Protector Collection necklaces. Photo: Asprey.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are working with British jewelery designed Asprey to create a line of snake-like jewelery, People.com reported.

The serpentile pieces include bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings and even spoons. The net proceeds will go to the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which the couple has already given $1 million through the Jolie-Pitt Foundation. The snake-theme came from Angelina’s pregnancy with Shiloh in 2006, when a friend gave her a protective snake ring. Since then, snakes have become a symbol of protection for the family.

Initially, the jewelery line was meant for children, but it expanded to become the high-end “Protector Collection.” It will become available Nov. 17.

But don’t take our word for it. Just ask the teenage girls who waited for hours-upon-end this weekend just to get a glimpse of him as he passed through the Natick Collection on his “New Moon” mall tour. Even without the appeal of his co-star Ashley Greene (”She’s my best friend,” he said), who was supposed to join him (her appearance was cancelled), Lutz, with his blue eyes and movie star smile, had no trouble filling a mall with screeching “Twi-hards” a week before the release of “New Moon.”

But just a few hours before the Natick Collection madness began, Kellan, dressed in black from head to toe, capped off with brightly bleached hair (it’s jet black in “Twilight”) sat down with Blast and a few other reporters to talk about sudden fame, snowboarding and making fun of co-star Kristen Stewart.

Like many of the actors in “Twilight,” Lutz was just another struggling actor before his role in the vampire series thrust him into the spotlight. With a few parts here and there, he wasn’t unknown, but the “Twilight” phenomenon brought him and many of his cast mates unprecedented fame.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that Lutz plays a lovable, bulky vegetarian vampire in “Twilight” who likes to play off of his more serious, sparkly brother, Edward. Edward is caught in a tricky situation with a human girlfriend named Bella and his overwhelming desire to have her for lunch. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

Those who have seen the movie might not be able to picture Lutz in any other role, though he says it came very close to being that way. Initially, he was offered an audition for the part of Edward, the pensive, pining bloodthirsty lead.

“I had just gotten back from doing ‘Generation Kill,’” Lutz said, “which was seven months in Africa portraying Marines killing people. I did not want to play a depressed, complex character like Edward. And my agent’s like ‘It’s gonna be huge!’ and I’m like ‘Cool!’ *click* (simulates hanging up a phone).”

But thanks to that persistent agent and a change of perspective, Lutz found his way to playing Emmett Cullen, who he claims he is more suited for.

“He’s this happy-go-lucky guy with no fears,” Lutz said with a gleaming smile. “He’s indestructible. He’s this monster. And he just laughs, cause nothing can hurt him…and he just makes fun of Bella.”

Fans of the books know that Emmett Cullen spends most of his time finding ways to poke fun at the saga’s clumsy, red-faced heroine Bella Swan, played in the films by Kristen Stewart. Lutz brought that spirit to the set of “New Moon” and “Eclipse” by ribbing Stewart whenever he got the chance.

“I do!” Lutz said when asked if he liked making fun of people on set. “Especially Kristen…we had some great scenes in ‘Eclipse,’ and it’s fun just hanging out with her, ’cause she’s just such a free bird. Saying the funny lines that my character gets to say and having her laugh when she’s not supposed to…(she’d say) ‘You guys, we gotta go again!’ She’s adorable.”

Lutz shared about a specific scene in Eclipse where, though she tried, Stewart couldn’t keep a straight face due to Lutz’s humor.

“There’s a scene when Bella hurts her arm because she hits Jacob,” Lutz said, “and so Jasper and I walk in, and I say some really funny comments. She tried to go tit-for-tat with the humor, (but) she just kept on laughing.”

Lutz, Stewart and the rest of the ensemble cast for “Twilight” have been working together for two years, giving them time to develop a rapport. But critics wondered if that chemistry would be altered when the decision was made to find a new director for the second film, “New Moon.” Once the success of the franchise became apparent after the release of “Twilight” ( “It opened so high that they greenlit it the next day, which was amazing,” Lutz said) the sequels were put on the fast-track to release.

“Twilight” Director Catherine Hardwicke declined to direct “New Moon,” claiming she would need more time to prepare than the studio would allow. Director Chris Weitz (”About A Boy,” “American Pie”) was quickly brought in, and the Twilight world waited with baited breath to see if he could recreate the magic in “New Moon” that Hardwicke had brought to “Twilight.”

Lutz said that the two directors had very different styles, but each suited the story they told. “Twilight” had to make a vampire love story not only realistic, but compelling, and Lutz said Hardwicke succeeded in making that happen.

“‘Twilight’ is an artsy movie, and Catherine had just such a great independent style,” Lutz said. “She really captured the beauty of what ‘Twilight’ is.”

“New Moon,” which details the heartrending loss of first love, called for a melancholy tone, which Lutz said Weitz was perfect for. “(Weitz is) so chill. He’s so easygoing,” Lutz said. “It didn’t feel like work.”

In “New Moon,” much to the fans’ dismay, Lutz and the rest of the Cullens disappear for awhile, acting in Bella’s best interest.

“All us Cullens wish we could be in that movie so much more,” Lutz said. “But we can’t because we’re sticking really close to the book. And we’re in the movie for the really crucial scenes, but we disappear. We go away for Bella’s safety.”

Now, before the second movie has even been released, the third one is on its way — and yes, there’s yet another director. David Slade (”30 Days of Night”) is following Weitz’s tear-tinged “New Moon” with an edgier “Eclipse,” which just wrapped filming.

In “Eclipse,” the Cullens are back…along with some werewolves, some angry vampires and a very clumsy Bella. This makes for a lot of fight scenes, which are Lutz’s forte.

“In ‘Eclipse,’ I worked so much doing fight training,” Lutz said. “My character’s there for all the action.”

But Lutz wanted to make sure he got in on the real action on set.

“I nagged and nagged and nagged so I could do all my stunts,” he said. “And I was so annoying that finally -– I’ve been annoying for the past two years trying to do my stunts — they finally allowed me to do a lot of my own stunts, which is great. ‘Cause whenever I can do that, I put 150 percent into it, versus stunt guys who get paid, you know, to not get hurt. They don’t wanna get hurt, ’cause that’s their job, so they do it, like, 145 percent. I just enjoy doing them. They’re fun to me. I’m a thrill seeker. I like taking risks and getting hurt.”

There’s one film left to make in the series, but Lutz expressed concern that “Breaking Dawn” may never make it to the big screen. Contrary to the pacing of the first three films, Lutz said all of the actors are killing time while the studio has yet to release the names of potential directors, release dates or any other plans for the film.

“We aren’t filming it,” Lutz said. “There’s no word. It’s a real bummer because when we did ‘Twilight,’ we always hoped to continue on with the book series.”

With the success of the franchise came more big-name actors, like Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning. Lutz said he fears that if the studio doesn’t move fast, they’ll lose their cast to other projects, putting the “Twilight” saga on hold.

“Us actors are having offers for tons of stuff now,” Lutz said. “To get the…actors that are a part of this – the Volturi, the wolves, the Cullens, that’s a lot of actors to just say months before we shoot, ‘Hey, can you guys come do this movie?’ ‘Cause we don’t have contracts. Versus the first three films we were all under contract. So nothing’s telling us ‘hold these dates.’ There’s only a small time frame that we could shoot…because of weather. So I hope they make their mind (up) after ‘New Moon’ comes out.”

Lutz said the determination of the film’s future might be in the hands of “Twilight” fans.

“I think it really matters for the fans,” he said. “If they come out and support ‘New Moon’ like they did ‘Twilight,’ and then ‘Eclipse.’ Because we all want to finish this baby. It’s such a part of us and it would just seem empty not to finish the last chapter.”

Lutz also addressed the rumor that “Breaking Dawn,” the longest novel in the saga, might be filmed in two parts.

“I’d hope that they’d want to shoot it all,” he said, “cause it’s such a big book. If they were to split it…there’s not really a clear line. I feel like if you did three fourths of the book and then the last part or something…but I think they would have to shoot it all in one push. Five months worth. But if they don’t greenlight it…”

Portraying a playful vampire and joking around on set makes Lutz’s job sound pretty ideal. It becomes clear, though, that it’s not all fun and games as he described his taxing tour schedule.

“Definitely the hard part,” he said, “is just getting on the airplane and trying to find time to sleep.”

Hopping back and forth between the East and West Coasts and getting three to four hours of sleep on average, Lutz said he relies on the love and support of the fans to sustain him.

“Definitely meeting the fans and the energy that they bring really keeps you going,” he said.

Due to the series’ instant popularity, its stars, and by default, Lutz, instantly lost much of their privacy to the persistent clicks of paparazzi cameras following their every move. Lutz initially didn’t have it as bad as his co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, but it wasn’t long before a photo surfaced of him, shirtless, exercising in his own gym.

“Being a part of ‘Twilight,’” he said, “definitely opened my eyes to how nuts it is to be a named actor and have paparazzi follow you and crash their cars trying to get pictures of you. And all you can do is be like, ‘Ha ha. Karma.’”

But the sudden fame will have no lasting effect on his life, Lutz claims. He said he plans on using it to pursue his acting dreams, but nothing else.

“You know, I’m not here to become famous or to be a millionaire,” he said. “I’m just very passionate. You know, I might have to do my hair before I go out more,” Lutz said. “(But) I’m not gonna let anything change me. I think fame or whatever it is we have changes the people around you. And as long as you stay true to yourself, everyone else will get a wakeup call and you’ll find out who your real friends are and who’s in it to get something else out of you.”

Lutz told us that though he enjoys his work, he’s eager to get home after the press tour to spend some time with none other than his mother for the holidays.

“My mom’s very traditional,” he said, “and puts up lights and cooks great meals with little cookies…it’s just great to be with family. I feel like a little kid when I go home. I have a little stocking full of, you know, candy. It’s great.”

He said he also looks forward to fitting in one of his favorite pastimes over the holiday season — snowboarding.

“I have my season pass in California,” Lutz said. “I bring my dog in my truck, and throw my boards in the back. It’s a piece of crap truck. But it’s my baby. I love it.”

Look for Kellan Lutz in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” which hits theaters this Friday.

Today, TMZ.com reports that police say Taylor seemed to have hit another car and a guard rail, then drove away. When they found him standing next to his car, it was missing a wheel, suggesting he may have driven miles without it. No one was injured and shockingly, Taylor appeared to be sober. So sober, in fact, that the cops didn’t perform a sobriety test.

Taylor smiled for his mugshot and was reportedly very cooperative during his arrest. Even though his eyes were bloodshot and he’s been arrested twice on crack-related charges, police were convinced he was sober and he was released on $500 bail.

InStyle’s website picked Kristin Cavallari’s plaid look as yesterday’s “Look of the Day,” but when I put on my black and blue plaid tunic over gray jeans this morning, I couldn’t help feeling the look had passed, gone the way of the Ugg — a comfy throwback, but no fashion statement what-so-ever.

What are your thoughts on plaid? Do you still grab your plaid shirts when you dress for Saturday shopping? Let us know!

Apparently, the cult following of the movie has aged more maturely than its abysmal Metacritic score.

Paul Verhoeven is attempting to greenlight a sequel titled “Showgirls: Story of Hope,” which would tell the story of one of the original film’s supporting characters, according to Joblo.

Until I see the entire original “Showgirls” — sober — I am not willing to pass judgment on the prospect of a sequel. But if it’s the guilty pleasure that every fan says it is, then a sequel is sure to follow in its footsteps.

On a more cautiously optimistic note, The Hollywood Reporter reports that New Line is talking to writers about a new “Vacation” script. The plan for the next installment is to start from square one as an older Rusty Griswold, the son in the previous movies, takes his family on a road trip vacation.

