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Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing game like a Ferrari is just transportation to the grocery store. To call this a racing game is to deny the fact that it is a car racing simulator disguised as a game. The first time you smack the side rail and hear the sound of metal crushing you realize that this isn't your dad's car racing game. This is real. I loved Championship Sprint as much as the next guy, but this is so much more than that. If you have an Xbox 360 you need to run out and get this game!

Okay, am I the only one that thought John From Cincinnati was hella lame? Anyone? I know that David Milch threw in a few "cocksuckers" into the script, but is that enough for him to live down the fact that he threw in the towel on Deadwood for this!? There are nine more episodes left, let's hope that they are better than the first one.

Ocean's Thirteen was a fun film unburdened by romance or love interests, Julia Roberts is not even in it. The film is about the Ocean's crew pulling off a caper, plain and simple. They seek to pull off this caper not merely for the money, but to ruin the reputation of the villainous casino owner, played by Al Pacino. Al Pacino's character screwed with one of the crew, played by Elliot Gould, and now he has to pay.

The spectacle of how they do it is the payoff here. The specifics on exactly how they do it is hard to understand at times, but that doesn't even really matter. The film is clever and funny at just the right times and the high arching storyline moves at a fast clip. Ellen Barkin, the only woman in the film provides all the sex appeal in the film even though she's in her fifties, and it turns out to be just the right amount.

The film makes the life of being a world-class thief look cool and fabulous. At the end of the film you feel like you want more and hope that they would get together again for another caper. Unfortunately, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh have promised that this is the last Ocean's film. Even if they don't make another one, they are definitely going out on top.

Q: What do you get when you mix the Village People with the Backstreet Boys and add some Chinese four-spice?

A: Alive – the Hong Kong Boy Band.

The Heavenly Kings, the title of the movie that we saw on Friday night at the Castro Theatre, was our first of 12 scheduled movies – and I have to say, the evening was a home run. Having an excuse the schlep over to the gorgeous Castro Theatre is always a treat, but when you get the “full film festival experience” in addition...well, let’s just I’ll enthusiastically jump over a few more crack bums on the way. (C’est la vie en San Francisco!)

By “full film festival experience” and why we just love, love, love the SF Film Fest: Filmmakers often show up for their films and stay around to discuss the films after, either formally, on stage, in front of the audience, or can be found just milling about the lobby and informally chatting it up with movie-going peeps afterwards. Two years ago, we sat about 10 feet away from Metallica—aw yeah!, and three years ago, we were about 20 feet from Kevin Spacey. (So I just name dropped--so what?)

For the red carpet entrance, the Daily Nug photog (Fabian) said there were at least 20 or 30 women in the front who were screaming at the arrival of the film’s stars. Daniel Wu, who acted in several hit Hong Kong movies before making his directorial debut is a familiar face, as were the film’s other main characters in the film. Conroy Chan, a former Hong Kong male “supermodel”, Andrew Lin, a Hong Kong B-level actor and Cal grad, and Terence Yin, also a famous actor who had previously recorded an album. By the way, Daniel Wu, a Berkeley native, just won a Hong Kong academy award for this film for Best First Time Director.

Melissa and I saw The Killers at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last night. The opening bands, Solar Cake and Howling Bells were, well, as crappy as other opening bands. Between the two openers, I have to give the prize to Solar Cake, since each and everyone of the Howling Bells songs sounded alike: slow tempo over processed shrieky vocals and over modulated guitars. Ugh!

The one thing that we noticed right away was the lousy audio mix for all of the bands. The vocalists were not mixed high enough and the bass was overpowering everything else in the auditorium. Not that the Bill Graham is known for its outstanding acoustics, but we have seen many other acts play there and sound great, including Green Day, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cake, Smash Mouth, and Third Eye Blind. You can get good sound at the Bill Graham, but not so much last night.

