Image
File
Bird.
Arkham Asylum could be the best ever
By Garth McLennan
Batman: Arkham Asylum could possibly be
the best video game of all time.
That may sound like a pretty bold
statement to make but it’s true. This is one
of those few games that come around once
every blue moon.
The game is a perfect meld of action-
adventure and problem solving, sort of
like The Legend of Zelda on steroids. The
best parts of this game will blow your
mind, and the worst will still leave you
amazed. The absorbing storyline, written
by acclaimed Detective Comics scribe
Paul Dini, is simply superb, and you'll find
it increasingly difficult to put down the
controller.
Arkham Asylum sets a new height
for outstanding graphics, and the actual
gameplay is easy but complex at the same
time. The fight scenes are terrific, and really
capture the essence of Batman from the
comic books. Almost every room inside
Arkham is laced with secret passages,
mysteries and riddles that get tougher and
tougher to crack. Virtually everything has
the potential to be a clue. Much like the
Grand Theft Auto series, Arkham Asylum
has a free roaming style of play, which
allows you to move through and backtrack
around Arkham. There are certain puzzles
and clues in all areas that can only be solved
or obtained after completing later parts of
the game, so you'll find yourself repeatedly
going through already finished levels.
A vast selection of Batman’s rogues
gallery appear in the game and the voice
cast is just perfect. Kevin Conroy and Star
Wars’ Mark Hamill return from Batman:
The Animated Series as Batman and The
Joker, respectively.
The plot involves the player as Batman
moving through Arkham Asylum, which has
been overrun and is now controlled from
the inside by The Joker. As you make your
way through the mad house, you'll have to
figure out creative ways to subdue multiple
opponents at once. Stealthily, you need to
avoid detection on a number of occasions,
level up Batman and upgrade everything
from your basic move-set to the attributes
of the Bat-suit. Special challenges can be
unlocked as you progress through the game
and find hidden bonuses.
The story is richly woven, and it’s
unmistakable that Dini has really brought
the images from the comics to life. Plain
and simple, it really feels like a classic
Batman story. Like Batman comics today,
the plot isn’t necessarily for kids, it’s very
mature and remains dark throughout.
When it’s all said and done, this is a
game that people will remember for years
to come. In a short time, people will be
comparing it to such classics as Super
Mario Bros’, GTA: Vice City, The Secret of
Mana and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Do
yourself a favour and don’t miss out on this
one.
Arkham Asylum is available for PC
and Xbox 360 but the Playstation 3 version
allows you to play certain levels as The
Joker.
Hitler: the biggest Basterd of them all!
Tarantino gives us his version of how the war should have ended
By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor
hat is the worst thing in the
world? Waking up five minutes
after class should have started?
Having your car fail on you during a road
trip? How about going into a job interview
with a piece of spinach stuck between your
two front teeth? The answer, arguably, is
World War II, a battle between nations that
saw most of Western Europe fall under the
command of possibly the most evil man of
all time, Adolf Hitler.
Over the years, war films show
the heroics in battle and terror amongst
citizens of the countries involved. In
Quentin Tarantino’s film nglourious
Basterds both aspects are there except that
the point of the film comes down to two
words: “killin’ Nazis.”
Anyone who knows Tarantino will
member of the third Reich will be in the
audience. Little do they know that the
Jewish owner of the cinema has a secret
agenda to wipe them all out and the
Basterds are invited.
Eli Roth, the talentless waste of
oxygen he is, plays “The Bear Jew,” a big
American Jew from Boston who loves
taking his Louisville slugger to the side of
a Nazi head. Despite his horrible career,
Roth does have a good swing and I did
enjoy his torturing of evil humans. Well
done, Eli, now go find a hole to curl up in.
Christoph Waltz and Til Schweiger
were both fantastic as “Jew Hunter” Hans
Landa and Nazi-killing Hugo Stiglitz
respectively. Pitt was a good all-American
who even up to the last minutes of the film
never lost sight of his goal to exterminate
the exterminators.
Quentin decided that about half of
“The entirely original premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a ‘this is
what should have happened’ look at the World War Il.”
attest to two things: he loves dialogue and
nothing in his movie making process is out
of bounds. Again the former video clerk
delivers with intriguing scenes that quickly
turn around to bite you in the ass before a
sweet musical montage.
