Jack Bauer is back!

Jack Bauer

The highly anticipated new series of ‘real-time’ drama 24 returns this Sunday with a special two-hour season premiere.

It has already caused some controversy when it was shown in America last week due to its dramatic plot revolving around Muslims fundamentalists. But the show producers and the star of 24 himself, Kiefer Sutherland have stressed the point that television viewers should not assume all Muslims are terrorists, even though the show is portraying them as part of the story.

Despite this, I’m looking forward to the new season with great enthusiasm.

For those who missed out on Jack’s previous five days, let’s recap on the past five seasons.

Day 1:
A terrorist group plotting to kill presidential candidate David Palmer kidnaps Jack Bauer’s wife and daughter. Jack saves the future president and his daughter Kim but suffers the agony of losing Teri when his former lover Nina Myers shot her in the chest.

Day 2:
Set around 18 months after the first season. Jack is dealing with the death of his wife, Teri Bauer, and the estrangement of his daughter. Jack is no longer working for CTU, but when the White House receives intelligence that a nuclear bomb will be detonated in Los Angeles over the course of the day, Jack springs into action. Saves the day in the final hour and re-connects with Kim.

Day 3:
To maintain cover infiltrating the Salazar drug family, Jack becomes addictive to heroin. He has a new partner named Chase Edmonds, who had a relationship with Kim, much to the knowledge of Jack… Chase loses his arm in a way to prevent the deadly virus expose to all the citizens in Los Angeles and yet again Jack is the hero.

Day 4:
Jack Bauer has a new job. After being fired by CTU, he now works as a senior advisor to Secretary of Defence James Heller. Jack also found a new love in his life in the form of his boss’s daughter, Audrey Raines. But an impending hostage crisis, concerning Heller, leaves Jack’s new life in shambles. So, it’s back to CTU and back to stopping some terrorists… As the day drew to a close, a secret Chinese Consulate mission goes wrong, setting up serious consequences for Jack… Fakes his own death to avoid being detective and walks away from CTU.

Day 5:
Jack is living under a new alias, as Frank Flynn, and working on various oil rigs and refineries throughout America. Meanwhile, an unknown figure orders the assassination of the four people who know Jack is alive – Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, Chloe O’Brian and former President David Palmer – to frame him. He returns to LA to clear his name when a hostage situation erupts. But it is only a diversion by collaboration of conspirators and Russian separatists to obtain 20 canisters of Sentox VX nerve gas. Jack attempts to search for the remaining canisters and expose treachery that goes deep within the White House.

And now it’s Day 6. What will happen to Jack Bauer? Can he survive another 24 hours of non-stop action featuring conspiracies and terrorists plot? Then catch the new series of the Emmy award-winning drama on January 21st.

See all the preview trailers here

Oruchuban Ebichu

Ebichu

How come an innocent-looking anime featuring a cute little hamster contains so much violence, innuendo and explicit sexual scenes? Well, this is Oruchuban Ebichu, an anime based on a manga comic by Risa Ito. The adult themed show is produced by the same company responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion (Gainax), with the talented Hideaki Anno in the director’s chair.

The leading character is Ebichu, a sweet-looking hamster that can talk and is obsessed with cheese. Ebichu tries her best as a housekeeper for her owner, who is a single 25-year-old office lady who desperately wants to get married. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is a useless layabout (his name in the show is Kaishounachi, which is quite literally, “useless”) who’s not very good at anything, especially where it counts…

In most of the episodes, Ebichu suffers the occasional beatings from her owner despite the hamster’s endless praise and compliments. However, such abuse is usually caused by Ebichu’s almost disturbing lack of tact or propriety, often embarrassing her master in front of other people.

Ebichu is a complete opposite of Hamtaro, a popular children’s anime featuring a hamster in more wholesome adventures. The stories in Ebichu are more violent with raunchy scenes.

The episodes itself are rather short – broken up as two parts with an appealing theme tune as the show’s signature. The voice acting is excellent and if you feel lost with references to the Japanese culture don’t worry, as there are subtitles to help you understand – which includes slang words!

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who isn’t afraid with adult oriented content and humour.

Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.

Fight Club

“The first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule…”

Sorry to interrupt you Tyler, but I do want to talk about Fight Club. David Fincher’s post-modernist film tackles the everyday life with a new twist and outlook.

Even though the film was a box office disappointment when it was first released back in 1999, a cult following soon emerged due to the DVD’s popularity upon release.

Critics and film audiences had a change of heart and Fight Club became one of the most profitable films on the digital format.

But what’s so special about Fight Club? Some think that it’s all about the extreme violence. But it actual fact, the movie has a deep methodical meaning – in the way we live and consume in this bleak society. Fight Club questions reality itself and the movie provides the viewer with a series of thought provoking situations.

