I should start by saying that I'm not a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. That's not to say I think they are bad books, but the writing style is too dry and formal for my tastes. I read The Hobbit in Junior High for a reading class I was in, and re-enacted Bilbo's slaying of the giant spider in my book report presentation to the class. But I soon moved on to Terry Brooks, then later Terry Goodkind and Brent Weeks, and have never been able to force feed The Lord Of The Rings books to myself. Today I remember more about presenting that book report than I do about the book itself. That said, I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre, which owes much of its existence to Tolkien. I also loved the Peter Jackson Lord Of The Rings movies. So when I heard that he would be back in the saddle to direct a movie based on The Hobbit, I was more than interested.

Review by Comikate This is a review one of DC’s New 52 comics that I don’t hear very much about – because it’s a pity if you don’t try it out just because you’ve never heard people talk about it. Fair warning though, my review contains some mild spoilers, since its main point is to encourage you to start reading it from issue 13 – that is why I will summarize the main story of the first twelve issues for you so that you don’t have to buy and read them all yourself. I will then share some likes and dislikes, tell you whether you should buy, borrow or ignore this comic, and finally, give you my quality and relevance scores.

For many, a big part of the Christmas season is spending time with extended family. Family gatherings with food and games are fairly common, but these aren't exactly the best opportunities to get your geek on. Most non-geek adults don't enjoy playing games with complex rules, preferring light "party games" instead. And there are also kids to think about, as large family gatherings tend to be littered with them and you may be called upon to help keep them busy. Is there any hope for geeking out in times like these? I can think of at least two games to help get you started. The first is "Ultimate Werewolf" (or in newer editions, "The Werewolves Of Miller's Hollow"),  a conversation-based party game that plays anywhere from 5-68 people. (Yep, 68!) One person serves as the moderator and a kind of storyteller. (This should be you the first game or two with family.) The moderator gives each other player a card which they keep secret

Review by "Ken From Honolulu" Directed by Simon Wells Voiced by Seth Green as Milo Dan Folger as Gribble Joan Cusack as Mom Synopsis: A young boy named Milo gains a deeper appreciation for his mom after Martians come to take her away. Review(Contains Spoilers): This movie is sort of an animated film. But they use live actors instead of computer generated characters. They wear suits that catch their actions and the computer turns the actions into a type of animated film. It is only 88 minutes, so it is not long. I believe the demographic it was aimed at was the 8-12 year range. The film has a message and doesn’t mind beating you over the head with it. The message is “moms are great, you should love them for all you’re worth.” It almost goes to the point of saying that moms are some kind of demigod. The other message is that men are not involved in the raising of the children. When Milo gets to Mars, he finds the men are a bunch of dread-locked

A few weeks ago, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 was released on Blu-ray and DVD. If you're a serious comic book fan, you've probably already read or at least heard of the original graphic novel by Frank Miller. Along with Alan Moore's Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns was one of the most influential comic books of the 80's, and gets much of the credit for the launch of the "gritty era" of comic books, which continued through much of the 90's and still leaves traces today. This animated movie attempts to adapt and condense the original story into a two-part movie series. The story takes place 10 years after Bruce Wayne has retired from being Batman. There are suggestions that his retirement has something to do with a tragedy that befell Robin. Wayne is now at least in his 50s, although he remains in great shape for his age and busies himself with dangerous hobbies, such as automobile racing. He is clearly unsettled and still haunted by the d

I'm a huge fan of the Matrix Trilogy. I love the way the Wachowsky Brothers combined crazy cool sci-fi action with rich symbolism and philosophy. Even though I find myself often at odds with some of the philosophies expressed in those films, I appreciate their presence in a genre that is too often based on mindless explosions and bad one-liners. Cloud Atlas was completely off my radar until I saw the first trailer a few months ago. Since then I've been waiting to see this movie with great curiosity, and as it turns out "curiosity" is a great word with which to describe this film. Andy Wachowski, his sibling Lana (formerly Larry before undergoing gender reassignment) and Tom Tykwer ( Run Lola Run, The International ) share the director's chair for this multi-story experience. I say "multi-story" intentionally, rather than "multi-thread". Although the film regularly cuts back and forth between multiple stories, it never connects them