Set “somewhere in Nazi-occupied
France,” the movie follows a group of
American, French and German Jews who
turn against the Nazis in an attempt to take
down the Reich. Unlike the allies, they
don’t follow any international war rules
except those laid down by their leader Lt.
Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt. They are
called his Basterds, and their mission is to
collect 100 scalps each, or die trying!
When a pro-Nazi film is being
premiered in Paris, every important
14
his dialogue would be in either German
or French, a logical and intelligent choice
for a Hollywood film. Last year’s Valkyrie
was based entirely on the third Reich and
yet there were no more than two sentences
spoken in the mother tongue. Brad Pitt: 1,
Tom Cruise: 0
For Quentin fans this is not Pulp
part two and for historians, my sincerest
apologies, but the Basterds are entirely
fictional. Despite that, the entirely original
premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a “this is
what should have happened” look at World
War II.
See it for entertainment, see it for film
study, or see it like I did: for revenge.
Whatever the case, you will leave the
theatre applauding.
District 9 can’t change the world
Blomkamp’s debut film wanting in substance
By Liam Britten
Science fiction is a genre almost entirely
devoted to high-concept morality tales.
Take a look at the Star Trek franchise; over
the course of their countless series and
movies, how many pieces have been fables
that tell us in a thinly veiled manner that
racism is bad?
The thing about Star Trek and their
life-lessons-in-space plotlines was that
they followed through with their message.
By the end of the episode, the bigoted
aliens (or humans, robots, or whatever)
had either learned to accept each others’
differences or they had failed to do so and
perished. Either way, these episodes took
their “racism is bad” stories to their logical
conclusion and made a point doing so: we
must confront bigotry or it will destroy
us—and that’s a message for those of us
living on Earth, not in space!
That’s why this summer’s blockbuster
District 9 was such a disappointment for
me. The concept was phenomenal; alien
refugees stranded on Earth face despicable
racism and bigotry from a larger population
that views them as far less than equal.
The aliens, stranded on Earth because
their spaceship doesn’t work, live in a
fenced-off ghetto in Johannesburg, South
Africa. They are widely reviled by human
citizens who want them gone or kept
separate from the outside world. Wikus
van de Merwe (played ably by recently-
unknown South African actor Sharlto
Copley), an unsympathetic bureaucrat
responsible for the aliens, is trying to move
them into a new ghetto and begins a long
process of evicting the aliens from their old
homes, which is where the film begins.
Is there no shortage of parallels to
this plight? No end of real-world examples
of this sort of thing happening throughout
history, and sadly, today still? Palestine?
Darfur? Jim Crow? First Nations people?
Even the setting of Johannesburg itself,
with traumatic memories of apartheid still
fresh in the minds of many citizens is a
parallel in itself. District 9 could’ve done
so much more exploring these themes
of racism and cold indifference to the
unknown “others” in our society, but sadly
spends its latter acts in a fairly standard,
if well-constructed and paced, action
sequence.
Perhaps District 9 simply built
itself something too big and important to
finish in one film; that’s understandable.
Perhaps there was a bleak point to the
film abandoning the heart-wrenching and
disgusting racism shown throughout the
first act; maybe director Neill Blomkamp is
trying to make the point that racism can’t
be resolved in a three-hour film, or maybe
it can never be resolved. But if those were
his points, he certainly makes it a guessing
game to know for sure.
District 9 is not a failure by any
means; the action is tight and visceral, and
if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly
delivers. Perhaps if it was a little bit more
of a sleeper film, instead of built up by a
massive viral and traditional marketing
campaign portraying it as a thinking feller’s
sci-fi flick, I would’ ve enjoyed it more. But
ultimately, District 9 simply dug up themes
that it was either unwilling or unable to
address with due care-and attention.
Edited Text
Bird.
Arkham Asylum could be the best ever
By Garth McLennan
Batman: Arkham Asylum could possibly be
the best video game of all time.
That may sound like a pretty bold
statement to make but it’s true. This is one
of those few games that come around once
every blue moon.
The game is a perfect meld of action-
adventure and problem solving, sort of
like The Legend of Zelda on steroids. The
best parts of this game will blow your
mind, and the worst will still leave you
amazed. The absorbing storyline, written
by acclaimed Detective Comics scribe
Paul Dini, is simply superb, and you'll find
it increasingly difficult to put down the
controller.
