Alien v/s Predator

This is the most enjoyable movie released after the summer releases this year.
It pitts the two most popular alien species against each other with an almost mythological story. The beginning shows us a team being assembled by an eccentric billionaire to explore an ancient pyramid buried under 2,000 feet of ice in Antarctica. When they finally reach the site where they intend to start digging they find that there's a huge tunnel leading to the pyramid dug with an unbelievable precision.
Suffice to say that their troubles are really compounded when they reach the pyramid, with the humans caught between the Aliens and the Predators. Its great fun, don't miss it.

Stepford Wives, The

This is a lighthearted comedy starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick. Its about a community called stepford where all the guys are nerds and they have beautiful wives who keep working at home following their husbands' orders.
Things look suspicious to Nicole Kidman(a highly placed TV network executive who's been fired) from the start but her husband keeps assuring her that everything's normal.
Fun to watch for anyone but really a must see for those in a relationship.
Any girls reading this please note that I am not the macho insensitive jerk I seem to be ;-)

Star Wars Battlefront

Another great FPS released. Check out the review at Gamespot.
My review -
This seemed like a refreshing change from killing martian ghosts at the beginning but the game gets very repetitive as the single player campaign progresses. The same cut scenes in between missions that seemed great at first look get boring as you realize that they are all taken from the Star Wars movies.
The missions are very short and seem like practice for the multiplayer capture the flag games with frag limits. It is fun to play as a stormtrooper and ride AT-ATs but the missions themselves let you down.
Overall a good multiplayer game but those stuck with single player option only might want to stay away from it.

Wheel of Time (Part 2)

Now that I'm finishing the third book in this series I decided it was time to write another piece on this series.
It seems that the author had two choices when the first few books became bestsellers, he could either prolong the series thinking that the people who had already bought the book will purchase the entire series guaranteeing him more royalties OR he could have kept the story fast paced and exciting thus enticing new readers.
Unfortunately he chose the former approach, throwing in characters to try to keep the story alive like a soap opera writer at the twilight of his career.
And as if this was not enough he decided to write a prequel to the original series BEFORE finishing the already crawling series. This at a time when prequel has undoubtedly become the most hated word in the entertainment industry since George Lucas released the Phantom Menace.
We can only hope that the author dedcides to write an exciting conclusion to series in the next two books.

Rezident Evil: Apocalypse

I liked the first Resident Evil movie so I thought I'd see this one too but unfortunately it could not escape the sequel curse (but then very few have) of not living up its predecessor.
The movie seems weird from the start, there are unncessary stunt scenes stuffed in that detract from the movie rather than enhance it.
The game's principal character Jill Valentine is in this one, though it seems she was added as an afterthought. There's a side story written to increase her role in the movie but the story revolves around Alice from the first movie.
Overall the direction and screenplay seems to fall flat in places and the movie pales in comparison to the first one.

Sony Ericsson T630

You might wonder why I'm writing about a mobile phone handset in the middle of the night. Its because I've recently bought this handset and wanted to write a review.
The T630 is possibly the best looking mobile in its (just over 10k) price range. Add a great joystick, bluetooth and infrared connectivity, 32 voice polyphonic ringtones, a pretty big screen and you have a winner.
Its light weight (93 grams) and small dimensions make it easy to carry unlike some phones from that Finnish company everyone advised me to buy.
Those of you who know about the phone might think that I've forgotten about the camera but actually the camera isn't much to write about, but then that's the case with almost all the current camera phones. One really cool feature is the way the camera button is placed, it makes it really easy to click pictures as if you were holding a camera not a mobile with a camera.
So my advice is that if you are willing to spend 10k on a mobile this is the best buy for you.

Welcome

I've just emailed this blog's address to a lot of people so I thought I'd write a welcome note for those that decide to visit.
Thank you for taking the time to click a hyperlink from your email and waiting for this page to load ;-)
Those of you having Firefox 0.10+ can click on the RSS icon on your status bar to add a live bookmark.

Wheel of Time

I've just started book one (of 12 planned) of the series. After reading so many good things about this series I ordered 9 of the 10 books that are available.
Now it seems that its written like a soap opera with lots of peripheral characters and the story line moving at a snail's pace.
To give you an idea about this massive undertaking each book in the series is as thick as Lord of the Rings.

DOOM 3 Review

The sequel everyone's been waiting for finally arrived in August. As usual Id excelled technically, providing mouth watering graphics and effects(for those who have the hardware).
But after playing for some time it gets really repetitive, after playing Far Cry and Call of Duty recently DOOM 3 seems pretty boring. Specially after the initial euphoria of playing what is certainly going to be a landmark in shooters wears off.
The game can not be played unless you install the duct tape mod, playing without a flashlight on the weapons is inviting a quick death.
Even then the lack of ammo is very irritating, most of the monsters dont leave any ammo when they are killed and whenever we encounter possesed marines they leave very little ammo. Although I must admit I did not explore the maps thoroughly, because almost every armor or health power up had a trap hidden somewhere nearby.
So I would suggest that only hardcore enthusiasts try this one out, FPS fans can whet their appetite by playing Call of Duty: United Offensive expansion or Star Wars Battlefront.

Riftwar Saga

Someone recommended this series on a forum I visit (I can't remember which one). I did not buy it immediately but while I was on a visit to Banglore I happened to find it at Crossword.
I was quite dissapointed by the first book part one(Magician: Apprentice) but since I can't leave any story unfinished I ordered the other three online. I even remarked on orkut that it was a watered down version of Tolkien. I was pleasantly surprised by part two of the first book (Magician: Master), which really kickstarted the story. It seems that the author had left most of the story for the second book, using the first one as a prequel.
Although the second (Silverthorn) and third (Darkness at Sethanon) tell a somewhat seperate tale they can not be read without the first book. The complete series on the whole is part of a much larger tale and hints at many more to come.

Call of Duty

The much anticipated expansion to one of the best World War 2 shooters has been released, grab the review at gamespot or take it from me and get it now.

First Post

I just registered here so this is my first post.