SimCity Creator July 31, 2008

Budding dictators get ready for the exciting looking new SimCity for the Wii. SimCity Creator lets you build, play and destroy cities to your heart’s content. You’ll be able to create huge cities in a range of interesting styles, from congested European, stylish Asian to American Metropolis’ and even Futuristic (full of flying cars and aliens? Maybe…), no doubt they’re keeping more styles under wraps too.

If after all that hard work you then fancy destroying your city and testing out your emergency services, why not start natural disasters? Will you stick with a trusty old destructive earthquake, a meteor storm or perhaps a Cloverfield type giant monster, the choice is entirely yours. What’s exciting me most (apart from giant monsters) is the ability to jump into a helicopter and fly around your chosen city getting up close to your creation, viewing it in all its detail. I’ve never been a real Sim City fan before but the helicopter mode (as well the giant monster) and simple Wii Remote building interface is seriously getting me interested. If this is interesting you then you’ll have to wait for the SimCity Creator release date; 19th September.

 

 

 

 

 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 July 28, 2008

The 2008 sequel to the female buddy film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants constitutes an adaptation of Ann Brashares‘ novel Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood. Like the premier installment, this picture explores the seriocomic events that unfold one summer in the lives of four temporarily estranged friends as an extremely special pair of jeans works its way from one girl to the next. In one subplot, Lena (Alexis Bledel) travels to Providence, RI, and enrolls in a painting course; in another, Bridget (Blake Lively) embarks on an archaeological excavation in Greece; in a third, Carmen (America Ferrera) works on the backstage crew for a Vermont-based theater festival; and in the fourth, Tibby remains in New York and enrolls in summer courses. Sanaa Hamri, best known for her Prince and Mariah Carey music videos, directs; Elizabeth Chandler, who co-scripted the first film, adapts the Brashares book. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Ne-Yo Year of the Gentleman July 25, 2008

 

Grammy-Award winner Ne-Yo, who has impressed audiences with his talents since his 2006 with his multi-platinum, chart topping debut, ‘In My Own Words’, is fed-up with the sloppiness of current R&B. With Ne-Yo’s third disc, ‘Year Of The Gentleman’, the Las Vegas native and premier songwriter has constructed a suite of songs that shows exactly what he means by class. Written over the course of travels through Europe last year and influenced by his own fascination with the Rat Pack, Ne-Yo explains, “For me, the sharpness of Sammy and Sinatra is the kind of style I strive for in clothes and music. Year of the Gentleman is named in honor of those guys.”

Ne-Yo proves on the first single ‘Closer’, it is possible to be classy and funky at the same time. Produced by Stargate, the track is an electro-excursion in the glam of Euro-disco.

Harking back to a late-sixties retro sound, the beautiful ‘So You Can Cry’ was one of the first songs Ne-Yo recorded for the project. Opening with an enchanting guitar resembling soft rain, ‘So You Can Cry’ is a heartbreaking tune about a friend mourning a break up. Embracing Lennon and McCartney with the same vigor as Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, the amazing ‘Stop This World’ should be hailed as one of the most beautiful love songs in years. When Ne-Yo swoons, “She’s got heaven in her eyes,” there is no denying his passion. Moving beyond the competition by just being himself, Ne-Yo’s ‘Year of the Gentleman’ is right on time to usher in a new era of “world music”.

Soul Calibur 4 July 23, 2008

You can finally plan your return trip to the stage of history, as Namco Bandai has officially laid claim on July 29 for Soul Calibur IV’s long-awaited launch. We’re still waiting to get our hands on a copy of the game that offers more than four selectable characters, but at least we finally had a chance to test drive SC4’s version of Cassandra (as lightning-quick and supercutesy as always) and armor-clad newcomer Hilde (she’s a bit like Siegfried, but with fewer stances and an even longer range) at a recent press event.

