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...

Review By Hank Harwell Metropolis is not the first science fiction film. According to my copy of Phil Hardy’s The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies (1984), that honor goes to the Lumiere short film “The Mechanical Butcher,” produced in 1895. It is, however, probably one of the most important science fiction films in history. Its influence is seen in many films even down to what we might call the modern era. German film director Fritz Lang had just completed an epic six-hour film version of the Nibelungenlied that was critically as well publicly well-received. To follow up, he wanted to make a film about the future.(1) He and his (then) wife, the writer Thea von Harbou, set about working on the story of class struggle that would become the core of Metropolis. When he and von Harbou and producer Erich Pommer traveled to New York to promote Die Nibelungen, he saw for the first time New York City and the visual look of the film took root. From aboard the steamship Deut...

Review By Ken From Honolulu Dr. Horribles Sing along Blog made in 2008 Directed and written by Joss Whedon Staring Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible Nathan Fillion as Capt. Hammer Felicia Day as Penny Synopsis: An aspiring super-villain must balance his career and his pursuit of a beautiful do-gooder. Review: This is a movie written and directed by Joss Whedon. He has done Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and many others. If you have never seen a Joss Whedon movie or TV show you might as well throw your scifi geek card away because you can’t be a scifi geek if you have never seen his stuff. This film, believe it our not, is a scifi musical. There is a lot of singing, some dancing. It all works to make the film good. Some of the tunes are catchy and fun to try to sing along with. This is a fun film. In the typical Joss Whedon style, it has a very unusual plot line. The plot line is basically Dr. Horrible is just a minor bad guy who has a sidekick ...

Review by Ben Avery   Here’s what the critics have to say about Batman Earth One, by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank: “. . . new, breathtaking . . .” – Brad Meltzer, important writer guy “. . . the right stewardship . . . awesome . . .” – David Goyer, big time movie writer “Original, surprising and emotional . . . must-read . . .” – Damon Lindelof, co-creator of the best TV show to ever be on TV and the guy who made Prometheus less alien-y “Sigh . . .” – Ben Avery, stranger and alien I really had high hopes for Batman Earth One. Maybe too high? DC Comics’ Earth One series is, in concept, perfect: High quality, hardcover graphic novels, telling a stand alone story that takes the classic character and starts fresh with a new story. The characters still exist in the regular comic series that come out every month, but the Earth One graphic novels are for fans of the characters who don’t want to be bogged down by all the continuity that comes with thousan...

Total Recall is the futuristic story of Douglas Quaid, a man tired with the monotony of his life, longing for adventure and significance. Although it involves some risk, he visits the Rekall company, who specialize in giving people memories of whatever fantasy they may desire. Quaid chooses the "secret double-agent" package, but just before the procedure begins, a pre-existing set of memories are discovered in his subconscious, in which Quaid really is a double agent. Suddenly, Quaid is being hunted by those he thought loved him most, and is meeting others who know who he was before being brainwashed into a mundane life. The story twists and turns as what even the audience thinks they know about Quaid is turned around. And amidst the sci-fi action and adventure, we wonder what is real right alongside Douglas Quaid. Although comparisons will naturally be made to the early 90's Schwarzenegger film, it's really apples and oranges we're talking about. (Sim...

Review By ComiKate The Dreamless Castle & Moonfell Wood are the first and second parts of the now three-part Awakening series, by Big Fish Games. The Awakening series belongs to the Hidden Object game genre, which means that at least part of your time is spent looking for, well, hidden objects. Other recurring elements are puzzles and searching beautiful locations for certain clues. In this type of game there is no time constraint, you cannot die, nor is there a multi player mode. Instead, it is all about a fun, relaxed entertainment experience. In short, the target audience is probably more of a casual gamer, or gamers who cannot or will not spend days and days immersed in one game and like to finish what they start in one afternoon or evening. Also, gamers who don’t want to spend a lot of money, or gamers who like to play lots of different games, or simply don’t know how RPGs, MMOs and first person shooters work and don’t care (or dare) to learn. Within the Hid...

Since I only review geek genre movies (like sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.) it's rare I have a reason to review a comedy. I tend to avoid comedies anyway, since it takes a strange and rare breed of them to really make me produce any noise beyond a mild chuckle. So be aware from the start that you may find any given comedy more funny than I do. "The Watch" is about a married Costco manager named Evan (Ben Stiller) who has busied his life with all kinds of social activities, but has no meaningful relationships and a marriage lacking crucial communication. When one of his employees is mysteriously murdered, he launches a neighborhood watch to hunt the killer down and prevent further murders. For all the wrong reasons (mainly because they thought it would be fun, involve beating people up, or lead to sex), he is joined by three other men, each with their own oddities and dysfunctions. Bob (Vince Vaughn) is a father of a teenage daughter whom he is constantly frustrat...