Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was a solid game but I wasn't blown away by the experience. Uncharted 2, however, packs in so many great story and gameplay moments that it is impossible not to be wowed. Everything that worked best in the original is refined and expanded in the sequel. Platforming, which at times took a backseat to gunplay, is used more frequently and to better effect. The shooting controls and difficulty have been improved for a much more even gaming experience and the production values are top notch featuring graphics that are not only technically, but artistically fantastic. The level design is another highlight with more diverse environments and the best train level I have ever played.

Uncharted 2 also deserves a lot of credit for having what is easily one of the best written and produced stories in gaming history. The story is intimately integrated into the game, presenting the player with well rounded characters living in a real world. This is one of the few games where I wanted to finish the game as much to see how the story would be resolved as the gameplay experience. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a must own title for the PS3.

1. Catalog Stability - In addition to the limited catalog of titles available, those that are available are often only available for a limited time. Multiple items in my streaming queue have expired and can no longer be watched because Netflix's rights agreement have expired with the content owner. This is easily the biggest issue with any media streaming service. Content availability is everything, and having a catalog that is constantly in flux is a big problem.


2. Stream Quality - I have a standard cable internet connection with a download rate of 6Mbps. When I initiate Netflix's service I typically get a 4 bar quality rating for my stream. When available this also gives me the HD stream. This sounds great, but the fact is that even the HD stream is basically DVD quality. To compare this with a Blu-ray is laughable. To make matters worse, virtually every time I stream a movie the quality regularly starts high and then drops to 3 and sometimes 2 bars, rendering it a far less enjoyable experience. I realize that this is due to my internet connection, but that also means that others with similar connections are suffering the same problems. For this to be a legitimate replacement for physical media, this issue needs to be resolved.


3. Transfer Quality - Quite a few of the streams I have come across in Netflix's system are not in widescreen format, even when a widescreen version is available on DVD. Others are presented in letterbox widescreen and appear as a small rectangle in the center of an HDTV. This is unacceptable for a service meant to replace physical media.

See the Future contains two new quests as well as a glimpse of what Fable 3 will be like. Another addition is a new combat challenge arena which is more difficult than the existing Crucible area in the main game. See the Future also introduces several new potions, items, and clothing options. I completed the expansion content in about 3 hours and while I wish that the new quests were a little more involved for $7 this is a decent value.

I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic fare and 9 fits the bill perfectly. Set in a ruined world where nine automatons have to survive while attempting to discover what caused the disaster and who or what created them, 9 has a fantastic premise. The visuals are also stunning, featuring some of the best art direction of any animated film I have ever seen.

The main flaw with 9 is that the story and consequently the characters are a little thin. At under 90 minutes this film has a short run time and I think another 15 minutes could have added some much needed depth to the story. That said this is still a great entry in the animated science fiction genre. 4/5

Despite what the name of the film would have you believe, Inglourious Basterds features relatively little of the basterds (Brad Pitt and his band of Jewish soldiers). Instead this film is a true ensemble piece with many different characters who converge for the climactic final scenes. This allows some of the lesser known cast members who make up the majority of the cast to really shine. Christoph Waltz who plays the main villain and Mélanie Laurent who plays a Jew in hiding were particularly good.

The film making on display here is also impeccable. The cinematography was great, featuring some very long takes as well as some beautiful exteriors. Tarantino does an amazing job milking every bit of suspense from a series of tense, yet entertaining, dialogue heavy scenes. Some of the sequences are hard to watch simply because the buildup is so strong.

I can't say enough good things about this movie. Any problems I had with a few characters or it feeling a little long are vastly overshadowed by how good the rest of the film is. If you are a Tarantino fan, or even if you aren't, give this movie a chance and you might be surprised at what you find. 4.5/5

Dropping you straight into the story makes for an abrupt start but once you get used to the aliens and the South African accents, District 9 just clicks. It's like a combination of 28 Days Later, Black Hawk Down, and The Fly, but with aliens. I really appreciated that the filmmakers trusted their storytelling and didn't spoon feed the audience the back story, instead dolling it out gradually throughout the film. They also handled the social satire aspects of the film very well. The few times I was afraid the movie was about to get heavy handed, it pulled back and gave some perspective on the situation at hand.

The only issue I had with District 9 was that some of the plot was a bit cliche. Despite the unique circumstances, the film devolves into a standard buddy movie at the end. Even so, this film shows just how much you can do with a relatively low budget. The effects are generally very strong and the acting is solid. Overall a great experience. 4/5

The Half-Blood Prince isn't the best Harry Potter movie (that would go to Prisoner of Azkaban), but I would put it in the top three. Its tone is all over the place, jumping from very dark to comedic, but the storyline is interesting. This is easily the funniest film of the series as the filmmakers get a lot of laughs out of the teenage melodrama. One criticism I have is that it seems more obvious here than in the previous films how much content must have been cut out, as the plot is somewhat confusing upon reflection. Nevertheless, as with the rest of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a very entertaining movie with a fantastic cast that is well worth your time. 4/5

In many ways Public Enemies feels like Mann is trying to recapture the magic of Heat, even staging a bank robbery similar to the one in his previous work. While Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were given room to explore their characters in Heat, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale could have been allowed more opportunities to fill out their roles. Public Enemies feels too much like a documentary instead of a human drama. There is a lot of ground to cover in this movie and it feels stretched by its obligation to fit in as much as possible. The movie would have benefited from the addition of another 20 minutes to fill in some background and allow the main story time to take shape.

I also have some issues with Mann's choice to photograph Public Enemies digitally instead of on film. For the most part it adds an interesting aesthetic for a period piece such as this, however, at times it looks awful and really detracts from the movie. This is especially true during the night scenes where the photography can be especially rough. Other films have been shot digitally and look fantastic, such as Benjamin Button and Zodiac, but for some reason it doesn't work here. I would really like to understand Mann's reasoning for his photographic choices. He previously shot digitally on Collateral and Miami Vice, but they looked significantly better to my eyes.

In spite of any problems I had with it, Public Enemies is an entertaining movie with some great work by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale that is worth a look. 3.5/5

All of this could have been forgiven if Terminator Salvation brought anything compelling to the franchise, but it fails at every turn. I think the biggest problem here is that it's much more interesting to talk about the coming future war and trying to avoid it, as they did in the previous films, than it is to actually fight said future war. To cap it off, the action really isn't that great. There is one set piece battle with an enormous machine that was cool, but other than that the action sequences are very pedestrian. Don't bother. 2/5

The plot is unmistakeably Star Trek with its complicated, time bending storyline. My one major criticism is that the movie feels very rushed. The characters' introductions are very brief and most of the side characters do nothing other than inject some humor into the movie. In spite of this J. J. Abrams has a good history of making quality films and television and he solidifies this with a very well made film. 4/5

With so much good stuff there has to be some bad to go along with it. I never expect much from the plot of a shooter and the storyline of Killzone 2 met my expectations. This isn't helped any by the atrocious amount of melodrama and mediocre voice acting (Rico is especially terrible). From a gameplay standpoint I didn't like how you can't carry more than one primary weapon along with your pistol. This dissuades the player from using any weapon other than common assault rifles since you probably won't be able to find a continuous supply of ammo for it. Even with these problems I really enjoyed my 12 hour experience with the single player campaign. If you have a PS3 Killzone 2 is definitely worth a look.