Considering the game is only three months away, we’re a bit perplexed by all the unanswered questions still lingering around this project, so we took the opportunity to assault SC4 director Katsutoshi Sasaki with a barrage of queries…

1UP: In Japan, you recently revealed two guest characters, Scheherazade and Angol Fear, each designed by a famous manga artist. But those characters haven’t been promoted in the U.S. and aren’t in the playable demo here today…will they still be in the U.S. game?

Katsutoshi Sasaki: Yes, they will definitely both be in the U.S. version as well.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Soul Calibur IV screens.

1UP: Will we see even more guest characters from other manga artists in the game?

KS: Yes, there are a few more characters from manga artists and other famous illustrators, too.

1UP: Will these guest characters have their own stages? The Star Wars guys have some pretty nifty arenas…

KS: No, there won’t be a stage for each character. In the past we’ve always made a “home” stage for each fighter, but this time around we’re not taking that approach.

1UP: So far, you’ve only revealed one all-new character who’s actually part of the Soul Calibur world, Hilde. We have to wonder, are there any more real Calibur characters in this game?

KS: Yes, we do definitely have more…we still have many things to reveal, actually.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Soul Calibur IV screens.

1UP: We also haven’t seen anything about a new single-player mode like SC3’s Chronicles of the Sword or SC2’s Weapon Master Mode…will SC4 have something comparable?

KS: For SC4’s single-player game, we’re introducing a new mode called Active Matching Battle. This is a team battle mode where you have a pool of characters to choose from who must face a steady stream of opponents in one arena.

1UP: SC4 will also be the first game in the series to offer online play…how’s that going? Is everything running OK so far?

KS: We’re currently going through lots of trial and error getting the online up and running, and we’re testing connectivity between Japan and the U.S. to make sure that everyone can play together with minimal stress or frustration. Another big component of this online experience that I need to mention is the Create-A-Soul mode. This time around, you can create a custom character and introduce it into the online versus mode. What’s different is that this time you’re not only changing your fighter’s appearance, but also their attributes. For example, a certain piece of armor might raise your defense or give you special properties, and a new weapon may give you a stronger attack. It really adds a lot of depth to the online combat.

Step Brothers – Review July 22, 2008

 

With Step Brothers, Will Ferrell seems to be intentionally setting up a target for critics who have lambasted him reusing a man-child persona in most of his roles. In this movie, Ferrell’s character Brennan is as dumb as his version George W. Bush, as enthusiastic as a Spartan cheerleader, as convinced of his own importance as Ron Burgundy and as obsessed with toys as Buddy the Elf. And, to prove that you shouldn’t fix it if it ain’t broke, Step Brothers is hilarious, an ode to the adolescent that lives within us all but takes human form in Will Ferrell.

Brennan and Dale (John C. Reilly) are both 40-year-olds who have refused to leave the house or get real jobs, preferring to mooch off their indulgent parents. When Brennan’s mom (Mary Steenburgen) and Dale’s dad (Richard Jenkins) tie the knot, the two are forced to share a room, dealing with it about as well as real 12-year-olds would. Hijinks ensue, including a set of (prosthetic) balls getting rubbed on a drum set and a battle royale in the front yard, in which a shovel and a bicycle are both used as weapons.

Just as Dale and Brennan finally become friends, thanks to a shared loathing for Brennan’s douchebag younger brother Derek (Adam Scott) and the local kids who think they’re both losers, they’re faced with adult life when mom and dad try to retire. They handle that potential future by trying to organize a band, but they do it about as well as you would expect from two guys who treasure their samurai swords and do karate in the garage.

The plot of Step Brothers is more irrelevant than it is in most comedies, but that’s not really a bad thing. Ferrell, Reilly and director McKay, all of whom had a hand in writing the script, have made a character-driven comedy in which no one really needs to grow or develop in order to be interesting. The best scenes are when dad fights with Dale and Brennan, or when the two square off against Derek or his sexually frustrated wife (Kathryn Hahn). Just as some of the best SNL skits did, Step Brothers throws a handful of interesting characters into situations and steps back to see what happens. Unlike in countless SNL spinoff movies though, the technique actually works here.

