable.
Although, maybe if I had the problems these people are having with Fable, I might not have had such a hard time stepping from one world into the next.
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Posted
Oct 29 2008, 05:54 PM
by
BennyC
with 1 comment(s)
Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau have signed on for Iron Man 2. And Iron Man 3. And The Avengers. Commence geek out.
Kevin Smith
Always fun to listen to, the chronic self-Googler chats with AV Club about his upcoming Zack and Miri Make a Porno and a lot of other stuff.
Elder Scrolls
Hey, fans of Oblivion, with Fallout 3 out of the way (pretty much), Bethesda Softworks can concentrate (maybe) on making the next Elder Scrolls adventure. Given that Oblivion was game of the year when it came out, and Fallout 3 is looking to be the same for this year, how crazy-awesome will Elder Scrolls V be?
Scott Adsit
The 30 Rock dude also chats with the AV Club.
Craig Robinson
The Office's always friggin' hilarious Darrell talks with Ain't it Cool News here.
Mirror’s Edge
Can't wait to get your hands on the Parkour-flavored madness of this EA title? A demo will be available starting tomorrow...
And finally...
Some first pics of Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi's upcoming return to horror.
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Posted
Oct 28 2008, 04:25 PM
by
BennyC
with 1 comment(s)
Zack and Miri
Watch a new clip from the upcoming Kevin Smith comedy, introduced by Craig Robinson of The Office fame. Is it just me or does he look a little puffy and weird?
Strange?
This rumor of Christian Bale playing Dr. Strange is kinda disturbing.
Killzone 2
A new trailer has surfaced of the long (loooooong) in development sequel to the original FPS. Looks good but can we just have the game now?
Fallout 3
The reviews for arguably the year's most anticipated game are starting to pour in (here, here and here) and it's looking pretty favorable. I just got it yesterday and have booked off some time tomorrow to start playing and will probably not see sunlight until early spring 2009.
Resistance 2
Not to be outdone, the first review for Resistance 2 is in and it's darn good as well.
Slow down
As I mentioned in this post, there are way too many "must have/play" video games coming at us reviewers this holiday season. You basically have to plough through them, figure out what they're all about, write the review and move on to the next one. This is definitely not what I would want to do if the situation were different--and it's certainly not what developers want from the average gamer. Despite what people I know or have dealt with think, I don't come into work and play video games. In fact, I have probably played about 5-6 hours total here in the office--and most of that was when we had a Rock Band 2 office party recently. Most of the time I play at home and, because I'd like to have the semblance of a normal life, I end up playing maybe 1-3 hours a day. Anyway, the point is: lots of games, not a lot of time. In that vein, here's a great post from The Brainy Gamer on this very subject.
Hoops
Are you ready for the NBA? Well, get ready with a Bill Simmons preview!
And finally…
Check some more creepy urban legends that happen to be true from those crazy kids at Cracked.
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Posted
Oct 27 2008, 04:53 PM
by
BennyC
with 1 comment(s)
Harry Potter
For those of you who are into this sort of thing, check out the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Halloween
Do you like Halloween? Take a trip to our Halloween microsite. It's got some cool content like the Top 10 Halloween Costumes in Film, Horror You Haven't Heard Of, Top 10 Horror Franchises and more.
Fable II
Well, I've logged a ton of time (about 20 hours) and still haven't finished the game but I managed to finish enough of the important stuff to turn in a review.
Fuck ya!
Speaking of video games, the upcoming Call of Duty: World at War will feature an unlockable "zombie mode" where players can go up against waves and waves of Nazi undead. How this hasn't been done before I'll never know.
Nolan
Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan talks about the insane success of his last film and about the possibility of the next Batman flick.
Dollhouse
A good profile on what has been going on with the upcoming Joss Whedon/Fox show that seems to be in constant turmoil. Turns out, it's been close to totally melting down.
And finally...
Warner Brothers is looking to create a live action version of the seminal 1990s anime Ninja Scroll. If they can pull it off, it could be pretty kickass. If not...ugh.
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 04:48 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
Quantum of Solace
Empire has one of the first reviews for the new Bond flick. Also, IESB has a bunch of clips, TV commercials and the like.
Heroes
Hey, I know this sounds crazy but did you hear that that Heroes show you once thought was good now totally sucks? I know, crazy right? Well, Entertainment Weekly is trying to be all helpful by suggesting five ways creators could fix the show. We can all rest easy knowing EW is on the case...
