(This is an entry for this).

First thing I did with my first few months of salary was to finally buy myself a gaming PC so you’d probably know, I love games :). And not your average junkie too: I really love them, have played many many games, and find it puzzling why people can spend Ks on a gaming rig, or a car, or handphones, but find the concept of actually buying an original game - prices have dropped a little because of the weak dollar - completely alien.

That’s a discussion for another day though, since I’m writing this to share my favourite game of all time. You’d think it’d be a recent whizzbang shooter like Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, or maybe Half Life 2 - all fantastic games in their own right. After all graphics have improved to such realistic levels titles even a few years back can sometimes look positively outdated.

But yet I feel the best game of all time is Baldur’s Gate 2 (and its expansion Throne of Bhaal ), released a full 8 years ago in 2000 by the now-defunct Black Isle studios.

Granted I’ve always leaned towards RPGs rather than FPS. The former tends to be more story-centric and involving, rather than a twitchfest - although the lines are beginning to blur nowadays. But I think BG2 was one of the few games to have a perfect combination of action, gameplay, story, setting, and even decent multiplayer.

The freedoms given in the game, set in the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, still puts many later wannabes to shame. After an intriguing introduction where you fight your way out of a dungeon and watch as a childhood friend is kidnapped, you are free to explore Amn and its surroundings as you please, though the game reminds you about your main quest every now and then. And no mere Fed-ex side quests these; the game throws at you pirates, vampires, werewolves, djinni, liches, and even dragons! Indeed, it’s been observed that the second chapter of BG2 is practically as fleshed out as the entirety of some other games.

And when you finish with that, you find out that it’s just the beginning as you travel over the seas and into the Underdark.What completely separated BG2 from other games though was its gameplay - due mostly in part to its Infinity Engine. I still haven’t seen an engine, 3D or otherwise, that has been as able to capture epic, spellslinging battles as Baldur’s Gate did. And these battles were hard too, even on your second or third time through, which gave you all the more satisfaction as you finally downed that dragon or mind flayer.

It was also one of the few games - then and since - which had interesting companions, all of whom would change your party’s playstyle, and how you experienced the game. All had their own storylines and subquests and there were more enough combinations for multiple playthroughs.

In 2001 came the expansion Throne of Bhaal, and it brought the game to dizzying heights of epicness - up to that point most studios had never done a DnD game with characters levelled so high. And somehow it all still worked, timestops, comets, devas, fire giants and all, and it still captured the adventuring spirit of the series.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played through BG2 (4? 5?) and I find that as I write this I’m tempted to pick it up and try a new character and party build :P. I’m not alone either: there’s still a thriving mod community centered around the game. If you like RPGs and have never played this, you aren’t a true RPG fan :).

That’s it for my favourite game of all time!

Popularity: 17% [?]

Dark Knight Returns

Batman first came alive for me when I read Frank Miller’s landmark graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns (1986), which told the story of an aged Batman returning to fight crime. Its grim take on superheroes and mature themes remain an influence on comic books today (and who could forget the iconic panels of Batman showing Clark who’s boss?)

So The Dark Knight was a much awaited movie for me. Batman Begins was a decent film, but most of the time was spent on the origin story (no super powers, borrring..) and let’s face it you can’t remember the villain’s name, can you? TDK would feature two of Batman’s most famous opponents: the Joker and Two-Face.

Living up to Hype

Early reviews had nothing but praise for the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, which half worried me, would I go in expecting too much? Superhero movies are a dime a dozen now; this summer alone has seen Hancock, Wanted, Iron Man, Hulk, and Hellboy all grace the screen. Is there space for a hero with no powers?

There is :). What I liked most about TDK was that yes, Ledger’s performance deserves all the accolades you can throw at it. But less mentioned is that the rest of the ensemble: Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), and even Alfred (Michael Caine) all put in stellar performances (Morgan Freeman was good too, but at this point I go “WTF not YOU again” whenever I see him in a movie). In fact, given that I already knew Ledger would be awesome, Eckhart’s portrayal of Harvey Dent knocked me off my feet. He could easily have been overshadowed by the Joker, but his descent from being the “white knight” of Gotham into Harvey Two-Face was tragic and believable. Watch the movie in a different way, and The Dark Knight could just as easily been about Harvey Dent.