Step Brothers is filled with dozens of quotable lines that your local middle-schoolers are sure to be spouting soon. The best has to be when Dale hears Brennan sing for the first time and tells him, with tears in his eyes, “You voice is like a combination between Fergie and Jesus. I can’t even look at you right now.” That’s a pretty good approximation of the Step Brothers tone, in case you haven’t caught any of Ferrell and McKay’s efforts before—irreverent, silly, and a little bit emotional at its core. In fact, kind of like the actual George W. Bush line that opens the film: “Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.” The fact that Step Brothers manages to be as funny as that single quote means it’s more than worth your time.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts July 18, 2008

 

Everybody seems to love Banjo Kazooie, otherwise Rare’s franchise wouldn’t get a third installment this November. They do risk a bit with the game’s mechanics

and the “build whatever vehicle you want” thing, according to some of the more traditional gamers, but we all know that, in the end, any change is good and you can’t hit the jackpot unless you try. And, as far as we can see, Rare is trying very hard with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Among the E3 features, we find out that over 100 items will be available to us and our 100% customizable vehicles and the developers promise that no two vehicles in the game should look the same (unless, of course, you decide to use the ones already created by the producers).

Also, for the first time in the series, both competitive and co-op play will be included via Xbox Live. And since the game “understands” Microsoft’s service, this means that players will also be able to share vehicle blueprints in order to further improve their game playing experience.

One more thing that got our attention is the fact that, whenever you accomplish something in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you will automatically unlock some extra features in the XBLA classic, the original Banjo Kazooie game. Pretty cool marketing, right?

However, you should know that in the new title, throughout their adventure, players create their own abilities by building vehicles for Banjo to pilot over land, sea and in air and, as I’ve said, this is a decision contested by some fans of the series. Anyway, vehicle parts, which range from simple devices to more unusual equipment (like springs and egg guns), are earned and collected throughout the game. Players use their imagination to combine parts in any order to create whatever vehicle they choose (a kind of vehicle-Spore at a different level). Then, by exploring worlds and solving puzzles, players both young and old will be rewarded with more advanced and diverse vehicle parts in their quest to defeat Grunty once and for all and lay claim to Spiral Mountain. It’s all about the cars, baby!

God of War 3 July 15, 2008

If you believe the rumors, we’ll be getting our first glimpse at something God of War 3-related at today’s Sony E3 press conference. It’s been fun passing the time waiting with the Chains of Olympus on PSP, PS3 ads that kind of look like God of War, and fan-created Lego trailers, but I’m ready for something real. I’ll update this story from the event with any news, but I figured now would be a good time to round up everything we know about the game in one convenient place.

First Things First

While rumors had been flying about a third God of War ever since Sony announced God of War 2, the first public comments came at the God of War 2 launch party/press conference held by Sony in March 2007. At the end of a presentation, then-director Cory Barlog joked that “if” God of War would head to PS3, it would feature Sixaxis, rumble, and 1080p features. There has been some debate over how to interpret what he said, but given that his comments weren’t in response to a question, it seems clear he wanted to get the word out on the franchise’s future.

What never seemed to get much publicity at the time was Sony’s official press release put out that day, which offered information about the game similar to what Barlog said on stage, suggesting that this was not an off-the-cuff remark but something that had been coordinated by Sony.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should assume those features are a confirmed part of the game. Shortly after that event, SCEA Santa Monica director of technology Tim Moss said in an interview, “Cory got a little carried away at the press conference/launch event…I imagine we could make a game that worked at 60fps and 1080p but we might have to make some decisions about the gameplay that we wouldn’t really want to live with in order to achieve it.”

Confirming the Name

Though there wasn’t much doubt about the game’s existence following the above comments, when Cory Barlog resigned from Sony in November, Sony’s corporate comment made it official and named God of War PS3 as “God of War 3,” squashing any (likely nonexistent) speculation that it would be a side story or something other than a traditional sequel.