Canadian Office
Michael Scott is heading to Winnipeg on an upcoming episode of The Office. 'Nuff said.
GTA IV + Zombies = Awesome
If you're (still) playing your Grand Theft Auto IV online, you may have noticed some weirdness--like, Zombie apocalypse level weirdness.
Gears of War 2
Here's a new spot for the upcoming GoW sequel. I recently played about three hours of the game and give it a thumbs up. The same awesome, unapologetically testosterone-fuelled action as the first--only on steroids.
BioShock 2 Teaser. Again. Better.
Now you can see that BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams teaser in a high quality format. It really makes a difference.
Role Models
Watch seven clips from the upcoming comedy starring Paul Ruud and Seann William Scott.
Friday the 13th
Another teaser, this time for the remake/reimagining/reboot/whatever of the classic slasher flick. Michael Bay is producing, how could it not be awesome?
And finally…
Some funny Batman/Superman shenanigans for your weekend.
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 12:16 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
This season has been kinda underwhelming in a way. It's like every "elite" team has an asterix beside their record thanks to key injuries—whether they're winning or losing. Would the Titans be running away with the AFC South at this point if the Colts had an uninjured O-line and a healthy Peyton? What would the AFC East look like with Tom Brady able to play? If LT was 100 per cent, would the Chargers be less mediocre? Who knows, I guess.
Then there are the Cowboys. Ugh. Between Romo's injury and the coaching staff throwing away their playbook to give TO more chances to drop the ball, this season is looking like a done deal. I like that they went after another receiver to spread the field but they need to keep their RBs and Jason Witten online as major weapons, too. Really, I don’t think Romo’s injury could come at a worse time. If Dallas can’t beat St. Louis how can they beat Tampa Bay, the Giants and Washington? Ugly times for those dudes.
And to top it all off my picks have been pretty dismal, so it would be nice to take things up this week. We'll see, I guess.
SUNDAY
Tampa Bay at Dallas
This is going to be ugly, ugly, ugly. Oh, and embarrassing. Did I mention it would be embarrassing?
Winner: Tampa Bay
Atlanta at Philadelphia
Who would have known this would be a tough one to call? Still, it’s rookie sensation QB Matt Ryan’s first trip to the ironically named “City of Brotherly Love” and that might be a problem for him. After all, a stadium that has its own jail is probably not such a friendly place, yeah? Plus, Westbrook is probable for the game, so that makes it doubly unfriendly.
Winner: Philadelphia
Arizona at Carolina
Is the Super Bowl going to be Tennessee against Carolina? It’s kind of feeling that way, isn’t it? Although, with the way things are going, it could be another good year for surging teams in the last third of the season—like the Giants last year. Anyway, the Cardinals are surprising people this year but I don’t think they’ve got what it takes to beat the Panthers at home. Brooklyn Decker’s team does it again.
Winner: Carolina
NY Giants at Pittsburgh
On paper this seems like a great match-up for a total street fight type game. Both teams are playing well for the most part and it should be a total Old School brawl. It’s tough to figure out who gets the edge, though. The Steelers are great at home, especially as it gets colder, but Eli and the boys are pretty unpredictable. I think I’ll take a risk and say…
Winner: Giants
MONDAY
Indianapolis at Tennessee
Are the Colts too beat up for this game to turn out as great as it looks? Is this the inevitable loss the Titans are due for? Does the home field advantage matter considering the Colts have only been winning on the road anyway? These are the questions you have to ask yourself when thinking about this game. In the end, Tennessee knows this is a crucial game for their campaign to stay on top of the AFC South, so I think they’ll play accordingly.
Winner: Tennessee
THE REST
Washington at Detroit
Winner: Washington
Buffalo at Miami
Winner: Miami
St. Louis at New England
Winner: New England
San Diego at New Orleans
Winner: New Orleans
Kansas City at NY Jets
Winner: Jets
Oakland at Baltimore
Winner: Baltimore
Cleveland at Jacksonville
Winner: Jacksonville
Cincinnati at Houston
Winner: Houston
Seattle at San Francisco
Winner: San Francisco
(Last Week: 9-5; Record: 67-35)
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Posted
Oct 22 2008, 05:41 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
(Is it too mean to want to start a blog called "Worst Wonder Women Ever" or "Wonder Woman Fail" or something like that? Probably. I suck...)
