Bulldog's Bi-Monthly Media Review

Kind of a bland weekend, so I looked at a couple of items I'd been trying to for a couple of weeks now...

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 2 (DVD)
I can't tell you how highly I think of this program. Because of our sub-par Canadian broadcasting networks, I hadn't even HEARD of this show until maybe six months ago. They do show it on a pay-TV station here, but I don't subscribe to it. So I rented season one on DVD a couple of months back and was just BLOWN AWAY by the quality of humor here. They've started showing it on network television here now, but beginning with season three (!!!).

I'm only about half way through watching the season two DVD, and the episodes are even better than anything I'd seen in the first season - and that's saying something.

Although there are ZERO extras on this disc, I'd still recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen CYE yet...

 
Bleachers by John Grisham

I think after I read "Skipping Christmas", I will have read all of Grisham's work. I have to say, this one is my least favorite.

This is partly because I've never been a football fan, and on this side of the border, high school ball games are not the sacreligious event they are in the States. So right off the bat, I had that bias. But more importantly -- it was WAAAAAAY too short. By the time I was even starting to get into it, it was done.

Grisham is an excellent storyteller. Even his non-legal books (A Painted House, for example) show his skills off quite nicely. But this one... just didn't do it for me. It wasn't necessarily awful -- it just didn't grab me the way most of his others have.

Legends of Wrestling: Showdown for PS2

I probably have, or have played, every wrestling-related game for PS and PS2 over the years. For the life of me, I can't understand why this series -- which has so much promise and so much going for it right off the bat -- always fails to disappoint.

Like the first 2 'legends' games, Akklaim has an incredible roster of old-timers. This is the best one yet, adding Jake the Snake, Dusty Rhodes, Ultimate Warrior, DDP and a bunch of other guys, plus keeping the original roster.

First, what I liked about the game: they have multiple arenas, including TWO from right here in Toronto. The graphics are definitely better than the first two, and more importantly, the gameplay is better. Not a TON better, but a far cry from the first version, where all you could basically do is punch and throw objects.

Now onto the bad: it's almost impossible to aim for your opponent, especially when there are more than two people in the ring. You have to press buttons numerous times just to get up off the mat, exit the cage door, avoid elimination in a battle royale, etc. The entrances are still a joke, when you compare what the SmackDown folks have been able to pull off. And the create-a-wrestler function is still a huge joke. This time, they allow you to alter wrestlers on the roster (which is a good thing), but if you can't change Abdullah the Butcher's pants to shorts, for example, it's not really create-a-wrestler, but more a case of, let's play dress-up with the wrestler.

Overall, it was worth the three-day rental, but not much more. When the price inevitably drops down to $10 for a used copy, I'll add it to my collection. But it's certainly not at all competitive with the SmackDown series, which is a huge problem.