Arkham Asylum sets a new height
for outstanding graphics, and the actual
gameplay is easy but complex at the same
time. The fight scenes are terrific, and really
capture the essence of Batman from the
comic books. Almost every room inside
Arkham is laced with secret passages,
mysteries and riddles that get tougher and
tougher to crack. Virtually everything has
the potential to be a clue. Much like the
Grand Theft Auto series, Arkham Asylum
has a free roaming style of play, which
allows you to move through and backtrack
around Arkham. There are certain puzzles
and clues in all areas that can only be solved
or obtained after completing later parts of
the game, so you'll find yourself repeatedly
going through already finished levels.
A vast selection of Batman’s rogues
gallery appear in the game and the voice
cast is just perfect. Kevin Conroy and Star
Wars’ Mark Hamill return from Batman:
The Animated Series as Batman and The
Joker, respectively.
The plot involves the player as Batman
moving through Arkham Asylum, which has
been overrun and is now controlled from
the inside by The Joker. As you make your
way through the mad house, you'll have to
figure out creative ways to subdue multiple
opponents at once. Stealthily, you need to
avoid detection on a number of occasions,
level up Batman and upgrade everything
from your basic move-set to the attributes
of the Bat-suit. Special challenges can be
unlocked as you progress through the game
and find hidden bonuses.
The story is richly woven, and it’s
unmistakable that Dini has really brought
the images from the comics to life. Plain
and simple, it really feels like a classic
Batman story. Like Batman comics today,
the plot isn’t necessarily for kids, it’s very
mature and remains dark throughout.
When it’s all said and done, this is a
game that people will remember for years
to come. In a short time, people will be
comparing it to such classics as Super
Mario Bros’, GTA: Vice City, The Secret of
Mana and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Do
yourself a favour and don’t miss out on this
one.
Arkham Asylum is available for PC
and Xbox 360 but the Playstation 3 version
allows you to play certain levels as The
Joker.
Hitler: the biggest Basterd of them all!
Tarantino gives us his version of how the war should have ended
By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor
hat is the worst thing in the
world? Waking up five minutes
after class should have started?
Having your car fail on you during a road
trip? How about going into a job interview
with a piece of spinach stuck between your
two front teeth? The answer, arguably, is
World War II, a battle between nations that
saw most of Western Europe fall under the
command of possibly the most evil man of
all time, Adolf Hitler.
Over the years, war films show
the heroics in battle and terror amongst
citizens of the countries involved. In
Quentin Tarantino’s film nglourious
Basterds both aspects are there except that
the point of the film comes down to two
words: “killin’ Nazis.”
Anyone who knows Tarantino will
member of the third Reich will be in the
audience. Little do they know that the
Jewish owner of the cinema has a secret
agenda to wipe them all out and the
Basterds are invited.
Eli Roth, the talentless waste of
oxygen he is, plays “The Bear Jew,” a big
American Jew from Boston who loves
taking his Louisville slugger to the side of
a Nazi head. Despite his horrible career,
Roth does have a good swing and I did
enjoy his torturing of evil humans. Well
done, Eli, now go find a hole to curl up in.
Christoph Waltz and Til Schweiger
were both fantastic as “Jew Hunter” Hans
Landa and Nazi-killing Hugo Stiglitz
respectively. Pitt was a good all-American
who even up to the last minutes of the film
never lost sight of his goal to exterminate
the exterminators.
Quentin decided that about half of
“The entirely original premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a ‘this is
what should have happened’ look at the World War Il.”
attest to two things: he loves dialogue and
nothing in his movie making process is out
of bounds. Again the former video clerk
delivers with intriguing scenes that quickly
turn around to bite you in the ass before a
sweet musical montage.
Set “somewhere in Nazi-occupied
France,” the movie follows a group of
American, French and German Jews who
turn against the Nazis in an attempt to take
down the Reich. Unlike the allies, they
don’t follow any international war rules
except those laid down by their leader Lt.
Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt. They are
called his Basterds, and their mission is to
collect 100 scalps each, or die trying!
