There are so many things that could have gone wrong with “The Blind Side.” What could have been a horribly cheesy, hard-to-swallow “Remember the Titans 2” turned out to be a viscerally engaging film about love, family and the importance of acceptance, and possibly the best film of Sandra Bullock’s career.

To put it plainly, this is the best film I’ve seen in a long time. There were points in this movie where the audience erupted into spontaneous applause. There were other times when I had to cover my face because I couldn’t stand to think of what might happen. And there were other triumphant moments when I gave a couple of hearty fist-pumps. I’m not saying I’m proud of it, I’m just saying it happened.

This incredible true story follows Michael Oher, or “Big Mike,” an intimidatingly large African-American teenager who has a rough past and very little to say about it. Through powerful flashbacks, we discover that Michael is on his own in this world and has been living a transient life, going from couch to couch in his friends’ homes.

He finds himself accepted into a prestigious private school in Memphis (the football coach made sure he got in) and is immediately ostracized because of his size and the color of his skin.

Leigh Ann Toughy (Sandra Bullock) picks Michael up off the street one night after school and without asking any questions, welcomes him into the Toughy home. Slowly, Michael becomes a part of the family and discovers what it means to be loved.

The Toughys are a ridiculously wealthy family whose two children attend Michael’s school, and they own “like, a million Taco Bells,” according to the precocious and adorable S.J. Toughy.

Quinton Aaron, who plays Michael, does a superb job. His character is misunderstood, yet lovable, and he plays stupid in a very smart way. We immediately want the best for Michael, even though he barely speaks a full sentence throughout the movie. His expressions, his tears and his laughter speak volumes about his past, his heart and his thoughts.

S.J. Toughy (Jae Head) is a brilliant young actor with an incredible sense for comedic timing. Reminiscent of a young Macaulay Culkin, S.J. is the first kid at school to accept Michael, telling him the girls at school wouldn’t be so scared of him if he would just smile a little bit.

It would seem that Michael becomes S.J,’s constant companion and protector when it’s really S.J. teaching Michael about friendship, laughter and, most importantly, football. There are several heartwarming sequences where S.J. trains Michael until he eventually conquers on the field.

The second most compelling relationship in the film is that between Leigh Ann and Michael. Bullock plays a strong-minded southern belle, a no-nonsense mother and Michael Oher’s biggest fan. Leigh Ann, who is as tough as nails, advocates for Michael in every area of his life. She takes the boy who had one set of clothes and no place to stay and gave him a home, a new wardrobe, a new truck, a career, and most importantly, a family. The audience questions its presuppositions about race and poverty as Toughy challenges her own.

Admittedly, I rolled my eyes when I saw that Tim McGraw was going to be in this film. However, despite a bad hairpiece, McGraw delivered with the best of them, particularly in a scene where he’s studying with Michael and recites a poem.

And just when you think the movie couldn’t get any better, halfway through we get to see Kathy Bates, Michael’s motivating tutor. Bates is compelling though her part is small.

So, in the end, you should just go see “The Blind Side.” You’ll be a better person for it.

A lot of things were going on yesterday. Oprah was announcing the end of her daytime talk show. Sarah Palin was touring the country, promoting her new book and jabbing at Obama’s policies at every turn. Surely, Taylor Swift was walking around somewhere telling someone that she wasn’t dating Taylor Lautner.

But ask most any girl under the age of 16 (and their moms, for that matter) what November 20 meant to them, and they’d tell you one thing: “New Moon.”

At midnight last night, girls were lining up at theaters all around the world to catch the first glimpse of the sequel. Would it include all the important parts from the book? they wondered. Will the special effects be cool? Will there be enough Edward?

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit I was asking myself the same things as I walked into the theater. And in the end, I was not disappointed.

Catherine Hardwicke’s “Twilight” was lacking in these ways: there was stilted dialogue, awkward special effects and some funny scenes that weren’t meant to be funny. Director Chris Weitz transitioned the cold, awkward world of “Twilight” into a warm, emotional and dynamic “New Moon.”

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg seems to have taken a little more time with this script, as the banter between the characters feels natural. She leaves the “lion and the lamb” quotes in the book where they belong.

The movie touches on almost every important scene in the book, which will please die-hard (or Twi-hard) fans. The movie moves quickly, giving about 15 minutes to process every intense emotion that Stephenie Meyer spent 100 pages talking about, so it can feel a bit rushed. But when you realize that the movie is over two hours long, you re-think that assessment.

The only part of the film that was seriously lacking was the wolf pack. Only two of the four have any serious build, and if you’re going to spend half the movie walking around shirtless, you need to at least get rid of the muffin top. Not to mention the fact that the wolf transformations are by turns incredibly realistic and incredibly…not. The wolves sometimes look fierce and other times, look like cartoons, which is a big disappointment if you’ve seen “The Golden Compass.” And there’s an unforgivable sequence where wolf pack leader Sam Uley jumps off of a cliff and you feel like you’re watching an animation from the “Tomb Raider” computer game you had as a kid.

Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have incredible chemistry. Kristen plays the broken Bella very well, and Lautner exudes the warmth of his character. Plus, he’s not bad to look at either. In the end, your heart breaks when he begs her to stay, and the most loyal Edward fans wonder if maybe they wouldn’t choose Jacob instead.

But in the end, the movie brings you back to Edward and Bella, as it should. It ends on a well-deserved cliff-hanger, leaving the Twi-hards squealing until next June, when the third installment, “Eclipse,” is scheduled for release.

We are told at the beginning of “The Messenger” that Sergeant Will Montgomery is a hero. Wounded while earning medals for bravery, Montgomery is rotated back home and assigned to serve out the rest of his tour as part of the Army’s Casualty Notification Service. Will now has to break the bad news to the families of soldiers who died serving in combat.

Will is paired with Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a tough-talking and hard-partying veteran of the unit who quickly relays the basics of casualty notification. For instance: You never touch the NOK’s (next of kin), you never park to close (you don’t want the whole neighborhood knowing), and you always keep your beeper on and near you at all time (“The Army always has to be first. We don’t want them finding out watching CNN.”).