Watching “A Christmas Vacation” is a prerequisite for the holiday season at my house, so I’ll be looking forward to how David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), who is said to be at the helm, re-imagines the series.

Considering the last either of these movies was heard from was in the mid-90s, it will be interesting to see how well their respective followings hold up. Personally, I feel that it is largely apples and oranges and audiences will be drawn to one or the other depending on what they’re looking for: a possibly good comedy, or the always marketable boobies.

What about you? Which sequel are you more excited to see?

This Tuesday Warner Brothers Animation released “Superman Batman: Public Enemies” on DVD.

For those not familiar with the graphic novel created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, this is the story that pits the “world’s finest” against the full force of the United States government.

But animations like Justice League Unlimited have done similar stories, so what’s new?

Most noticeably, the visual feel is different from many other Warner Brothers comic book based cartoons. The animation, based on the art Ed McGuinness drew for the graphic novel, is charged with excitement.

The mainstays of the animation are the same, however. Kevin Conroy’s iconic voice breathes life into the caped crusader as it has from Batman the Animated Series, in 1992, all the way through Batman: Gotham Knight- the 2008 DVD animated companion to the films starring Christian Bale.

Two of the major voices from JLU are also back. Tim Daly reprises as Superman, and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor.

The story is a bit more politically charged than any previous animated features about the titanic team-up. First of all, Luthor is president. It begs the question; if things got really bad, how far would the American public be willing to go to make things right?

In this world we elect a man with the savvy to do whatever is necessary to keep the citizenry safe. When a country-sized asteroid comes hurtling from space the president’s resolve is tested.

And that asteroid is pure kryptonite.

In a live televised address, President Luthor calls for a meeting with Superman. When the man-of-steel meets the Commander In Chief, a new addition to the Secret Service lends a super-powered hand putting the hurt on the Last Son of Krypton. The confrontation quickly turns south for Superman, and the results lead to a perfect opportunity for a set-up. President Luthor issues a bounty for one billion dollars. Maybe he should put a pinky to his lip? But instead he unleashes all kinds of super-powered heavyweights, to slug it out with the man of tomorrow and the dark knight, who stands by his buddy through thick and thin.

The pair find themselves in deep trouble when Mongul and Solomon Grundy show up in the first wave of stringers looking to cash in on the bounty. Shit hits the fan when the bounty hunters are finished and the President plays his ace card, some top-tier members of The Justice League. These are probably best left a surprise, but suffice it to say there are two heroes whose name begin with “Captain” who slug it out with the big “S.”

The battles can be summed up in one word, for anyone who is into superhero cartoons, nerdgasm.

One key difference from the comic book is noticeable. The climax. In Loeb and McGuinness’s version Batman and Superman confront Lex in the Oval Office. Batman tells Superman that they can “make it look like an accident.” Direct threats on the chief executives life, in the land’s highest office, might not be politically prudent right now. The cartoon opts for a more discreet location and no consideration by the teamed-up superheroes to kill the president, but it does leave room for a question. If a sitting president ever took truth and justice too far, would the world have any way to check the might of the only real super-power?

1 Zombieland – $25,000,000
2 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs – $16,700,000
3 Toy Story / Toy Story 2 – $12,500,000
4 Invention Of Lying, The – $7,350,000
5 Surrogates – $7,344,000
6 Capitalism: A Love Story – $4,850,000
7 Whip It – $4,850,000
8 Fame – $4,750,000
9 Informant, The – $3,800,000
10 Love Happens – $2,777,290
11 Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself – $2,670,000
12 Pandorum – $1,923,000

Source: Rentrak Corporation

“You know what? You freakin’ just threw an ashtray full of butts at my head,” said Slate. Totally acceptable live-TV statement. Then she crossed the line. “You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I f—– love you for that.”

Slate immediately realized her mistake, bulging her eyes and puffing out her cheeks. Fellow cast member Kristen Wiig, however, didn’t miss a beat.

“You’re in my heart, babe,” said Wiig. “You’re in my heart.”

Watch the video below.

Lazlow, the hilarious and dirty-mouthed DJ, has produced the music-scene in GTA games since GTA: III in 2001, and from Rockstar’s 6-word announcement this morning, we know he’ll be in GTA IV “Ballad of Gay Tony” but we don’t know in what capacity. One thing’s for sure though, if his previous work is any indication, it’ll be pure sonorous enjoyment!

The first occurs during the Army-McCarthy Hearings in 1954, when Joseph Welch, an attorney for the for the U.S. Army asks Senator Joseph McCarthy to provide evidence to the attorney general of his accusations that there are communists working in U.S. defense plants. Instead, McCarthy names someone from Welch’s law office in Boston. The exchange leads to Welch’s now-famous retort to McCarthy:

“Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator…. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

Now shift to 55 years later. The President of the United States is delivering a speech on healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress. At one point in his speech, President Obama refutes recent reports that healthcare bill proposals would include so-called “death panels” that will decide the fate of elderly citizens. “It’s a lie, plain and simple,” he says. As the president continues in his speech he says that there are no provisions to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants in any of the bills. South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouts out:

“You lie.”

Both Welch and Wilson called people out on what they viewed to be misrepresentations. Welch is widely heralded for being among the first to help bring down a Senator intent on a communist witch hunt. Wilson, however, is castigated by members of his own party.

Senator John McCain, Obama’s Republican opponent in the presidential election, calls Wilson’s outburst “totally disrespectful.”

The reaction to Wilson’s outburst begs the question of why it was so wrong for him to shout out what he believed to be “truth to power” when it was OK for Obama to sweepingly call out liars in his speech and admirable for Welch to confront McCarthy while the whole world was watching. (Well, maybe not the whole world, but certainly a good chunk of U.S. citizens watching the televised hearings.)

Welch’s act came after McCarthy raised a colleague’s name in an effort to divert attention from the request made to support his allegations. By confronting McCarthy, Welch effectively disarmed McCarthy and continued to focus on the issues at hand in the hearings. Welch and McCarthy were engaged in a hearing where each had the right to express their views, however abhorrent Welch may have found McCarthy’s comments.

Obama shone light on what he viewed to be the lie, rather than call out specific liars. Granted, his comments may still have irked those who had been talking about death panels, but he never singled out, say, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as being a liar for continuing to talk about death panels. “You, Governor Palin are a liar,” rings far differently from “It’s a lie, plain and simple.”

Where Wilson stepped over the line was in the method and forum in which he chose to deliver his message. He and Obama were not engaged in a hearing. His was a direct assault on the character of the person speaking not the issue he raised.

The reason why some members of his own party joined in the criticism of his behavior was that Wilson breached the agreed-upon norms of how members of Congress should act. By doing this his actions were not only uncivil but struck many as unethical.

“Ethics is how we behave when we decide we belong together,” write Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner Rogers, who wrote in A Simpler Way (Berrett-Koehler, 1999).

Wilson fell short of behaving in a way that he and his colleagues deemed appropriate when they work together on important issues facing the country.

I was proud and stood to clap. Sadly, I looked around and noticed very few fans were even paying attention.

John Guilfoil Jr. (left) the father of Blast's editor, is a career fire fighter who was in New York after 9/11 as part of the rescue efforts

Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless To USA” was playing and no one seemed moved.

I know it was just a preseason game and all, but I felt a little ashamed. These young men and women were reenlisting to go back into harms’ way to combat terrorism and no one seemed to care.

September 11, 2001 seems a long way off eight years later.

There are so few tributes anymore. People seem to want to forget. Blast keeps the tribute alive every year. Take a moment and look at the article and pictures.

I am a firefighter in Connecticut. I went to New York that evening — to ground zero to help. The sights, sounds and smells of that day are etched in my mind. I will never forget the determination of the firefighters, police officers, the iron-workers and construction workers on the “pile.” All just hoping to rescue someone.

September 11, 2001

Lest We Forget

The events of September 11, 2001

Lest We Forget

The Firefighters and Police Officers who lost their lives in New York

Lest We Forget

The Innocent workers at the Twin Towers and the Pentagon killed that day

Lest We Forget

The people killed in the planes in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania

Lest We Forget

The families left behind

Lest We Forget

The terrorists responsible

Lest We Forget

Why our troops are in harms way

Lest We Forget

Those same rescuers, some who spent months at ground zero, are now sick from breathing the smoke and dust. These same people being denied health and workers compensation claims. I ask President Obama and our elected officials to be mindful. What are you going to do about these injustices?

Lest We Forget

Our men and women serving the military

Lest We Forget

FREEDOM

LET’S NOT FORGET.

Already one of the greatest comic book characters of all time, Batman has had a bit of resurgence in the last 5-10 years, accruing massive popularity deriving mostly from the latest installment of cartoons, merchandise and, of course, films.

Still, other than the super-cute Lego Batman game, the Caped Crusader has yet to leave his mark on the video game world, especially in the 21^st century.

Until now.

Say hello to Batman: Arkham Asylum, one of the newest releases from developers Rocksteady Studios and publishers Warner Brothers and Edios Interactive.  This multiplatform action adventure title has had a lot of hype surrounding it leading up to its release in late August.  So, the big question about Arkham Asylum wasn’t if the game was going to be highly anticipated, but rather if it could live up the excitement.

Having getting a chance to demo it at Comic-Con this year, I felt the heat that Arkham Asylum was generating even with the most casual of batman fans.  Yes, even I decided to join the Arkham hype-machine with my hands-on preview, hoping and praying that somehow this major release from a small, independent developer could live up to all I had come to expect from it.

Would Arkham be that great title everyone has been craving or would it end up being just another over-hyped letdown?  I guess you’ll have to read through and find out…

What would any video game review be without a short overview of the plot?  Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place on — wouldn’t you know it? – Arkham Island.  This island is home to Gotham City’s most famous maximum-security correction facilities where Batman has recently delivered the Joker.  Though he is being processed and surrounded by many security guards, the Joker’s actions still seem suspicious to Batman.  Unfortunately for the Dark Knight, everyone’s worst fears are confirmed when the Joker escapes the clutches of the Arkham security personnel and creates total chaos.  It is up to players to use Batman’s strength, tools and allies to stop the Joker and his plans to destroy Gotham City.

The very first thing one notices when playing Arkham Asylum is its very effective cinematic approach to the game’s cut-scenes.  Driven by Mark Hamill’s incredible vocal portrayal of the Joker, Arkham Asylum really set a new standard when it comes to incorporating quality voice acting in games.  The dialogue was well written for every one of the characters and the visual aspects found a perfect blend between comic book stylization and realism.  Furthermore, the in-game music for both the cinematic and action portions of the game coupled well with Arkham’s tremendous thespian endowment.

However, though most of the verbal talent was quite impressive, some of the most dry and uninteresting acting came from Batman himself.  Whether this is tribute to Batman’s stoic nature or just more proof that the Caped Crusader’s enemies are just much more interesting and complex than he, I wish we could’ve gotten a little more out of the protagonist’s lines.  Still, no one should be surprised if Arkham Asylum is used as a prime example of how effective direction and acting can help a great game become legendary.

Arkham Asylum did not only look good, but it felt good too.  Running on Unreal Engine 3.5, this title ran smoothly and beautifully.  Like many games that use the engine, Arkham Asylum has many characters that have an “epic” look to them.  That is, many of the character models are large, muscular and overall physically fit.  With this in mind, the folks at Rocksteady made a great choice with the Unreal Engine.  As I discussed in my preview for Batman: Arkham Asylum, Sefton Hill, director at Rocksteady games, told me that the developers wanted to make sure Batman looked and played like he was someone who was in chief physical condition.  Batman’s (as well as other character’s) sturdy, brawny build went well with the graphics engine without looking too over-the-top in terms of physique.

