The Mist: 3.5 out of 4 stars
The Mist is what a horror film should be - dark, tense, and punctuated by just enough gore to keep the viewer's flinch reflex intact. In fact, that movie's ending is so uncompromising that one must assume director Frank Darabont had final cut so the studio couldn't interfere. (It's worth noting that the ending is not the same as that of Stephen King's novella, but I won't mention how it has changed.) Darabont has fashioned a tense motion pictures that's ultimately more about paranoia, religious fanaticism, and the price of hopelessness than it is about monsters. But the creatures are present and accounted for, lurking in the white-out that is the mist. Someone has finally succeeded where John Carpenter failed with The Fog.

Elite, the Metroid series, Dungeon Siege, God of War I and II, Half-Life (but not Half-Life 2), the Grand Theft Auto series; some of the best games ever have done away with the level mechanic and created uninterrupted game spaces devoid of loading screens and artificial breaks between periods of play.

Much like cut scenes, level loads are anathema to enjoyment of game play, and a throwback to the era of the Vic-20 and Commodore 64 when games were stored on cassette tapes, and memory was measured in kilobytes. So in this era of multi-megabyte and gigabyte memory and fast access storage devices why do we continue to have games that are dominated by the level structure, be they commercial (Halo 3, Portal, Team Fortress 2), independent (Darwinia) and amateur (Nethack, Angband)?

A Shelby Cobra Mustang struggles to evade the Tri-City police.

Win yourself one of three titles.

This is the first broadcast of the Alderaan Expatriate Network.

A tipster forwards an email sent to New Yorker readers--some sort of bastard child cross-promotion with Conde Nast Traveler and HGTV--offering them the chance to win a "VIP Getaway" to the Rose Bowl, including $10,000 in cash. This offer raises several important questions, chief among them being, when was the last time you think a New Yorker reader watched the Rose Bowl, let alone wanted to go to it? Then again, this is the same marketing department that assumed New Yorker readers were dying for the latest Suri Cruise news.

Rose Bowl Sweepstakes [HGTV]

Earlier: If You Liked 'The Curve of Binding Energy,' You'll Love 'Yes, Suri'

It's more of the same, but that's not a bad thing.

Preview of 'Revolver.'

EXCLUSIVE: I've just learned that David Letterman and his producers yesterday morning announced to his Late Show staff that they will be paid through the end of the year even though the show isn't on the air during the writers strike. "Dave's not doing this to get good press, which is why it hasn't been reported for [...]

Melons ripe for the picking

Date Added: GREMLINS WILL KILL YOU!!!! 11/11/2007 17:54

Gameplayer's soccer expert has finished a detailed side-by-side comparison of PES 2009 and FIFA 09. A self-confessed PES fanatic, he gives FIFA the nod for the first time, declaring Konami's effort a dud. This article links through to the PES side of the article.

"This is the season Konami has to turn it around. They've spent the past two years in cruise control, coasting along on past glories. But if it's a football cliché that if you stand still you end up going backwards, it's equally true in the fast-paced world of video games."

Warner Bros. Pictures and ComingSoon.net have teamed up to giveaway prizes for writer-director Darren Aronosky's The Fountain , opening in theaters on November 22.

Microsoft has officially released to manufacturing its upcoming Windows Vista operating system.

Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)
No hedgehogs will grace PS3 launch day.