The scenes of Tony and Will notifying the families are beautifully done. Seeing the two try to follow such a sterile and robotic script in the face of such raw emotion is heartbreaking and involving. They are slapped, spit on and yelled at. The reactions are always different but their method is always the same. The film acknowledges how completely inadequate the whole process is, without suggesting how it could be improved. Is there any good way to notify family members? Maybe there just is not a better way.

“The Messenger” could have easily descended into a preachy and over-wrought mess, but the strength of the performances and the sensitivity of the writing keep the film grounded in real human emotion.

Ben Foster, who has recently been typecast in wild-eyed and unhinged villainous roles like in “3:10 to Yuma” does beautifully understated work here as Will. It would have been easy to play the part over the top, but Foster finds a nice balance. Will may be full of survivor’s guilt, but he isn’t consumed by it. When he finally tells his war story to Tony near the end of the film,

Logano goes for his sixth win of the season tomorrow in Florida, (televised on ESPN 2 at 4:30 p.m.) and you can watch this 200 mph. advertisement drive in loops all evening, if you’d like.

I think it’s kind of funny how the M for Mature ESRB rating icon is tagged on there as well. Nice.

I dated a girl once whose family enjoyed NASCAR. We broke up. You fill out the rest.

An appropriately ominous name if I do say so myself. But by the looks of them in this trailer, I’d say they do more “killing” than “watching.”

Have a look, let us know what you think, and enjoy your weekend!

Source: Capcom Unity Blog

That’s right, the second showing, “The Duel,” will come to Xbox Live’s Halo Waypoint tomorrow, and will be available for all to view, but only for 24 hours, at which point the episode will sadly disappear.

Here’s the synopsis, as told by 343:

“The Duel” takes place thousands of years in the past at the dawn of the Covenant. The story follows a shamed Elite who defies his role as an Arbiter to take a path of revenge against those that stole the only thing that mattered to him. This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of former allies (Grunts, Elites, Hunters and more) until he finally stands face-to-face with the Elite who betrayed him.”

Sounds like drama only comparable to high school! I’m ready, are you?

And as a reminder, the Halo Waypoint, where the Legends films will be shown, is available for both Gold and Silver members right now, but after this weekend, Silver subscribers get the boot, sorry.

For you collectors, the Halo: Legends series will come, in its entirety, to DVD and Blu-Ray, in Feb. 2010.

I wasn’t kidding when I described the gameplay above. That’s the bulk of the experience. You get missions to do from job boards in towns and settlements, or from talking to certain people scattered across the expansive game world. When you finish a mission, you return to wherever you earned it and pick up a reward, in the form of items, experience and money. You can take on as many quests as you want at a time, and can complete as many as you want before you ever return to claim your prize, so you don’t need to run back and forth constantly. These missions do fall into a somewhat small set of categories though–kill this thug, kill this beast, collect these items, kill this guy and collect these items, etc. You don’t really mind though, because each kill means experience, and experience means leveling, and that is the metaphorical crack pipe upon which addiction to this game relies.

Even within the first area of the game, there are certain sections you are not going to want to visit until you have sufficiently leveled. You may find some of these places in your random travels though, and when you do, you could very well be killed, and fast. You want to be very close to your enemy’s levels when you engage them, so the missions become important so you can always stay ahead of the curve, or at least with it.

Plus, you get more stuff. There’s a never ending supply of stuff for you to pick up. Some of it is better than your current stuff, much of it is worse, but it can all be sold so you can buy even better stuff. Certain characters use certain gun types better than others, meaning that when you play multiplayer, stuff should be shared for more reasons than just fairness.

The single and multiplayer experiences are similar in many ways. You still run around completing missions, leveling up and collecting loot, but now you get to do it with a buddy (or a stranger, but that’s not as much fun, especially in a game where picking up items is so pivotal). If you play with someone over Xbox Live, whoever hosts the game is going to be the one whose story is played, meaning you can replay missions you may have already completed in order to boost your character’s levels further. You can also keep multiple characters saved to your hard drive at once, meaning you can play online with a friend using one of the four character classes while playing alone on your own time with another. All of the items, experience and money you acquire in multiplayer carries over to your single-player experience, so even if you have to replay certain sections later, at least you will be well armed.

Each class is, at the simplest level, different thanks to their special skill. The Soldier drops a shielded turret, the Hunter has a war hawk that can attack far off enemies or those behind cover, the Siren can turn invisible and invincible for short periods of time, letting out a wave of energy when the shift occurs, and the Berserker, which, as you may have guessed, excels at being a damage absorbing tank that can punish enemies with melee.

There is more to the class differences than that though, as you earn skill points that can be used to differentiate them further. There are three separate paths to take, and you don’t need to stay within a single one–you can also cash in all of your skill points and re-align yourself however you wish, for a small cash fee. Let’s use the Hunter as an example. One path has him becoming more of a pistol wielding gunslinger, while another has him becoming more of a sniper. If you take the Sniper path, you will earn bonuses through skill points for things like experience bonuses on critical kills, faster reload times on rifles, or shield penetrating bullets. If you take the gunslinger route, you can get some similar bonuses, but also some very revolver/pistol exclusive ones, like chance to fire two rounds with one press of the trigger on pistols. You can customize them into all three groups and get an all-purpose blend, or you can focus heavily on one section–each time you upgrade a skill five times, it opens up the next level of skills for that designation. Shield penetrating bullets don’t come for the Sniper until you’ve used at least 15 skill points on Sniper related skill, which means 15 levels (20, really, as you don’t earn any skill points your first few levels) in a game with 50 tops. As I said though, you can get them back for a cost, so don’t fret if you change your mind 15 hours in.

Blizzard announced today the “Pilgrim’s Bounty” event happening in the land of Azeroth.

Running from Nov. 22 through Nov. 28, gamers can partake in Pilgrim’s Bounty feasts at major towns by sitting at a Bountiful Table and enjoying the delectable delights found there.