You probably know the names David Jaffe and Cory Barlog, given their highly publicized careers at — and then departures from — SCEA Santa Monica, where they directed the first two games in the series. They both had varying degrees of involvement with God of War 3 early in its creation, but have since left the company. So who’s left? We don’t have a comprehensive list; we know certain staffers such as combat designers Eric Williams and Derek Daniels, level designer Mike Cheng, and artist Charlie Wen, have moved on. However, according to a post on Tim Moss’ blog, as of late 2007, the complete programming team and 30-plus members of the overall team (who worked on God of War and God of War 2) remained intact.

It’s difficult to draw any direct conclusions about what this means for the game itself. If anything, it suggests that the tech side of the game is in good shape, and that we might see a slightly different approach to what we’ve seen in the past with the story and overall design ideas.

The Release Date

The first God of War spent about three years in development and shipped in March 2005. God of War 2 took two years and shipped in March 2007. Going by that timeline, it would make sense to see God of War 3 ship any time between March 2009 and March 2010. But of course, things aren’t that simple. We know that the programming team was looking into the PS3 hardware as early as March 2006, when Tim Moss mentioned it in a Game Developers Conference speech, and that Cory Barlog was working on the story and overall design of the game before God of War 2 shipped, but as to how all this adds up to deliver a finished game, we don’t have a clue.

Online Gameplay Speculation

In March 2008, Sony posted a series of job listings for the God of War 3 team: one for a graphics programmer, one for a tools programmer, and one for an “online gameplay programmer.” Naturally, it was this last one that stood out as unusual, since to date we haven’t seen any multiplayer or online features in a God of War game.

When you combine this listing with recent comments from Sony executives about the importance of online features in their games, it seems likely that online features will play a role in the game in some form. In a recent Develop magazine interview, Sony’s new Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said, “One focus that has been and will be key is how we use the online technology and PlaySation Network to involve more consumers in participating…that’s the major common theme that we are trying to enforce with all our projects.”

Notably, the idea of a multiplayer God of War game is nothing new. At the God of War 2 launch press event, when still employed by Sony, Cory Barlog told us he was looking at it as a possibility for a future God of War game. “Does co-op have a place in God of War? If we can do something unique with it, yeah, but it is really an early exploration of that in my head…I’m thinking ‘how can we incorporate this without damaging what happens in the game — without having it feel silly — where it’s just like we threw two Kratoses in there and now you can run around through the world.’ It’s gotta be something more than that.”

Chains of Olympus director Ru Weerasuriya also mentioned looking into multiplayer features in a past interview with 1UP, but ultimately came to the conclusion that adding something along those lines would take away from what would make the game feel like a God of War title.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe July 9, 2008

 

In grand “X-Files” manner, the as yet untitled film’s storyline is being kept under wraps. This much can be revealed: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.

Movie Review: ‘The Dark Knight’ July 6, 2008

 

What can I say? There are moments in film history when everything is pushed aside and performance exceeds genre.

Batman Begins told audiences and film critics it was possible to root a comic book generated superhero in reality. Earlier this year Iron Man set out to do the same but lost its balance in the final act. The Dark Knight manages to exceed expectation with a villain so maniacal, his desire for destruction begins to make sense to the point you understand his desire for all out anarchy while you are cheering for the opposition in a war that basically boils down to one side against individual terrorism.

Heath Ledger presents himself as The Joker in a role that defines a career. It is unimaginable it would come to the point that a film based on a comic book character could actually have such an impact on one person. On a generation. Ledger’s decent into what is, and has become, The Joker makes Jack Nicholson’s interpretation look like nothing more than a simple clown. “Wait until they get a load of me,” says Jack… Wait until you get a load of Heath says I.

