Mario Kart: Double Dash! (Gamecube)
Developed and Published by: Nintendo

Nintendo really only had one major title prepped for holiday shoppers this year, that being Mario Kart Double Dash. Many gamers are quick to criticize Nintendo for releasing the same predictable franchise sequels on every system, and often times I feel like whining about this fact as well. How quickly we forget though, the big N is just so damn good at making games that are both familiar and fresh at the same time that we really have no reason to complain at all.

I think that is the key to the success of this new Mario Kart installment. It has the same addictive feel and simple controls as the original SNES game, but yet it also has all kinds of new enhancements that make it a completely different experience. I was worried that it would be a rehash of past titles (especially after reading some reviews that implied exactly that) but after spending some time with it I have found that there’s a lot to be excited about here. Once again I must say that Nintendo does not disappoint… at least not very often.

The biggest change in the gameplay is that racers now compete in teams of 2: one driver and one “item thrower guy”. It’s a subtle difference that does not affect the main controls of the game, but it makes for some pretty interesting team multiplayer sessions. Even for single player controls it adds some new strategies, because you can swap positions of your driver and item manager in order to carry more items at once. Oh, and I should mention that there are a bunch of new items to use as well. In fact, each racer has his or her own special attack item, such as Yoshi’s surprise egg, Princess Peach’s heart shield, and my personal favourite: Baby Mario’s chain chomp.

Other new gameplay additions include the ability to perform a “double dash” (a quick speed boost when coming out of a power slide), and when teaming up with a friend, the ability to reach out and bitch slap an opposing team’s driver as you pass them.

As you might expect, when playing Grand Prix mode there are 3 cups you can initially compete in at 3 speed classes. Each cup has 4 tracks, and although they draw more from the Mario Kart 64 designs than the SNES or GBA versions (kind of a disappointment in my eyes), there are some really fun courses including the “Daisy Cruiser” track which runs laps around the deck of a cruise ship, and “DK Mountain” which features a barrel cannon that blasts you up the side of a volcano.

Now as any Mario Kart fan will tell you, multiplayer action is the key to this game… in particular the battle mode. In addition to the standard Balloon Battle mode, Double Dash introduces 2 new types of battles: Shine Thief and Bob-omb Blast. Shine Thief is a keep-away type game where the objective is to grab the “shine” and hold onto it until a counter reaches zero. It bares some resemblance to “Tag” mode in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. Bob-omb Blast on the other hand is a chaotic, frenzied variation on the Balloon Battle. The only items you can pick up are bombs, and it’s a race to see who can score 4 bomb hits on their opponents the quickest. The catch is that every time you get hit by an opponent, you lose one of your own tallies. Both of these new battle modes are welcome enhancements to the game that add even more replay value, but in the end I think the good ol’ Balloon Battle is still tops in my book.

My biggest worry about this game was the controls, as I never felt that the N64’s analog controller did the game justice and I wasn’t convinced the Gamecube would handle any better. Thankfully, on the Gamecube the controls are as tight and responsive as ever. The only unanswered question for me is why they decided to eliminate the feather from the game. The ability to jump over an opponent’s turtle shell was always very valuable, particularly in battle mode. The least they could have done is to bring back the little hop that was once part of the power slide. Those cruel bastards.

I guess the most important aspect of the Mario Kart games is the fact that they appeal to just about anyone. They provide good, clean fun and a control scheme that is simple to learn but hard to master. That’s also probably why it’s one of the few games that seems to attract casual female gamers, and with the new dual rider mechanic and co-operative play mode, you can actually team up with your significant other and play this game together into the wee hours of the morning. Now if that’s not a solution for marital difficulties then I don’t know what is.

Early copies of Mario Kart Double Dash also came bundled with a bonus disc that included playable demos of Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, F-Zero GX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario Party 5 and Sonic Heroes. While none of these games are particularly groundbreaking, you have to admit that free goodies are where it’s at! — Sean

Home Movie (DVD)
Directed by: Chris Smith

I love strange documentaries, more specifically, documentaries about the strange people and things around us that we don’t normally take the time to stop and admire. And in this age of quirky reality-dominated television programming, I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one who finds elements of truth more interesting than the characters and plots that are being dreamed up in movie studio boardrooms on a regular basis.