These Bountiful Tables are loaded with food and surrounded by interactive chairs used to consume and share food with friends.

Every chair at the table has an unlimited amount of food and are specifically labeled.

The Sweet Potato Chair, The Turkey Chair, The Stuffing Chair, The Cranberry Chair, and The Pie Chair.

Additionally, if you consume five helpings of a certain food you’ll gain bonuses specific to that food and best of all, if you eat five servings of every food, you’ll earn the Spirit of Sharing, which lasts one hour and increases reputation gained by 10%. Woo hoo!

There’s also cooking quests, special items, and achievements to unlock by joining in the Turkey-Day merriment. Have a look, and be sure to check out the official Pilgrim’s Feast page for more information.

A survey of over 1,000 random wishes, conducted by online gift-giving site Lottay, found that, for both dudes and ladies, the Wii topped the list of most popular holiday wishes.

Can’t say we’re too surprised about that. Now at $199, and with a helluva strong software lineup available today, we’d expecting nothing less, but we are a tad surprised by what Lottay also found.

According to their survey:

· The Wii is wished for twice as much as Sony and Xbox 360 combined.

· Top wished for consoles, in order of popularity: Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

· People are also wishing for more Wii accessories and games than for other consoles.

· The most wished for game that appeared along with a Wii console is Super Smash Bros.

· The hottest new game is Left for Dead 2.

· The most popular accessory is the Wii Fit.

· Top product wishes are the Nintendo Wii, Wii games and accessories.

· Top wishes for men include the Nintendo Wii, cash as a gift, travel, love and sky diving (tied), iPod, and a car.

· Top wishes for women include the Nintendo Wii, travel and vacations, cash as a gift, massage, iPod, and boots.

PlayStation 3 more wished for than Xbox 360. Now that’s interesting.

What do you make of this list? Reasonable? Not so much? Jackie?

The Team Racing Pack, Shift’s first DLC release, hits Dec. 1 and 10 for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively, and brings five new vehicles, and the new Team Racing Mode into the racing fray.

In this mode, team of up to six racers must work together, because, as EA said in its press release “Individual driving strategy and playing it safe won’t work.”

No real mention was made of just how you’ll have to work together, but when the DLC hits next month, we’ll find out, won’t we?

Here are the new autos yuo can add to your garage next month as well, followed by them imaged.

· 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427

· 1967 Shelby GT-500

· 1969 Dodge Charger R/T

· 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T

· 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV

Space Invaders is the same way; I have no idea where I first played it, but it sure wasn’t in 1973, and it sure wasn’t in Space Invaders Extreme 1.  Cultural osmosis has somehow made it one of my favorite arcade-style games, and when Space Invaders Extreme 2 first booted up, it’s busy screen and lurid colors made me cringe in anticipation.  But low and behold, it turned out to be an awesome little game!

The basics are the same: you control a tiny ship at the bottom of your screen and you have to blast endless waves of alien invaders to kingdom come before they can land their ships on Earth.  In the style of Geometry Wars, the game is updated to a much faster pace and given a psychedelic paint job and thumping electronic soundtrack.  The design is a bit too gaudy for me; I found myself reaching for tissues to dab my bleeding eyes after playing this for half an hour.  But after a certain point you grow accustomed to it, and more-or-less learn to ignore it.

The gameplay is downright addictive, though I admit I had to put the game down several times because it was making me too stressed.  The incrementally increasing speed of the ships has always turned me from a cool cucumber into a nervous nelly, but the speed of this game–even in early stages–made me downright frantic.  It’s not a soothing game to be played on the train to work, as I found out when my fellow passengers backed away from my frantic button mashing.  I particularly enjoyed a Tetris-like color combo bonus.  It added an element of strategy to the game that made my inevitable death seem more avoidable and gave me a greater feeling of control over the game.

I’ll just come out and admit that I was unable to beat the game.  Not even close.  One speed-up too many had me squealing like a hamster stuck its tubing, and I cracked under the pressure.  But I learned from others that the game only has five stages, which makes it quite short for those of you who don’t experience my chase-induced emotional trauma.  But it wouldn’t do for a game like this to drag on.  It’s a fun diversionary game–something to get addicted to, conquer, and put away.

Blast Factor: This is my first experience with Space Invaders Extreme, and it was a surprisingly fun remake of the treasured classic.  As I’ve noted, it’s a game that really got my heart racing, which admittedly doesn’t happen much, even in big beautiful console games.  Minus the screen-savers-on-drugs backgrounds and graphics, this is a great little game to grow addicted to and pass around among your friends.

Space Invaders Extreme 2 is available on the Nintendo DS for $19.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a hard axiom for most developers to follow, but Majesco has done admirably little to change core gameplay.  You’re still playing catchy mini-games to cook food with Engrish-speaking Mama, and these games still have enough charm to appeal to casual gamer and veterans alike.  They’ve only been improved by streamlining the process to keep frustration at bay; there are some points where rather than starting over, you’ll be given the option to save yourself and soldier onward.  A cookbook full of new recipes will make you feel like you’re actually able to make creme brulee, but don’t let it go to your head–you can’t.  I checked.

The biggest new feature is Shopping.  You must battle your way through frustrated salarymen, women with screaming babies, overeager salespeople to capture your desired ingredients.  If you’re too slow, you’ll have to play a mini-game to escape.  It’s a very cute feature, though it isn’t well-integrated with the game as a whole, and sometimes employees are particularly difficult to escape, and repeating mini-games is not my favorite thing to do once I’ve mastered them.

Blast Factor: This game is so charming–and has such a high replay value–that I can’t help but give it an excellent review.  Mama always manages to defrost the icy leftovers of my heart, and this may in fact be my favorite installation in the series.  If you’ve ever panned this title, now is the time to reconsider.

Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop is available on the Nintendo DS for $29.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Clarkson’s “Miss Independent” marks her first tune in any music-game, and though it’s not the “Since U Been Gone” I’ve been dying to play for years now, it’ll do just fine.