"I never questioned my sexuality at any point, and I was up there in lingerie."
-- Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister

We went into this film expecting it to be about metal fans in Canada. Instead what we were treated to a very well organized film essay about the history of heavy metal. From Black Sabbath to the most extreme current Norwegian black metal bands, the film explores the history of metal, its origins, its fans, its culture, and its themes: sexuality, religion, violence, and death. The film also seeks to find out why metal has been dismissed by many critics over the years.

Filmmaker, co-director, and narrator Sam Dunn, an anthropologist, uses academic efficiency in breaking down the history of metal. The film even boasts a metal genealogy chart that just has to be seen to believed. A lifelong metal fan, Dunn interviews metal luminaries like Bruce Dickinson, Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, and Vince Neil. He also visits metal meccas like Los Angeles, California; Birmingham, England; Wacken, Germany; and Norway. Dunn was like a mad metal professor teaching class as he answered questions from the crowd after the screening. A smart and articulate scholar, he effectively breaks down the stereotype of the "stoner metal fan."

Perhaps this documentary can bridge the gap between metal heads and the rest of the world. It is only a shame that the film wasn't longer so that each metal branch could have been explored in greater detail. Dunn said that in order to do the film he wished to make it would have had to be eight hours long! I definitely would like to see an extended version of the film that he said will be released on DVD soon. Until then, please visit www.metalhistory.com for more info and go see this film. Whether you are a metal fan or not you will enjoy it.

Electric Dreams was released in 1984, when the general public had not even seen a personal computer, let alone know exactly what a computer could do. This film could not have been filmed and released at any other time. So in that respect, the film is not timeless, but it reflects the culture and the fantastic perception of personal computers brought on by Apple's legendary 1984 ads which ran literally months before this film was released.

Electric Dreams was produced and written by Rusty Lemorande, who would later produce Michael Jackson's Captain Eo, a full length video that ran at Disneyland for many years during the 1980's. Also it was directed by Steven Barron, the director for Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video. It should be of no surprise then that music is a primary character in the film. The film has many musical montages, small video segments, without which it would only be about a half hour in length.

The film score was done by Giorgio Moroder and included songs by 1984 pop attractions like Culture Club, Heaven 17 and Jeff Lynne. Add a mixture of rock and classical music by Tchaikovsky and Bach and you have a unique score that represents the New Wave music of the early eighties.

NBA Rookies is a six-part documentary made in a collaboration between NBA Entertainment and Spike TV. The show chronicles the roller coaster world of NBA rookies and shows that it's more than bling-bling and supermodels, it's hard work.

It's interesting to see how the rookies deal with stress. With the pressure to perform some rookies lose sight of what's important. In the episode I saw, titled Road Trip, one rookie said he would trade a thirty-point game for getting on the highlight reel! Others rise to the occasion to become key role players in their teams. Through it all the cameras follow.

Great narration, by a guy that sounds like Ice-T, and omnipresent cameras by the NBA Entertainment crew make this show feel more like reality TV than a documentary. It's a good show that nobody is watching. If you are interested, check it out on Spike TV.

I got up really early this morning, walked over to the Metreon, and saw Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. It was awesome. Unlike Episode I and II, which were a little disappointing, this one managed to pleasantly surprise me.

Special Effects
The opening space battle had jaw-dropping effects all the way until they crashed into the landing bay. Also, I assume that R2D2 was digitally added to the scenes for this Episode. In one scene, R2 spills oil on a couple of battlemechs and uses his thrusters to light them on fire. It was awesome. Although effects were used extensively throughout the film they did not get in the way of the emotional story line--the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

Melissa and I were in Las Vegas this weekend and got a chance to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka at the MGM Grand. Not having seen the "O" show at the Bellagio I cannot draw any comparisons between the two. However, I believe that Ka stands alone as a visually and aurally stunning show that you have to see to believe. The amazing acrobatic performances are matched with a soundtrack that mixes Asian inspired sounds and instruments with tribal drums and rhythms. Surround sound audio effects are recreated with speakers within every seat so that every audience member hears them from the same perspective.