A Script Apart

I think that TDK is the film it is because it all meshes together; the acting, the costumes, the action the cinematography, all based on an amazing script. It’s easy to take a superhero movie and turn it into a blockbuster - just get the origin story right, maybe add a catchy theme, put in the fancy CGI, a DID (damsel in distress), a cheesy dialogue about how good triumphs over evil. And trust that the otakus will rush in anyway. Or if all else fails, just pull in Will Smith (god Hancock was bad). TDK has raised the bar, so much so that I look back now to Spiderman - which before this was generally regarded as the standard for superhero movies - and think “Cheer up emo kid!”.

Depicting morality outside of black and white is not just elusive to a hero movie. All movies - heck, games, books, music; every form of art has always struggled with putting forth a valid painting of gray. That is the real reason why The Dark Knight is not only the best superhero movie, but the best movie this year. Batman deals with getting the job done without feeding his darker side. Gordon struggles with having to deal with a corrupt force, his friends among them. Harvey has to balance himself on a pedestal, set up as the moral beacon of Gotham. The insane, anachronist Joker sets up impossible dilemmas for the Batman, one after another. Beneath the violence and choices lie moments that make you think: Now what would I have done?

Light spoiler ▼

It’s a whopping two and a half hours long, and scorns the typical “Intro-conflict-resolution”, but trust me it’s all worth it, all the way to Gordon’s closing monologue, which would have been cheesy in any other film, but in TDK it sums up perfectly; how the best of us can fail, and how it is in our nature to need a hero to project our hopes and fears to - which Batman paradoxically cannot be, and in the end, the people of Gotham get the hero they deserve.

The Dark Knight is required watching this year, or be prepared to be left out of many dinnertime conversations to come!

Postscript: Shattering records

TDK is on its way to breaking box-office records, and has shot to the top of IMDB’s highest rated movies, which is unprecendented:

Popularity: 39% [?]

Bioshock’s forte is its breathtaking art direction, and it wastes no time in showing it off. You start as an anonymous passenger on a plane that crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. Water and fire are gloriously, fluidly rendered as you swim in the wreckage and eventually you spot the only land in sight: an island with a solitary, imposing lighthouse. The commanding use of light and shadow here set the tone for the rest of the game. It is also the last time you will be in an open space - Bioshock is set in the underwater city of Rapture, and uses clever, claustrophobic level design and a limited but expressive set of enemies to keep framerates smooth.

You soon descend by bathysphere into Rapture, a utopia envisioned by Andrew Ryan to be free of the failures and limitations of the surface. As Ryan’s iconic speech goes:

I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?

No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture.

Admist the towering monuments to the greatness of Rapture, something becomes clear: there is trouble in paradise. Genetic advancements have gone awry, turning its citizens into scavenging mutants with only twisted memories of their past lives. They all crave ADAM - stem cells which power genetic abilities - and will gladly kill you for it. Also roaming the corridors of Rapture are Little Sisters, eerie children who harvest ADAM from dead bodies, and the hulking Big Daddies, who protect them.

Gameplay: Well designed, user friendly

Genetic modification is a thinly veiled replacement for what magic and spells are in other games, of course. Througout the game, you use ADAM to purchase plasmids and genetic enhancements which grant you special abilities, as well as more slots to equip these abilities simultaneously. Your abilities are complemented with “conventional” weapons, from the standard-issue pistol, shotgun, and SMG; to the more exotic flamethrower and crossbow. There are three ammunition types for every weapon. There was an innovation I liked: the research camera, which is used to “shoot” enemies, giving you research points depending on how good the photograph was, which leads to combat advantages against that enemy type, or information about their weaknesses.

Combat is unavoidable and plentiful (this is an FPS after all). There is enough variety to keep it fresh, and ample opportunities to use the environment to your advantage. You can use Telekinesis to throw gas canisters at your enemies, Incinerate on oil spills to set your enemies aflame, Electricity on enemies in water to electrocute them, etc. Unlike in Deus Ex, your genetic implants can be swapped out whenever you find the correct machine, leaving you with the abilities for every situation.

Sound: simply masterful

Voice acting, dialogue, and sound direction is impeccable in this game, from the objectivist monologues of Andrew Ryan to the demented screams of the splicers, and the rumbling grunts of the Big Daddies. An one memorable instance I came across a phonograph, turned it on, and the lilting melody of Patti Page’s (How Much is) That Doggie in the Window filled the air. It was a testament to Bioshock’s ability to immerse that I didn’t hear a cute cover of a nursery rhyme, but a haunting remnant of an attempt to invoke memories of the surface world and loved ones left behind:

I must take a trip to California
And leave my poor sweetheart alone
If he has a dog, he won’t be lonesome
And the doggie will have a good home.