Batman would need to use all of that strength of his if he wanted to survive the high-intensity third-person gameplay that Arkham Asylum features.  Most of the combat involved an easy, free-flowing hand-to-hand fighting style.  With an Xbox 360 controller, a few taps of the X button would string together impressive and dynamic bone-breaking combat combinations that could be effective against many enemies at once.  When one of the Joker’s thugs is about to strike (as evident by attention-grabbing stripes protruding from said thug’s head), pressing Y will perform a jaw-dropping counter-attack, which can also be used in massive fighting combos.  When armed foes arrive, pressing B will make Batman spin his cape, disorienting anyone in range, turning potentially dangerous enemies into exposed and vulnerable beings.

However, though it can play like one, Batman: Arkham Asylum is not your simple brawler.  In fact, it is more of a stealth game (albeit a VERY aggressive stealth) than a fighter.  Being the world’s greatest detective, Batman has to do a significant amount of snooping and sleuthing during the game’s campaign.  This is where Detective Mode comes in handy.  This mode, toggled by the LB on 360 controllers, accentuates key details in environments necessary to solve puzzles, find clues and identify proper courses of action.  For instance, say you want to determine how to attack a group of enemies in the next room.  Simply activate detective mode to see where the thugs are, how many of them have weapons and even how scared they are (based on BPM).  This information will be key in determining how and when to attack.

Detective mode also comes in handy when following or tracking NPCs and completing the Riddler’s numerous and very addicting challenges.  Batman also has many tools at his disposal, progressively adding more and more to his repertoire throughout the game.  Look forward to using Batarangs, Batclaws and Explosive Gels to your advantage.

Finally, no review of Arkham Asylum would be complete without an overview of the extra goodies that are in the game.  First, Batman: Arkham Asylum rewards players who complete tasks and find clues with Character Bios.  These bios give each gamer deeper insight into the Batman Universe.  Each bio includes background stories and physical details of each enemy, friend and family member of Batman identified throughout the game.  This is a great way to get hardcore Batman fans and newcomers involved in the same game.  Also, players can find recorded audiotapes of therapy sessions and interviews from supervillians like Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and even the Joker himself.  Again, this is just another way to add depth and intrigue to an already interesting game.

While all the previously mentioned features were very entertaining, Arkham Asylum is not without flaws.  There are two main problem areas that come to mind: Boss Battles and Riddler Challenges.  Both of these aspects were both fairly lackluster in my very humble opinion.  Though the boss battles were challenging, they often got repetitive and came to unspectacular conclusions.  Similarly, the Riddler’s challenges were solid, but also become more tedious than entertaining at times.  I would have been more satisfied with my experience if my reward involved more than a few gamer points and a sense of achievement.

Blast Factor: Still, all things considered, Batman: Arkham Asylum is probably the best game of the year so far.  In fact, I think it would be fair to say that Arkham may be one of the best 5-10 games you can get for Xbox 360 and possibly the PS3, as well.  It is beautiful, addicting and, most of all, very fun.  It is not often that a ultra-hyped game can truly live up to the excitement that surrounds it, but Arkham really broke from the mold here.  Batman: Arkham Asylum is a title that every gamer should own and, coming from an independent developer in Rocksteady Studios, it’s a title that every gamer can feel good about owning.  I’m glad to give Arkham Asylum the highest grade I’ve ever bestowed on a game.  Go buy this one ASAP.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for a suggested retail of $59.99

In response to Apple’s millimeters-thick stainless steel keyboard, Microsoft’s latest announcement is the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000, their thinnest keyboard ever.  The entire keyboard is only slightly thicker than the AAA battery that powers it at the back. The stylish keyboard has Microsoft’s familiar ergonomic curved layout.

Something missing from most laptops these days is a number pad. For anyone who uses numbers with any frequency, an external keyboard becomes a necessity. The downside is that a number bad adds a great deal of bulk. Microsoft solved this but making the keypad a standalone product that comes with its own carrying case. Pair it to your computer when you need it, and stow it away when you don’t.

The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 will retail in October for $90, while the number pad will be $45. Certainly not the cheapest keyboard set ever, but probably worth taking a look.

Cullop, or LethalxPrincess as she’s known to many, is a pro-gamer by trade. For years, Cullop crisscrossed the nation with Major League Gaming (MLG) immersing herself in a cutthroat world while breaking stereotypes in the process. Her squad, Team Foxy, is considered the top female team in the gaming community.

Not surprisingly, it was actually gaming that connected Cullop to the Sound Tour. Sponsored by the popular headphone company, the tour, which we previously told you about, is a reality show pitting Cullop and a team of four other female contestants against a squad of all men.

“I heard about the Sennheiser Sound Tour through the gaming community. Sennheiser is a great product that is highly recognized for its quality in the professional gaming world. When the tour was announced, the word spread quickly in the E-Sports community,” Cullop recalled.

With the ultimate goal to promote the Sennheiser headphone product base, the two teams have spanned North America participating in a variety of challenges. From meeting celebrities to getting on tour buses, Cullop admits it’s been a whirlwind ride.

“Personally, there are many highlights of the tour that I have enjoyed such as traveling, experiencing new communities, and meeting new and exciting individuals,” said Cullop. Ever the gamer, she admits that for her personally, the best part of the tour has not been meeting a person or going to a particular place, but rather it’s been a simple truth.

“The biggest highlight of the tour so far has been the fact that the girl’s team is in the lead. We have won three challenges and the guys have only won one. I am a very competitive individual and I am confident we will take home the grand prize,” she confided.

Along the way, both teams have been faced with the challenge of going up to people on the street to promote Sennheiser. While in some cases they’ve been shut out and rejected, most people have been willing to step in front of the camera according to Cullop.

“Generally people are accepting and don’t mind the camera, we actually seem to get better responses if the cameras are out and rolling. I think people want to know what’s going on with the cameras, the tour, and the product,” said Cullop.

One of the Sennheiser girl’s most memorable visits was their trip to Boston. Between crashing a few weddings, visiting the Salem Witches Cottage and partying it up outside the Paul McCartney Fenway concert, the ladies got their fill of Beantown. Cullop says it was easily one her favorite places on the tour.

“My time in Boston was amazing; I literally fell in love with it the moment I arrived. Boston is now on my top five places to move. What I remember most about Boston was the atmosphere in the air, I went to Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, and shopping on Newbury Street. Everywhere I went people were alive with spirit; they were helpful, and even entertaining. I would love to live in an area like Boston because it has so much to offer,” she said.

With the tour winding down, Cullop admits she misses her Xbox, controller and gaming in general. Save for a few hours of gaming in NYC, she has not gotten a chance to play much while on tour. Despite this, Cullop contends she wouldn’t trade her Sennheiser Sound Tour experience for anything — or any game — in the world.

“The one thing I will bring away from this trip is the experience. No matter how the team does and no matter how I personally do in the competitions, I will always remember the new places, people, and experiences I have encountered along the way,” concluded Cullop.

Is the color white still synonymous with purity (and lack of scratches) ? And is “Pre-Owned” an easier adjective to digest than “Used”? Amidst this wash of marketing, one thing’s for sure; corporate sure as hell thinks so.

The charging system comes in two parts. The first, the WildCharger Pad, plugs into a wall like any other charging base station. The pad is a simple, flat surface that you lay your device on. There are no sliding parts, no grooves to line up, no orientation to match — you just toss your device onto the pad and it automatically starts charging. I tried placing my iPhone in many different directions and playing around with it, but I was unable to find a orientation separate from being of the pad where the WildCharger failed to charge.

The trick, which the engineers took no effort to hide, is the twelve strips of metal in the pad that generate a potential. The second component to the system is the case you attach to your device. The iPhone case I tested has metal contacts on the back of the case in a “T”-shape. They were spaced out in just the right proportions that at least one of them would connect to a different strip of metal on the pad, completing a circuit, and generating the charge for the device. Because the pad is larger than your devide, you can also cram as many devices on the pad as you want.

So while the WildCharger Pad is technically wireless, it still requires metal contacts to transmit the power. This means that you couldn’t put something over the pad and expect it to charge. Also, should the contacts on the case ever become oxidized, it will become unable to charge.

WildCharger's universal adaptor can let you charge just about any device.

Even with these possible limitations, the technology is promising.  The company is currently developing laptop chargers. Looking even further into the future, the company hopes to put all of these devices in cafes, restaurants, and bars, eliminating the need to fight over outlets. We’ll just hope no one spills something on them. That would probably be bad.

While I used the iPhone case, the company sells cases for the iPod Touch and Blackberrys, as well as generic adapter to most phones or other devices. The case is rubber which covers the phone while also preventing scratches and other damage to the phone. The case isn’t too difficult to remove, which is a good thing since in order to charge your iPhone or iPod Touch, the WildCharger has to be plugged into the dock port on the phone, preventing you from syncing with your computer while the skin is on the case. Though many other skins cover or otherwise obscure the port, it’s still is a hassle to have to take it off anytime you want to sync your device.

Overall, I think the WildCharge is a great product, and if the WildCharger pads start to show up at my local Starbucks, we certainly wouldn’t complain. At this point, you just have to ask yourself how much the convenience of not having to charge your device with a wire is worth to you.

Edward Moore Kennedy was born in St. Margaret’s Hospital in Dorchester on February 22, 1932, preceded by eight brothers and sisters, to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, both from well-connected Irish-American families. As a result of several moves, to New York, Florida, and London, Kennedy attended many schools and was a mediocre student at most of them. He spent his high school years at Milton Academy where he maintained average grades and excelled on the football team.

Tragedy marked his life early on, and by age 16 he had suffered the deaths of three of his siblings: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in World War II, Rosemary Kennedy to a failed lobotomy, and Kathleen Agnes Kennedy in a plane crash.

After completing high school, Kennedy enrolled in Harvard University, where his grades once again took a back seat to his football career. He had a friend take his Spanish exam in hopes of maintaining high enough grades to continue his sports career. When caught, both were expelled, leading to a stint in the United States Army for Kennedy in 1951.

Thanks to his father’s political connections, he was never assigned to combat in the ongoing Korean War and instead served as an honor guard in Paris after completing basic training and Military Police school.

Shortly after he was discharged as a private first class in March 1953, Kennedy returned to Harvard to finish his studies and, after his sophomore year academic probation ended, his football career as a second string end, working his way up to starting end by senior year. Despite not receiving a varsity letter he was contacted by a Green Bay Packers recruiter with an offer to play professionally, which he turned down to go to law school and “go into another contact sport: politics.”

While attending the University of Virginia School of Law between 1956 and 1959, Kennedy studied abroad at the Hague Academy of International Law and managed his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s 1958 Senate re-election campaign, helping to achieve a record-setting landslide victory. He also received charges of reckless driving and operating without a license, the first of his vehicle-related incidents.

He graduated from law school and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1959, after marrying Virginia Joan Bennett on November 29, 1958, at St. Joseph’s Church in Bronxville, New York. They had three children together: Kara Anne, Edward Jr., and Patrick. Due to his womanizing and her growing alcoholism, the marriage was soon troubled.

In 1960, Ted’s brother John ran for president, and Ted managed his campaign in the Western States, helping John win the first battleground state of Wisconsin in the Democratic primary. After the general election, Ted wanted to remain out West and not run for office immediately, and he was not eligible for John’s vacated Massachusetts Senate seat until his 30th birthday on February 22. Instead, John asked Governor Foster Furcolo to name Benjamin A. Smith II to the seat, which would hold it so Ted could later run in a special election.