The Dark Knight presents a character so destructive and without a care for those landing in his path of decimation that you are left to your own devices. Love him. Hate him. Hate to love him or love to hate him, director Christopher Nolan has guided an actor into a dark realm not often realized. The Joker finds his place alongside villains that go by the name of Hannibal, Scarface and John Doe himself. A nameless, unrecognizable entity you won’t be willing to or able to admit is Ledger until the credits roll. My biggest problem with Batman Begins was the water evaporation device used at the end of the film. The apparatus took a film firmly cemented in reality and sent it into something of a comic wonderland, easily recognizable by fans and audiences expecting such a twist in narrative. Fortunately, this film suffers from no such problem.

However, this is not a film/review solely dedicating itself to the loss of a fallen actor, obviously destined to continue his influence on film as we know it. Aaron Eckhart has never changed his style or approach, but since Thank You for Smoking it seems he has finally tossed a wrench into the mainstream and said, “Look at me!” With The Dark Knight he continues his ascent into recognition with a role (and a film) that adds weight and credibility where it may otherwise be abandoned and ignored. Eckhart’s Harvey Dent is a man to cheer for and empathize with at every turn.

The Dark Knight is an emotional rollercoaster extending from the characters portrayed on screen to the audience sitting comfortably as they watch an inexplicable series of events unfold. Sure, there are a few imperfections here and there, but to point them out would not only waste paragraphs but also spoil the experience. Fingerprint how? After-party what? None of it matters because five minutes later you have an entirely new dilemma to concern your little brain with.

I could tell you about Bale’s Batman/Bruce Wayne, but it would be a continued exercise in explaining the man that “is” and the man that is underneath. The Dark Knight is a political machine in duplicity and an exercise in gaining an edge no matter the means, and while it may play into the life of Americans and their inadequate Commander in Chief, it rings true on a fictional level as well. “Know when to say when,” never felt so appropriate.

In terms of comic book film adaptations this is the pinnacle. The argument saying this is the Godfather Part II of comic book movies would insinuate that Batman Begins is on equal terms with the original Godfather, which is far from true. However, if we could call this The Godfather of comic book movies I wait anxiously for what may/will become the film that caps off the trilogy.

Street Fighter IV July 4, 2008

 

SAN FRANCISCO–The first public unveiling of Street Fighter IV was only a few days ago in Japan, but Capcom’s rushed some full arcade units all the way to the United States this week to show off the newest entry in the venerable fighting franchise at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. We wasted no time in jumping on the game to pull off some fast hadoukens, and it’s immediately clear that Street Fighter IV sticks closely to the tried-and-true mechanics of previous entries in the series and is particularly reminiscent of Street Fighter II.

The units Capcom had playable at GDC seems to be exactly the same as those displayed at Japan’s Arcade Operator’s Union (AOU) show last week–only 10 characters were selectable (the original eight world warriors plus newbies Abel and Crimson Viper) and all of the text and audio snippets in-game were in Japanese. The Capcom rep manning our arcade machine assured us more characters were definitely on the way, although he wouldn’t be drawn on giving any hints whatsoever.

As we mentioned in our earlier preview, those worried that this game treads into Street Fighter EX territory need not fret–Street Fighter IV is well and truly a 2D brawler, even though the characters and environments are presented in highly-detailed 3D. The only time the game ever breaks out into a 3D view is for small cinematic animations when characters perform their specific ultra combos. The characters themselves all move extremely fluidly even at this stage. All of them sport plenty of fine details in their costumes, and there are lots of cool details in their animations and facial expressions. Blanka, for example, wears an extremely convincing worried look every time he backs away from an opponent, while Chun Li strikes an awesomely cool defensive-looking pose every time she blocks an attack. As for the weird (in an interesting way, of course), inklike effect shown in the very first trailer for the game, all that seems to remain of it are some graphical flourishes which pop up occasionally, such as when Ryu performs some specific special attacks.