Watchmen
Check out the new teaser/trailer/whatever from Watchmen. Still looking good. I'm still wondering how the mass audience of moviegoers will take this movie. It's not a straight ahead superhero flick. I guess it's a good time for a post modern-y look at superheroes but for some reason I can't see this appealing to everyone. Then again, I thought that about 300 too and look how that turned out.
Dead Space
Here's my review for EA's crazy-scary sci-fi horror blend Dead Space. Good stuff overall (the game, not the review), especially if you enjoy horror, like myself. Also, check out this video of the many (many) ways you can get killed in the game. The video is 10+ minutes in length. And, if you don't like gore, definitely don't watch.
Old Republic
Lucasarts has announced that there will be a Star Wars MMO. So now "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way..." can refer to your social life and days of employment.
Battle Angel
Battle Angel Alita, one of my fave '90s anime, has been an in-development project by director-mad genius James Cameron for a long (long) time--which has been a bit of a frustration for me. Well, here's some news on the project that made me smile.
What could possibly go wrong?
The ability to erase memories? Nah, there's no way humanity would put that to some kind of sinister use, right?
The Smash
So long, "Smash" Williams...
And finally…
You know they're reaching the bottom of the superhero barrel when they start talking about a Dr. Strange movie.
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Posted
Oct 21 2008, 05:26 PM
by
BennyC
with 1 comment(s)
Fable II
There probably isn't enough time to play Fable II before I have to review it. Not really. Sure, I'll have logged enough hours to know whether I like the game or not, to know what works and what doesn't, to feel I did my job and to not feel I'm screwing readers over--but the game is really a deep and rich landscape that demands WAY more time than I have to give.
That's kinda how it goes with most RPG type games, really.
Fable II's vastness makes the lack of time stand out all the more. Films are a lot easier to review. You block off about 2 hours to watch the film. Sleep on it and bang out the review in about an hour. Video games can take anywhere from 20-70 hours to finish--with the upcoming Fallout 3 reportedly hitting the 100 hour mark. And you really need to play at least 10-15 hours to start getting a solid feel for a game. RPGs are about options, different pathways, alternate answers to problems.
In Star Wars (the first movie or A New Hope or Episode IV or "one of the two and a half good ones"), Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi commission smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookie at the Mos Eisley cantina to take them to Alderaan, get into a bar fight, check out the Millenium Falcon and make a daring escape from an ambush by Imperial Stromtroopers, all in about 10 minutes max of screentime.
If Episode IV were an RPG and you were playing, say, Han Solo, you could meet with Skywalker and Kenobi right then like the film; you could postpone the meeting until the evening and hangout trying to pick up skanky Twileks to take back to the Falcon for some afternoon delight before getting on with serious business; you could ask Kenobi and co. to help you take out Jabba the Hutt, the gangster who's after you, as a payment for the trip--and then proceed to head to his palace and eventually the Juntland wastes a la act 1 of Return of the Jedi--all before heading off to Alderaan. Hell, you could try and kill Luke and Ben and fly off into the galaxy doing whatever it is your smuggler's heart desires. Just keep in mind: there's no way that's taking 10 minutes. And until you string together enough of these choices and get deep into the game, you're not going to get much sense of it.
I don't think I'm saying anything new or mindblowing here, but it illustrates the problems of gametime v. deadlines in video game reviewing.
Anyway, being about 12 hours or so into Fable II, I have to say, I think we have a winner here. Any game that has me devoting every free second to playing it or wishing I was (or writing a lengthy blog post), is definitely doing its job.
This dude thinks it's the game of the year. I don't know. It might be. There are three games I could see challenging it. Fallout 3, obviously. Plus, Prince of Persia and FarCry 2. If Fallout is doing what I suspect it is doing, it'll probably surpass Fable in my opinion, but we'll see. Anyhoo...
Bioshock 2
This is somewhat old news (maybe) but a teaser trailer for Bioshock 2 is available on the new Playstation 3 version of the undersea Objectivism insanity game. This is a shaky cam version but you can see what's up and what's up looks pretty teaser-y and cool.
Silent Hill
Here's my review of Silent Hill: Homecoming.
Haunted
Someone is making a movie of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Haunted. I wonder if the scene in the book that allegedly made people throw up will make people watching the movie throw up?
And finally…
AV Club interviews Canada's own Samantha Bee. Enjoy!
