As a rather passive gaming enthusiast, I don’t know all that much about the history of video games; I have just enough information to appreciate the fact that the 8-bit games that lived in cabinet-sized machines have evolved into photorealistic adventures that fit onto a compact disc. I’m the perfect audience, then, for the Discovery Channel’s Rise of the Video Game, a documentary series on the growth of the gaming market. From Pong to, I imagine, PS3, the series takes a comprehensive look on what makes gamers tick and how the market has responded over time. Tonight’s installation is neatly summarizing my formative years, including the introduction of the NES and Sega Genesis. For anyone who’s interested in gaming, or anyone wondering why people would be interested in gaming, it’s a worthy watch.

Last night’s thrilling loss - you heard me - to the Patriots seemed to follow the script for Philadelphia fans: the Eagles, for all intents and purposes a footnote to the Patriots’ attempt at perfection going into last night’s game, trotted out a backup quarterback and gave the best team in decades a run for their money. Once again, though, a late-game interception wiped out a game’s worth of scrappy play by inferior players and conventions-be-damned coaching by Andy Reid. The fact that all this happened on the arm of A.J. Feeley instead of Donovan McNabb adds in the familiar seed of doubt in the franchise quarterback, who has never been fully embraced by his hometown fans. For weeks, no matter who starts, we will hear how foolish the decision is, and for weeks, we will hope to be proven wrong. And once again, even if the Eagles improbably fight their way to the playoffs, defeat will be snatched from the jaws of victory, and the offseason will begin prematurely, and the cycle will start anew.

You’ll have to forgive me if, in my tryptophan-induced coma, I’m not up for posting anything of great value today.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanskgiving.

With an end to the writers’ strike almost nowhere to be found - the sides meet up again on Monday to renegotiate but who knows how long until out favorite shows (The Office, The Daily Show) can return with new material even if a deal is reached -  I’ve taken to catching up on a series that I missed the first time around: How I Met Your Mother, likely one of the funniest shows on…well, on CBS, but who’s counting?* The actors do a remarkable job of bringing to life some very funny characters, and as I watch each new-to-me episode, I regret not watching when they originally aired. Does anyone have reccomendations for me to fill the void if the strike should go on?

*This has to be a terrible run-on sentence. Kate?

Congratulations to Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who was today named National League MVP, edging out Colorado’s Matt Holliday. The MVP voting, of course, is based solely on regular-season play, so the fact that the Rockies steamrolled over the Phillies in the first round of the playoffs - the Phils’ first appearance in the postseason in 14 years - did little to improve Holliday’s case. With Rollins joining first baseman Ryan Howard in the annals of MVP winners, giving the Phillies two winners in as many years, it’s nice time to be a Philadelphia baseball fan. But with barely a sniff of the World Series in those two years, fans are left to get by on the little victories, compromising a championship for the privilege of having two of the best players in the league. Second baseman Chase Utley is already a strong candidate for the award next year, but frankly, I’d gladly sit through another year in which Chase missed a month or so if it meant a World Series win.

Note: This DVD review was originally published on Blogcritics.org.

Since the debut of Toy Story more than a decade ago, few tunes have become as familiar as the song of praise so often directed toward the formidable team known as Disney/Pixar, and for good reason. Few studios have been as consistently innovative, in animation and in storytelling, as this now legendary pairing. Pixar seems to bring a sweet simplicity to things that should be extraordinarily difficult, and it’s this ease of execution that makes their movies instant classics.

Continue Reading »

It was four years ago today that, “jealous” of people in a theatre group I was part of who posted humorous highlights of rehearsal, I signed up for LiveJournal. Since then, I have bounced from TypePad to Blogger, from semi-private to semi-popular, from the now-defunct minutiae31.com back to LiveJournal and now here, hopefully to stay. Many thanks to all those who have read my site in any of its incarnations and who continue to do so today.

As excited as I am for the upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd - with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on board, it’s hard to resist - I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the trailer includes almost no music. The backbone of the show - indeed, the reason it is so brilliantly dark - is the music of Stephen Sondheim. Clearly, this December will be filled with Sondheim’s devilishly good lyrics, but it’s such a tease not to include more of it in the trailer.

Continue Reading »

It’s Friday, and that means time for another video from Movie Hawk. Enjoy the music video of “Car Crash” by Matt Nathanson. Anyone who reads this site with any regularity needs no explanation for why I’m posting this.

Edit: Whoops, looks like they aren’t allowing embedding. Here’s the link.

As early-season loss to a young team, featuring more turnovers than I’d like to see and disconcerting trouble at the foul line, is something that, last year, would have shaken my confidence in the Hawks. But Tuesday night’s 72-69 loss to Syracuse didn’t disappoint me so much as it did show promise for the coming months. Though sloppy play did the Hawks in, they also showed improved team defense and more shooting and passing confidence when facing a zone defense. Pat Calathes, who has taken his share of hits from me, played one of the best games of his SJU career, and newcomer Tasheed Carr (a transfer from Iowa State with sophomore eligibility) and sophomore Darrin Govens provided a much-needed leadership boost. Sure, 1-1 is not as good as 2-0, but seeing the strides the Hawks made, even in a loss, I’ll take it.