But not perfect

That said, Bishock isn’t without its flaws. There is an over-reliance on audio journals to reveal backstory and advance the plot. Granted, the voice acting is absolutely superb, but it still detracts a little from the immersion - what are the odds that *every* inhabitant in Rapture happens to go around recording key points in their lives for you to pick up?

Security-related minigames seem to be the “in” thing in recent games, but most of them miss the mark - the only two games I can remember having decent implementations were Deus Ex, where your skill level determined how long a terminal would stay open and determine how much time you had to fiddle with controls and read classified information; and Oblivion’s lockpicking minigame, which tried for *some* realism. Bioshock’s hacking minigame sadly, falls short of the bar. It’s essentially an adaptation of the puzzle game Pipe Dream. The minigame itself is ok (even though it doesn’t make much sense) - but after about twenty times, it gets old. In theory, hacking is optional, but in practice, since you have very limited ammo and even cash capacity, you’ll find yourself having to hack everything that can be hacked, which spoils the immersion.

Bioshock is also nearly completely linear, which can be a turn-off. There is only one decision you need to make in the game: whether or not to harvest Little Sisters for ADAM, which enables you to purchase genetic upgrades; or to save them, which only grants half as much ADAM. And no, I don’t consider this a spoiler since this aspect of the game was trumpeted in every preview. I found the “decision” to harvest or save the Sisters moot - for one thing, you get “gifts” of ADAM as you save the Sisters, which lessens the penalty. You don’t actually need that much ADAM to get through the game, especially if you have played many shooters. Excepting your first few Big Daddy battles, the game is pretty straightforward otherwise. You know that a game isn’t presenting enough of a challenge when you actually down the final boss on Hard in your first try (and I’m not even very good at shooters, ask my friends!).

Verdict: Instant Classic

Quibbles aside, Bioshock is a game that is destined to be a classic for its immersiveness and artistry, as well as its unique steampunk-noir theme. If there were a reason to go out and buy a good graphic and sound card, this would be it. I liken it to one of those art films which you go “wow!” at, and rave about to all your friends; but know you may never watch again.

Rating: 85
+5 if you really love good graphics and sound
-5 if non-linearity puts you off

Postscript: Technical Issues

When first released, Bioshock featured a fairly restrictive DRM which limited every purchase to two “activations”. This limit was subsequently increased to five, and recently abolished altogether. There were also issues relating to how widescreen FOV was being implemented, but that’s fixed in the latest patch (Turn “FOV locking” off in Options).

Screenshots:

Popularity: 39% [?]

Massive spoiler alert! Don’t read this if you haven’t seen the movie.
Read rest of post…

Popularity: 49% [?]

Been practically “off the grid” the past week - discovered and promptly became a fanboy of How I Met Your Mother, a CBS sitcom now in it’s third season. A little surprising for me since after the end of Friends and Will and Grace I thought the whole “group of young adults in the city” sitcom thing had been milked dry.

The premise seems generic at first. It’s told from the perspective of Ted Mosby in 2030, telling his children the story of how he met their mother. I was actually quite disappointed with the pilot - the characters seemed generic, and I was like “Bah I know how this’ll go”. For all the brilliance of Friends, you always knew Ross would end up with Rachel. But HIMYM pulled a doozie when it ended its pilot with future Ted stating to his children “And that’s the story of how I met your Aunt Robin.” Jeng jeng jeng!

At first I only continued watching because I wondered how the heck a show would last when it told you up front that no, its flagship couple would in fact *not* end up together, but gradually I began to appreciate what set it apart.

Flashbacks and creative narration have always made for good viewing - Friends had the hilarious bits of the gang in college, Will and Grace had that amazing episode where Will first came out to Grace. And House isn’t a sitcom, but the Emmy-winning episode Three Stories is a shining example of the method. HIMYM exploits these techniques to the fullest, using its narrative setting to jump back and forth in the “story” for that episode (because of this, HIMYM isn’t performed live and every episode takes about three times as long to produce).