The backdrop for the story is a mechanical stage that is an engineering marvel. The main stage deck is suspended over a giant pit and has the ability to rotate in almost every direction, even becoming a sheer vertical wall for several acts. The stage completely and smoothly morphs between acts to recreate completely different scenes. From a pit, to a flying boat, to an imperial ceremony, to a boat at sea, to a beach, to a mountain, to a cliff, to a factory, the stage morphs from one amazing environment to the next. There is also a rear stage platform that has the ability to move from backstage to frontstage and several other secondary stage platforms and columns that moved in and out of scenes. The stage environment itself is almost like another character in a cast of nearly eighty artists and deserves its own applause.

Weaving martial arts styles from around the world as well as floor and high-wire acrobatics, the show's storyline is action-packed. But it is also filled with enough fantasy to engage young children. One of the acts depicts a pair of crabs, a starfish, and a turtle interacting with characters stranded on a beach. These creatures, played very flexible human beings, seem to almost magically appear out of the sand on stage. Amazing. At the end of this act, all of the sand, tons of it, is dumped off the stage onto the pit below as if to imply the passage of time. Genius. Unfortunately, it would take many pages to describe the entire show in detail. Let's just say that you have to see it. Before Ka opened, many people claimed that the best two shows in Las Vegas were "O" and Mystere, the other Cirque shows. Now, it seems that Cirque du Soleil may boast the best three shows in a town filled with world-class entertainment.

Before the show, we were able to go backstage and meet one of the primary cast members, pictured here with Melissa. What we saw backstage did not hint at the awe-inspiring magnitude of the show. And we realize (now) that what we saw was but a small portion of the backstage area. Either way, seeing what was behind the curtain didn't spoil the magic one bit.

Thanks to Ka Publicist Reggie Lyons for her kindness and hospitality.

The Incredibles is truly an incredible film. Rarely do advancements in technology create a more profound artistic experience. I mean really, do we need cell phones with crappy cameras in them? But in this case, the advancement in technology has spurred artistic creativity to make something that transcends technology, animation, or computer graphics.

The world of Bob and Helen Parr is something truly special. It is beautiful, humorous, and even, dare I say, filled with human emotion. This from actors that are pixelated and created in server farms by a legion of computer artists. Several times during the film I forgot that I was watching animation because the characters acted so "human." This is largely in part to the amazing voice talents of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jason Lee. But they can't take all the credit. The visuals are stunning and the sound effects are fantastic. Lots of explosions and action, enough to make Jerry Bruckheimer jealous.

But what truly sets the film apart is its storyline, without which all the effects, voices, and graphics in the world would simply be meaningless. This is a world in which all superheroes are forced out of business by litigation from the citizens and forced to hang up their superhero suits for good. The story centers around the family of Bob Parr, who used to be Mr. Incredible, and includes Helen Parr, his wife, who used to be Elastigirl, and their three children.

Spiderman 2 is the best super hero film of all time. I know it is hard to believe that it beats out Superman: The Movie and X-Men series, but it does. Spiderman 2 builds on everything we thought was great about the first one. The special effects are much better as are the acting performances by all involved. In short, a much better film with a great storyline.

Spiderman is much more vulnerable than other superheroes, and Tobey Maguire plays him perfectly. Also, Tobey adds just the right amount of humor to the character at key times. It would be hard to imagine another actor stepping in for Spiderman after this one.

In this film, Spiderman is stressed out at having a dual life. Pizza delivery guy, student, freelance photographer, and Spiderman. The stress of this fragmented existence is so great that his superpowers start to fade at key moments in the film. He's unable to produce webbing, has trouble sticking to walls, and his eyesight even starts to fail him. Unable to keep up with everything, he gives up being Spiderman.

I don't want to spoil the film for those that want to "go in fresh." So let me say this, by the end of the film many people know of Spiderman's secret identity. And thankfully, it is a plot ingredient that does not reset after the movie ends, setting up the anticipated next film in this series. Until then, this one does not disappoint.