Review by Ken From Honolulu Made in 2010 Synopsis: A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings. But they learn there are much more dangerous things going on. They start following a mysterious hunter, but learn he is actually a troll hunter. Review:  This movie is a Norwegian film and is filmed in Norwegian. It is subtitled so you need to read the movie. There isn’t much dialogue, so it is easy to follow. You have to really watch, though, because there is a lot of visual stuff going on. This is one of those "found footage" type documentary films, like the Blair Witch Project. Generally I’m not a fan of this type of film, but this one is really good. Whoever did the casting for the film did a great job. The troll hunter is an older grizzled guy who is not very good looking. He is tired of his job and looks it. The younger people are supposed to be college students and they look it as well. This movie takes place over several we

Review by Ken From Honolulu Made in 1998 Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson Starring: Kurt Russell as Sgt. Todd Jason Scott Lee as Cain Synopsis: After being defeated and left for dead by his genetically engineered replacement, Sgt. for life Todd must save a peaceful community from destruction by the same soldiers. Review: This movie is an extremely violent film. There is no sex and no real cussing, but it is very bloody and very violent. So if that bothers you don’t bother. This movie takes place in the distant future. Where the soldiers are soldiers for life. Where the children are raised to be soldiers. The children are taught not to have any emotion. The soldiers are shown in certain situations where they attack towns and villages. It shows them growing older as they go along. This is great because it shows just because you are older doesn’t mean you are stupid. Because you are older and have more experience you are able to think things out in a more ratio

Long before I ever attempted to combine music and sci-fi storytelling to develop the Spirit Blade Trilogy, I was captivated by the 1986 movie, "Little Shop Of Horrors". Based on the stage musical (which itself was based on a Roger Corman flick), the story is set roughly in the 1950s and centers on Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), an overlooked, under appreciated nerd who has a heart of gold, a spine of jelly and thinks he is completely unlovable. Seymour works at a failing flower shop and secretly pines for his beautiful co-worker, Audrey, the victim of poor self-image (and an abusive boyfriend portrayed sadistically and hilariously by Steve Martin). Everything changes for Seymour and the flower shop when he discovers a strange plant which attracts numerous customers and business for the store. Soon Seymour is finding amazing success in every area of life because of this plant. The only problem? The plant's unusual diet: Human flesh and blood. I've never s

IMDB.com's synopsis reads: In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self. I don't dare say much more about the plot, because a key part of enjoying this movie is watching the story unfold as new information is revealed. However, I can at least say that the plot is about much more than this basic premise. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the young Joe, while Bruce Willis plays the older Joe from the future. In many movies with this kind of plot device, directors are content to cast actors that look a bit the same and leave it at that. But in Looper, Gordon-Levitt is given an incredible make-up and prosthetic makeover to look, not like a young Bruce Willis necessarily, but like a young version of Bruce Willis as he looks today. Sound confusing? It may not be the only thing that conf

One year ago this month, DC Comics aimed to take the comics world by storm with their complete reboot of the DC Universe. Although the basic elements of most characters remained the same, many of the details changed. First and foremost, the timeline was compacted, meaning that instead of Superman being a long established hero, in the "New 52" continuity, he and most other heroes have only been active for a maximum of five years. I've been a big DC comics fan for a long time, and started seriously collecting comics in the late 90s. Over the years comics have changed both in terms of art and writing. DC comics has rebooted their continuity lightly a few times in the past, but not since 1985's "Crisis On Infinite Earths" have they so completely altered the continuity of their universe. I knew I wasn't going to buy all 52 of their new titles, but I bought as many numbers one's as I thought I might enjoy, and then eliminated comics from my start