Rehashing his brother’s campaign slogan from 10 years prior, Ted Kennedy went against Massachusetts Attorney General Edward J. McCormack Jr., who said that Ted would be “one Kennedy too many.” He faced his first public scandal when McCormack revealed his Harvard expulsion publically, but Kennedy rose above this, aided by McCormack’s overbearing nature in a debate, in which he said “the office of United States Senator should be merited, not inherited,” and called Kennedy’s campaign a joke. Kennedy went on to crush McCormack in the primary by a two-to-one margin and Republican candidate George Cabot Lodge II in the November special election.

Ted Kennedy spent his early Senate career avoiding the spotlight and trying to avoid making enemies of the older, more established Senators, and instead focused on his committee work. Not long after his career started, while presiding over the Senate, he was informed of his brother John’s assassination on November 22, 1963. Seven months later, Ted suffered severe injuries in a plane crash in Southampton, Mass., including a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding, and a back injury that persisted throughout the remainder of his life. The pilot and one of his aides died in the crash.

For a review of some of Ted Kennedy’s major political accomplishments, read Dan Kennedy’s piece for Blast on the Lion’s legacy.

In 1968, after securing the California primary against President Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, the family member Ted was closest with, was assassinated, devastating the young Senator. He delivered a eulogy at his speech, which included one of his most famous quotes:

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: ‘Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.’

Seen by many as the natural successor to his brother, Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago and others encouraged Kennedy to make himself available for a draft to take the nomination, though he declined as he felt unprepared and did not want to be seen as a filler now that his brothers were gone.

With his brothers dead, Ted took on the role of paternal figure to their 13 children, and rumors persist that he coordinated the marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis.

Despite the trauma and hardships he had recently suffered, Kennedy threw himself into his work and became the youngest ever Senate Majority Whip in 1969, a move that seemed to further position him for the presidency, which he still felt conflicted about.

A few months later, Kennedy was involved in what is now known as the “Chappaquiddick incident.” After leaving a party for the Boiler Room Girls, a group of women who had helped in Robert’s presidential campaign, Kennedy drove his 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off the Dike Bridge and into the Poucha Pond inlet. He quickly swam to safety, but his passenger, Boiler Room Girl Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. Kennedy did not report the incident to police until her body was found the next day.

Kennedy received a suspended sentence after a guilty plea to leaving the scene of an accident a week later, and gave a nationally-broadcasted speech in which he avoided admitting guilt to driving under the influence of alcohol or improper relations with the 28-year old Kopechne, but expressed his decision to leave the scene as “indefensible.” Despite the scandal, Kennedy received a positive response to stay in office from the Massachusetts electorate.

Doubts have clouded the reports of the events of that night, and to this day many question Kennedy’s story, which a secret inquest by Judge James A. Boyle found to be inconsistent. A grand jury on Martha’s Vineyard also conducted an inquest which was inconclusive. Kennedy condemned Boyle’s inquest, which was made public after the local inquest’s report, as “not justified.”

Kennedy overcame the allegations and easily won re-election the year following the incident, 1970, but lost his position as Majority Whip to Robert Byrd of West Virginia, which he confided to Byrd was a blessing as it allowed him to focus on his committee work.

Kennedy spent much of the 1970s focused on real political work, pushing through legislation such as the National Cancer Act of 1971 and working tirelessly on issues such as the conflict in Northern Ireland, health insurance reform and campaign finance reform. He repeatedly entertained thoughts of running for president, but family problems and the ongoing coverage of the Chappaquiddick incident kept him from committing, despite polling suggesting he could easily win the primary and the lack of other viable Democratic candidates.

In 1973, Kennedy’s son Edward Jr. was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, resulting in a leg amputation. His other son, Patrick, was suffering from severe asthma attacks, and Ted’s wife Joan sunk deeper into her alcoholism, resulting in several stints in instutitions and an accident due to drunk driving leading to her arrest.

In the late mid to late 70s, Kennedy was at his lowest point politically, as he found himself without a chairmanship and Carter taking the reins as the ranking Democrat. Carter’s differing priorities put a strain on Kennedy’s efforts to improve health care, and he instead focused on international good will, visiting China and the Soviet Union in 1977 and 1978. He rose to take the mantle of Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, but suffered another blow when Carter refused to back the $60 billion price tag of his proposed national health care plan.

In an unusual bid to unseat Carter, a member of his own party, Kennedy eventually ran for president in the 1980 election, and was the favored candidate due to Carter’s unpopularity and weak stances on many issues, but he ultimately lost, in part due to negative press regarding his answer to the Chappaquiddick incident question and the electorate’s sudden support of the president during the Iranian hostage situation and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When Carter badly bruised Kennedy in the Iowa caucuses, many of Kennedy’s key fundraisers bailed, and it was a downward slope from there. Kennedy, however, clung to his fearless nature, no doubt earned on the grid iron in high school and at Harvard, and pushed his campaign all the way to the Democratic National Convention despite almost impossible odds, but conceded the nomination when his measure to free delegates from their voting commitments was defeated on the first night of the convention. Ultimately, Carter’s inability to win over Kennedy supporters aided in his defeat to Ronald Reagan in the general election.

In 1981, Kennedy faced unique challenges, including being a minority member of the Senate for the first time, and announcing his divorce from Joan Kennedy, settling for $4 million in 1982 after a relatively benign proceeding. Kennedy, meanwhile, tirelessly fought against policies of the Reagan administration, once again turned down calls for a 1984 presidential run, and embarked on a landmark trip to South Africa, staying at the home of Bishop Desmond Tutu, which could easily have cost him his life in the tumultuous apartheid atmosphere of the time. He later went on to be a key member of arms control talks with Mikhail Gorbachev under the Reagan administration; despite political differences, he and the president respected each other and maintained amicable relations.

After his divorce, drinking and womanizing became more of a public burden for Kennedy, and he was involved in drunken incidents with fellow Senator Chris Dodd in Washington, including allegedly unwanted physical contact with a waitress in a D.C. restaurant. These factors played a big role in his cutting short any plans of running in the 1988 presidential election.

Following the 1986 Congressional elections, the Democratic Party regained control of the Senate. As a result of his good working relationship with many prominent Republicans, Kennedy was once again one of the most powerful men in Washington, and used his position to effectively defeat Reagan’s nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, which he saw as a threat to the civil rights he had fought so hard for. Kennedy used caustic tactics, including a speech which painted a picture of Bork’s America as a land of back alley abortions and segregation, which many saw as slanderous, but which was ultimately effective.

The 1990s saw Kennedy’s flaws magnified, through rape charges against his nephew following a night of drinking with the elder Kennedy, which Kennedy suppressed with a negative press campaign, as well as many articles and jokes about his conduct with women and his persistent drunken antics. This image put him in a position of ineffectiveness against the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, which he opposed due to Thomas’ refusal to comment on Roe v. Wade. His silence on the issue hurt Democrats chances of blocking the nomination, but to speak out would have been regarded as highly hypocritical.

The acquittal of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, and his serious relationship with Victoria Anne Reggie, which led to their marriage in 1992, improved his image, and Victoria is credited with stabilizing his personal life, which let him focus on the larger challenges ahead, including his fight against Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America legislation which earned his title of Lion of the Senate, alater challenge from Republican Mitt Romney for his Senate seat, and his defense of President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. More recently, Kennedy served as a voice against the Iraq War from the start, though he supported the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

By far his most passionate endeavour was the reform of health care in America, “the cause of his life,” he said, but which he died unable to attain. After a seizure in May of 2008, doctors announced Kennedy suffered from a malignant glioma, a brain tumor. After a risky operation to remove the tumor, which was considered a success, Kennedy underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy. His condition declined quickly over the next year, and he died at his home in Hyannis Port, MA on August 25, 2009.

Frederick Rincon contributed research for this story.

Sturgess said his motives for taking a role are not necessarily based on big or small budgets. It's all about good work. “I don't think it matters how big or small (the budget,) as long as it's a good script.” (Media credit/WireImage)

But a lot has happened between the days of singing “All You Need Is Love” to the gritty streets of Belfast where Sturgess returns as the lead in “Fifty Dead Men Walking,” a political drama inspired by true events and based on the life of IRA informant Martin McGartland.

The film directed by Kari Skogland takes a look into the conflicts within Northern Ireland during the 1980s, illustrating the lengths the IRA and British Intelligence ventured in seizing control. Meanwhile Sturgess captivates audiences with his intense performance as the conflicted Martin McGartland.

The actor spoke with Blast about his experience making the film as well as insight into what motivated him to pursue the role.

“I was completely pulled into the story,” Sturgess said. “I wasn’t sure whether this guy was going to die or not. Then I found out this is based on a real person, and it made it that more compelling.” The man he portrays, Martin McGartland, continues to be a source of controversy — a fact of which he is well aware. “And the thing about the character, you know, for some he’s a hero, and to others he’s the lowest of the low. I mean, he’s this real person who isn’t out to save the planet or anything,” he said. “He’s not even sure if he’s doing the right thing or not.”

Sturgess said spending time in Belfast helped him prep for the role. “I was really fortunate to spend a lot of time in the city where it takes place, talk to ex-IRA members, and Special Crimes. It helped a lot in developing the role.”

The film’s major catalyst occurs when Martin is caught by the police for selling stolen items, which begs the question whether Sturgess himself ever went through his own youthful rebellion. “Well, I did some naughty things, didn’t pay attention in school sometimes, stuff like that,” he said, “but nothing enough to get recruited for the IRA.” He laughed at the thought of it, and it’s this sort of candid response where you can’t help but see how he can charm an audience.

Sturgess said his motives for taking a role are not necessarily based on big or small budgets. It’s all about good work. “I don’t think it matters how big or small (the budget,) as long as it’s a good script.”

When asked who he would love to work with in the future both again or for the very first time, he said, “That’s hard to answer, there’s so many people, I can’t really pick some. I’d love to work with Kari (Skogland) again. Then there are people like Tilda Swinton and Daniel Day-Lewis, people like that.”

Certainly, he can also add “Dead Men” co-star Ben Kingsley to the list. “At first when I met him, I was nervous — kind of felt like I was shaking in my boots, you know? It was really great to work with him. He’s the best,” Sturgess said.

Sturgess said he doesn’t pay much mind to buzz, reviews and awards gossip. “I can’t really think of it. You work hard, and try to do the best. If it happens, okay, but I don’t really think about it,” he said.

But don’t let nonchalance fool you. The busy actor continues to work good and hard despite his current schedule, “It’s chaotic, but it’s a good kind of chaos,” he said. Sturgess’ next major project is the horror film, “Heartless” which co-stars Harry Potter alumni Clémence Poésy (Fleur Delacour) and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew).

Arriving about 20 minutes early for our 7pm reservation at this Harrison Avenue hot spot in the South End during the outset of Restaurant Week, we headed to the downstairs bar and lounge area, a very chic open room in a semi-circle shape with extremely high ceilings, comfy chairs and sofas and sleek bartenders. We decided to indulge in a pitcher of Pink Lemonade, a very “booze-y” drink special the bartender explained, is refreshing and packs a serious alcohol punch.

After two more friends arrived, we were led upstairs and seated at a long table facing the outside windows in a dimly-lit and very modern dining room. I immediately informed my waiter that I needed to order all three courses for myself right away, be served as soon as the food was ready and have a separate check as I needed to leave by 8pm. He seemed lackluster about all of my extremely needy requests, but did exactly as I asked with a good deal of attentiveness and urgency. I greatly appreciated their flexibility in accommodating my time constraint.