I saw this film last night at the Metreon in San Francisco and can only describe it this way: documentary filmmaking at its best. Michael Moore bring us a film that is informative, funny, provocative, moving, and unabashedly critical of the Bush Administration and their use of the Iraq war to further their own agenda.

The film opens with the Gore-Lieberman victory celebration on election night, 2000, and poignantly asks if the last four years has been a just a bad dream. It explains what we now know is a fact, Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris knowingly disenfranchised many minority Florida voters to help George W. Bush steal the election. For more on this see the 2002 documentary, Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election.

The film portrayed the way the congressional Democrats, with the exception of a handful of African American House members, rolled over without protest to the theft of the election. It showed defiant African American House members rising honorably in protest on the Senate floor to object the certification of the election results only to be gaveled out of order by Al Gore, President Pro-Tem of the Senate presiding over the joint session. The objectors could not force a debate because they could not get a single Senator to support their right to do so. Not Lieberman, not Kennedy, not Edwards, and not Kerry. This was sad to see.

The film then goes on to detail the months leading up to the 9/11 attacks and chronicles Bush's vacations, including embarrassing responses that Bush himself gave to the press trying to justify his time off. This is not just Moore's opinion, the record shows that President Bush was listed "on vacation" over forty percent of the time during his first eight months in office.

The film credits roll when the timeline reaches 9/11. Instead of showing the gruesome images of the Twin Towers being struck by airplanes, Moore allows the audience to call up their own recollections of the chilling event by using a black screen and audio of that fateful morning in New York.

Moore then shows George W. Bush choosing to go ahead with a photo opportunity at a Florida school after the attack on the first tower. During the photo op, after the second tower is struck by terrorists, Bush's chief of staff whispers into his ear, "America is under attack." This is where we all get to see Bush's world crashing in around him. For seven minutes we watched the surreal scene. Without anyone to tell him what to do, Bush continued with the photo op while apparently thinking "what the fuck do I do now?" Bush's possible thought process is masterfully narrated by Moore during this amazing scene--you have to see it to believe it.

"I think when Michael looks in the mirror he says, how the fuck did I do this to myself!"
--Donald Trump, February 2003

Everyone knows that I became a huge Donald Trump fan this February when he exclaimed the quote above in the Michael Jackson Unmasked news special. Well now he has his own television show, The Apprentice, and thanks to the power of Tivo I saw the first three episodes yesterday--they were awsome. A truly amazing look at group dynamics.

Donald Trump has divided a team of 16 job candidates into two teams of eight--men against women--in a show format that can best be described as a "Survivor Interview." The only difference is that the tribe doesn't kick you off the island. If you goof up The Donald simply fires your ass!

The first three episodes saw the men's team lose three straight times partly because of their inability to work as a team and partly because the women have been able to use sex appeal in their challenges. Unfortunately, the one breakout character of the show, Sam Solovey, was fired at the end of the third show. He was a strange guy that didn't know how to make friends and deserved to be kicked off for disrupting the team, but he was fun to watch!

Hopefully, his departure will inspire one of the remaining candidates to "step up" and fill the void. One thing that doesn't disappoint, Donald Trump firing mofos in his board room--that alone is worth the price of admission.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is by far the most awe-inspiring of the three films in the trilogy. Peter Jackson did an amazing job of blending the epic battle scenes with Frodo's quest to destroy the ring masterfully. And although this is the longest running of the three films, at 3 hours and 20 minutes, the film does not lose the audience's grasp--it grabs on to you and doesn't let go.

Minas Tirith, and the battle there, is visually stunning. It has to be seen to be believed. Alas, I don't know what I can say about this film that hasn't already been said before, or that I didn't already say in my review of The Two Towers. All I can say is run, don't walk, to go see this film. Just be sure to empty your bladder and not get a drink unless you want to suffer during the last hour of the film. It's very long, but worth every minute. A masterpiece from beginning to end.

Here is another great review of the film by fellow Blogcritic, Kevin Holtsberry.