Director Chris Smith has been working in the realm of slighty off-kilter non-fiction for a few years now, most notably with a film called American Movie about a struggling Midwest filmmaker trying to make his first feature. While that movie explored the trials and tribulations needed to achieve ones dreams (under somewhat ridiculous circumstances), Home Movie looks at the relationship between the average person and that special place they call home. Okay, maybe the people featured in the film aren’t exactly “average”, but that’s what makes Home Movie such a fascinating journey. It is grounded in bizarre realities that most of us average people will never know.

Smith seems to have stumbled upon the subject rather inadvertently as he was hired to create a few commercials for Homestore.com (an online business that focuses on real estate and relocation). To do this, he edited together some short clips of interviews recorded with an assortment of people who live in some very eccentric homes. Apparently he enjoyed these people and their footage a great deal and he thought they deserved more airtime than a simple 30 second TV spot. So he gathered up all the film he had shot and amalgamated it into a full length movie.

There are a total of 5 different subjects in this documentary, each of which are given pretty much equal time on screen. There is “Wild” Bill Tregle, an alligator wrestler/breeder who lives on a houseboat in the bayou; photographers Bob Walker and Francis Mooney who live in a house overrun with cats; Linda Beech, a former star of a Japanese sitcom who now lives in a secluded tree house in Hawaii; Diana and Ed Peden, hippies who have taken up residence in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas; and zany inventor Ben Skora who has created a futuristic house full of remote control gadgets and gizmos. Who knows how Smith tracked these people down, especially since they are from all across different parts of the U.S., but you can imagine what kind of broad contrasts are showcased here. Each of them takes the viewer through a tour of their homes while telling anecdotes from their lives and explaining what makes their homes so special to them.

Although there is no underlying story or narrative driving the movie, it never gets boring or dull. If anything, the main problem with Home Movie is that it feels a little too short with a running time of just over an hour. As a result, the movie does not seem like it accomplished all that it wanted to. That is to say, the different threads did not come together to deliver an overall message or moral. This may have been because it was rushed, but at the same time not every documentary needs to be “educational”. Home Movie is just wacky and fun, and that’s good enough for me.

The extra material on the DVD most notably includes the actual Homestore.com commercials that Smith created, but not a heck of a lot else. There are a few additional tidbits included for each featured home owner such as a gallery of cat photos, Wild Bill’s gator commercial, and a history of Kansas missile bases. An audio commentary track would have been a nice addition here, especially considering the high price that the disc seems to be going for. Still, Home Movie is well worth the price in my opinion. It’s highly recommended viewing, especially for fans of American Movie and other light-hearted documentaries. It really is a mad world out there. — Sean

Monster
Written and Directed by: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern

There are a lot of different reasons why people go to watch movies. Sometimes you want to laugh or feel inspired, sometimes you want to be temporarily frightened or feel the thrill of adventure outside every day life, and sometimes you just want to see a whole bunch of stuff get blown up. Monster, however, is a whole other kind of deal. It’s the kind of movie that will stay with you long after you leave the theatre, but not one that leaves you feeling particularly happy. In fact, many scenes are difficult to watch and fill you with a sense of dread and hopelessness… but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch this movie. On the contrary, I insist that you to go see it immediately! This movie needs to be seen, if not for the absorbing performances and keen direction, then simply because it’s a storythat deserves to be told.

Monster is a true story based on Aileen “Lee” Wuornos, a prostitute whose tragic life eventually drove her to become what many have called the world’s first female serial killer. Unlike most serial killer films however, Monster humanizes her and paints a very sympathetic view of her plight. Often with movies based on a true story, I find myself wondering how accurate the events in the movie really are. Writer/director Patty Jenkins spent a considerable amount of time talking with Wuornos during her time on death row, which leads one to think that the details are fairly authentic. On the other hand, the story is also being told from her point of view (the narrations are taken from actual letters that Wuornos wrote to Selby), which may be a little biased but still results in a very moving film.

All of the Oscar buzz surrounding Charlize Theron’s performance in this movie is well-founded and hard-earned. Though we call them “actors” and “actresses”, there are far too many Hollywood stars who earn their keep by repeatedly portraying characters that are minor variations on their own real-life personas. I’m sure acting isn’t the easiest job in the world, but how many roles can you think of that transformed the person onscreen into a character so different you could no longer recognize them? This is exactly what Theron achieves here. While make-up and prosthetics help in the unlikely process of masking Theron’s good looks, she deserves most of the credit not only for gaining 25 pounds to alter her body shape but mainly for mastering a completely different set of mannerisms and speech. With Monster she took a risk that few actresses would take, and that requires a dedication to the art of dramatic acting that you don’t see too often. Compared to some past Oscar winning performances such as Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball, this is the real deal.