Edward Norton plays the Narrator who provides his own experience by living through a dull and repetitive life. He suffers from insomnia and attends group counselling for illnesses and conditions he doesn’t have.

His life gets turned around when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) during a business trip. The two start an underground “fight club,” which became a secret society that continually grows, even though its members are not supposed to talk about it… Fight Club allows members to feel alive by triggering primal emotions not usually tested in modern life. The powerless feel powerful once again.

Rock star Meat Loaf has an interesting role as Bob, a big man with testicular cancer and hormonal problems. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is superb as Marla Singer, a screwed-up hanger-on who also attends group counselling simply for the human connection.

Director David Fincher’s vision based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk is featured very strongly here. The use of CGI and dark humour creates a visually stylish look to the movie. The performances from all the leading actors are excellent, especially Edward Norton playing a white collared worker dissatisfied with his life.

Fight Club may still offend some people with its graphical violence, but as a movie it tells a fascinating story on the issue of commercialism and the lifestyle we choose to be.

Elisha Cuthbert on-set and wet

Elisha Cuthbert - My Sassy Girl

Here are the latest on-set photographs of Elisha Cuthbert filming in cold New York City for an upcoming romantic comedy film My Sassy Girl – an American remake of a classic Korean movie.

These particular images remind me of that famous scene in The Girl Next Door, one of Elisha’s successful films so far.

I wonder if Kim Bauer will make an appearance in the new sixth series of 24 playing Jack’s troublesome daughter?

Kiefer Sutherland sets fire to Jack Bauer

Jack Bauer

Probably the most amusing news story on Kiefer – the star of ‘real-time’ drama 24.

Kiefer Sutherland has only himself to blame for the delay of his Jack Bauer action figure. The Emmy Award-winning actor set fire to the prototype model during a drunken night out…

The action figure had been developed by McFarlane Toys and would have hit the retail stores sooner, but the ‘real’ Jack Bauer decided to destroy it.

Sutherland explains, “They tried to come out with one a couple of years ago and they had sent me the doll for my approval… We took the doll out for a night to have some fun and we’d had some drinks. We sat it on the corner of the table. We started torturing him around 11 o’clock at night, and, by two o’clock in the morning, we had set him on fire in the parking lot.

“We got up the next day and there was just this puddle of wax. His clothes didn’t burn, which I thought was pretty cool… and then I got a call the next day saying, ‘Did you like the doll?’ I said, ‘Yeah, it was great.’ And they said, ‘Well, OK, good, you gotta send it back to us because that was the prototype… It took that guy a year to make it.’ I said, ‘Well, let me look for it, I think I left it in the trailer.’ This went on for about a week and then I had to just kinda come clean.”

To be fair, the model of the all-American action hero doesn’t even look like him. So did Kiefer do the right thing?

Source: andPOP

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

The most amusing and surreal game from Nintendo is now on the Wii, with WarioWare: Smooth Moves. This intense and crazy party game features around 200 micro-games that require the full use of the Wii Remote.

The randomness of these levels always cause you to smile as you complete the five-second game such as carefully guiding fingers into giant polygonal nostrils, slapping sleeping people until they wake up, or grating cell phones to bits with a cheese.

The challenge is to see how many micro games you can do as it gets faster and faster… To play, you have to use the Wii controller in a specific way such as holding upright like an umbrella or sideways like a handlebar. Each game requires holds (or as the game calls it ‘forms’) to play. A little display box indicating how to ‘form’ and prepare the Wii controller is shown before the upcoming micro game. The forms themselves are quite amusing such as holding the controller in front of your face like an elephant or positioning above your head like a Mohawk.

Playing through the main game in story mode is straightforward and can be completed in a couple of hours. But the variety on offer and the different types of challenges will reward you with enthusiasm to continue playing even though you finished most of the different characters set scenarios.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves is definitely the perfect game that really shows off the full range of movement you can accomplish with the Wii Remote. In addition, it demonstrates the Wii’s technology with its accurate motion sensors.

You will never experience as much fun and laughter with WarioWare: Smooth Movies. This is an essential purchase for your Nintendo Wii.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

The original Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube can be consider as the best in the series. The simple concept of rolling around collecting bananas and avoiding the many dangers in the cute monkey world made it appealing and addictive. A sequel soon followed with more puzzling levels and entertaining multiplayer games.

But then came Super Monkey Ball Advance for the handheld console (Game Boy Advance), which ruined the unique control system and game play. The simple fact was Monkey Ball just doesn’t work well on a portable system – just look at the horrible reaction for the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage version.

And yet the monkeys are back with Banana Blitz. The new game uses the Nintendo Wii motion-sensor controller to aid the adorable monkeys around the level. The control system might feel strange at first – the player had to twist and tilt to move – but after a short while, becomes more natural to the user.

The challenge of Monkey Ball was about managing your movement and momentum around a tight and twisty stage. These involve narrow ledges, moving floating platforms and numerous nasty obstacles designed to knock your monkey right off the course and into oblivion.