Although I'm a big comic book fan, I've only got a few issues featuring Judge Dredd. Mainly because the character is a U.K. property and doesn't see a lot of distribution in the U.S. The few issues I do have I picked up on a trip to Australia in Jr. High. I loved what little I read of this strange, dystopian future in which crime is such a problem that the entire justice system is distilled into one armed force called "The Judges", who act as police officers, judge, jury, and often executioner. I'm probably in the minority, but I enjoyed the Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd movie that came out in the 90's. Some of what I knew of Judge Dredd it represented well. Some of what I knew it totally dropped the ball on. Either way, I was still very interested to see what this latest conversion to the big screen would bring. The script and directing this time bring a decidedly more gritty and grounded feel to the world of Judge Dredd, both figuratively an

Seems like everyone was "phoning-in" this movie, so I "phoned-in" my review! Rated R for sequences of strong violence throughout Final Score: Quality: 4.5/10 Relevance: 2.0/10  (Download or listen to my full review below.) Direct Download- http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/SBU-Resident_Evil_Retribution_Phoned_In_Review.WAV

I've been a big fan of the Bioware video game company for years, starting with Neverwinter Nights, followed by Knights Of The Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. (I'm even going back now and playing the Baldur's Gate PC games!) Although I first rejected Mass Effect because of an early "timed mission" (hate those) and my discomfort with its "shooter-like" qualities, I came back to it a year later, with a different mood and different tastes, and discovered an awesome, story-driven "shooter for people who suck at shooters". I was hooked. I loved both the first two games in the Mass Effect series and eagerly waited in anticipation of Mass Effect 3, which I finally purchased and played through over the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I discovered that my tastes may have changed again. First off, don't get me wrong. If you love the first two Mass Effect games, chances are you'll really like this one, too. The combat

Review By Professor Alan When the book (and later movie) The Time Traveler’s Wife was released, there was much discussion about whether it was a genre story or not. Yes, there was time travel, but the main dramatic through line was a love story. So was the book science fiction? Or was it just a romance novel, placed in a sci-fi setting? I felt a similar tension reading Frank Peretti’s newest novel, Illusion. Peretti single-handedly brought unsterilized and unsafe storytelling to Christian fiction with his novels of spiritual warfare. But this latest novel more closely resembles The Time Traveler’s Wife than his classic This Present Darkness, especially the first half of the novel. Dane and Mandy were a Christian married couple, who had a long career as a popular magic act. Their forty-year relationship ended when Mandy died tragically in an auto accident. Shortly thereafter, a woman who may or may not be the nineteen-year-old version of Mandy from four decades before arrives

In The Possession, recently divorced Clyde is attempting to build a new life over the weekends with his teenage daughters. When they stop at a yard sale, his youngest daughter, Emily, purchases an old wooden box with Hebrew characters etched on the outside. Soon the box gains a treasured place in her room, her schoolbag, and every moment of her life. Emily's behavior becomes more and more strange and violent. When coupled with the eerie events that are becoming increasingly frequent around Emily, Clyde realizes he is facing a supernatural evil intent on destroying his daughter, that he is unprepared to confront. The Possession is not gory. It doesn't thrive on jump scares. It also doesn't have a central "creature" providing thrills. Instead, it falls into what I would describe as the "creep-scare" genre, which includes movies like The Ring, The Grudge and Paranormal Activity. In fact it owes quite a bit to these movies, despite doing a few new

I've spent much of my summer looking for free games to play, most of which are MMOs that still retain some kind of money-making scheme. The alternative is open source games, which are completely free and have no money-making scheme. The problem with these games is, because they have little or no money being put into them, they tend to be low-budget, crappy affairs. The exception to this rule, I believe, is a little game called "Battle For Wesnoth", a fantasy, turn-based strategy game in which you command your units on the field of battle in a quest to destroy the forces of evil. Fighters, elves, mages and clerics, this game has all the core fantasy character concepts you'd expect. The graphic design has the 2-D "spritey" quality of the Super Nintendo era, but with modern, high definition that results in smoother lines and a much cleaner look. The animations are very simple, but still charming, as skeleton warriors can be seen juggling their own heads f