If you’re at all curious about Beck’s upcoming remix album “Guerolito”, there’s an e-card up with streaming audio from a few of the tracks right now. Among the selections are 8-bit’s great Ghettochipp Malfunction remix of “Hell Yes” (from the Hell Yes EP), the Boards of Canada remix of “Broken Drum” (from the Guero deluxe edition), Air’s “Heaven Hammer” (Missing), Adrock’s “Shake Shake Tambourine” (Black Tambourine), plus remix all-star Diplo’s “Wish Coin” (Go It Alone). It’s also got one of them shuffle picture puzzle thingies… hours of entertainment! Guerolito still seems to be scheduled to hit stores on Dec. 13th despite a few reports that it had been pushed back to January.

Short geek timeout here on Space Junk. The new version of Mozilla’s Firefox web browser was released as of yesterday, and if you haven’t yet discovered the speed and simplicity of this fine piece of software, now is a great time to get on board. It’s completely free of course. There haven’t been any real major changes in version 1.5 except an improved pop-up blocker, some interface tweaks and better performance, but once you try it you won’t want to go back. Download it at the link below, and then check out the many cool custom Firefox extensions you can download to enhance your web browsing experience.

The 4th installment of id Software’s other wildly popular first-person shooter franchise has been available in stores for a couple weeks now. It arrived without nearly as much fanfare as Doom 3, and received fairly lukewarm reviews. Are people starting to cool off on id Software? Could it be that people want something more than just twitch action and pretty graphics? Either way, if you want to take Quake 4 for a test drive, the official PC demo has been released online. It features both a single-player mission and a multiplayer map, and the download is approximately 324 MB in size. For more info, check out the official Quake 4 website.

Ringers: Lord of the Fans (DVD)
Directed by: Carlene Cordova
Written by: Cliff Broadway, Carlene Cordova
Narrated by: Dominic Monaghan

In this day and age, just about everyone is a fan of something, whether it be an NBA team, musical group, TV show, or even just their favourite food. Whatever the case, fandom is a pretty natural and accepted part of our culture-driven lives, and an important aspect of how we define ourselves. There are always those people who feel the need to take things a little bit further than the norm… maybe they buy Yankees season tickets, collect Pearl Jam bootlegs, or take part in vigorous online discussions analyzing every episode of Desperate Housewives. And then there are science-fiction and fantasy fanatics, who quite often belong in a whole other category of their own.

“Ringers: Lord of the Fans” is an attempt to document a group of people that may very well have started the entire concept of cult fandom; a community of followers who both immerse themselves in a work of fiction and express themselves through it. Way before “Star Wars” came along and made imaginary worlds cool, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” was captivating the minds of readers and inspiring an underground movement. Sci-fi and fantasy weren’t very mainstream in those days, and it was difficult for enthusiasts to come across other like-minded individuals.

Fortunately, the ideas were so compelling that they persisted, and the genre has blossomed into the huge market that it is today. The thing is, Ringers doesn’t delve into the idea of this original subculture as much as it claims to, and for a movie that is supposed to be all about the fans, we don’t really get to know any of them very well.

Narrated by Dominic Monaghan (”Merry” in the LOTR films), perhaps part of the problem with Ringers is the fact that it has a hard time separating itself from Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movies in order to explore the roots of the phenomenon, which is of course the books. While the temptation to tie things in with the enormously successful movies is hard to resist, the end result is that this feels like something that should have been an extra on one of the Lord of the Rings DVD box sets, rather than a standalone feature.

The movie starts off with a fairly condensed history of the publishing of Tolkien’s books. There is a Terry Gilliam-esque cut-and-paste animated sequence that whisks us through much of this time period, glossing over many of the details of the cultural climate. All we learn is that some critics called Tolkien’s work “juvenile”. Then we head to the 60’s and 70’s where the film touches on hippie culture, and Tolkien’s influence on music including such bands as Led Zeppelin and Rush. Geddy Lee himself is interviewed for the film, as is Lemmy from Motorhead, who is so unintelligible at points that he needs subtitles.

