Category Archives: Featured

[Food Review] Batter Blaster (Original)

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20

Overview:

batterblasterreviewDon’t you hate making pancakes? First you’ve got to get the bulky, square-shaped box full of annoying powder that you have to mix with milk until your wrists are filled with carpel before you can scoop batter onto a frying pan. That process requires a bowl, mixing apparatus, scooping mechanism, and something very few Americans have — time. Either that or they are just really lazy. Possibly just too fat to move.

Regardless of your reason for not making pancakes as often as you would like to, the fact still stands that you want flapjacks every once in a while and would like to be able to eat them without all the preparation. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Batter Blasters. Pancakes in a can.

Seriously. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Swords & Soldiers (WiiWare)

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10

Overview:

swordsandsoldierswiiSystem: Wii (WiiWare Exclusive)
Developer: Ronimo Games
Publisher: Ronimo Games
Genre: RTS (Real Time Strategy)

Real Time Strategy games and consoles generally don’t mix well. A handful of buttons and a couple of analog sticks just don’t emulate the feel of a keyboard and mouse when it comes to the RTS genre. There’s just too much going on all at once. Too many troops to micro-manage, to many resources to mine, too many enemy bases to destroy, and too many dimensions (three) to move through.

But what if you simplified that formula and put it on the Wii? What if there were only a handful of troops that managed themselves, one resource to mine, never more than a few bases to destroy, and everything was given to you from a 2-d sidescrolling perspective? And the pointer could be used exactly as a mouse pointer. Would it work? Continue reading →

[Movie Review] Angels and Demons

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8

angels_demons_posterOverview:

Angels and Demons is another Dan Brown adaptation from Ron Howard starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, and the latest effort is no more of a quality film as the disappointing Da Vinci Code. A film that bounces between fun for the first two hours and tedious in the final thirty minutes never seems to know when to say when, Angels and Demons is neither very good nor very worthwhile. And there might be some spoilers in this review, so watch out. Continue reading →

[Movie Review] Doubt

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3

doubt-posterOverview:

Doubt, a 2008 oft-awarded film, is simple in structure, but not simple in theme. It’s a very mature film, one that requires the viewer to watch and watch closely, as the dialogue is what drives the film.

It took me awhile to see this movie, and I’m surprised that it did. I usually rush out to see these Oscar-baity films but in this case I’m glad I waited. I don’t think a theater experience is needed for this film, and I actually think it probably plays better on a smaller scale. Continue reading →

[CD Review] Dave Matthews Band: Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King

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3

dave-matthews-big-whiskeyOverview:

The ever popular Dave Matthews Band is back in a big way with “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.” It’s a much welcomed return from a creative group of musicians who make some pretty impressive music. This album is completely dedicated to the memory of the band’s late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, and it seems as the death of their friend motivated the band to create some really good songs. Continue reading →

[DVD Review] Gran Torino

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12

Overview:

gran-torino-movie-reviewI heard a wide range of opinions about Clint Eastwood’s new movie “Gran Torino” prior to my viewing of it. Opinions ranging from “great,” to “comically awful” to “intentionally comically awful,” so I felt like I had a wide variety of options before I watched it.

I have a great deal of respect for Clint Eastwood as an actor and a director, and the good opinions for this movie greatly outweighed the bad, so I tried to block out the  “comically awful” claims made by my brother and his east coast friends, hoping their claims were mere elitism. Continue reading →

[Food Review] Crush Pound Cake

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6

Overview:

crush-pound-cakePound cakes are possibly the most useful food item on the face of this planet. They can be used as paper weights, door stops, kids like to throw them at passing trains, mobsters tie them to the feet of disloyal clients before dropping them into the nearest river, and starving homeless people bash pizza delivery boys over the head with them to get some chow. But aside from these extremely practical uses, the pound cakes themselves can actually be eaten and are honestly quite delicious despite weighing as much as a morbidly obese hamster. Continue reading →

[Game Review] Mario Kart Wii

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5

Overview:

mario-kart-wii-boxMany of us (young people) have probably played a version of Mario Kart at some point in our lives, on N64, Game Cube, or another Nintendo product. The game was just one of those that was simple and fun and could be played as multi-player easily and effectively engage a group of people.

The Wii takes that to another level. Continue reading →

[Movie Review] The Hangover (Theatrical)

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7

Overview:

the-hangover-posterI’d been excited about this movie since I saw the trailer, and I’ll start off by saying “IT DELIVERS”. It isn’t one of those comedies that shoots its wad in the trailer, wasting all the genuine laughs to con you into paying $8 to see it, and then providing nothing new or fresh, leaving you to exit the theater with the sensation that you’ve just been had. This movie is worth it for a variety of reasons. Continue reading →

[TV Review] “Nurse Jackie” Pilot Episode

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4

nurse-jackie-showtime-premiereOverview:

If most networks aired “Nurse Jackie,” a new dramady series about an opinionated veteran nurse who plays by her own rules, it would likely seem trite and obnoxious. But when aired on Showtime, a network noted for shows about serial killers, sex addicted (and statutory rapist) novelists and the erotic escapades of Henry VIII, it is bound to generate at least a little interest.

Enticed when I saw the ad to stream the show’s pilot episode for free on Showtime’s official site, I gave ‘er a view and while I wasn’t blown away, I must say I left the show feeling fairly satisfied. Continue reading →