The handmade vegetable gnocchi was my appetizer of choice. The gnocchi were delicious with summer squash, corn, zucchini, peas, caciocavallo cheese and fresh herbs. It was surprisingly light for gnocchi, balanced by the delicate and refreshing vegetables that were cooked perfectly. It was a nice way to start the meal without feeling too weighed down from a heavy cream sauce. Another appetizer offering was the farinata, a chickpea flatbread with caramelized onions, mushrooms and sage. It was crispy, warm and heart-warmingly satisfying. It reminded me of a cross between a tortilla espanola and a frittata. Farinata literally translates to “floured” and the one Rocca served up during my visit was delicious, if not served slightly too hot. Other appetizer choices include sauteed scampi, arugula and mint salad, tomato and fennel salad, and handmade whole wheat cavatelli with clams. The portions for all of the first course dishes were appropriately small yet satisfying.

I’d been feeling low on iron and couldn’t remember the last time I indulged in red meat, so I decided to order the grilled sirloin served with marinated tomatoes, arugula arancini and gorgonzola butter. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfectly cooked steak exactly to my specifications (rare thank you very much). It was perfect, delicious, pink and wonderfully seasoned. The minimal gorgonzola butter enhanced the dish rather than overpowering it. This may have been the best steak I’ve ever had, which is a huge thing to admit as a New Yorker. The arancini also were delicious, crispy on the outside and warm and smooth on the inside. Being a huge fan of arugula (as apparently the chefs at Rocca are since so many dishes included this greenery), I was extremely happy with my meal.

Another entree offering was the burrida, a Ligurian fish stew with fresh herbs, clams, shrimp, squid and white fish, served with pesto crostini. This type of Meditarreanean fare is a great way to try something new and and a little bit different. Roasted chicken with a zucchini, tomato, basil and crescenza cheese torta and sauteed wild mushrooms had a mild yet tantalizing flavor. The chicken was well-cooked and the dish was a great ode to summer eating, as was my prosecco float with raspberry sorbetto. It was the perfect end to a summer meal that was sweet and addictive. And while many aren’t a huge fan of the sweet sparkling champagne prosecco, combined with smooth and authentic raspberry sorbetto (yes I’m a poser and used the Italian word) it was perfect.

With an intricate and extensive cocktail menu, beautiful and interesting decor and atmosphere along with delicious, seasonal foods, Rocca is a great choice for Restaurant Week and beyond.

Set to launch sometime in 2010, Fable III, will again be a Microsoft exclusive, and will contain a new game mechanic, one that departs from the norm, and delves into the unknown, and one that has Blast particularly excited.

If you played the final piece of DLC for Fable 2, “See the Future,” you should have already sensed rumblings of a new direction, as a “new ruler need rise” was the final bit.

Molyneux confirmed that direction as he unveiled that players will not become a hero, rather that they’ll begin their lives as a son/daughter of a hero, and tirelessly strive to become ruler of the land. The first half of the game will have players attempting to dethrone a merciless tyrant by forming alliances, gaining followers, and uniting factions. And as you probably guessed, in true Fable style, your actions WILL have moral reprecussions.

Furthermore, the kind of silly emote mechanic of Fable 2 has been eschewed, (as you are now the ruler and farting in public would not be proper) in favor of what Molyneux calls “Touch.” Touch allows gamers to hug, shake hands, embrace and even give someone a full-on good “snogging.”

As a big Fable fan I like how this game sounds thus far, but we are talking about Peter Molyneux here, the king of hype. For now, enjoy this albeit only voice over, trailer, and let us know what you think!

Psychsoftpc makes blisteringly fast and powerful computers built for users who need to do some serious computational lifting. While you’ll certainly be able to check your email, you’ll also be able to run the whole gamut of CAD, CAM, CGI, engineering and scientific programs out there, complete with enough graphic memory to make them fly. You also have the option of running a 64-bit version of Vista or Linux, depending on which flavor of OS you prefer.

Spec-wise, Psychosoftpc’s best computer offering is the announces that the Psyborg Extreme Graphics Workstation Master Edition with Core i7 975 Processor, NVidia Quadro FX 5800 Workstation GPU include and Quadro FX 4800 Workstation GPU. The former is the fastest desktop CPU available today, and the latter is one of the most powerful GPU’s available. Tack on the massive HDD’s and ample RAM along with how these computers are architectured to run seamlessly, and these computers are clearly among the front runners for power out there, essentially the closest you can get to supercomputing on a desktop.

Don’t let Psychsoftpc’s site scare you, because there’s a ton of good information there, and if you’re in the market for a powerhouse computer, these computers certainly deserve a good look.

Luckily, Activition will soon allow you to manipulate it.

Coming in Spring 2010, a game called Singularity will drop for Xbox 360.  This time-traveling first-person shooter has some hype around it.  Still, I was able to get my hands on Singularity during Comic-Con 2009 and I was quite impressed with what glimpse that Activision had to offer.

Let’s start with a little plot overview.  Singularity takes place in Katorga-12, a small island that passing backwards and forwards through time thanks to the finding of an element called E-99.  Players take control of an Air Force pilot of has crash-landed on this isle-in-limbo and are tasked with the need to solve the mysteries of the experiments and discoveries made on Katorga-12.  There always seems like time-traveling games have interestingly written scripts.  Singularity seemed like its following suit beautifully.

The unique draw to Singularity is that, beyond the use of your basic first-person shooter firearms, this title makes use of another tool called the Time Manipulation Device, or TMD.  The TMD allows the main character to “use time as a weapon,” as the folks at Activision put it.  Players can use this TMD to rapidly alter the age of certain objects in the environment in order to make a situation more advantageous.  For instance, if a staircase has rotted and fallen apart but you’d still like to get to the next floor of the building, just use the TMD to restore the stairs to their former state and walk right up.

My first hands-on experience with Singularity was quite enjoyable.  From the beginning, I loved the feel and look of this first-person shooter.  To describe the gameplay, I’d have to say that Singularity is a mix between FEAR and Bioshock (with perhaps a dash of Portal mixed in as well).  The overall scheme of the graphics was definitely similar to FEAR, while the dark and mysterious look of things (not to mention the fact that players use their enhanced hands as a main weapon) reminded me of Bioshock.  Singularity also resembles both FEAR and Bioshock in its use of ghost-based flashbacks and creative problem solving requirements.  The Portal comp comes from Singularity’s use of a dual-function weapon in the TMD.

The best part of Singularity (during my brief exposure to it) was the many different ways players could fight enemies.  The first way is not very surprising: via the use of a gun.  Most enemies can be taken down with a few bullets to the head.  However, I quickly realized during my demo that ammunition comes at a premium in this game, making complete reliance on guns impossible.

The second and third methods of combat are much more entertaining than the first.  Remember that handy TMD I mentioned a little earlier?  Yeah, well that gizmo also has the capability to mimic what Star Wars fans would call Force Push.  Basically, players can use this function if a group of enemies are charging you and don’t seem worthy of your precious ammunition.  A simple toggle of a button will quickly incapacitate that once extremely hostile group of enemies.

Finally, players can also use the TMD to either age or un-age objects to create cover.  Say you see a giant partially destroyed pipe on the ground while you’re facing heavy enemy fire.  Just point the TMD, press a button and – Presto! – you’ve brought that pipe back to its former luster.  It’s now a convenient piece of concrete cover.  This diversity in the combat aspect really meshes well with the similar mixture seen in the problem solving portions of the game, making me more and more interested in what else Singularity has to offer.

Overall, Singularity seems like it’s going to be a pretty good game.  It’s been a little while that I’ve been this excited over the storytelling potential of a FPS.  Time manipulation is a hard concept to implement into a game, but the fine people at Activision may be on to something here.  At worst, I see Singularity being a rentable game.  At best, I see one of the must-have titles of 2010.

Yes, Konami Digital Entertainment, creators of the original Silent Hill, is looking to have players return to that dreadful place in the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Due out in October, Shattered Memories will be a reimagining of the first Silent Hill.  With this in mind, though some general aspects of the game may seem familiar (man looking for his daughter in a mysterious town, etc), Shattered Memories should play like a completely different experience thanks to its development for the Wii console.

Helping nurture this “completely different experience” was the developers’ idea to customize each game for every player.  This is accomplished through a number of in-game mediums.  The first method used is a psychological survey in which a series of questions are asked about the player.  These questions can as impersonal as how easily the player makes friends, to something as forward as how much does the player enjoy role-playing during sex.  Each question plays a role in how the game plays out later.  For instance, when the player is asked if they have ever cheated on a partner and says “yes”, the game will feature more provocative clothing on some characters (ex: the female police officer will show more cleavage, etc).  When taking this survey during an exclusive demo in Konami’s offsite event at Comic-Con, I felt like it could have been legitimate.  Though it was short in length, the survey seemed to be personal enough to be a psychological analysis, but distanced enough to be tolerable in a mature video game.

The Shattered Memories gameplay also helps further customize a player’s experience.  Using the Wii Remote to control the flashlight, the in-game computer monitors how often a player will stop to admire certain paintings or points of interest in the environment.  The game will also keep track of how quickly or tentatively a player will “peek” through a doorway before entering a room.  All of these aspects (and possibly more that we don’t even know about) will be constantly watched by the game, making every play and replay of Shattered Memories unique.  Sadly, however, my demo was too short to be able to appreciate most of the customization features that were in store for me.

What’s great about Shattered Memories’s gamplay (besides the fact that it is constantly monitored), is the fact that it really helps promote the overall creepy feel to the game.  Developed as a third-person adventure game, Shattered Memories really captures the loneliness of the main character.  Armed with nothing but my (lack of wit) and a flashlight, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness during my entire hands-on experience.  Also, as mentioned in an earlier paragraph, players must “peek” through every door they want to enter to check if the room is safe.  Gamers will have the choice of either slowly opening each door to prevent unnecessary attacks, recklessly entering every room with little regard for their safety, or doing something in-between.  This peeking feature was especially affective with me because I take a very conservative approach when it comes to these types of games.  Well played, Konami.

Shattered Memories gameplay is also fairly simple.  Walking around is as simple as moving the joystick on the Wii Nunchuk, while shining the flashlight, as mentioned earlier, requires players to point the Wiimote at the screen.  With the simplicity of the controls and sophistication of the Wii’s technology, making a Silent Hill game for Nintendo’s current console seems like a no-brainer now.  Again, well played.

Overall, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories looks like it’s going to be a pretty solid game.  The gameplay was fun, the customization is fantastic and the title is a perfecft fit for the Wii.  Though I wasn’t able to enjoy all of the customization that Shattered Memories had to offer during my demo at Comic-Con, the details the devs gave me and the excitement they showed make me a believer of this feature.  I know how much fun the Wii can be, but now I’m excited to see how thoroughly it can scare the crap out of me with the release of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, dropping this fall.

Thanks to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Edios Inc. and Rocksteady Studios, the next major release featuring the Dark Knight may be 2009’s next big hit.

The game, called Batman: Arkham Asylum, will be a third-person action adventure title due to drop on August 25.  With all of the hype surrounding Arkham Asylum, it’s no surprise that Blast Magazine wanted to get a closer look at the highly anticipated game.  With an exclusive sneak peak at Comic-Con and some additional hands-on time with the recently released demo, we at Blast have the inside scoop on what to expect from the upcoming title.

Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place at Gotham City’s high-security center for the criminally insane, where Batman has just returned the Joker to be imprisoned once again.  Batman’s suspicions rise when he starts to realize that the Joker was captured with little resistance.  The Dark Knight’s worst fears are confirmed when the Joker escapes from the clutches of Arkham’s security guards.  Batman’s green-haired foe reveals he is now running the facility with all of his villainous pals. It’s now up to the Caped Crusader’s save the facility and its employees from total devastation.