It also rewards viewer loyalty by doing this even between episodes! In the third-to-last episode of Season 2, the story centers around Ted, but we see flashes of Marshall wearing a hat at his wedding table, and of Robin’s apartment with a particular ornament missing. The next two episodes tell us the stories behind them and weave deftly into the season finale. A far cry from the more episodic (and rerun-friendly ) format of other shows.

And of course there’s Barney, who steals every scene he’s in. I’m not sure whether it’s because Neil Patrick Harris ( who recently sort-of criticized Britney Spears guest appearance on the show ) is just a damn good actor, or if he gets all the best catchphrases (probably both). I’d watch the show for him alone!

The rest of the cast aren’t bad, but they pretty much stick to their roles, letting the script and direction shine instead. I thought Robin was too good-looking to be believable at first, but after a certain episode in Season 2 (”Let’s go the Mall!”) she was redeemed.

HIMYM uses Internet buzz well. Barney constantly refers to “his blog” in the show, which is an actual one hosted at CBS and updated regularly, but sadly it seems that its archives got lost in a site revamp. Josh Radnor, who plays Ted, has a blog at TV Guide.com, it’s not updated regularly but has some pretty good stories.

And yes, I’ll say it: HIMYM is as awesome as Will and Grace, and even - wait for it - Friends. Yes it’s that awesome! Too bad it doesn’t seem to be showing on Astro any more.

Popularity: 52% [?]

Magic, pure magic - that’s how I’d describe Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Anyone who has read any of the books will already know that Rowling is a storytelling genius: the world of Harry Potter ranks right up there with Middle-Earth or Narnia - perhaps higher, given how easily you can relate to her world and appreciate her parodies on society and politics ([edit] I’ll say it again - the Ministry of Magic is sooo like our Govt, have you read about how they’re trying to paint Anwar as a lapdog of the US and the Jews?) without squinting for religious analogy or keeping track of odd names. Granted, her writing isn’t impressive in a literary sense (I believe someone commented that Rowling “never met an adverb she didn’t like”) - then again, I cringed at Tolkien’s attempts at songs too. She also takes pains to flesh out her characters, even the minor ones, and lets them grow with every book. And of course, I’m also a personal fan because of her rags-to-riches story writing the Great British Novel(s).

The last book was like the finishing of an intricate spiderweb. (Seemingly) small details from the previous books came together, nearly everyone has their moment in the sun, and the pace was breathtaking. The final chapters especially were glorious. The only problems I really had were the last two deaths, which didn’t seem to contribute to the story much by that point; and the epilogue, which was horrendous. She’s going to produce a final booklet for charity though, and if you want a better epilogue check out the transcript of a 90-minute chat between Rowling and MuggleNet.

Will end with a quick note about the Deathly Hallows price war: A letter in the newspaper observed that the major bookstores are getting a taste of their own medicine - many small retailers haven’t bothered stocking Harry Potter even before this, because they could not match the prices of the major chains. That said, it was a little… weird to see Deathly Hallows being promoted in a Carrefour newspaper ad - next to a promotion for potatoes. I preordered my copy from Borders, so it didn’t set me back much anyway - RM88 total, with 20% off the next two books.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Wow can’t believe I forgot to post this! And that no one reminded me!

Spiderman 3

I wonder if Kirsten Dunst is tired of spending the latter part of Spiderman movies screaming and screaming. At least she didn’t have to get wet this time round (good for her, I mean).

But I have to admit the action was mind-blowing; all the fight scenes looked good. And the overall story was passable. Didn’t think that much of the “archvillian with heart” stuff, but thought the whole overconfident Peter plot was done well (how many times have you said “Yes, I understand” when you really don’t?). Didn’t find Peter making a fool of himself all that funny.

The Peter-Harry teamup was cool enough, but though you could see Harry’s death coming a mile away it was still cheeesy. Especially with the sunset.

Pirates of the Carribean 3

Couldn’t wait to get out of the cinema while watching this one. Convulted, insanely long plot. And what are all the gazillion white crabs supposed to signify? Didn’t get it at all.

The evolution of Pirates 3 is pretty similar to Dragonball if you think about it. First you have a nice simple story about people going off to find lost dragon balls medallions. Simple plot, manageable cast.

Then you revisit the story and go off again finding lost uncles fathers with more action, more plot.

But people want more! So you kill off a hero, go off to faraway planets the other side, make some of the bad guys the good guys, and stuff it with even more action and characters.

