Much like Animal Crossing, Nintendogs is one of those paradoxical games that are totally worth playing, yet because it’s based on real-time and repetitive tasks that never end it gets old fast. Seriously, that describes the game in a nutshell right there.

While the first few hours spent with your Tamagotchi-like puppy are fun – what with learning new tricks, competing in various competitions and such – it soon grows tiring. Personally I would’ve liked it if there was a little more to do than going for walks and doing the same damn thing every day. Couldn’t Nintendo have added a little more variety to an otherwise mundane “everyday” life?

The worst part of the game is the fact that it runs on real-time, and you literally have to feed and walk your puppy/puppies at least two or three times a day. And after awhile, when your puppy’s stamina starts to grow, the walks will become insanely long. It’s not like you have much to do on the walks either, unless your puppy stops to take a poop (in which case you need to clean up after it) or stops to treat itself to some delicious garbage (they never seem to get smart enough to avoid it).

In fact… I’m starting to wonder why I even marked this as “worth consuming” in the first place. Ah well, to each their own!

Robot Monster is quite possibly one of the funniest B-movies I’ve ever seen. The plot is laughable, the acting terrible, and the music is overdramatic, yet somehow the film turns out to be worth it in the end. Seriously, you’ll be laughing your ass off for the majority of the hour.

And they even give you a twenty-second intermission in case your sides start to ache!

It’s worth watching if you’re already sort of on the fence about Wal-Mart, but much like a Michael Moore documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is one of those films that’ll get you angry before you realize that it’s almost completely one-sided. Not to say that the information and testimonials in the film should be totally disregarded. Hell, I myself dislike Wal-Mart and will never be a patron of their establishment.

The big problems of the film stem from the one-sidedness and the fairly amateur production level. It feels like an hour-long political commercial, with a mesh of “practiced” interviews and statistics you’re supposed to take as straight-up fact. Even though the interviews are mostly all with former Wal-Mart employees, you get a sense that the producers didn’t even really try to find anyone sympathetic to Wal-Mart (if such people exist beyond Lee Scott and the Walton family).

So… yeah. You can take it for what it’s worth, I suppose.

Nanking certainly defied what little expectations I had of the film. My dad and I went to see this on a whim since he was interested in seeing it, and it turned out to be a pretty worthwhile experience, if an unexpected one.

Being a documentary about the Japanese takeover of Nanjing, the former capital of China, during World War II, the events were overwhelmingly told through the perspective of the Caucasian foreigners that were living in Nanjing during the time, and helped to set up a Safety Zone which saved the lives of thousands of Chinese civilians. Real-life actors portray these people, reading the journals and news articles of the time. In addition, the film features interviews with actual survivors and soldiers who survived the incident to this day, as well as vintage newsreel footage.

This diverse mix of sources, on the one hand, creates a very powerful, moving documentary that sheds some light on one of the worst historical moments in contemporary Chinese history, but at the same time the use of real-life actors – including Woody Harrelson – does give the film a kind of “staged” feel. Nonetheless, it’s hard to not take the film seriously because of the severity of the events.

It’s hard to believe such an event is so widely dismissed and ignored by so many people today. It’s unreal. Hopefully this documentary will open a few eyes, but at the same time one has to realize that it’s not meant to be anti-Japanese; it’s meant to be anti-war, to show you the atrocities that people are capable of during wartime in hopes that such a thing will never happen again.

I should’ve seen this a long time ago. It’s my type of film – an offbeat, coming-of-age tale that makes you reflect on your own life, your own addictions.

Thumbsucker starts out somewhat slow, with scenes that hardly feel like they flow together in a cohesive manner, but halfway through the film you realize that everything’s relative, that it does have some kind of meaning. In a very literal sense the film seems to go through the same kind of transition that its protagonist Justin (Lou Pucci) does, which I found brilliant.