As with any comic book-inspired game, the first aspect I look at is how authentic that is.  Too often do these types of titles drift a bit too far when it comes to being accurate to the original canon.  However, though I cannot speak for the full version of the game, Batman: Arkham Asylum seems to stay true to the initial stories of the characters while also having some addition stylized flair from the developers.  Case and point: Harley Quinn.  Also known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Ms. Quinn is described in her in-game bio correctly (according to my research and cross-checking), but is also presented in a newer, sexier outfit than seen in the original comics.  This seems to be the case for many of the villains (especially of the female gender) and is a welcome change to the outdated costumes of the past.  The folks at Rocksteady did a fine job of dancing on the right side of the fine line between respectable, unique interpretation and overdone elucidation.

The unique interpretations do not end with the enemies.  Rocksteady seemed to pay homage to the comic book that may have partially inspired the game, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, by giving it a very dark and gritty feel.  Also, the developers decided to make Batman’s character model to be almost superhuman.  Looking more like a linebacker than a billionaire, Sefton Hill, director and owner of Rocksteady Studios, told me that they wanted to make it clear that “Bruce Wayne represents the peak of masculine strength and endurance.”  Message received.

Arkham Asylum’s gameplay is quite interesting.  Using the Unreal graphics engine, Gears of War comparisons will be inevitable.  Still, Arkham Asylum has enough unique features to distinguish itself from other Unreal games.  First off, Batman, being a vigilante who refuses to kill, does not use guns to take his enemies down.  With this in mind, Rocksteady made Batman use a “panther approach” in his conflict suppression.  This stealthy-but-aggressive style lets the Caped Crusader use the shadows to his advantage while also putting his hard-hitting martial arts training to work.

My favorite aspect of Arkham Asylum was the need to think like a sleuth.  Acting as the world’s greatest detective, players are required to do some major problem solving (or at least that’s what the demo alludes to).  In short, you have to think like Batman to succeed in the game.  Whether it is with attacking enemies or just putting clues together, taking a Batman mindset is essential when playing Arkham Asylum.  Helping with this is an interesting feature called Detective Mode.  This mode, activated when the Left Bumper is toggled, illuminates nearby enemies, useful objects and points of interest.  Detective Mode will surely come in handy when deciding a course of action to complete missions and tasks.

From what I’ve seen so far, it’s no surprise that Batman: Arkham Asylum is already being deemed as one of the best games of 2009.  With both my hands-on experience with the game and discussions with the owner of Rocksteady games, I have found nothing to dislike with Arkham Asylum so far.  I don’t want to get too excited about a game that hasn’t even come out yet, but I’m finding it harder and harder to imagine me not picking up a copy of Arkham Asylum when it drops on August 25.

Page 6 says Lady GaGa has been asked to pose nude for PETA’s “Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. The group was inspired by the statement she made wearing the now infamous Kermit the Frog coat.

Ashton Kutcher, on the other hand, really loves meat. He recently had this to say to Gotham magazine about his love for Demi Moore:  “You know when you first discovered a hamburger and then you can’t live without it? That’s what it’s like for me with her.”

And, Us Weekly reports: Kim Kardashian went blonde! Check out a picture at usmagazine.com.

• Is the hot weather giving you greasy hair? Are you camping and unable to shower? Forget shelling out the big bucks on trendy dry shampoos; some baby powder or cornstarch works just fine. Just sprinkle a little on your roots, leave it there for a couple of minutes to soak up the oil, rub it out with your fingers and voila!
• Is the humidity turning your hair into a frizzy mess? Have no fear,  just head to your kitchen. Rub a few drops of olive oil together in your hands and lightly pat onto dry or damp hair. If your hair tends to be greasy, apply it to the ends of your hair only to smooth any split ends. It may sound gross, but mayonnaise also works wonders on dry, frizzy hair. Apply a small amount of it as you would conditioner, cover your head with a shower cap and leave it on for up to 30 minutes, rinse it out and then shampoo. Or try mixing 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar with 1 quart of water and pour it through your hair in the shower in lieu of your regular conditioner, then rinse it out. Do this once a week. Depending on your hair length and your preference, you may have to experiment with the ratio. Another super easy and totally free fix is to simply end your shower with a quick rinse of cool water, which will seal the hairs’ cuticles and leave your mane smooth, shiny and manageable.
• Summer’s heat and humidity can wreak havoc on acne-prone skin. But there’s no need to shell out lots of dough on expensive skincare products or subject your skin to harsh chemicals, perfumes, dyes and preservatives. There are a plethora of homemade skincare options – so many that we couldn’t list them all. But don’t worry, we chose from some of our favorites. Do you have oatmeal and baking soda in your pantry? Grind 2 teaspoons of oatmeal (a coffee grinder will work just fine), mix it with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and slowly add water to make a paste. Gently rub the paste onto your face and rinse well. Or raid your medicine cabinet and take out some aspirin, which is a natural source of salicylic acid, a popular ingredient in acne products. Crush 3-5 tablets (un-coated plain white pills) and mix the powder with water to form a paste. Gently rub the paste onto your skin and leave it on until dry. Now rinse and enjoy your new smooth skin. Feeling a little adventurous? Add a couple squirts of honey to the aspirin powder and then add the water to form a paste. After cleansing, always splash your face with cold water to close the pores.
• Does your skin get super oily in the summer? Try a homemade toner. You’ll have to experiment with the recipe, but start off with 2/3 part water to 1/3 part apple cider vinegar (ACV). If your skin can handle it, eventually move up to a 50/50 concoction. We recommend using distilled or filtered water. Shake the mix well, soak a cotton ball with it, and apply it to the face each night after cleansing. ACV is packed with vitamins and minerals and is, among many things, known to help regulate oil production. If you’ve got some tea tree oil or want to shell out some bucks to buy some, add a few drops to the toner for an added bacteria-killing benefit. Warning: this toner does not smell good. But if you want clear, radiant skin, get over it!
• Make sure your legs are bikini ready by exfoliating for a closer shave, a more even tan and fewer ingrown hairs. The aspirin mask mentioned above does wonders at sloughing off dead skin and eradicating those pesky ingrowns. Great alternatives to store-bought body scrubs (can you believe Fresh sells one made with brown sugar for $65?!) are ridiculously simple. Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar or brown sugar and 1/2 cup of oil – any vegetable oil will do. Sea salt and Epsom salts are wonderful at exfoliating the skin, and can be used all over the body; just mix 1/2 cup of the salts with 1/2 cup of vegetable, olive, or baby oil, or simply scrub your skin with some salts mixed with a little water.
• Got dry legs? Exfoliate them, of course! Also, try using hair conditioner as a substitute for shaving cream.
• Hot summer days equal embarrassing sweat and odor. Forget expensive “clinical strength” antiperspirants that contain aluminum (yuck!) and stick to the basics: Rubbing baking soda or cornstarch onto dry armpits should do the trick. If sweaty, stinky feet are a problem, brew a strong batch of black tea, let it cool, and soak your feet in it for 20-30 minutes. The pore-closing tannins in black tea will solve your problem. Or take Cosmopolitan magazine’s advice and do this routine every night for two weeks: soak a cloth in some strong black tea, allow it to cool, and put it on each armpit for five minutes. If excess sweating has caused some BO and your deodorant just isn’t cutting it, soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to your armpits. Don’t worry, the vinegary smell will disappear within a few minutes.
• Spent too long sunbathing and now you’re paying for it with a sunburn? Don’t distress! As long as your burn isn’t blistering or oozing, try some of these remedies. Apply a cloth soaked in apple cider vinegar to the affected areas, and then apply a moisturizer, preferably one containing aloe and/or vitamin e, since ACV is drying. Add Epsom salts or oatmeal to your bathwater and relax. Soak a cloth in a mixture of warm (not hot!) water and dissolved baking soda and apply it to your skin. Got a cucumber? It’s not just for salads and soothing your eyes; rub your skin with its cool slices. This one is strange, but it works: soak a cloth in cool milk and apply it to your skin, leaving it on for about 20 minutes, then rinse. Plain yogurt can also do wonders. Apply it to the burn, leave it on for about 10 minutes and rinse with cool water. Another, less strange, solution is to make some tea (any kind will do), drink it, relax and apply the cooled tea bags to your burn.
• It’s no mystery that chlorine wreaks havoc on your hair. But why spend money on clarifying shampoo when you can use what you already have? Once again apple cider vinegar earns a gold star: rinse your hair with it in the shower to remove product and chemical build-up. Baking soda also offers a solution: mix 1 tablespoon or so of it with your shampoo in your hand, suds as usual, leave it on for a few minutes, rinse and enjoy chlorine-free locks. Another awesome tip? Before swimming, wet your hair and apply your conditioner to it but do not rinse it out; this will prevent the chlorine from penetrating your hair. After swimming, be sure to shampoo and condition as usual.

So, Blast readers, got your own summer beauty solutions? Comment below and help your fellow readers with cabinet-raiding, beautifying, cheap summer tips. And please, if you have adverse reactions to any of the recipes above, discontinue your use of them and see a doctor.

While most children raised by the book recall fondly the adventures of Max through the jungles of the “wild things,” others remember it for its heated controversy over the disposition placed upon parents as incompetent to the “animal” behavior of the Max character. But despite all the ruckus the book managed to survive the scandal and earn the love of children everywhere who dared to go “Where the Wild Things Are.”

This week, latest trailer for the film go public, and once again it illustrates only a sample of what will certainly prove to gain critical acclaim. According to Maurice Sendak, himself, in the behind-the-scenes footage, the film will be as controversial as the books. From the material provided it is clear there will be a contrast between the world of him imaginings and the real world full of complex issues; issues including the relationships Max’s mother has with other men to the way Max copes with the confusion by biting people.

Based upon how Jonze has depicted his somewhat unconventional protagonists in his films like “Being John Malkovich” where the main character Craig Schwartz deals with his dismal life. Jonze is able to extrapolate the whole internal psychosis by projecting it with the legendary actor John Malkovich. The film is simply more than a story about a man’s escape, it’s more of a reflection on the way individuals cope with certain stages of their lives such as married life or work.

The importance in looking at Jonze’s work as any sort of indicator for “Where the Wild Things Are” will allow audiences to gain a sense of where the story will dictate itself. Certainly, one of the main important factors of Maurice Sendak’s work is the significance of deep emotions from early childhood such as depression or anger issues. Before the book, the image of childhood was very two dimensional as often the image of maturity was left to characters such as Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. Children were never in the right, and the adults were always the authorities.

What Jonze seems to convey in the limited amount of footage is that same sort of depth riddled throughout “Where the Wild Things Are.” It is likely we will see the strains of Max’s relationship with his mother in a more discerning light. It is likely we will watch the world of Max’s imagination shatter or merge with his bitter reality. And whether one has read the book or not, this film will prove to be one of those surprising and insightful films that will get people talking this fall.

Although one shouldn’t count any proverbial chickens before they hatch, Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is worth the bet! And lastly, a deserving nod should be given to Max Records, whose shared name with the main character of Max, will steal audiences attention as he gives a memorable performance.

Thanks to the folks Paramount Digital Entertainment, soon Xbox 360 owners will be able to feel like they are inside one of the most beloved cult classic films of all time.  Starting sometime in September, gamers will be able to buy The Warriors: Street Brawl on Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 800 Points.

However, before we get too excited, a thorough examination of the features and gameplay must be performed.

Luckily, Paramount Digitial Entertainment was kind enough to let me have an intimate, hands-on preview with The Warriors: Street Brawl.  Below are some of my thoughts, impressions and gathered information of the upcoming Paramount title.

First, let’s have a little refresher course on what exactly The Warriors movie is all about.  Released in 1979, The Warriors is a film based around a gang of the same name.  During a gang summit in New York City, Cyrus, leader of The Gramercy Riffs, the most feared and respected gang in New York, was assassinated during his speech.  Wrongfully accused as the murders, The Warriors must make their way through the streets of New York and reach the safety of their home turf, fighting numerous other gangs in the process.