And what was with the whole arc with Calypso? I didn’t see any point in it. And Elizabeth’s “freedom” speech had me gagging. I hope we won’t be seeing more calls for “freedom” in Transformers too.

Lost Season 3 Finale

Lost had me worried this season. Some cast members were even commenting on the lack of screen time they were getting. And while love triangles are always fun for the fans, it was getting way too draggy.

But the finale (and the episodes leading up to it) just blew my mind. The writers did a perfect job of weaving together the myriad subplots. My heart was literally thumping hard every second; one of the (increasingly rare) times when you have a total suspension of disbelief and you absolutely have no idea what’s going to happen next. In fact, it was so good, I’m not going to spoil it for you!

Watching the Lost finale before the House, MD season finale was a bad bad idea. It made House seem dull by comparison (which is saying a lot, since I love House). And House’s “twist” at the end had nothing on the one Lost had…

Popularity: 22% [?]

The Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert is the king. Of parody, of comedy; of the Colbert Nation. We don’t get it here, but The Colbert Report, where he plays a rabidly conservative buffoon, is now one show I can’t do without.

In his maiden episode Colbert gave us the word “truthiness” - later selected as Word of the Year by Merriam Webster and the American Dialect Society. It’s a word that describes the sentiments of many people today perfectly: A claim to know the truth by “feeling” it, without the need for proof.

Pak Lah of course subscribes to this philosophy. When he visited Sudan recently - a region which has seen hundreds of thousands killed in Darfur because of religious and ethnic violence, and whose government is being criticized for their role in it - he told us the situation there was “not as bad as the western media portrays”. To quote him:

“I did not see it that way when I visited the place because I am told food supply was sufficient.

“But I did see their houses are in terrible condition,” said Badawi to reporters who are accompanying him on his official visit here.

Thanks to Colbert, we know the correct term for quotes like this: truthiness. Colbert also shot to fame when he gave an in-character speech at the 2006 White House Correspondent’s Dinner, lampooning the President who was sitting barely ten feet away from him.

…I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

The Colbert Report pokes fun at the absurdities in current events, as well as news shows. In a recent segment:

A tip o’ the hat to Shrek, who has teamed up with the US department of Health and Human Services for a PSA promoting more exercise for kids.

[Cue for clip of advert with Shrek saying “Get up and play an hour a day” ]

Bravo, Shrek; for encouraging our kids to do more than sit around the house all day watching Shrek DVDs.

But in their infinite wisdom, the Department is pulling the ad during the run of Shrek III because they are, quote: “Not in the business of promoting movies”.

That’s why Shrek gets an additional tip of my hat for finding alternate ways to spread his message of health - through joint ventures with Snickers, Pop Tarts, Skittles, Cheetos, McDonald’s, Pez, M&Ms, Eggo Waffles, Frosted Flakes, Sierra Mist, ELFudge Double Stomps, and Berry Berry Banana Yogo Bits!

My favourite part is “The Word”, where Colbert talks indignantly about an issue of choice while sarcastic and often contradictory bullet points appear next to him. The interviews which end every episode are also usually hilarious, starting with Colbert enthusiatically accepting applause from the audience, the camera panning to the guest only at the last minute. He then employs fallacious arguments or loaded questions to “corner” his interviewee if they don’t agree on a point (”Is Bush a great President, or is he the greatest President?”).

I recall a discussion on his Wikipedia entry where it was asked why there was no critcism about Colbert on the page. The reply was “there is no criticism because there’s nothing to criticize”. So true.

Super Size Me

The most memorable scene in this semi-documentary is one where several kids, about 6-7 years old, are asked to identify pictures of famous figures. None of them know who George Washington is, nor do they recognize a portrait of Jesus. But when they are shown a picture of Ronald McDonald, all their faces lighted up immediately.

There’s also a scene where a group of people near the White House are asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and couldn’t. But asked to recite the recipe for the Big Mac (which turned into an advertising jingle) - they did it perfectly.

Super Size Me was inspired by a recent case in the US where two obese girls sued McDonald’s for its role in making them overweight. At first glance one could simply shrug this off as another case of people out to make a quick buck, but after watching the documentary, you just might rethink your views.

Morgan Spurlock decided to go on a 30-day diet comprising nothing but food from McDonald’s. The film documents his progress from a healthy 185-pound vegan to an overweight 210 lbs guy with a craving for sugar and lessened sex-drive. The title itself comes from Super Sizing, a trademarked term and marketing tactic used by McDonald’s to encourage customers to increase the size of their meals.