But for those who don’t see the world through the eyes of a 12 year-old girl, Tom Petty and his six live tracks, basically his greatest hits, are yours to enjoy next week as well.

Here’s the full list and dates of availability.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 24) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 26):

• Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed” +
• Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent” +
• P!nk – “Who Knew” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (live)” +

+ these ones are also available in the family-friendly LEGO: Rock Band store. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”? What’s wrong with that one? Oh, I see.

The Tom Petty six-pack will also be available as a bundle by the name of “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01″ for $9.99/800 MS Points.

Enjoy.

First and foremost, Oprah Winfrey will talk on the air today about ending her iconic syndicated daytime talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She will tell viewers that the show will end its run after 25 years on September 9, 2011. Oprah does have her own network, called OWN, launching next year, but we’re not sure what her future plans are beyond the show.

Other news, the season finale of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” starts at 9 on Sunday on HBO.

Some future premieres to talk about. ABC will start the sixth and final season of “Lost” on February 2 with a two-hour episode starting at 9 p.m. An hour-long recap of last season will start at 8, and the show will air Tuesday nights at 9 all season long. ABC will also launch an online companion for “Grey’s” addicts called “Seattle Grace: On Call.” on ABC.com. The six-webisode series will be set at Joe’s Emerald City Bar and will feature cast regulars including Gloria Garayua and Brandon Scott.

Over on NBC, “Chuck” will start its third season on January 10 with 2 episodes starting at 9 p.m. Then it will move to a regular time slot with another episode Monday January 11 at 8 p.m.

G4, the video game and Gen-Y network will start a show called “Campus PD” with a look at police on colleague campuses on Florida, Texas, California, and North Carolina. It premieres December 8 at 11 p.m.

What does that mean to you, frugal gamer?

There’s deals to be had, provided you forgo sleep and enjoy a sweaty crowd of incessant shoppers in the cold.

Anyway, GameStop’s Black Friday ad recently surfaced, and while it doesn’t contain face-meltingly amazing deals, it does have some gems in it, namely some sweet Xbox 360 and PS3 bundles.

Check out the gallery, and click each image to make super huge awesome large. Also, stayed GLUED to BlackFridayAds for absolutely everything deal-related. It’s the best best best site out there for this kind of thing.

Source: Kotaku

The catalogue of games in the Games on Demand library, when these two hit next week, will jump to nearly 50, with the likes of Oblivion, Fable II, Mass Effect and loads more in its ranks.

Now, LEGO Indiana Jones II released Tuesday, but if you’ve yet to take down block-foes as Indy, a great place to start is the first one. The word fun barely even scratches the surface of that game.

Source: Kotaku

The layoffs are part of a plan to cut down some $300 million in annual costs before its spin off from corporate owner Time Warner. The company has asked for volunteers but will make involuntary layoffs if necessary.

AOL expects to incur about $200 million in restructuring costs associated with the spin off from December 9, the date of the spin off, through the first half of 2010.

If you were anywhere but under a rock during the 90s you have probably heard of AOL and many people used to use it when dial-up was the only option for Internet. It was one of the most widely spread ISPs available in the days before broadband—if you didn’t have you at lest saw those free trial discs that were everywhere.

Then came AOL’s merger with Time Warner, which is lampooned by PC Mag as “one of the most disastrous corporate mergers in history.” Nine years later AOL is spinning off and becoming independent once again.

The newly and once again independent AOL will focus primarily on advertiser-supported content.

Matthew Bent and Denver Jarvis, both 15, and Jesus Mendez, 16, along with two others, are accused of pouring rubbing alcohol over Brewer and setting him alight in an apartment complex in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Oct. 12.

According to investigators quoted on CNN.com, the day before Brewer was set on fire, Bent approached him to collect the $40 he allegedly owed Bent for a video game. Brewer had no money so Bent took his father’s bicycle as collateral. Brewer called the police and Bent was later arrested.

The next day, Bent and four other boys confronted Brewer and called him a “snitch”. They then set him on fire.

After being set on fire, Brewer made the conscious decision to jump into a nearby swimming pool, but not until 65 per cent of his body had already suffered severe burns.

Witnesses of the incident say Mendez set Brewer on fire with a lighter after Bent instigated the attack. Mendez admitted to setting Brewer on fire and acknowledged that it was a “bad decision” in an official statement.

Brewer was recently taken out of intensive care at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center, but still faces many months of recovery there. Doctors say his face and hands were largely spared, though they say he will need multiple skin grafts and surgeries, CNN reports. Up until last week Brewer was breathing through a ventilator.

Bent, Jarvis and Mendez are all being charged as adults. Two other teens involved are being charged as juveniles and their names cannot be released by law.

Bent’s lawyer has publicly denounced the fact that his client is being charged as an adult.

The three boys will return to court on Jan. 17, 2010. If convicted they could face up to 30 years in prison.

The kids are paired off randomly and assigned to sing a ballad to one another. Due to Matt’s freak medical emergency, Rachel is paired with Mr. Schu, much to his chagrin. He agrees to sing “Endless Love” with Rachel to teach the group what a ballad is. The terrified look on Mr. Schu’s face, Rachel’s lovelorn expression, and the off-the-wall voiceovers from the kids make for a hilarious combination.

Along with the ballads, two new crushes are revealed (A crush? On Glee? Never!). First we see Rachel’s school-girl crush on Mr. Schu, which he desperately tries to nip in the bud by singing her a mash-up of “Young Girl” by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by the Police. The message sails right over Rachel’s head.

Then there’s Kurt’s unrequited love of Finn. It all started when Finn yelled at Puck for pushing Kurt into a locker (“Dude, impulse control!”), and grew while they spent time together in Glee Club and football practice. As Kurt says, “I’m madly in love with Finn.” Lucky for him, Kurt and the often clueless football captain are partnered for their ballad.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Glee Club are worrying about Quinn and Finn and their unwanted bun in the oven. When Mercedes tells Puck that the Glee Club is planning to sing a ballad to show their support for the couple, Puck snaps, “Finn’s not the father! I am.” Quickly recovering, Mercedes puts him in his place, telling him that he might be the baby daddy, but it takes a lot more to be a father. She reminds him that Quinn chose Finn, and Puck owes it to her to back off.

