A solid golf game with a variety of extra goodies to keep things interesting as you progress through the ranks. I was enamored enough of the game to win all of the tournaments, but when I discovered after beating all of the characters that one had to go back and do it all again, I wasn’t sufficiently inspired by the prospect of winning their special outfits to go to the trouble. Having played far too much Mario Golf in its time, I was surprised to discover how much more I liked the feel of Hot Shots when I happened to play a couple of rounds of my old favorite. Not that I don’t have high hopes for the upcoming Mario Golf on the Gamecube, but Hot Shots certainly did a fine job of keeping me entertained in these lean times.

Reeling from Mr. Lucas’ latest creation, I comforted myself with a film that would probably be even less well known, were it not for its status as a source of inspiration to the aforementioned gentleman when he was developing the film that firmly established his place in American history. Kurosawa is in no danger of being outshone by his American admirer, as is evidenced yet again in Hidden Fortress. Such great chemistry can be felt between his characters, even in spite of the cultural gap that might otherwise render his films less accessible to a western audience. It is heartening to see a film that aims at being epic and achieves it; thanks in no small part to the humanity and humility of its director.

When the audience laughed out loud at the first ostensiably “dramatic” scene, I thought to myself, “Gee, I haven’t seen something like that happen since… Oh that’s right, ‘The Phantom Menace’.” Lucas has yet again demonstrated his utter ignorance of character development and human drama. The “tension” between Anakin and Obi-Wan was practically rammed down our throats; the “love affair” between Anakin and Amidala parodied itself. The overarching plot was well conceived, but the translation into a screenplay was so poorly executed that, minus the special effects, it wouldn’t have garnered George a passing grade in script writing 101. Something in the process of bringing these new Star Wars films to the moviegoing public is failing horribly and I am left feeling that Mr. Lucas is, knowingly or otherwise, giving his fans the short-shrift. That said, the scene with Yoda versus Dooku did kick ass.

Having seen a stage production of this Oscar Wilde play, I was more than usually appreciative of the fantastic costumes and stunning on-location backdrops that are afforded when making a film. It is especially beneficial when poking fun at the extravagance of the English upper class. Production values aside, the actors did a fine job and Reese Witherspoon even managed not to seem out of place. Where Oliver Parker took liberties with the original, they perhaps didn’t live up to Wilde’s biting wit, but they were definitely in the same playful spirit.

For someone with no prior acquaintance with the field of computer science, Lohr did an exceptional job of rendering intelligible the achievements of the wide array of individuals that contributed to the development of computing as we know it today. I was refreshed to read a historical account of the subject that didn’t make me cringe in disbelief every few pages. I applaud him for not becoming distracted with the few “glamorous” threads like Microsoft’s rise to power and instead digging deep enough to tell an interesting tale about the myriad people and events that actually shaped the field.

Aside from Maribel Verdú, Y tu mamá también was uninspiring. The scenery is much more fascinating than the characters, though I appreciated the scenes of rural Mexico. Ultimately, the film is a bit too trite and tries a bit too hard to be insightful. A Mexican Thelma and Louise it is not.

Directed by Stacy Peralta, this documentary tells the tale of the Zephyr surf team’s foray into skateboarding and the birth of the sport as it is widely practiced today. My first board being a Powell Peralta, I was fascinated by this peek into the history of skating, more so because I skated for so long without ever giving the first thought to who founded the sport or even who made the gear I was using. Given the peculiar cast of characters and the wildy disparate life paths followed by the original members of the team, I imagine this film would even be worthwhile for non-skaters, though perhaps better caught on cable than the big screen. After all, that’s more in the spirit of the skate videos which, aside from Gleaming the Cube were previously the only window into the wacky world of skateboarding.

Outstanding! Between Stan Lee, David Koepp and Sam Raimi, a great story has grown from a small collection of ideas into an entertainment experience that truly deserves the label of blockbuster. Excellently cast, with a nice balance between action and character development, Spider-Man is a rare example of Hollywood actually turning out something worth watching.

Another thoughtful work from an author who is putting the science back into science fiction. Egan has a knack for weaving numerous intellectually stimulating ideas into a coherent framework with a bit of dramatic plot to boot. I’m glad he further explored, in Diaspora, the seeds of ideas planted in Permutation City and, given the choice, I would have read the latter first.