Making a video game from a movie of this fashion is no easy task, but Paramount did a service for The Warriors: Street Brawl by implementing the most logical game style for the title: side-scrolling brawler.  With this approach, players can get a true feel of what The Warriors movie was all about.  Whether it is used to introduce new fans to the film or just for old fans to get a closer look at the action, the side-scrolling style of Street Brawl is a perfect fit for a game inspired by a film such as The Warriors.

I really liked the dynamic nature of the side scrolling, as well.  As I fought my way through groups of Baseball Furies and Turnbull AC’s, I noticed that the screen would zoom in and out as I progressed through the level.  This would allow the side scrolling to be functional while also being something other than boring.

The makers of The Warriors: Street Brawl also did their due diligence in regards to staying accurate to the movie that inspired it.  When starting a new game, players can select from some of the main members of The Warriors, including Swan, Cochise, Vermin or Rembrandt.  Each of these characters will have certain strengths and weaknesses in their speed, strength and fighting style, which could greatly help them in their quest to get back to Coney Island.  Also, the environments and enemies also come straight from the film as well.

Speaking of environments, I’d have to say that the backgrounds for Street Brawl were probably my favorite parts of the game.  Each environment had a very gritty, dark comic book feel to them, making it clear that my character was traveling through a very dangerous place.  The fights taking place on the subway and in the subway station were by far the most detailed and intriguing backgrounds I’ve seen in a side-scroller in a long, long time.

However, not everything in Street Brawl was quite as aesthetically pleasing as the environments.  What especially stuck out to me as a let down were the character models.  Unlike the game’s backgrounds, the character models were very bland and lacked detail.  The motions of Cochise, the Warrior I chose to play with, were scripted in a way that made every attack and step seemed unnatural and stiff.  A special move that stuck out in my mind (a long-reaching spinning kick) looked good, but fell short of redeeming the overall motion flaws in Street Brawl.  Perhaps I’m overlooking they comic book stylization of the game or maybe I’m just simply spoiled by my experiences with Battlefield 1943, but it just seems like XBLA games should have better graphics than what I saw with Street Brawl.

Still, I think the main entertainment value from The Warriors: Street Brawl will not come from the way the game looks, but how the game plays.  Street Brawl is a title that uses very simple controls.  Toggling the X, Y, A and B buttons serve as a medium to punch, kick and pull of special moves.  Players will also be able to pick up and use weapons, such as knives, bats, crowbars, 2×4’s and pool cues, to deal more damage against the rival gangs.

Street Brawl also has a wide variety of game modes.  First, there is the campaign.  Though I only got to play the single-player campaign, Street Brawl has single player, local multiplayer and Xbox Live co-op campaign modes.  As described towards the beginning of this preview, campaign allows players select a character and fight their way through New York and reach the safety of Coney Island.  Each player will be able to accumulate points by defeating enemies, picking up bonus items (rings, coins, gems) and advancing further into the game.  Players must continuously fight throughout the campaign or else the AI will punish you for stalling by sending in many enemy reinforcements.  Also, the longer you can survive through the campaign, the more characters you can unlock and fight with in future Street Brawl sessions.  Other game modes include Boss mode and Versus mode.  Boss mode lets players fight every boss they’ve seen in the campaign in succession.  This allows players to be immediately challenged without having to complete the entire campaign again.  Versus mode allows players to fight their friends to see who is the most skilled gang member.

Overall, The Warriors: Street Brawl looks like it could be a pretty swell XBLA title.  Running for just 800 Points (about $10), Street Brawl wont convince people to buy an Xbox 360, but it is an affordable option for those who don’t want to buy an entire $60 game.  Fans of those classic SNES and Sega Genesis side-scroller titles should keep an eye out for Street Brawl in September.  Those who are not quite familiar with the genre might want to just check out the demo.

And, well, for the true fans of The Warriors, the question isn’t whether or not they will buy Street Brawl.  The real question is: Can they dig it?

The medical examiner’s office released a statement saying it was “concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death.”

His family expressed disbelief and said they were “extremely disapointed” that the results of the autopsy were publicized. They too released a statement, saying, “We were totally unaware of any non-prescription drug usage and are actively considering an independent evaluation of the autopsy results.”

Then look no further than Bungie’s upcoming title, Halo 3: ODST.

Halo 3: ODST (the acronym standing for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) is a stand-alone first-person shooter extension of Bungie’s Halo 3.  In ODST, players take control of “the Rookie,” who is a normal, non-Spartan soldier in the UNSC army.  Unlike Master Chief, ODSTs are not blessed with the speed, strength or resilience an enhanced soldier.  Instead, these troopers must rely on teamwork, defensive cover and smart tactics to survive and complete missions.

Microsoft was kind enough let to get my hands on Halo 3: ODST during Comic-Con this year.  During my brief preview, I was able to get the inside scoop on what is soon to come from Bungie’s upcoming creation.

The first thing I learned about ODST was the fact that each purchase will come with two discs.  The first disc will include ODST’s unique campaign and Firefight modes.  The second disc will include a fully functional copy of Halo 3’s previously released multiplayer mode, complete with 24 maps (including the Heroic, Legendary, Mythic and one previously unreleased map packs).  With each map pack being sold between 600 to 800 Microsoft Points, the inclusion of the Halo 3 multiplayer disc is a worthy addition to the ODST package.  This is especially true for those Halo 3 veterans who haven’t bought the maps already or just the casual gamer who is simply late on jumping on the Halo 3 bandwagon.

With the success of Halo 3’s multiplayer and Bungie always seeming to be able to churn out an interesting campaign, I was mostly concerned with how the Firefight mode would work.  Luckily for me, Firefight was exactly what the folks at Microsoft let me demo.  Firefight is a cooperative multiplayer mode in which teammates must defend themselves from increasingly difficult waves of enemies, similar to Gears of War 2’s Horde mode or Call of Duty 5’s Nazi Zombies.  What was fun about Firefight was the fact that players will be able to face of against waves of classic Halo enemies, including Grunts and Brutes.  All of the classic enemies still have their memorable quirks and movement styles, allowing Halo fans to enjoy a little bit of nostalgia as they try to complete Firefight.

I also appreciated that the increased difficulty of enemies was very dynamic.  Unlike in similar game modes, Firefight does not just improve the shield strength or just increase the sheer number of opponents as you advance to high levels.  Instead, each wave in Firefight will have certain characteristics.  For instance, one feature that I found to be most memorable was when the game alerted me that the next wave of enemies would be more prone to throwing grenades.  It was refreshing to see such a creative addition to a simple idea for a game mode.

From a gameplay standpoint, one thing that bothered me about ODST was the fact that the troopers (who are supposed to be normal, non-enhanced infantry soldiers) had Master Chief-like vertical leaping abilities.  During my time with Firefight, I would often find myself jumping over tall enemies, such as fully armored Brutes.  Though it could be considered nitpicking, I still found this unbelievable jumping to be a flaw in this one of this game’s goal: giving games a view of the Halo 3 universe from inside of the average soldier’s helmet.  Hopefully this will be something Bungie will eventually address as they develop the game further.

The ODSTs do have plenty of differences from Master Chief, however.  First, ODST soldiers are all equipped with a night vision function, which is toggled by the X-button (the only button that had a different function when compared to Master Chief’s controls).  What made night vision helpful was its ability to highlight enemies (outlining them in red) and objects (outlining them in yellow), even if they were behind barriers and obstacles.  Not surprisingly, night vision gave me an incredible advantage on enemies whenever I had it on.  In fact, I didn’t really see a point to not having night vision activated at all times.

To compensate for the addition of night vision, ODSTs are unable to use dual weapons.  So, those of you who enjoyed the days of doubling up SMGs or Laser Pistols, your days are numbered.  I found the removal of the dualing feature was a classic example of “addition by subtraction” and I look forward to the challenges it is sure to bring.  However, even though dual weapons are out of the picture, the addition new weapons is certainly not.  Halo 3: ODST will allow players to get their hands on a silenced SMG and a silenced pistol, both of which are unique to the game.  Though the silenced SMG was fun, I would have to say that the silenced pistol was my favorite of the two new guns just because of the fact that it shoots much faster than its previous counterpart.

My favorite part of my hands-on experience with Halo 3: ODST was the grittiness of the graphics.  Unlike times in Halo 3, ODST looked to capture the look and feel of war in a more authentic fashion.  The settings were dark, the graphics were gritty and the action was nonstop.  It just seemed that ODST could provide a more “real” campaign experience than Halo 3.  I am looking forward to seeing what Bungie has in store.  It should be a good time.

Overall, it looks like Halo 3: ODST could be a success.  Initially, I was afraid that Bungie could be using ODST as a means to gain some revenue without producing a top-notch title.  Instead, I have found myself nearly convinced that ODST will be worth every penny used to purchase it.  The only thing holding me back from completely buying into ODST’s hype is the campaign.  If Bungie can live up to its storytelling resume, ODST will be a worthwhile investment.  However, if Bungie falls short in the campaign department, things could get ugly.  Let’s hope that the former scenario comes through.

And while the frenzy for all things vampiric hasn’t slowed down, as witnessed by the legion of “Twilight” fans awaiting Stephenie Meyer’s second installation in her series, “New Moon,” it begs the question as to whether “The Vampire Diaries” will pander to the popular trend or pave its own way?

Blast spoke with the cast and producers about this dilemma recently. When asked about concerns from fans about its parallels between the books and its depiction onscreen? Producers Julie Plec, Kevin Williamson and Bob Levy were happy to clear some things up.

“Well, the thing is there are very big fans of the books,” Williamson said.

“There was this ongoing joke about Damon and oranges on (a fansite) and I thought I had missed something in the books. So, I went back and tried to re-read everything because I didn’t want [fans] to think I hadn’t gone through it,” Plec added “So, that site posted it up, and I thought, ‘Perfect! Now at some point we can have Damon with an orange in a scene!’ So it’s just a little nod towards fans.”

Certainly one of the series’ strengths will be the books, themselves, which provide a strong enough platform to make television translation fairly easy. Anyone who has read them will notice that, while the obvious alterations have been made — as casting the heroine, Elena Gilbert, with a brunette actress instead of a blond — the context of the characters are very close to the books despite a few bumps. In fact, the whole debate about hair color is absurd when one realizes how wonderful Nina Dobrev is as the lead. She makes the character likable and interesting as opposed to the mean girl type Elena is in the books. For some this may be a good thing or a bad thing — along the same lines as defining whether Blair Waldorf is necessarily bad or good.

And for clarification, due to all the ruckus about blond versus brunette, Elena could have any colored hair as long as it bore the stark resemblance to a particular character. It’s supposed to have a deja-vu effect and serves nothing more than a plot device in the books. And insofar as romance aspect of the series.

“It’s really about the love story between these two characters (Elena and Stefan),” said Levy. On the possibility of the series getting darker: “I think this is a case where Kevin (Williamson) is at his best. He balances both aspects great. Overall, we will be focused on the relationships between the characters (and) blend them with the plot.”

For those curious as to whether we can expect Elena to do some action scenes like her leading men seen in recent promos: “You know, I’ve been asking that question too!” Nina Dobrev told Blast. “I’ve been asking the writers, ‘When will I get to jump off a roof too?’ You know I grew up with an older brother and played every sport imaginable. So yeah, I would like to do some action scenes. There are some things I can’t talk about but if you read the books, you’ll know it’ll surprise you. So not right now, but eventually.”

Paul Wesley may have gotten some of the action fighting, but so far he doesn’t necessarily have a favorite scene. “It’s a scene that hasn’t happened,” he revealed, “but when Elena eventually finds out Stefan is a vampire … when they get to that point, for me, that’ll be my favorite part because it’s such a big moment for them, because he truly loves this girl.”