Mr. Schu remembers another schoolgirl crush, that of Suzie Pepper, who was so distraught over his rejection she ate the hottest hot pepper in the world and was in a medically induced coma for three days. Fearing the worst from Rachel, Mr. Schu tries to get through to her. But it doesn’t help when Mrs. Schuster invites Rachel over to cook dinner and clean their house. Rachel doesn’t get the message until she’s confronted by Suzie Pepper herself, fresh from two years of therapy and an esophagus transplant.

Ashamed, Rachel apologizes to Mr. Schu with tears in her eyes. He assures her that some day some boy will love her for all that she is, even the parts she doesn’t like. After their heart-to-heart, all is well between diva and teacher.

Back to crush No. 2, where Kurt is helping Finn stop worrying about the baby by getting him to sing “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders. But the cat’s out of the bag when Finn’s mom catches him singing the ballad to a sonogram.

Quinn’s parents (we shall dub them Shallow and Clueless) invite Finn over for dinner. When Finn asks Kurt to help him pick out an outfit for the occasion, they go through a trunk containing his father’s Marine Corps uniform. In a very touching scene, the two boys bond over their departed parents, Finn’s dad and Kurt’s mom.

In the most painfully awkward scene ever, Quinn, Finn, and Quinn’s parents sit down to dinner. Finn chooses this moment (after a pep talk on the phone with Kurt) to sing “You’re Having My Baby” by Paul Anka to Quinn. The disastrous result is that her parents literally denounce the couple and kick Quinn out of their house. Things are looking worse than ever when Finn’s mom tells Quinn she can stay at their house for as long as she needs.

In the final scene, Kurt tells Finn his ballad is “I honestly love you,” before the two are interrupted by Mercedes. Finn is ushered to the choir room, where the entire Glee Club is waiting for him. The group sings “Lean on Me” to Finn and Quinn to show the couple that they’re not alone in dealing with the pregnancy. Credits roll on a group of smiling, dancing, teenagers who will live to sing another day.

Notably absent in “Ballad” was conniving cheer-leading coach Sue Sylvester. In last week’s episode, “Wheels,” we learned that Sue actually has a soul, which only comes out in the presence of her mentally handicapped sister.

With Sectionals only a few weeks away, there’s a lot of sordid drama to get through on Glee. Will Finn find out Puck is Quinn’s baby daddy? Will Mr. Schu find out Mrs. Schu is pregnant with a foam pad? Will Tina make things right with Artie? Will Finn finally choose between Rachel and Quinn? You know what they say: It’s not over till the high school outcasts sing.

People descibed the 46-year-old (I know, wow) actor as “the king of cool with killer cheekbones.”

Depp last won the honor in 2003, and this year, he joins the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney in winning twice. After Depp, the rest of the top five are Ryan Reynolds at number two, Jake Gyllanhaal at number three, Bradley Cooper at number four, and Robert Downey Jr. at number five.

Rabid Twilight fans might be disappointed to know that Robert Pattinson ranked 15th, but the rest of us will wonder how he ranked so high.

Pick up People magazine to check out the full list.

That pistol is SO huge

That’s right, beginning in 2010, gamers can purchase (for a to-be named price) downloadable content for the game, which includes new outfits, two new episodes, and a new “THE MERCENARIES REUNION” mode, featuring 8 new playable characters and weapon load outs.

But if you feel downloading all that would put too much stress on your fingers, Capcom is also releasing all the DLC and the game itself by the name of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition at retail, in a box, like you like it.

The Gold Edition will run you $49.99 and on PS3 will come on one Blu-Ray disc and 1 DVD and download token for Xbox 360 fans.

The downloadable content hits first, in February, and the Gold Edition lands in March. We’ll make sure to keep our beady little eyes on this developing story as it…develops.

Source: Unity Blog

For $99, or $89 for PC, gamers can expect a smorgasbord of BioShock goodies, the full list, revealed below.

Now, to join in the fraggin’ mayhem, you had to reserve the title, but anyone, anywhere, can revel in the awesomeness of this trailer. Have a look, and excuse me as I bolt over to GameStop to throw $5 down.

That’s not to say anyone can’t play and enjoy being a virtual DJ here. The game caters to all skill levels, but to really get the most out of the mix table peripheral, you’ll need to master the higher skill settings. Regardless of which difficulty level, DJ Hero is amazingly fun.  Almost 100 mix tracks come with the game and it’s the first music game since Dance Dance Revolution to especially appeal to the techno crowd. The mixes cover the musical spectrum though—plenty of rap, hip hop, Motown, and pop from the last 30 years. But the magic is how the game mixes two tracks together to create something new.

Nowhere else could you hear Marvin Gaye crossed with the Gorillaz, the Beastie Boys and Queen, the Killers vs. Rihanna, David Bowie and 50 Cent, and an impressive and entertaining number of other great mixes. It’s not a stretch to say that this eclectic, dance-centric line-up is the best yet for a Hero game and it makes the color-coded button pressing gameplay feel more distinctive than ever.

The mix table controller is a cool new addition to any gamer’s stash. The main focus is on the turntable, which both spins and has three colored buttons. On the medium difficulty level and below, this is all you’ll really need, and the game plays just like any of the Hero/Rock Band games. Color-coded circles stream down three trails on the screen and the object is to hit the appropriate button at exactly the right time. At times, you’ll have to spin the turntable up or down based on the onscreen cues. The concept is simple, the execution is fun, and the presentation is bright, colorful, and quirky.