Speaking of special attacks, the eight original cast members all feature what is now probably considered their “traditional” move sets which have evolved through Street Fighter’s many various versions. For Ryu and Ken, that means the good ‘ol hadoukens, shoryukens, and hurricane kicks are back. Chun Li has her spinning bird kick, kikonen fireball, and lightning leg kick (she also retains her double jump off the edge of screens, as well as the head stomp). Blanka has both his vertical and horizontal rolling attacks, as well as his trademark electric shock, while E Honda also has his flying head-butt and hundred-hand slap (although you can’t move forward while performing this). Zangief still has his variety of throws, such as the spinning pile driver, as well as the double lariat. As for Guile, his sonic boom and somersault kick make returns. The timing and technique required to pull off most of these moves are all familiar, although performing Chun Li’s spinning bird kick seemed to take an awfully long time to charge up. All of these characters’ super combos will also be familiar to fans of the series, such as Ryu’s super-fireball, Blanka’s chargeable rolling attack, and Zangief’s extremely damaging super pile driver.

If you’ve played a Street Fighter game before, then chances are you’ll be able to play IV with little to no hassle whatsoever. Thanks to the inclusion of all eight original characters and with no major new special attacks introduced, the game feels instantly familiar on first touch. Fireballs seem to fly at the same speeds, attack distances are the same, and the same weaknesses can be exploited in each of the eight original characters. This can be seen as both a blessing and a drawback–if you’re a Street Fighter purist, then you’ll more than welcome these characters back with open arms.

The two newbies to this game–and we hope more new characters are unveiled soon–are Crimson Viper and Abel. Crimson Viper is a new female who’s supposedly a secret agent, hence her use of modern technology while fighting. This technology is made apparent in her electric-based attacks, such as a dashing punch performed by doing a forward-quarter circle on the joystick. The strength of the punch (fierce, strong, or jab) determines the direction–fierce makes it an upward punch, strong sends her straight ahead, while jab is low. Viper also has a fiery spinning kick and ground tremor attack which can knock opponents off their feet from across the screen. Abel is more a power/grappler type in the vein of Zangief. One of his more interesting moves was a devastating combo which begins with a dashing punch and ends with a throw, pulled off by performing three consecutive quarter circles on the joystick. Abel also has a rolling dodge that places him behind an opponent, as well as an attack which grabs airborne opponents and slams them to the ground.

Another major new addition to the series is focus attacks (sometimes known as saving attacks). Taking the place of the parry system from Street Fighter III, focus attacks are performed by pressing the two strong buttons. Performing a focus attack cancels out one of your opponent’s strikes, and retaliates with a hit of your own. There are three levels of focus attacks depending on how long you leave the strong buttons pressed–at level three, the focus attack becomes unblockable. During our game time, we found focus attacks somewhat easier to pull off than parries, and we can see it becoming an essential part of an experienced player’s armory once the game ships. Since focus attacks can be used to start combo strikes as well as being able to be canceled halfway through to “fake out” opponents, its use will become quite strategic.

The other new gameplay tweak comes in the form of a revenge meter that sits at the end of the character’s life bar. The revenge meter fills when your character takes damage–have a full revenge meter and perform a super combo with two buttons pressed and your character will pull out a flashy ultra combo. Some of the animations for these ultra combos are quite impressive. Honda, for example, performs an ultra-powerful flying head-butt that pins his opponent to a wall, which he then follows up with a hundred-hand slap. Guile does a double-somersault kick, lashes out a leg while his opponent is still in midair, and then performs a third somersault. Interestingly, in the build we played, performing an ultra combo would deplete the revenge meter, but would leave the super combo meter still filled. We’re not sure if this will stay the same when the game finally ships–if it does, expect some truly damaging strings of ultra combos followed by super combos.

We’re still keen to hear more about Street Fighter IV, including exactly what the storyline is and how many more new characters we can expect. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more information.

Mamma Mia! The Movie July 3, 2008

 

“My, my how can I resist you” indeed! Mamma Mia! is the theatrical equivalent of an armchair journey to an island with a bluer than blue sky and a fuller than full moon — a mythical land where young lovers live happily ever after and older lovers get a second chance at love.