There is something to be said for that comment considering the character he portrays, Stefan Salvatore, wears his heart on his sleeve, but his brother Damon is another story. “He controls life. Life doesn’t control him … except sometimes it stops, and makes him work a little bit harder,” said Ian Somerhalder who plays Damon.

On the traits of playing a more villainous character as Damon Salvatore: “It’s all about perspective, isn’t? It’s fun getting to play him. I mean Damon has an immense amount of strengths. He has mind manipulation powers, and can make you think whatever you want? How cool is that? But when that doesn’t work, it throws him off a bit. So the thing about about Stefan is he loses the love of his life, and there’s this vendetta for (more than one hundred years). I promise him an eternity of misery.” He added the last part with a grin, perhaps unintentionally.

“The Vampire Diaries” is not a series for all demographics. It’s catered toward a particular niche. That niche of viewers tuning to the series will be either of the nerdcore, whose love for vamps and the books know no bounds, or those looking for a weekly escape preceding the successful cult series, “Supernatural.”

The show needs time to grow outside of the shadow of “Twilight,” which has saturated the media beyond the popularity of the books and into the personal lives of the actors themselves.

“The Vampire Diaries” is set for Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. on The CW.

Playing a 50s housewife in the film, Thompson, 32, has gained critical acclaim with praise from the New York Times as well as a Leo Award for Best Supporting Performance by a female in a Feature Length Drama. Not too shabby for a girl who, in high school, thought actors were “losers and not very smart.” She went on to later catch the “acting bug” after appearing in several TV commercials, and the rest is history.

Set to release on DVD August 8, “Alien Trespass” also stars Eric McCormack as Thompson’s husband. He is a witty scientist who has his body taken over by an alien from a crashed UFO in the Mojave Desert. “Urp,” this alien, needs to stop the hideous, extra-terrestrial “Ghota” from destroying humankind with his voracious appetite. The story ensues as Dr. Lewis (McCormack) continues on his quest to be a hero and capture Ghota.

Speaking with Thompson, it’s obvious she’s smart. She is the kind of person you could sit and stare at all day, in sheer amazement at her energy level and motivation. Seemingly superhuman, like her blood runs a mix of Red Bull and espresso, she is a self-described Type A…but in a good way. She even managed to fit in a bit of woman-to-woman advice during the course of our interview. Without divulging all the details, let’s just say it’s now clear what kind of bra to wear when I’m headed out for a run with my baby in a jog-stroller.

“When I’m not busy I don’t feel fulfilled. It keeps my brain from turning to potatoes,” Thompson said. “Relaxing in the shade with a glass of wine would be nice, but it’s not my first choice.” Again — the motivation thing (as I sit typing away and drinking a glass of red)

With television credits including a recurring role on USA’s “The 4400” and appearances in “Stargate SG-1″ and “Stargate: Atlantis.” Her sci-fi trending is an accidental pattern. While Thompson is no stranger to the genre, playing Lana in Alien Trespass, however, was an entirely new and demanding experience. Describing it as “frightening,” Thompson says she struggled with trying not to overact the part. Corsets and other wardrobe accouterments, including a new Julia Child-esque haircut, helped her get into character. “It took a lot of research and physical adjustments,” she said. “It changes your attitude just by putting the wardrobe on.”

Thompson said it was a pleasure working with McCormack, best known for his part as the hilariously gay Will, in the sitcom Will and Grace. “He was like so cool. He like didn’t have any Hollywood stuff,” she said. “He was just funny the whole time.”

Doubly fortunate to have also worked with R.W. Goodwin, producer of the X-Files series, in this film, Thompson says she just really trusted him from the beginning. “He was so great,” she said. “He knows the genre inside and out.”

The film has done very well and was a big hit at this summer’s Comic Con International in San Diego. Goodwin and McCormack hosted the Alien Trespass panel, introducing it to viewers with a featurette about its origination in the 1950s and recent uncovering by construction workers.

So, is there any truth to the story? “I don’t think I will be in trouble for saying that’s part of the drama. It puts the viewer in the right frame of mind for approaching the work,” Thompson grinned.

An actress, mother and dog-trainer (yes she does that too), Thompson wears many hats. She is also a filmmaker and president of the International Filmmakers Institute. Her debut film, “Montana de Luz,” documents the stories of children in an orphanage in Honduras living with HIV. “If they can get through each day with positive attitude, there really isn’t any excuse for us,” she said.

Claiming to have had a difficult time playing the typical 195os housewife in “Alien Trespass,” its evident Thompson is deep down a caretaker. Whether it’s jogging with her 14-month-old son in the stroller, caring for her Alzheimer’s stricken mother, training her German Shepherds or making movies about disease-ridden children, Thompson is probably not an alien, but she probably has some superpowers.

With the stars and its producers at day three of Comic-Con International, Blast sat in and discussed
“Fringe’s” upcoming season and characters. The panel included J.H. Wyman, writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman and followed by cast members Joshua Jackson, Jasika Nicole, John Noble, and Anna Torv.

The second season of “Fringe” has already been plotted out by the, Wyman said.

“Peter (Bishop) is going to learn a lot about his existence, who he is,” Wyman said. “We have many things we have that we want to bank out here as a character, and then actually make him the hero he needs and wants to become.”

Wyman explained the fate of Peter (Joshua Jackson) who ended the season with a cliffhanger, leaving fans wondering about his identity. “There are many things beyond the ideas of aliens,” Wyman responded to the “no alien” stance from the show’s writers.

“The keys in the character and what is happening with the show and how it’s different than last year, is that we’re actually looking at the first season as a prologue,” Wyman said.

The basic theme of science, it’s catastrophic and uncontrollable nature, is the angle the show has taken and molded since it started last year. What makes it interesting is finding the show is developing its own groove.

“You’re really going to fall in love, this year we work with Walter’s emancipation,” Wyman said. “Peter is going to start to come into his own, and develop in an internal way … it’s really all delicious.”

The series tries to transcend science and be a show about people, building on the back stories of the characters. The writers described Peter and Olivia’s (Anna Torv) relationship as a “brother and sister” pairing.

There are no current plans to develop any romantic storylines between the characters at the moment, which in many ways is a godsend. What makes “Fringe” one of the most successful pilots is its focus on adding drama with the occasional humorous banter. Family also plays a pivotal role especially between Peter and his formally estranged father.

Joshua Jackson gave his views on the relationship between father and son: “There’s always this state of play,” he said. “The big reveal in the end of the season will inevitably lead to break up, until that break up we’ll see them getting closer and closer.”

The strength of “Fringe” is its ability to explore uncharted realms of science, bring them to life, and through it provide a mirror to the world and lives of its characters.

“Fringe” airs at 9 p.m. Thursday nights on Fox.

Note: This trailer very much deserves its red band rating, so don’t watch it if you will be offended by swears and inappropriate content.
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John Cusak ruled the eighties, so what better concept for a film than to bring him back to the era he reigned in? “Hot Tub Time Machine” is the story of a group of friends who travel back to 1986 after spending a night drinking Red Bulls and vodka in a hot tub where they partied in their youth. It is slated to hit theaters February 10, 2010.

Not since HBO’s first “True Blood” campaign has a poster not only made you laugh but made you want to know just what the hell the campaign is representing. Whedon is master of cult hits, and “The Cabin in the Woods” looks to be the next one in a very long list. If anything, those posters will make you laugh.

“I actually just recently watched (“Red Dawn”) for the first time,” said Palicki. “(Our version is) so different. Same characters, but very different. It’s more character-driven, different bad guys.”

Filming for “Red Dawn” begins in September according to Palicki, and the cast will be in Detroit for a three and a half month shoot.

Chris Hemsworth and Joshua Peck have already signed on to the film, but Palicki said the role of Robert was offered to “Slumdog Millionaire” star Dev Patel and the filmmakers were in talks with Kurt Russell about bringing him to the film.

“(The ‘Red Dawn’ remake is) huge. And it’s going to be more character driven, which is fun. You care about them a bit more,” she said.

“We just showed the trailer out there – or the teaser – and they went nuts,” he said. “I didn’t think we was gonna go wrong with having a director like Scott Stewart make his debut, who happens to own a special effects company.”

With Paul Bettany’s shirtless body plastered all around the convention center to promote the film, Gibson had plenty to say directed towards the actor – who happened to be sitting right behind him.

“Paul Bettany, just tell them how sexy you are, Jesus,” Gibson joked. “Tell them about that shirt that came with muscles.”

Later, he joked again about Bettany in regards to Scott Stewart’s visual effects capabilities.

“I told him listen, whatever you do, I know you’ve got to focus on a lot of effects, just make sure I have more muscles in this movie. Draw me a few more lines and ripples, and I think he delivered, and I’m excited about that,” Gibson said with a laugh. “I mean, he gave Paul Bettany a stomach for the cover, you know what I mean? Great CG work. Great CG work. [Bettany] worked out a little bit, but the CG work really took those abs to another level. And the whole film was sponsored by baby oil, so it was just crazy. It was a baby oil drought in the whole city of Albuquerque.”

On a more serious note, Gibson talked about the similarities between his character, Kyle Williams, and his own life. He said Williams is on his way to court to try to gain custody of his child – something Gibson is going through right now – when he stops at a diner and “all hell breaks through – literally.” But even with such serious topics, Gibson showed he was always in for a joke.

“So they’re trying to stop these spirits and these forces are trying to stop the birth of Jesus that’s in this woman’s stomach and then it gets revealed that it’s actually my baby,” said Gibson, pausing, and then bursting out laughing. “Oh no, I’m just playing. (laughs) Yeah! Everybody got quiet like, okay. I’m quick on the draw. (Adrianne Palicki’s Charlie) was only a couple months pregnant; we were stuck there for a minute, but we’re having a light-skinned Jesus. It’s going to come out half mixed; he’s going to be a half breed. It’s a beautiful collaboration.”
Scott Stewart said later Gibson always acted as hit cheerleader, flaunting Stewart’s visual effects abilities, and it was proven as Gibson kept coming back to the effects in conversation.

“(‘Legion’s) got some great effects in it. It’s not over the top,” said Gibson. “Unfortunately, we don’t get no Optimus Prime in this one, but you know, Bumblebee makes an appearance in the film – no, I’m just playing. Bumblebee with vampire fangs shows up. But yeah, it’s definitely got some great effects in it. You can’t go wrong.”

He added, “Crazy thing is, y’all didn’t hear this from me, a lot of directors and producers hire this guy and pay him big bucks to do effects on their films, but he hasn’t gave up all of the goodies; he saved them for his own damn movie. He’s got us doing some things in this film with some effects in this film, I’ve never seen before. He pulled out the bag of goodies for ‘Legion.’ I mean, the way this movie looks, you’d this movie cost $75 to $100 million, easy.”

When Blast tried to find out how big the budget for the film was, Gibson responded immediately, “I don’t know,” but then added with a laugh, “You said that so calm, you almost sucked me right into that.”

Gibson said it was great to work with Dennis Quaid again (who he worked with in “Flight of the Phoenix”) and talked about how his reputation is making sure everyone is having fun on the set of whatever film he is on.

“But that’s what I do: make sure the cast is having fun, then we all become good friends and we get each other pregnant,” he laughed. “I’m a human party on feet, man. Come on, baby, I can turn this into a party. I’ll pull out a speaker box in a minute. Come on, man, I will have someone in the corner beat boxing, and we will have this piece dancing, please believe that. Come on man, people take life way to serious. I like having fun.”

After the blockbuster success of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” the upcoming release of “Mayhem” and the success of his music career, Gibson has much to be happy about.

“That’s right,” he said, “life is beautiful. Life is beautiful.”