Once you get comfortable with the basic gameplay and switch to a higher level, the crossfader becomes a major part of the game. This slider bar is at home in the center, but at times, you’ll have to slide it right and left in time with the music trail, while keeping pace with the button presses and spins. The crossfade bar adds an interesting level of challenge in general, and adds some great variation to the music. On the downside, it can be a bit unruly. Despite have a bit of feedback, when the game is in high gear, paying attention to the current position of the bar without having to actually look at it can be frustrating.

There’s little in the way of onscreen prompts to keep track of the slider’s position as well, making the learning curve a bit steeper than it could have been. Another feature that is great in concept, but still in need of some work is the overlap with Guitar Hero. Some of the tracks allow for a guitarist, yet few of them felt particularly optimized for this feature. Usually the guitar tracks end up being painfully repetitive. Still, it’s a nice bonus feature that could use improvement in the sequel.

The overall presentation is much like other music game, with the moving gameplay tracks taking up most of the screen acreage, and stylized graphics of your on-stage DJ, the crowd, dancers—all reacting to how well you’re doing. The pumping soundtrack is especially awesome for home theater-equipped systems, but as expected, it sounds great in general.

Blast Factor: Without a doubt, DJ Hero is the most distinctive and original music game on the market. While the game is enjoyable for all skill levels, it takes on a whole new level coordination for the hardcore crowd. The packed soundtrack is phenomenal and mix table controller is responsive and fun to use. The  main problem for DJ Hero is the steep asking price. $119 is a lot to spend on one game with only a single controller. If you don’t mind the cover charge though, this is the coolest virtual rave in town.

Another Take — Bradley Ouellette

Activision’s latest Music game is an interesting new twist. They have taken the well-known style of the Guitar Hero franchise, and instead of playing a guitar, the player spins a record, and acts like a DJ mixing tunes. The Music in the game always consists of two pieces that the player has to mix together, fading between the two pieces and adding other effects including scratching, freestyling, and cross fading.

The game plays similar to any other Guitar Hero style game, moving the cross fader to select the track, scratching, or pressing the buttons to cause different effects to the music. When the player gets all of a lit up section correct the game gives a charge to the Euphoria button–this is the same as star power.

The scoring in DJ Hero feels different than the scoring in Guitar Hero also. The multipliers earned from rows of correct notes is very important since if you don’t hit 4x multiplier for a while in the game, you pretty much can’t score more than 3 stars. So hitting an extra note that isn’t there can kill your rating. Also if the player gets enough notes correct in a row, there is a rewind button that will show up in the display. This looks like the regular rewind button on a remote. When that’s on the screen, spinning the turntable back one full turn will rewind the song, and let the player replay a section to increase their score. This can be especially fun, if in Emode, when there is a bunch of cross fading back and forth, since it will allow the player to get a huge score with little effort. That being said, the rewind mode can also kill the score, since while it rewinds it’s easy to mess up a note and lose the multiplier.

Over all, I loved the game. I thought it was a neat new twist in the music genre; whereas the guitar band games haven’t had as much innovation lately, this was completely new. I found that game played smoothly, except for the cross fader. Even with the issues of the cross fader, loved the game, and will highly
recommend it if you generally like music games.

DJ Hero is available on the Wii, Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, and retails for $119.99. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

“We are very proud of the phenomenal launch of Dragon Age: Origins and we’re pleased to announce the next installment of downloadable content that will be available to fans of the game,” said Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager, RPG/MMO Group of EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The Return to Ostagar DLC pack is a prime example of BioWare’s commitment to give fans a game that continuously offers new experiences and further enriches a storyline that has already received critical acclaim and positive feedback from the players.”

The first two packs of DLC were solid additions to Dragon Age–you picked up some exclusive items and abilities, and also got a chance to earn some more experience for your party, something that’s definitely useful on harder difficulties. I won’t turn my nose up at more of DLC, especially at a $4.99 price point. It gives me an excuse to go in with both of my characters too, especially since they play and act so differently. There’s no set date yet, but it’s releasing this holiday–somewhat vague, but at least we know it’s soon.

This is very clearly a tribute to Zelda by From Software, the company that brought us what is potentially 2009’s best RPG in Demon’s Souls. Sure, there are other titles that this game is pulling from, but even the imagery in this trailer reeks of Zelda–I’m not complaining though, because if you’re going to find your inspiration in gaming’s past, you may as aim as high as you can.

Sony plans on implementing the full-on 3D support via a simple firmware update available for all current PS3 consoles, and will also release titles in 3D that’ll likely blow our minds.

You’ll have to wear a fruity pair of glasses and look like an Agent from the Matrix to play the games, or buy a 3D-supported television to enjoy these games, but the way I see it, 3D has to be the next step in gaming/television, right?

Here’s Sony’s strategy, imaged. Let us know what you think!

Source: Kotaku

The most recent and rather important discovery is the white marble flight of steps found during excavations undertaken in the course of archaeological surveys for Line C of the underground railroad in Piazza Venezia.

After the discovery of the building that perhaps supported Nero’s rotating dining room on the Palatine, excavations for Line C of Rome’s subway brought to light a building that, according to the first hypotheses made by archaeologists, is thought to be Hadrian’s Academy, built in 133 A.D. to host poets, rectors, philosophers, men of letters, scientists and magistrates.

Hadrian, or Publius Aelius Hadrianus, ruled from 117-138 AD. He was an avid philosopher who was commonly referred to as one of the “five good emperors.” Hadrian’s Wall, in Northern England was built after a great war in what was then called Britannia.

It was an unexpected find as there is no trace of this building even in the Forma Urbis Romae, the map of ancient Rome engraved on marble slabs in the days of Septimius Severus (2nd Century A.D.). One of the sources used by archaeologists is the archaeological map created in the early 20th Century by the scholar Guglielmo Gatti. On this map Gatti in fact rediscovered a late-ancient domus and a little further south a number of monumental structures, which were really therefore the beginnings of the now hypothesised Athenaeum.

At the center, where the emperor and the poets wrote verses, is a granite floor with ochre coloured listels. These are the same kinds of floors used for the libraries Hadrian had built to the sides of Trajan’s Column fifty meters further along.