Yes, Mamma Mia! is kitsch, but irresistibly so since its feather-weight all’s well that ends well story keeps bursting into songs by the disco era’s Swedish super group, ABBA. As a good sob story brings out the tissues, so this bouncy kitschical sets shoulders swaying and arms waving joyously (that includes all ages and the most , buttoned-down types).

Those ABBA hits, twenty-two in all, are the foundation for this phenomenally successful musical that has settled in at the Winter Garden after already wowing audiences abroad and in other cities. Catherine Johnson has proved herself a master at custom-tailoring a story to transform a golden oldies concert into a valid musical. She has fashioned a book (with a little helping from the 1969 movie Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell) soaked in a bright and cheery atmosphere and with enough characters and incidents to neatly and naturally accommodate the songs as production numbers.

The plot can be summed up to fit into a seashell from the mythical Greek island where it spins out: Donna Sheridan (Louise Pitre) is a forty-something single mother and owner of a small island hotel. Her twenty-year-old daughter Sophie (Tina Maddigan), about to marry a hunky guy with the color-appropriate name of Sky (Joe Machota), yearns for her unknown dad to walk her down the aisle. Mom’s diary leads to three potential dads (Dean Nolen-Harry Bright, Ken Marks-Bill Austin, David W. Keeley-Sean Carmichael). One almost expects a number called “Dad, Dad, Dad, I Want to Know My Dad” to go with such favorites as ” Honey, Honey”, “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” and “Money, Money, Money”. At any rate, Sophie is convinced she’ll recognize her true father and so invites all three men to the wedding (telling neither mom or fiance). This serves as the basis for exploring some genuine relationship themes and also puts enough people, of various ages on stage to create the possible setups for the songs. In addition to Donna, Sophie, Sky and the three maybe dads, there are the young couple’s pals, the hotel employees, and two other invited guests — Donna’s sidekicks from her wild and wooly days as the leader of the band, Donna and the Dynamos — the much-married Tanya (Karen Mason) and roly-poly cookbook writer Rosie (Judy Kaye).

As the wedding guests arrive and Sophie meets the three could-be dads, a familiar song is never long in coming, always accompanied by knowing smiles of recognition from ABBA acolytes. That’s not to say that if you aren’t a dedicated groupie, you won’t get a charge out of the well orchestrated music. ABBA songs didn’t climb the top of the easy listening charts for nothing.

One of the show’s most winning aspects is that it doesn’t go overboard on the sets you associate with $100 tickets. There’s just a touch of smoke and the design is basically a moveable unit set. The songs’ metamorphoses into production numbers are often achieved with modest touches — for example, Louise Pitre’s show-stopping rendition of the title song, which is used to introduce her rueful romantic memories, is accompanied by a chorus of the island’s natives peeking over a wall.

Pitre, with her striking silver hair is a true pop diva. Her singing is better than her acting. However, she is quite fine in the touching scene where she helps her daughter into her wedding gown. That scene conveys the mother-daughter relationship at its most substantive. Tina Maddigan, who like Pitre, is a holdover of the Toronto production, is an endearing Sophie.

The song that comes off as the most truly musical theater number is “Take a Chance On Me” in which Judy Kaye amusingly makes a stab at nailing down a mate. Kaye is musical comedy dynamite. Karen Mason is perfectly cast as her tall, thin and luckier with men counterpart, Tanya.

Dean Nolen’s Bill Bright is the most memorable of Donna’s former lovers though all are competent. Joe Machota is fine as Sky, with abs that should appeal especially to the youngest females in the audience.

The choreography is highly energetic, the lighting is superb and the costumes fun, with the best reserved for the big dessert — an encore that’s really a mini ABBA concert tagged to the show, with the lead players disappearing just long enough to come back in eye-popping, deliciously tacky silver lame costumes to raise the applause to the highest decibel level. Perhaps the show’s managers will some time allow the ecstatic, arm waving human yo-yos to turn in their ticket stubs for a five or ten dollar standing room admission to the encore. But then — mamma, mia — they might have a stampede.