Christina Ricci deserves some credit as well for her turn as Lee’s lesbian lover and sole confidant, although the role is not as demanding or as absorbing as Theron’s. As we watch Lee tread down a path of killing that she can never hope to return from, there’s no doubt that Monster wants you to feel compassion for her and understand why she was pushed to that point. Although Patty Jenkins never tries to convince us that what she did wasn’t wrong (especially as we see her victims growing more and more innocent), by the end of the film you can’t help but question the death sentence and wonder whether or not it is ever justifiable in this day and age. This is unquestionably one of the best movies of 2003, and hopefully a wider release will see it get the recognition it deserves. — Sean

Starwoids (DVD)
Directed by: Dennis Przywara
Starring: Over 3000 Star Wars fans

The world of nerdy, obsessive cult fandom is a vast one indeed, but everyone knows that at the very top of the heap lies the hardcore fans of those two epic sci-fi sagas: Star Trek and Star Wars. While Trek fans have been hassled for the last few decades with the socially unattractive label of being called “Trekkies” (most prefer the term “Trekker” instead), Star Wars geeks have gotten off the hook, if for no other reason than the lack of a good derogatory name to call them. It may also have something to do with the fact that there was a 15 year gap between Star Wars movies, which meant little to no public outings for the Star Wars enthusiasts between 1983 and 1998.

With the release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 1999 however (and the Special Editions just before that), all those Star Wars nuts came out of the woodwork, and in fact, a whole new generation of geeks was born at the same time. Filmmaker Dennis Przywara took the opportunity to finally give the Star Wars fans the (dis)credit they deserve, as he waited in line with his video camera for 42 days along with a number of other diehards determined to see the very first showing of the new Star Wars film. During this time, he captured the media frenzy and hype surrounding Star Wars Episode 1, as well as the unwavering support and psychotic obsession of fans. Thus was born his documentary film, “Starwoids”.

Anyone who has seen the movie Trekkies will have a pretty good idea of what to expect with Starwoids. This movie will make you laugh out loud at many of the ludicrous things that Star Wars fans do and say. It isn’t quite as hilarious as Trekkies but while Trekkies simply spliced together a number of unrelated segments featuring different Trek enthusiasts, Starwoids has a certain narrative to it as it progresses through the 42 day wait prior to the release of The Phantom Menace. It does mix in other footage of Star Wars fans though, such as Kevin and Garrin: the writers of Star Wars The Musical, and Guy Klender: Star Wars collector extraordinaire. There’s also a girl who turned her car into an X-Wing fighter and a guy who played a jawa in the first Star Wars movie, among others.

However, the main chunk of the film follows the exploits of Daniel Alter, a teenager who took his high school equivalency test so that he can skip school and camp out at the head of the Star Wars line for over a month. He is well known in his city for always being first in line to see any movie, and he even has his own special “seat” at the theatre. While Daniel and many of the fans in line are amusing, it’s interesting to see all the chaos and bitterness that erupts when the media tries to hone in on the situation. In this sense there is a bit more to the movie than simply laughing at the stupid people in costumes. In the end, looking back at the Episode 1 craze you see how silly it all was (and how much the wait was not worth it), but you also see how much of a cultural connection Star Wars has, for better or worse.

Special features on the DVD include a text-based filmmaker’s diary (easier to read on the website), director’s audio commentary, and deleted scenes, which include some additional footage of Star Wars: The Musical and a stop-motion film of stormtrooper action figures breakdancing (?!). It also has an interview with Kevin Smith, who provides narration at the beginning of the movie but has no other involvement other than being a self-proclaimed “Starwoid” himself. The Smith interview is an obvious ploy to get the film recognition from all the View Askew fanboys in the world, and guess what? It worked!

Overall Starwoids has probably received more attention than it deserves simply because it’s about Star Wars, and yet, I can’t say it isn’t a lot of fun. The film portrays the fans in an affectionate way, most likely because director Przywara is a fan himself, and it’s definitely good for a laugh on a rainy day. If you’re a Star Wars nut then you probably already know about this movie, but even if you’re not, I think you’ll still have a good time with Starwoids. — Sean