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Posted
Oct 20 2008, 05:36 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
Star Trek Pics and Such
Hey, here are some pics from the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie that Entertainment Weekly is all proud of having. The look is kinda neat but I've heard that the movie might be intentionally cheesy. That would blow. There's also an article on the film here.
Inglorious Bastard(s)
Check out the first pic of Brad Pitt in costume for Quentin Tarrantino's World War II epic Inglorious Bastards. Looks cool. Is that an Errol Flynn 'stache he's got going on there?
BSG
This might be somewhat old news (Hey, I was on vacation) but Battlestar Galactica has a return date.
Dead Space
My vacation was basically me playing, like, four different video games. Three were for work. One of those was Dead Space and it scared the living shit out of me. (Not really.) The game is extremely intense and not one you want to play at night. Why are things so scary? Probably because the game's creators spent a lot of time studying car crash victims for one.
Good news, Bad news
Good news: Fox ordered up a full season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Bad news: this might mean trouble for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Can't they just cancel Fringe and call it even?
I Hear Ya
The always insightful Leigh Alexander talks about the insane video game overload that is happening this year and how it's almost impossible to review all the games. I got lucky in that I was on vacation and got to catch up a little but the titles keep on coming. I'm expecting at least three more games tomorrow and then more next week. Crazy. It's fun but crazy.
First Draft Suckage
Cracked counts down seven terrible early versions of great movies.
And finally…
This blog is one of those things that makes you not know whether to laugh or cry?
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Posted
Oct 17 2008, 09:56 AM
by
BennyC
with no comments
I'm on vacation, so you don't get the usual expert analysis and quality writing you've come to know and love. But you do get those quality picks this franchise is world famous for. Wink.
SUNDAY
San Diego at Buffalo
Winner: San Diego
Minnesota at Chicago
Winner: Chicago
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
Winner: Pittsburgh
Tennessee at Kansas City
Winner" Tennessee
Dallas at St. Louis
Winner: Dallas
Baltimore at Miami
Winner: Baltimore
San Francisco at NY Giants
Winner: Giants
New Orleans at Carolina
Winner: Carolina
Detroit at Houston
Winner: Houston
NY Jets at Oakland
Winner: Jets
Indianapolis at Green Bay
Winner: Indianapolis
Cleveland at Washington
Winner: Washington
Seattle at Tampa Bay
Winner: Tampa Bay
MONDAY
Denver at New England
Winner: Denver
(Last Week: 9-5; Record: 58-30)
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Posted
Oct 10 2008, 05:21 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
 KaufmanVice has a good interview with the always interesting Charlie Kaufman. Awesome
More Vice, this time basically using a media conference call with new American Idol judge Kara Dioguardi to pull a major crank call. Tomb Raider
A behind the scenes look at the new Lara Croft game. Ned
TV Guide interviews Lee Pace aka Ned the Pie Maker from Pushing Daisies. Ah, Pushing Daisies, soon to be cancelled but oh, so fun to watch. Still. People seem to have forgotten that. A lot of blogs were quick to say they were "over" the show, even though it's the same show, with the same vibe, same good writing, acting and production values as last year and nothing's changed. Even though they still watch Heroes for some reason (Monday's episode was my last). Oh well, TV journalism is kinda like high school, with its bizarre fickleness (fickeality?) Anyway. If even Republicans can love this show, it must be good, no? Degeneration
Wired did not like the new Resident Evil full CGI feature. RDJ/Sherlock
Look! It's Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes! I'm sure this will be a cool film but, uh, is it okay if I say I'm a little meh on the costume? And finally… I thought this was funny because I've been there so many times before. And with a few of the titles available.
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Posted
Oct 09 2008, 05:16 PM
by
BennyC
with no comments
Galactica
A bunch of deleted scenes from the first part of BSG's fourth season are out there. Check 'em out.
Lost
Hey, do you want to be a little spoiled on the upcoming season of Lost? Go here.
Resistance Infected
If you've got a PSP, you can get a little more action out of Resistance 2/Resistance: Retribution. Look!
More HALO
Here you go: There's a new HALO game/franchise coming.
The Road = Disturbing
These pics featuring some of the cast and extras from The Road are really, really disheartening--even though everyone is smiling.
And finally…
Fable II will let you do pretty much anything you want. Even have sex with prostitutes. Awesome?
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