A strict time limit is also added to the game play experience, ensuring a more urgent involvement to complete the level. These basic elements made Super Monkey Ball a rewarding game for the player. The ability to navigate a set amount of courses with the quickest time or the most bananas made the game a lasting appeal.

With Banana Blitz, the magic monkeys have the ability to jump over obstacles. This can be done by pressing the A button on the Wii remote control. It sounds simple and yet, changes the whole game dynamically. The levels have undergone a slight alteration including some platforms to jump onto, and even though it feels intense, it’s not as challenging as the first two Super Monkey Ball games.

As you progress through the eight different worlds that compose the single-player mode in Banana Blitz, you’ll encounter the end-of-level boss. These usually involve taking on a larger-sized enemy with a single weak spot that you have to figure out how to exploit. The most frustrating aspect in this new boss fight can be experienced with the inability to control the game’s camera… Due to the way it locks onto the boss during these sequences.

Moving on, the multiplayer mode was the best part of any Super Monkey Ball with a collection of fun and crazy sort of games to test your skills. These include such favourites like Monkey Golf, Monkey Race and Monkey Target. But with Banana Blitz, there are now 50 different types of multiplayer games on offer. Great you think – but quantity doesn’t always count for quality…

Despite that, there is a nice variety in the mini games. All of them require the use of the Wii remote, with a number of them also requiring that the Nunchuk be attached. But in some of the games, the controls aren’t responsive enough to support the mini game concepts, and you get the occasional mini game that isn’t much fun to play…

On a whole, the new Super Monkey Ball for the Nintendo Wii is still great fun with the innovative controls. The presentation of Banana Blitz seems more cartoon-like with bright colours and flat shading on the monkeys and the environment. When viewed in High Definition mode (480p), the visual quality gives the game a nice look.

Even though the multiplayer mode suffers between good ideas with bad control system, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is definitely one highly recommended launch game. These monkeys still have the magic to entertain.

Villeneuve’s 24-hour Le Mans racer

Peugeot 908

The 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve will be driving this beautiful-looking Peugeot 908 in this year’s epic endurance event – the Le Mans 24-Hour race.

The French-Canadian driver left Formula One after a frustrating time at BMW/Sauber even though his short stint last year was actually not too bad.

After leaving the sport, there were rumours of him joining the American stockcar series – NASCAR – like his fellow racer Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian also grew tired of racing F1 cars after a disappointing period at McLaren.

With the news that Villeneuve is taking part in the 2007 Le Mans, this will be a fascinating challenge for the driver. He has already won the Indy 500, the Champ Car title and the F1 title. Winning at Le Mans will be the ultimate prize for the French-Canadian.

Villeneuve will drive the Peugeot 908 alongside Nicolas Manassian, Stephane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy, Marc Gene and three-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais. Eric Helary, who won Le Mans for Peugeot back in 1993, joins the new race team as a test and back-up driver.

The Peugeot 908 follows the overwhelming success of the Audi R10 diesel racing car with an all-aluminium twelve-cylinder common-rail direct-injection twin-turbo diesel with the latest advanced particulate filter system.

Between the green power, the star drivers and the return of the French carmaker to the series, there are many reasons to keep an eye on Peugeot this year, kicking off at Monza in April.

Alonso’s new Vodafone-sponsored McLaren

McLaren 2007

This is the car that the double World Champion Fernando Alonso will be driving in his quest to win his third drivers’ title.

The brand new Vodafone-sponsored McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 was unveiled to the world’s media at Valencia, Spain today.

Even though the new car design is similar to last year’s troublesome MP4-21, the British team says the MP4-22 features “some advanced engineering concepts” and “novel aerodynamic solutions”.

British rising star and GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton will join Alonso as the team’s driver line-up in 2007. It will be interesting how well these two will perform in a crucial year for McLaren, who didn’t win a single race back in 2006.

As for the livery, the Vodafone ‘red’ looks reasonable on the car. Not so sure about the drivers’ overalls though…

Felipe and Kimi’s new Ferrari

Ferrari F2007

This is the new Ferrari Formula 1 racing car, the F2007. Drivers Felipe Massa and new Ferrari signing Kimi Raikkonen will be driving in this new chassis in an aim to win this year’s world championship.

The F2007 features a new and revised front suspension, improved aerodynamics and better cooling around the sidepods and airbox.

The car is also longer than last year’s 248 car due to an innovative quick-shift gearbox system.

I must admit the livery of this year’s Ferrari is a bit ghastly – too much red to be honest. Plus sub-consciously, the livery still reminds me of the cigarette brand Marlboro, who is still sponsoring the Italian race team.

Will this car win races and the championship? I reckon it can especially in the hands of Massa and Raikkonen, with Jean Todt managing the whole situation.