Now, the hypothesis that the Athenaeum may be in that never previously excavated corner of Piazza Venezia is extremely fascinating for history, archeology and architecture buffs.

And it’s all working.

A study shows 26 percent fewer Massachusetts low-income Medicaid participants smoke since 2006.

Researchers also found that there were 12 percent fewer claims for adverse maternal birth complications.

“It is clear from these latest findings that the Commonwealth’s efforts to help people quit smoking is a sound investment,” said Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby.

“As the nation debates the future of its health care system, the national significance of this research cannot be understated,” said Robert J. Gould, PhD, President and CEO of Partnership for Prevention. “These findings demonstrate that prudent investments in preventive health today will have a dramatic and positive effect on our health care system tomorrow.”

Smoking is, of course, the number one cause of illness and death in the United States, according to experts. More than 8,000 Massachusetts residents die annually from the effects of smoking, and tobacco use is associated with $4.3 billion in excess health care costs in Massachusetts each year.

“These early findings offer great promise,” said Nancy Brown, National CEO of the American Heart Association.

And since there’s no threaded storyline that continues each week, Modern Family is the type of show that you can just jump in to and not be too concerned with a convoluted plot. They keep it funny and simple.

The other guest star this week was Edward Norton as the bass player from Spandau Ballet. When Claire is in a tight spot trying to find an anniversary present for Phil, she has what she thinks is a brilliant idea. She invites Norton’s character to the house as a surprise for Phil, wrongly thinking Spandau Ballet is his favorite group. Phil has never heard anything by the band, which makes for some awkward moments between Norton and Phil when the washed up rocker realizes Phil is not a “fandau”.

However, the star of the show to me is always Manny. That chubby little Colombian kid gives the best facial expressions. In a somewhat creepy plotline, Manny has developed a crush on Claire’s eldest daughter Hailey. Hailey is technically Manny’s niece by marriage, even though she is older than him. The whacky age difference, the fact that he is a chubby Latino kid and the glare he gives Hailey’s boyfriend over a tiny espresso cup, takes away from the creepiness factor.

Modern Family airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Terral Ainooson, 25, was arrested along with roommate, Ryan Oshima, 23, on November 11, when police found more than a dozen plastic bags of marijuana, and seized cash, a grinder and a scale after searching their Sudan Street apartment.

Each was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute.

Ainooson, elected student body president in fall 2008, is a senior International Management major, according to the school’s student senate Web site. He has a criminal record. Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, said records show Ainooson had faced similar charges at least once before. The records did not indicate other details about the charges except to say they were not brought in Suffolk County, Wark said.

Oshima is a former UMass Boston student, a school spokesman said. The school’s official athletics Web site says he’s from La Jolla, Calif. and played baseball at Umass for three years.

In the raid, police knocked on the apartment door, but when no one responded officers forced their way in. They found the suspects in a bedroom, detained them and read them their Miranda rights, according to a police report. After officers showed them a search warrant, the pair volunteered the locations of the drugs, some of which were hidden in a Cheerios cereal box, and paraphernalia. The report also indicates that Ainooson and Oshima had been under investigation by the drug unit prior to the raid.

Oshima faces up to two years in jail or a fine or both. Ainooson, as a repeat offender, faces at least one year in prison or a fine or up to $10,000, or both.

“No,” says Williams, they are not impossible — in fact you already know the rules. Williams’ book takes the tried-and-true laws, rules and truths of the dating world and applies them your career. Why? Because you should go after your dream job the way you went after that yoga instructor who moved in next store. She explains, for example, how the old “don’t give away the milk for free” mantra your mom used to whisper in your ear while you slept pertains to landing your dream job. Miller says that it’s just as important not to make yourself so available when hunting for a job as it is when hunting for a mate.

“Just like our tendency is to throw out the rule book and call, and call, and call, and call the super hot dude you can’t help but imagine is ‘the one,’ you’re going to come across the job, the boss, the client you can’t imagine yourself living without, and it’s exactly here where you need play the game,” Williams says on her website.

Williams was at the Limited store at the Natick Collection last night. Over 100 women attended to network, sip free wine (yeah, they gave out red wine in a clothing store. Stupid, or genius?) and enter a raffle for a $250 shopping spree to the store. Early arrivers also left with a gift bag that included Tarte eyeliner and a super cute makeup bag. But the highlight of the evening was Williams’ motivational speech and a killer fashion show. Williams was witty and frank — just like her book. If you’re looking for a new outlook on the old job hunt, Girl on Top may just be what you need. Either way, you’ll totally be brushing up on those dating tips.

So does her advice work? That’s up to you find out. We’re ready to give it a shot.

Those of you who have picked up a copy of Need for Speed: Shift, you may have high hopes for NITRO. However, Shift and NITRO are two completely different experiences. Where Shift was in the vein of a racing simulator, NITRO returns to Need for Speed’s Arcade roots. You drag race through the city while trying to beat other racers and avoid the police. The more damage you do while driving, combined with your position in the race, will draw more police attention. So if you’re in first place and causing a large amount of damage to your surroundings, watch out. The challenge makes the game interesting and makes it feel like you’re racing in the Fast and the Furious (not an opinion everyone may share).

The game play is definitely designed for casual racers instead of hardcore racing fanatics, so this game will probably not appeal to racers who enjoy realistic racing. The racing itself is very cartoonish, which doesn’t take away from the game, but makes it rather endearing. You drive with acceleration and braking and also use Nitrous to speed up the car for a competitive edge. The difficulty levels are just right so that it’s not insultingly easy but not soul crushingly hard (sorry to disappoint all you masochists out there). You play in either Arcade or Career mode and use the Wii remote to drive. However, you’re not limited to using only the Wii remote – you can also use the classic controller (a personal favorite), the Wii Wheel from Mario Kart and even a Gamecube controller! That was a great relief for when I tried out multiplayer with my friends and found that all four worked on the game.