I don’t agree completely with his methodology - he insisted on eating only items on the McDonald’s menu for that month, and gave up physical activity in order to “be like the average American”. However, the flood of imitators who went on the diet to try and prove his results wrong miss the point.

What the documentary succeeded in conveying was just how much the fast-food industry is a part of Americana, and the industry’s practices. Their mascots are instantly recognizable (as the example above showed). Grade school cafeterias are packed with chips, cookies, and fries - one little girl even told him that fries were her “vegetables” for that meal. Soda has replaced water; some think drinking a gallon a day is completely normal. Portion sizes of fast food meals have increased over time. No one knows what a calorie is.

An argument the fast food industry has been using is that customers have a choice. A segment from the movie shows a school health official insisting the same thing - that the children can make their own informed choices. But as the movie also showed - merely having a choice isn’t enough, especially when you are bombarded by advertising (the fast food giants spend billions on it every year) and when schools don’t prevent children from getting hooked on junk food. When you catch them early, you’ve got them for life.

Does it cost that much money to put more tomatoes and lettuces on their burgers, or offer salads, fruit and plain water? After Super Size Me gained acclaim, McDonald’s did start offering salads - but not in international markets, at least not in Malaysia.

Granted, the recent suggestion by the Malaysian government to ban all fast-food advertising may be a little overboard, but (for once) I can understand where they are coming from. For us though, it may apply more to hawker food…

In the Mood for Love

I have to say up front that I can see why the In the Mood for Love has been well-received. Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung conveyed the emotions of their moody, lovelorn characters perfectly (and have also mastered the art of standing around looking pensive). I also like the way the film “fast forwards” time and repetitive actions by setting up multiple shots of the actors doing the same things in the same scene, but in different outfits.

Both their spouses are cheating on them, which leaves them plenty of time to meet up. They insist on being “not like them”, and rehearse scenes where their spouses confess to them. To prevent anyone from suspecting an affair (although there isn’t one, technically), they leave taxis seperately, and at one point when their neighbours suddenly start an all-night mahjong session, she stays the night with him rather than let herself be seen leaving his room. Did I mention they fall in love?

I like subtlety but the film might have brought it too far. You’re expecting some emotional climax in the movie but there isn’t any. Maybe I’ll find it in 2046? It could be that after being used to watching Hollywoord-style dramas - even documentaries are dramatic nowadays - you’re no longer able to get in the mood, to relate to characters who don’t rely on sarcasm or melodrama, to sense the frustrations in not always having that happy ending.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Will and Grace

Will and Grace ended its eight-season run with two bittersweet episodes that captured the essence of the show - friendships - magnificently. It’s a cliched description, but watching the last episode end was like saying goodbye to friends (which could also mean Friends the sitcom, this show is as good).

W&G has one of the most quirky but lovable ensembles ever: Will (Eric McCormack), an insecure gay lawyer obsessed with neatness; his best friend since high school Grace (Debra Messing), a Jewish interior designer with good looks but nonexistent manners and fashion sense; her secretary, Karen Walker (Megan Mullaly), a self-absorbed wealthy lady of undetermined age who works for fun and is perpetually drunk and/or high; and Jack (Sean Hayes), an oblivious and usually unemployed actor who is the embodiment of gay.

Looking back on that paragraph, my description probably has those who haven’t watched the show recoiling in horror (IMMORAL!! BAD INFLUENCE!). And the show does include copious amounts of physical and crude humour. Karen and Jack’s antics especially have made me laugh out loud more times than I can count. They’re the best comic duo I’ve seen in any sitcom. Nearly all the leads can sing as well, and the show made the most of it. The scene where Grace belts out a shrill Sound of Music medley to a group of hapless children will always be etched into my mind.

But if you look past the humour Will and Grace was a story of friends, and acceptance of both yourself and others. I wonder at times whether it paints a picture of friendships that’s too idealistic; would people put so much effort in platonic, close friendships? Maybe the point is you can.

Heroes

Heroes is a relatively new hit series that revolves around a group of people who discover they have super powers. I balked at first - after all, superhero movies are a dime a dozen nowadays since CGI became believable: we have Spiderman, Superman, Punisher, X-Men, Daredevil, Hulk; the studios even recruited more obscure supes like Ghost Rider and Hellboy.