G-Unit – T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight) July 1, 2008

 

Man, has there been a lot of trouble in G-Unit paradise lately or what? You have Young Buck’s emotional phone call with 50 Cent, which was exposed after he got the boot from the camp. You have The Game and Buck making proclamations that Lloyd Banks might not be as happy a camper as he lets on with 50 as his boss.

You have 50 losing some of his selling power with the release of Curtis and most of all you have G-Unit as a whole not carrying the weight they did just a few short years ago. I’ll say it straight out without mincing words that Terminate On Sight will not be the album to lift them up out of the doldrums.

“You So Tough” finds 50 Cent supposedly going at Southern superstar T.I. with lines like, “Nowaways, this rap shit ain’t adding up / How niggas get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months”, “Got the best lawyers that money can buy / They say at best they woulda got me 10 or maybe nine.”, and “I said, ‘How do you explain how the homie breezed?’ They said, ‘You keep your mouth shut or you eat the cheese.” The lines are clever but the song is nothing special and I’m not sure why 50 would go at T.I. if he is. I’m sure we’ll all be treated to a l ong drawn out beef that will unfold in front of our very eyes.

“I Like The Way She Do It” is one of the hottest songs on the album and sets the theme for Banks and Buck delivering the tightest verses on the album. The beat is guaranteed to make this a hit single and while Banks and Buck steal the show Yayo and 50 do deliver some clever lines like these by 50 in the opening verse, “I’m stupid rich/Got retarded money/ I’m special ed/ I got special bread.”

“Money Make The World Go Round” was a good idea, it just wasn’t executed properly. The beat was almost there but was lacking something, it sounded amateurish and Yayo on the hook wasn’t a good look. Like I said, it could have been hot but fell just short. “Ready Or Not” suffers some of the same problems in the weak production. Banks does his thing on the verse but the hook is weak and it falls short.

“Piano Man” is a serious strike out and sounds like a beat The Neptunes scrapped in 2000. The hook is awful and the verses leave a lot to be desired. “Let It Go” featuring Mavado is another miss as the hook by Mavado is not good to say the least followed by subpar verses.

“Straight Outta Southside” is a bright spot on the album with a grimy beat and Banks delivering something fierce with lines like, “I’m a stormy night/ You just a rainbow”. “Rider Pt.2” delivers some of that old Beg For Mercy G-Unit we know and love as the boys rock over a bangin’  beat and deliver some serious verses. My only complaint is that on the hook even 50 Cent isn’t immune to taking a page out of T-Pain’s book but it’s not too bad.

“No Days Off” is definitely a hot track, grimy but not over the top and very well produced. Everybody delivers decent verses but Banks stands out with lines like, “These dudes been perpetrating so long/ They could make it rain/ I could make it storm.” “Casualties Of War” is a street banger and finds the trio at their grimiest. Bangin’ beat and once again Banks steals the show with lines like, “I drink like a uncle/ Smoke like a rasta/ Ball like a superstar/ Talk like a boxer.” “I Don’t Wanna Talk About It” is a solid track. The beat is simple but gets the job done as 50 remind us how much he doesn’t give a fuck with lines like, “I’m takin’ care of business/ God’s my only witness.” Songs like “Kitty Kat” and “Get Down” are barely worth mentioning.

Overall, I have to say that this album is a mediocre effort at best. The lack of Young Buck and the overuse of Tony Yayo also makes for a bad decision on 50 Cent’s part and a bad listen for the fan. “Beg For Mercy” was incredible and this is not a worth follow up.

At this point is just sounds like 50 wants to fulfill his contractual obligations and Banks sounds like he needs some space to spread his wings. That is one bright space. Banks sounds good and an album from him is something I’m not looking forward to. Terminate On Sight is going to be a decent listen if you’re a die hard G-Unit fan and if you’re not you can probably skip it.