One of the centerpieces of the film is Leonard Nimoy’s bizarre “Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” video, which is amusing but only mentioned in passing with a very short clip (an interview with Nimoy himself would have been great, unfortunately he declined to do one). The movie often intercuts weird modern day re-enactments of young adults from the 60’s and 70’s dancing and hanging out, which I guess were supposed to give the movie a kitschy feel but just seemed like filler. From here it moves on to cover the animated Lord of the Rings films from the late 70’s and 80’s, and finally Peter Jackson’s monumental movie trilogy.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was the fact that Ringers isn’t all that funny. Many people thought the Star Trek fan documentary “Trekkies” was mean-spirited and degrading, but personally I found it both intriguing and endearing. When compared with a movie like Trekkies, Ringers seems rather dull, spending the vast majority of its time recapping dry historical facts and interviewing experts rather than trying to understand the wacky fans. By contrast, Trekkies spends a lot more time with only a handful of specific fans and focuses on their personal stories rather than Star Trek itself.

In Ringers, the fan’s stories all kind of run together since they are mainly relegated to short clips of testimonials recorded from a booth at Comic Con. We do briefly meet the people who run the low budget home-made theme park “Hobbiton U.S.A.” and get a few interviews with people lined up outside of The Two Towers premiere (reminiscent of the Star Wars fan doc “Starwoids”), but that’s about it. It doesn’t help that interviewer Cliff Broadway doesn’t seem to know what he wants to get out of the fans to begin with, and asks obvious questions like “If Middle Earth were a real place, would you want to visit?”

Extra features on the DVD include deleted scenes, commentary from the production team, and a couple featurettes. “Rock & Ringers” is just a slightly extended version of the music segment already seen in the film, while “The Ring Comes Full Circle” is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the documentary itself, which feels a little self-important.

Maybe the film is trying to accomplish too much at once, but for whatever reason, “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” is neither as fascinating nor as quirky as I was hoping it would be. Fervent Tolkien and Lord of the Rings followers will probably not learn anything new, and anyone hoping for a comedic look at fandom in the vein of “Trekkies” will likely be disappointed. Ringers is not a complete waste of time, but certainly not something you’ll need to see more than once. — Sean

Mario Kart DS
Developed and Published by: Nintendo

I still maintain that the original Super Mario Kart is one of the best multiplayer games ever created, but like most Nintendo franchises, at this point it has been nearly run into the ground. Last year, Mario Kart Double Dash for the Gamecube brought a bold new twist to the game by pairing up drivers two per kart. However, one of its coolest features — the ability to play with up to 8 people in a LAN game — was essentially useless because, well… who the heck owns a network adapter for the Gamecube?

Enter the Nintendo DS handheld system. With its wireless connectivity, the DS is an ideal platform for a multiplayer game like Mario Kart, making it easy for 8 people to play together (assuming they all own a DS). Nintendo has sealed the deal by simultaneously launching their internet Wi-Fi service which allows people to play online against anyone else, anywhere in the world. But how does it play? Can Mario Kart on the DS generate the same frantic and irresistable fun as the original?

The basic gameplay is, for the most part, a return to form for the series. There is only one player per kart, which will make a lot of old school Mario Kart fans happy. However, the graphics are true 3D (unlike the SNES and GBA games), which makes it at times closer in practice to Mario Kart 64… the worst of the bunch in my opinion. The precision of the controls vary wildly based on your character and kart of choice, and the items and power-ups are at times so powerful that they can severely unbalance the game. This time around they’ve added new items that include Bullet Bill (with a similar effect to the Chain Chomp in Double Dash) and Blooper (a squid that inks up the screen of a nearby opponent to obscure their vision).

This is all good if you like unpredictability, but bad if you prefer a more straightforward match of skill. They’ve kept the “double dash” maneuver from the Gamecube version, and it’s now an integral part of the game. Mario Kart DS gets difficult in a hurry, so at 150 CC you’d better know the courses like the back of your hand and you’d better be double dashin’ at every turn, or else you will quickly be left in the dust.

Still, even though they didn’t entirely nail the core gameplay in my opinion, Nintendo has packed Mario Kart DS full of so many new options that it more than makes up for it. One of the major additions is a new “Challenge Mode”, which adds Burnout-style mini-games with certain short objectives to accomplish such as collecting a certain number of coins, or passing through numbered gates within a certain time allotment. After a group of these goals are accomplished, the player is presented with a “boss fight” of sorts… definitely a Mario Kart first!

