Microsoft’s medieval strategy/action game is similar to others in the genre, though the medieval setting is a fresh and welcomed addition to the market.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Microsoft but, I hate to say, I’m becoming one. The company has thrust itself into the gaming market, making great games such as NFL Fever 2000, the Flight Simulator series and now Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

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Hollywood has been trying to reinvent the scare on the big scream. There was “Scream,” and then recently there was “The Blair Witch Project.” Now there’s the “Bone Collector,” from Phillip Noyce, director of “Clear and Present Danger,” “Patriot Games” and “The Saint.” While Noyce doesn’t reinvent the scream on the big screen, he does create an enjoyable and suspenseful film.

The premise is Lincoln Rhyme, played by Denzel Washington, is one of the best forensic officers in the country. Within the first minute, he is paralyzed from the neck down, save one finger. Confined to a bed, Washington is contemplating assisted suicide before seizures transform him into a vegetable.

Angelina Jolie plays Amelia Donaghy, a hotheaded young cop who Rhyme quickly finds has a natural instinct for forensics. Both Rhyme and Donaghy quickly get thrown into a case with a serial killer who kidnaps victims in his taxi cab, complete with a little figure hanging from a noose from the rearview mirror.

The deaths are disgusting, though the rat infested death takes the cake. The killer cuts open the victim so that blood is flowing from the wounds, thus attracting the hungry rats. Hundreds of rats scurrying toward him and then nibble. The worst was when a rat came running toward the camera (the camera being from the perspective of the victim). The rat then opens its jaw to take a bite in the person, right in the audience’s faces, before the scene changes. Everyone in theater was disgusted.

Ed O’Neill and Queen Latifah both have fairly sizable roles in the film and do fine jobs, though I had a hard time disassociating them with characters they’ve been in the past. O’Neill will always be Al Bundy, no matter what he does or whom he plays. He did a good job as Detective Paulie Sellitto, as does Latifah as Thelma, the live-in nurse for Rhyme.

My only complaint is that the movie builds and builds consistently and then crashed down in a semi-sloppy ending that wraps things up too neatly in too short of a time. This seems to be a trend lately in movies. Either make the movie longer, or edit it down earlier so that the ending doesn’t have to come and go in the last ten minutes of the movie.

Despite the quick ending, the movie is suspenseful and entertaining. I had no clue who the killer was until he was revealed, which in itself is an asset to the flick. Washington and Jolie were exceptional and make the movie worth watching. The film shows some intelligence and apprehension that thoroughly make it enjoyable.

Originally posted at NandoNext.

The movie has the flavor of "Pulp Fiction," with three stories that are separate, but also intertwined. The cast is obviously a lot younger but has some known names such as Katie Holmes (a personal favorite), Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf and Sarah Polley. The flick also follows”Pulp Fiction’s” lead by having out-of-sequence scenes and, several times, repeating a scene from a different character’s perspective.

The main story has Ronna, played by Sarah Polley, not able to pay for rent. Ronna resorts to selling drugs, only to have to flush them, making her in debt both to local drug dealer, Todd, and to her landlord. Polley ends up using her best friend, Claire (Holmes) as collateral and then sells cold medicine as ecstasy.

The second story line features Zack (Jay Mohr) and Adam (Scott Wolf), playing actors forced to work in a sting operation after being busted for drug possession. The officer they’re working with has a hidden agenda that’s humorous and left hanging in the air for most of the movie.

The best of the three stories involves Simon (Desmond Askew), Marcus (Taye Diggs) and the rest of their crew, heading to Las Vegas for a weekend where they end up shooting a bouncer and stealing a car, among other things.

Askew is absolutely the funniest character and his combination of stupidity and his lust for adventure is classic. Marcus, who plays more of the straight man is great as well. Their story line sits above the other two, though they are also rich and enjoyable.

It’s good to see Katie Holmes finally associate herself with a decent movie. All of her other movies (”Ice Storm,” “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” and “Disturbing Behavior”) were all real stinkers. Holmes is able to finally act and show realistic emotions and reactions.

It’s also funny to go back and watch the movie again and see the subtle things that were missed the first time around. Noticing these things makes the movie that much better.

So while it’s a pretty safe assumption that you missed “Go” in the theaters, it’s well worth the video rental or the DVD purchase. I had the movie pre-ordered on DVD as soon as I arrived home from the dollar theater.

The DVD features some cool extras, including a behind-the-scenes featurette, three music videos (No Doubt, Len and a remix of Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride”), along with bios of the cast and the trailer for Go (trailers on DVDs seem to be becoming a standard feature, even on DVDs that lack “extras.”)

Originally posted at NandoNext

Games are getting more and more realistic, and in turn, more complicated to run and play, but Red Storm Entertainment has done a good job with Rogue Spear. Part of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series, the game is complex and rich enough to enjoy for long amounts of time, but simple enough to be fairly easy to learn to play.

The game focuses around SWAT-team-like groups that go into hostage and terrorist situations to neutralize the enemies and
obstacles at hand. You control one person at a time, but can set up orders for the others in your group and in the other teams.

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In the past few years, computers have caught up to video games in the sports genre. With 3-D video cards becoming standard equipment in PCs, computers have surpassed the video console’s graphics. Even with my old Pentium 200 MMX, sporting a 4 MB PCI video card, Microsoft’s NFL Fever 2000 looks and feels great. But the commentary leaves a lot to be desired.

The game ran a little choppy initially on my machine running software 3-D, but improved when I activated my video card. The game doesn’t miss a frame on a Pentium II and is as fluid as an NFL television broadcast.

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