Oh man, folks…I’m actually somewhat happy! I know–several of you out there are clutching your chests in alarm and reaching for the cell phone to call for an ambulance, and even more of you are wondering if that tingle in your left arm means anything, but it’s true! I’m cheery happy, and it’s because SAG is getting taken down a peg.

Remember that writer’s strike that ground most new productions of pretty much anything to a halt for a while, while the WGA tried to get a piece of the as-yet-tiny digital pie? The one where they had to fight for weeks for every scrap and nickel? It was starting to look like SAG was going to walk all over the directors and producers and such, like normal–they were even starting to plan for strikes in some cases, and wouldn’t even show up for talks–and now, suddenly, they don’t have much left to stand on.

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Great news! Starting next week, the gaming masterpiece Deus Ex will be free to play on Gametap, as long as you’re willing to sit through some commercials. A marketing effort for Deus Ex 3, perhaps? It doesn’t matter.

Deus Ex is far from flawless. The models were clunky and the animations were stiff even for a 2000 game, and the voice acting was apparently done by whoever happened to be around the office at the time. (The accents in the Hong Kong section of the game are painful, but the voicework does have some moments of hilarity, like J.C.’s deadpan delivery of the line “A bomb’s a poor choice of weapon for close-range combat.”)

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A few weeks ago, when CBS announced their fall schedule, fans of the vampire series “Moonlight” were deeply disappointed. Though the show’s creators explained that they’re not giving up hope, the network’s reluctance to renew this fan favorite isn’t a good sign.

Originally titled Twilight, this supernatural detective show was handed over to David Greenwalt, co-creator of another vampire detective show. Yes, Angel. Of course it’s Angel. There aren’t any other vampire detective shows, silly. Pretty much the entire cast was revamped (get it?), including the addition of charming rascal Jason Dohring from Veronica Mars. But to no avail.

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And I couldn’t be happier.

Let’s be honest, folks…the theatre as a means for movie distribution is an archaic, outdated, and nightmarishly overpriced system. The monster speaker array and the huge screen are almost replicatable at your own home thanks to rapid advancement in home theatre technology. Not to mention the sheer hubris involved with the continually inflating prices…but now, things are only getting worse for the theatre.

Popcorn prices are on the rise.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Some of you will remember me saying this, but this is more for the folks who just showed up.  The Japanese do the very best ghost stories on the face of the earth.  Sure, we’ve got slasher flicks on lockdown and we invented the zombie movie, but the Japanese were telling ghost stories before America was a twinkle in Amerigo Vespucci’s eye.

But before I go any farther with this, I’m going to show you exactly what I’ll be talking about, right in advance.  Check out the synopsis for Exte, the upcoming Japanese ghost story movie. Read more

Popularity: 2% [?]