Sunday, June 12, 2005

Review Madness

So after the difficulty of this last week .. My aunt is has a memorial service in Greenville, CA on Wednesday ... My wife's birthday is wednesday .. and my father-in-law is having open heart valve replacement surgery on Thursday....

So I have been distracting myself too much when I really need to get a job.

Video Game Reviews:

Simpsons Hit and Run *** .... A fun game but the mission format gets very frustrating would be nice if there was just a run around mode ... I like Simpsons Road Rage much better ****1/2.

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition ***** ... A great racing game!! ... I decided to return it to Blockbuster (can always get a new copy later) but had it out for a month and a half. An absolutely dynamite street racing game with great cars and competition. Spent 55 hours+ playing it and it was very hard to return.... Really, Really, Good.

Max Payne 2: 0 stars/Incomplete .... Couldn't figure out how to get out of the opening level (returned)

Jax 3: (rented) .. Tried it yesterday ... looked fun but couldn't get through opening board ( lava on opening board ??????!?!?!?) .... 1 star/Incomplete .... the first learning board should be MUCH easier.

Movies/Videos:

Star Wars 3: ... . the best of the new trilogy. Still very bad acting and writing (Lucas prefers digital tech stuff to plot and acting) .. But very good ... I have some problems with the climax and what a big switch it is ... If the Jedis are so smart, they should know more ... Would be happy to discuss ....l Good though .. maybe as good as Return of the Jedi ***1/2

Be Cool (rented) .. . A fun movie. Ridicuously overstuffed .. Nowhere near as good as the efferecent fun Get Shorty (****1/2) ... This would have been better with less actors and music videos in the middle. A ridiculous movie but watchable **1/2

Racing Stripes *** .... I liked this much better then I thought I would ... This is a very nice fun movie with talking animals ... Not as good as Babe or Babe 2 .. but much better then you think a talking zebra movie will be ... Sweet, very nice family film.

I also read a fantastic book this week called The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Remeck Hunt.

This is an inspiring story about three black men who grew up in Newark and Plainfield, NJ where unfortunately black men are more likely to go to Prison then Graduate School. The three made a pact to all become doctors and made it. An absolutely inspiring story about how having friends and positive peer pressure can make a difference.

This book is also very scary in how much life in the underclass has to change.

I recommend this very, very strongly *****+

edmund