Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Come Thursday, Oprah Winfrey turns the big 5-0. And if she’s to be believed — and why wouldn’t she be — the world’s most famous talk show host will be embracing her well-earned day. She’ll celebrate with a special birthday show Thursday in Chicago followed by a weekend bash in Santa Barbara for 50 of her closest friends.
New Year’s Eve concerts traditionally end some time after the clock strikes midnight. But when you’re the Queen of Soul, 2004 begins when you tell it to.
You’d think that tacking on an additional 43 minutes to the three-hour movie would be overkill. But the extended version actually feels shorter than the theatrical release — possibly because it tells a more thorough story. “Two Towers” continues where “The Fellowship of the Ring” left off. With the Fellowship splintered into two groups, Frodo and Sam head for Mordor to destroy the Ring.
Feel like you’re missing out on some secrets within “Arc the Lad?” Use the steal spell on your enemies and shake them down for items that uncover extra bonuses in the game.
There are some musicians who claim fame doesn’t interest them. Jacki, the central character in “Prey for Rock and Roll,” isn’t one of them. She wants to be rich, famous and adored. She wants to be a rock star. But when you’re pushing 40 with a wheelbarrow, and your band has to divvy up the $54 gig fee four ways, stardom is a pipe dream.
“My favorite is ‘NBA Live,’ because I love basketball. It’s very entertaining and realistic. The graphics are great. It’s almost like you’re watching a real basketball game. –DaMarcus Beasley, the Chicago Fire midfielder
The year is 2084 and the human race has been isolated to the Tibetan mountains. Threatened by extraterrestrials who are taking over what’s left of Earth, the commanders send a young girl named Milly back in time to stop the aliens and thwart the threat. In Takashi Yamazaki’s stylish “Returner,” we see elements of films we’ve seen before. The slo-mo bullet-dodging shots are dead-on “Matrix.” The baby alien captured and tortured looks like it could be a first cousin to “E.T.” Throw in a little “Terminator” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and you’ve got the makings of what could have been a lame ripoff.
Peter Gabriel recently inked a deal with Ubisoft to provide his song “Burn You Up, Burn You Down” on November’s “Uru: Ages Beyond Myst” game. Why stop there? We think Ubisoft’s “Ape Escape 2” is a perfect match for Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey.”
Everybody loves a bargain–especially gamers. Nintendo reports that GameCube sales have quadrupled since they dropped the price to $99.99.
Game Boy Advance players won’t need cables to link handhelds together anymore, thanks to Nintendo’s plan to include a free device (similar to Bluetooth technology) with its upcoming “Pokemon” title, due out in 2004.
“I like ‘Halo’ on Xbox because you can play up to 16 players at once. We usually play four at a time and just kill each other. It’s fun.” — Chicago Fire defender Carlos Bocanegra
“I have and play video poker, and I still don’t win very often. I have a pinball machine in my basement that I bought when I was 15. My kids play Tiger Woods 2003 and Splinter Cell (on XBox).” -Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist for Cheap Trick
It is the future and if you’re a shaper, you’ve got it made. Using a substance called plast, shapers may create anything they want-like weapons of mass destruction, space-age style. You play as a fledgling shaper named Nevin.
Between Madden and EA Sports’ football game franchises, is there really a need for competitors to even bother? This game rocks. The game controls are the same as before, but the game play is stronger, faster and better.
Are you feeling the need for speed? If your learning curve is fast and your patience is long, the latest in Nintendo’s racing franchise may win you over.
‘Temptation Island 3″ promises: No games. No millionaires. No prizes. No kidding. Let’s face it: Shows like this are all about games. The pawns are willing participants who trade a little bit of their dignity for a free vacation to a tropical island where they’re televised flirting and often making out with 14 hot members of the opposite sex. This is one viewer’s impressions of the desires and deceptions this week on Fox’s island of seduction.
Fast action, cool animation and plenty of options make this one of the best fighting games, bar none. There may be only 15 characters to select from, but thanks to the 1,500 accessory options (hair, clothes, facial features), there seem to be dozens more.
The running theme through “Marci X” is, “You’ve got to be real.” That’s what Damon Wayans’ thug rapper Dr. $ says, and what Lisa Kudrow’s pampered Marci Feld parrots back. The thing is, there’s nothing real about the characters in this dismal comedy. Even as a satire, it fails because the filmmakers don’t understand the subject they’re satirizing.
Evil businesswoman Mom now owns 51 percent of Earth, making her supreme ruler. It’s up to the gang at Planet Express–Fry, Leela and Bender–to stop her.
Don’t bother asking who the ultimate winner is in the battle between “Freddy vs. Jason.” We’re not supposed to tell you. But suffice it to say you don’t have to be clairvoyant to realize this franchise isn’t going to die, even if one of the lead characters supposedly does.