There are 30 cars that are available to use but you have the ability to customize them however you wish. The 30 cars are separated into three tiers: Supercars, Balanced Performance and Commercial vehicles. Supercars are fast racing cars while Commercial vehicles are slower but sturdier. You can paint your cars in whatever way you like in order to make it more interesting. While you can drive around, you can’t total your car. That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for reckless driving. If you crash too many times, you end up losing your nitro meters, which can cost you the race.

Visually, the game is very cartoonish and animated in a way which makes it interesting to look up. Unfortunately, the game’s variety limits its potential. The game has very few levels and only 30 cars. Even if you increase the difficulty of the levels, there’s little incentive to keep playing when you know what the tracks are like. This incredibly repetitive game play is a big disappointment of a fun game to kill time with. This is surprising given the fact that the game’s simplicity would have seemed like the biggest letdown.

Blast Factor: Need for Speed: NITRO is a fun arcade racer which suffers from a very repetitive set up. The cars are interesting, as are the visuals, but that doesn’t really improve the lack of courses to race through and the fact that there are only 30 cars. This isn’t a bad game, and it is perfect for fans of casual arcade racing games but it isn’t something which would appeal to hardcore racers. If you want something silly for the kids this is definitely a game for you to pick up.

Need for Speed: Nitro is available on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

Superintendent Carol R. Johnson unveiled a five-year strategic plan for the Boston Public Schools, outlining new direction and priorities for “closing access and achievement gaps and graduating all BPS students from high school>”

“The days of business as usual are over,” said Johnson. “If we intend to see all, not just some, of our schools become centers of excellence we must take bold and swift action. Every student in our city has the right to a high-quality education. I believe this plan is the road map that will lead us to new heights, where Boston can serve as a model for every urban school district in America.”

Johnson identified 14 schools that are under-performing:

• William Blackstone Elementary School in the South End
• Paul Dever Elementary School in Dorchester
• Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School in Roxbury
• E. Greenwood K-8 School in Hyde Park
• Curtis Guild Elementary School in East Boston
• John P. Holland Elementary School in Dorchester
• John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain
• William Monroe Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester
• Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Roxbury
• Maurice J. Tobin K-8 School in Roxbury
• Henry Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury
• Harbor Middle School in Dorchester
• The English High School in Jamaica Plain
• Odyssey High School in South Boston

Johnson wants to focus on strengthening teaching and leadership among school administrators, copying best practices at “working” schools and looking at ways to streamline services throughout the school district.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, fresh off his re-election victory and a recent knee injury, sent a letter to the Boston School Committee in support of the Superintendent’s proposals.

“There may be some who will find it easier and safer to sit back, to stall – to use our stretched dollars as an excuse to postpone this critical work,” Mayor Menino wrote. “To these people, I say time has run out. We can no longer wait to take action. From this day forward, we must collectively re-commit ourselves and pool our energies. With diminishing resources, it will be all the more important to think creatively and to rely on those measures that are cost effective, but reap big returns.”

According to The Associated Press, Kellogg Co. reports a nationwide shortage of Eggo frozen waffles until at least next summer after interruptions at two of the four plants that produce them.

The report says that Kellogg’s Atlanta plant was temporarily shuttered after a September rainstorm. Also, its bakery in Rossville, Tenn., has had portions shut down for repairs.

Kellogg will distribute available Eggos to stores based on their past history of sales.

The Autonomous Audi TTS is a car that can safely operate without direct input from the driver though not aimed at removing the thrill of driving but to offer new possibilities of both today and future drivers. Burkhard Huhnke, executive director of the Electronics Research Laboratory, has noted that the technology found in the Autonomous Audi TTS could help drastically reduce the number of fatalities worldwide. The Autonomous Audi TTS will help ease road congestion and help the driver respond more effectively to safety hazards. Huhnke also noted that car would be able to return time to owners by performing routine chores such as parking itself in an assigned spot.

No release date as this is still clearly in testing stages but it doesn’t seem that too far off to think this will be considered the norm way before 2035.

• 66 percent say the love story in “New Moon” is the biggest draw in their decision to buy a ticket.
• 57 percent claim Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) is the secondary character they’d most like to see in his or her own “Twilight” spin-off movie.
• 39 percent of moviegoers plan to take off time on Friday – from school or work – in order to see the movie.
• 27 percent of respondents surprisingly picked “Breaking Dawn” as their favorite book among Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” novels; 16 percent chose “Eclipse; 11 percent voted for the first “Twilight” and only 8 percent pegged “New Moon” as their favorite. (38 percent said they love all the “Twilight” books equally.)

“New Moon” hits theaters Friday.

“Rise of the Pirate God”, the fifth and final episode in the Tales of Monkey Island series hits Dec. 8, but nothing can prepare us for the drama that will unfold in this final chapter.

Where are we in the story? Guybrush, the game’s main character is believed to be dead after the events of chapter 4, but really, he’s gotta pull a Jack Sparrow and live to swashbuckle another day, right?

“He wanted what every young man wants – to loot, pillage, and sail the high seas in search of further looting and pillaging opportunities,” said Dave Grossman, veteran Monkey Island game designer and writer. “It’s a great tragedy to see such a productive life seemingly cut off prematurely. And I’m not just saying that because he owes me money.”

In honor of Threepwood’s life death who knows, Telltale made each  preceding episode available as singular download at $8.95 instead of the normative package deal of $34.95 for all five.

Hop on over to the Tales of Monkey Island official page for lots more.

Enter Left 4 Dead: The Retro NES Version.

Yupp,the popular zombie-slaughterfest has been “de-made” into an outdated 8-bit style, complete with similarly appropriate chip tunes, outdoor environments, and mindless undead.

I’m just going to go ahead and say it. This. Is. Awesome.

Sure, someone has loads of extraneous time I envy on their hands, but when a product this fine comes out, I can’t help but smile.

Here, enough rabble, take a look.

Source: I Heart Chaos [Not Safe For Work Material has been know to show up on the site. We warned you]