The dual screen set up on the DS opens the possibilities for a persistent map in the bottom half of the screen. In past Mario Kart games it was always necessary to hold down a button to get a quick glimpse in your rearview mirror, or to have a small map superimposed over the screen to give you a basic idea of your position. The map in Mario Kart DS is a very useful tool, not only because it’s always on, but especially since it also shows you the location of items and weapons as they hurtle towards you.

Another long overdue feature is the addition of computer-controlled opponents in Battle Mode. Plus this time around Battle Mode has a new twist: you start with only 1 balloon, and you need to actually inflate the other 2 yourself by blowing into the microphone or tapping a button. Weird… but kind of neat. I didn’t even realize how this feature worked until I read the instruction book… but seriously, who actually reads instruction books? A little pop-up message might have made this more obvious.

Of course, the real major selling points of this game are the direct link wireless and online multiplayer modes. Despite a few hiccups during the first week of launch, the Nintendo Wi-Fi service appears to be working quite well, and faithful to Nintendo’s easy-to-use mantra. There is an auto-detect network option, but otherwise you only need enter your wireless network name and WEP encryption key to connect. Some routers may not be compatible with the DS (check Nintendo’s list online), so be warned — you might have to head to the nearest McDonald’s hotspot to play. Online play was extremely smooth and lag-free from what I’ve seen so far, as was direct wireless connection matches. There aren’t any matchmaking options for online play (again, keeping it simple I suppose), but unfortunately this means you’re probably going to get your ass handed to you more often than not. Thankfully, you also have a Friends list that you can use to create a custom online game (when you configure Mario Kart DS the first time, your game generates a unique Friend code that you can then share with others).

It is a bit disappointing that Battle Mode is not available online, and that you are limited to 4 human players at a time. Also, it feels a bit quiet and empty when playing online since you have no way of communicating with your opponents. It really would have been nice to be able to speak to each other using the microphone. I guess this is forgiveable, considering Nintendo’s strict need to keep their games family-friendly — but why not simply restrict voice interaction to among friends only? At the very least you can still express yourself through your insignia, which is hand drawn using the stylus and touch screen.

The other thing that really endeared me to this game is that aside from the new tracks, there are also 2 Retro Cup series accessible right off the bat, each one comprised of 4 tracks taken from the 4 previous Mario Kart titles. As a reward for winning cups, more tracks can be unlocked (along with additional racers and karts).

Overall, Mario Kart DS is a very strong title for Nintendo this holiday season (lucky for them because they don’t have much else on tap), and it’s a great reason to own a DS if you don’t have one yet. I wasn’t completely wowed, mainly because, well… it’s Mario Kart. But considering this is the 5th iteration of the Mario Kart series, they’ve still added enough new features to make this game feel fresh and exciting all over again. — Sean

I hate 50 Cent. I hate the way he talks, the overly lazy way he raps, the absolute insipidness of an undeserving hit like “Candy Shop”, his ridiculous tie-ins in other media (not just his movies and video games, but like… mineral water called “Formula 50″). But then again, it wasn’t all that long ago I didn’t appreciate Jay-Z, and I was way off on that one. What turned me around in my opinion on Jay-Z was the Internet downloadable “Grey Album” by Danger Mouse. Others have successfully tried to pull off the ‘full album mashup’ epic, such as the “Double Black Album” by Cheap Cologne that mixed Metallica and Jay-Z, and now we have a quite pleasing mix of Queen and 50 Cent called Q-Unit, put together by the Silence XPeriment. The full album (including the cover artwork) is free to download, so go check it out.

This week you’re lookin at couple of great documentaries in March of the Penguins and Murderball, a bunch of Muppet movie anniversary editions, and some new animated box sets including Family Guy Vol. 3, Mission Hill and the third season of Home Movies. Not to mention an unrated director’s cut of Peter Jackson’s most well-known movie outside of LOTR. I also read somewhere that the new Final Fantasy CG film comes out today but I think that may only be an import… Amazon still has it for January 10th, 2006.

The Frighteners: Director’s Cut
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Project Runway: The Complete First Season
Family Guy Volume 3
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Sky High
Criss Angel Mindfreak: The Complete First Season
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
The Muppet Movie: Anniversary Edition
The Great Muppet Caper: Anniversary Edition
The Muppet Christmas Carol: Anniversary Edition
Muppet Treasure Island: Anniversary Edition
A River Runs Through It: Deluxe Edition
Legends of the Fall: Deluxe Edition
Home Movies: The Complete Third Season
Mission Hill: The Complete Series
CSI: The Complete Fifth Season
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children?