Oddly enough I found the casting to be done rather well. Despite the film featuring a bunch of big-name actors like Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn, and Tilda Swinton, it casts them in roles that feel incredibly different yet at the same time fitting (Reeves’ character was great). The other minor characters also had their own interesting quirks.

I do agree that Thumbsucker is a bit underdeveloped, but considering what the film is about I think what is there is fairly appropriate. It covers a vast array of emotions and experiences in what feels like such a short amount of time, and it’s definitely something you should devote at least one go-round to.

An addictive little puzzle game that’ll hook you for the longest time. At least until you get good enough to easily beat the computer on Expert mode. Essentially it gets to a point where you just need to be fast rather than tactical, which can make for really quick matches that aren’t much fun. Plus there aren’t any real unlockables, so once you beat the game there isn’t much else to do but play against your friends.

Still, the original game is pretty hard to find on the original PlayStation, and if you’ve got an extra $8 sitting in your PlayStation Network wallet, it’s a nice addition to your digital library that doesn’t take up a ton of space. You’ll definitely be hooked for awhile.

Feels like a weak follow-up to Wolves of the Calla, but if you’re already this far into the series you might as well continue on, right? Song of Susannah did add a lot of development on part of Susannah’s character, and there a lot of interesting little twists throughout the book, but it felt noticeably shorter and less interesting than some of the previous books. Not to say that it’s bad or anything, but it definitely ranks somewhat lower on the scale along with The Gunslinger.

Well, time to move on to the finale.

Okay, so it’s obviously not as bad as my title makes it out to be, but I thought it seemed kind of fitting.

Advent Children is definitely made for those who played through and enjoyed Final Fantasy VII; it’s pure fan service for anyone who wanted to know what happened with Cloud, Tifa, and the other characters after the events of the game. That being said, there were some major, major problems with the film from an aesthetic standpoint.

While the entire film is animated beautifully, with graphics that absolutely scream high-definition, the plot leaves a lot to be desired. It makes little sense, and what make even less sense is why all the characters just happen to show up at the same time. In addition, none of the characters go through any sort of development, except for maybe Cloud.

Square-Enix seemed to devote the majority of their time to the action sequences, which take up a good portion of the film. Unfortunately, they take every cheesy, over-the-top action scene cliche you could possibly fit into a film like this. Hell, some of the fighting looks right out of The Matrix or Dragon Ball Z, which, needless to say, is slightly ridiculous at times. By the end of the film it was hard to take it seriously.

I have to say that I was actually disappointed in Advent Children. FFVII was quite possibly my favorite game of the series, and when I found out that they were making sequels I was scared that they’d ruin the series. While AC isn’t as bad as Dirge of Cerebus for the PS2, it’s not that good. Worth a watch if you’re a fan of the game, but otherwise don’t bother.

_Borat_’s definitely worth watching at least once. On one hand I can see why people found it borderline offensive and unfunny, but as one reviewer said, some people just need to have a sense of humor. It’s enjoyable and good for a laugh, but it’s not really a film I could stand to watch over and over again.

If you’ve never seen Borat just go into with an open mind and you might enjoy it.

Charming, witty, and hilarious. Those were the first words to come to mind after watching the movie. Based on the trailer I knew it was the type of film I would automatically like, but I didn’t expect to fall in love with it like I did.

The film is such a heartwarming little story that makes you laugh yet also makes you think hard and seriously about life by the time it’s over. As one of the other reviewers here wrote, Ellen Paige is excellent, and she plays off the other great actors – including Michael Cera and Jason Bateman back together, though this time not as father and son – incredibly well.

If anything, I would’ve loved the film to be even longer than it was (92 minutes). There could’ve been a great deal more character development here and there (Bleeker, for sure) and the film could’ve definitely tackled more issues, though I guess then it would’ve felt a bit like Knocked Up. Still, I’m hoping the DVD release will have a extended edition, because I really wanted more from Juno.

If it’s playing anywhere near you – and by Christmas it should be – go see it. And soon.