The show gave me a pleasant surprise though. It uses to full potential the character-driven formula that has proven so effective in recent shows. I hear that the writers write actually down scenes for individual characters first, and then see how they can string them together. In the Heroes universe, evolution and mutation have gone to the next level in producing people with special abilities, and the diversity of the cast makes up for it, coming in yellow, black, brown, and white. You don’t end up feeling that there are any token foreigners just to level out the cast, like Sun and Jin from Lost; in fact Hiro Nakamura, a wide-eyed, plump Japanese with the power to control spacetime is one of the most popular characters. At the same time, Heroes attempts to show how humans are interconnected - interracial relationships are frequently shown, and many of the characters are unknowingly related.

The success of the show will depend on how the producers develop the plotline as it progresses. Character-driven dramas tend to be more interesting at first when you are discovering the characters and their backstories. Heroes hasn’t made the mistake Lost did when it focused too much on a small group of the cast, and alienated viewers by splitting the entire group up later. In fact, some of the leads don’t even have super powers (yet).

Today, on X-Play…
Extended Play first caught my eye when it was airing on ASTRO channel 13 with Adam Sessler as its sole host. A show that reviewed games? A match made in heaven. It later moved to ASTRO TVIQ (Channel 14), and by then had been renamed X-Play with Morgan Webb joining Adam as co-host. It was a great time, seeing as it was slotted with other shows from TechTV/G4, e.g. Cinematech and Icons, the former comprised entirely of cutscenes from computer games, and the latter doing features on prominent figures in the gaming industry. The problem was that those only showed at night (and the wee hours of the morning); in the afternoons TVIQ aired lame, outdated educational programs. The bigger problem was that sometime last year ASTRO corrected the imbalanced programming by cutting all TechTV/G4 syndicated shows! Does any one even watch TVIQ any more?

Of course, there are other means to get X-Play :). I love the show. The battle-weary, irreverent pair of Sessler and Webb (who apparently does play games) mock the deluge of WWII and movie-based games, nitpick at sloppy AI, and provide a unique brand of self-depreciating humour. The show also features hilarious skits and characters from time to time.

But you can check it out yourself:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjghkvEXcCM]

Sure I don’t always agree with X-Play’s reviews, but it’s still a shining beacon in a sea of bad games (and boring shows).

Popularity: 10% [?]

An Inconvenient Truth

I nearly passed over An Inconvenient Truth [wiki] [imdb] thinking it would be another Fahrenheit 9/11, full of dubious “facts”, showy out-of-context clips, and unsubstantiated claims. But Al Gore’s documentary on global warming and its disastrous effects on the world really left a deep impression on me. The main reason is the sheer amount of data he uses to support his claims. The photos taken of various places where ice is melting and water evaporating was also shocking. It’s something everyone has to see.

If you’ve been following the papers you’ll also know that Malaysia placed second-last out of 56 countries in an index that monitors efforts to reduce carbon emission efforts. Ugh. The past weeks have also seen news reports of temperatures rising in Malaysia’s highlands and major cities. The Government is planning a Monorail in Penang under the 9MP though, at least that’s something.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I downloaded the first episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip out of curiousity - it had Matthew Perry (of Friends) in it. The “dramedy” revolves around what goes on behind a weekly comedy sketch show - a show about a show. Perry is Matt Albie, who together with Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), is asked to return to produce a show they once resigned from.

The first few episodes didn’t go down that well. The dialogue was a little too “smart”, everyone always had something clever to say, and there was a lot of “walk and talk” which people just don’t do in real life. Amanda Peet wasn’t very believable as the president of a national television network - too pretty, too witty.

It started to grow on me though (Hey I’m a smart guy, aren’t I?). I liked the skirmishes between the religious right and the show, and how it affected Harriet, the only devout Christian on the cast and Matt’s ex-girlfriend. Also surprise, surprise, Matthew Perry can act.

Sadly, the show (the real-life one) was abruptly cancelled after 16 episodes, just when it was kicking into high gear. Studio 60’s impeccable pedigree (it was created by Andy Sorkins of The West Wing) meant it everyone had high expectations of it - maybe too high. Technically it wasn’t cancelled, just “postponed” - we know what that usually means, don’t we. Still, it’s replacement show isn’t doing too well in America either, so who knows…

Popularity: 10% [?]