Stereogum brought to my attention this little nugget of goodness from The Go! Team. As they continue taking over the world with their debut album “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” recently re-released in U.S., it seems they’ve gained yet another new fan in the form of one Mr. Kevin Shields, ex-frontman for My Bloody Valentine. He recently put together a mash-up of two Go! Team songs, “Ladyflash” and “Huddle Formation”, which can now be streamed on The Go! Team’s MySpace page. The song will also appear on the upcoming Ladyflash single (didn’t they already have a Ladyflash single?) which will be released on Jan. 30th in the U.K. backed up by a remix of “Huddle Formation” by RJD2 and a new song entitled “The Wrath of Mikey”.

For a guy who’s spent the last 10 years trying to get people to feel sorry for him, Michael Jackson sure seems to have more than a little bit of resentment built up inside. And on more than one occasion he’s directed this bitterness towards people of Jewish descent. Last week, the Anti-Defamation League demanded an apology from Jacko for comments he made in an answering machine message that recently aired on Good Morning America, in which he referred to Jews as “leeches”. Previously he upset Jewish groups after his song “They Don’t Care About Us” included the lyrics “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me, kick me, kike me”. At the time he was let off the hook by claiming that the lyrics were meant to illustrate the harm that can be caused by racism and stereotypes. Somehow I don’t think that excuse will cut it this time around.

The Darkness - One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back
(Atlantic/WEA)

There’s a lot of people who desperately want this album to fail. There’s the perception out there that the Darkness exist solely to poke fun at decades old rock and that they aren’t serious about their music. These same people don’t have the respect for them to even correctly identify exactly what era they’re supposedly mocking. The term ‘cock rock’ has been thrown around left and right, and while it may be true that the Darkness’ videos and live shows visually celebrate the excess of the 80s, musically they are clearly devoted to classic rock of the 70’s - Boston, Thin Lizzy, early AC/DC and especially Queen.

The devotion to Queen has been drastically upped with this sophomore disc, in the vast majority of cases for the better, but in a few moments not so much. On the positive side, the production by - you may not be surprised - Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, has masterfully multitracked Justin Hawkins voice throughout this album to easily pull of the “Freddie Mercury effect”, making Hawkins appear to have much more control over his voice than he actually does. The rock riffs and solos continue to impress - if it were a decade earlier surely we’d be hearing Beavis and Butthead humph-ing along to them. The lyrics, while in some cases are ridiculous and in other cases overly simplistic love songs, also successfully celebrate that era of music. In 2005, having goofy lyrics is somehow considered mockery though… these people apparently forget “Fat Bottomed Girls”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, and other songs of the era the Darkness worship.

“One Way Ticket” in many places truly captures the sexual ambiguity of classic rock, especially through the bombastic highlands inspired “Hazel Eyes”, the piano driven “English Country Garden”, a few ballads, and “Knockers”, which despite its title, sounds ‘gay’ enough to be a Scissor Sisters track. Whether it’s the pan flutes that open the record or the jingling bells in “Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time”, it disgusts me that anyone could think that the Darkness aren’t fully in control of what they’re doing - how anyone could question their care for their craft. There is a difference between ‘trying to be funny’ and ‘trying to have fun’, and the Darkness clearly fit in the latter category.

The title track, while a grower, was probably a bad choice for the first single. Even in the UK where the Darkness are already of Legend, it has not done as well as expected. Still, given the context of the album it’s appropriate. The songs are definitely catchy, but they are not nearly as ready for radio as “Permission to Land”. It didn’t take me any longer to really throw myself into “One Way Ticket” than it did for “Permission”, but I find this album’s Queen worship causes it to be hard to sing along to. Granted, their lyrics have never been the clearest, but they’re even more unintelligible now.

Despite giving this my highest rating, I’m not sure this tops “Permission to Land”. But one thing is for certain, this wins no matter how much certain (I’m talking to you Tim Perlich of NOW Magazine, you elitist douche) don’t get it want it to. The Darkness will certainly be kicking around for several albums more. - Goon