When a pro-Nazi film is being
premiered in Paris, every important
14
his dialogue would be in either German
or French, a logical and intelligent choice
for a Hollywood film. Last year’s Valkyrie
was based entirely on the third Reich and
yet there were no more than two sentences
spoken in the mother tongue. Brad Pitt: 1,
Tom Cruise: 0
For Quentin fans this is not Pulp
part two and for historians, my sincerest
apologies, but the Basterds are entirely
fictional. Despite that, the entirely original
premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a “this is
what should have happened” look at World
War II.
See it for entertainment, see it for film
study, or see it like I did: for revenge.
Whatever the case, you will leave the
theatre applauding.
District 9 can’t change the world
Blomkamp’s debut film wanting in substance
By Liam Britten
Science fiction is a genre almost entirely
devoted to high-concept morality tales.
Take a look at the Star Trek franchise; over
the course of their countless series and
movies, how many pieces have been fables
that tell us in a thinly veiled manner that
racism is bad?
The thing about Star Trek and their
life-lessons-in-space plotlines was that
they followed through with their message.
By the end of the episode, the bigoted
aliens (or humans, robots, or whatever)
had either learned to accept each others’
differences or they had failed to do so and
perished. Either way, these episodes took
their “racism is bad” stories to their logical
conclusion and made a point doing so: we
must confront bigotry or it will destroy
us—and that’s a message for those of us
living on Earth, not in space!
That’s why this summer’s blockbuster
District 9 was such a disappointment for
me. The concept was phenomenal; alien
refugees stranded on Earth face despicable
racism and bigotry from a larger population
that views them as far less than equal.
The aliens, stranded on Earth because
their spaceship doesn’t work, live in a
fenced-off ghetto in Johannesburg, South
Africa. They are widely reviled by human
citizens who want them gone or kept
separate from the outside world. Wikus
van de Merwe (played ably by recently-
unknown South African actor Sharlto
Copley), an unsympathetic bureaucrat
responsible for the aliens, is trying to move
them into a new ghetto and begins a long
process of evicting the aliens from their old
homes, which is where the film begins.
Is there no shortage of parallels to
this plight? No end of real-world examples
of this sort of thing happening throughout
history, and sadly, today still? Palestine?
Darfur? Jim Crow? First Nations people?
Even the setting of Johannesburg itself,
with traumatic memories of apartheid still
fresh in the minds of many citizens is a
parallel in itself. District 9 could’ve done
so much more exploring these themes
of racism and cold indifference to the
unknown “others” in our society, but sadly
spends its latter acts in a fairly standard,
if well-constructed and paced, action
sequence.
Perhaps District 9 simply built
itself something too big and important to
finish in one film; that’s understandable.
Perhaps there was a bleak point to the
film abandoning the heart-wrenching and
disgusting racism shown throughout the
first act; maybe director Neill Blomkamp is
trying to make the point that racism can’t
be resolved in a three-hour film, or maybe
it can never be resolved. But if those were
his points, he certainly makes it a guessing
game to know for sure.
District 9 is not a failure by any
means; the action is tight and visceral, and
if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly
delivers. Perhaps if it was a little bit more
of a sleeper film, instead of built up by a
massive viral and traditional marketing
campaign portraying it as a thinking feller’s
sci-fi flick, I would’ ve enjoyed it more. But
ultimately, District 9 simply dug up themes
that it was either unwilling or unable to
address with due care-and attention.
Bird.
Arkham Asylum could be the best ever
By Garth McLennan
Batman: Arkham Asylum could possibly be
the best video game of all time.
That may sound like a pretty bold
statement to make but it’s true. This is one
of those few games that come around once
every blue moon.
The game is a perfect meld of action-
adventure and problem solving, sort of
like The Legend of Zelda on steroids. The
best parts of this game will blow your
mind, and the worst will still leave you
amazed. The absorbing storyline, written
by acclaimed Detective Comics scribe
Paul Dini, is simply superb, and you'll find
it increasingly difficult to put down the
controller.
Arkham Asylum sets a new height
for outstanding graphics, and the actual
gameplay is easy but complex at the same
time. The fight scenes are terrific, and really
capture the essence of Batman from the
comic books. Almost every room inside
Arkham is laced with secret passages,
mysteries and riddles that get tougher and
tougher to crack. Virtually everything has
the potential to be a clue. Much like the
Grand Theft Auto series, Arkham Asylum
has a free roaming style of play, which
allows you to move through and backtrack
around Arkham. There are certain puzzles
and clues in all areas that can only be solved
or obtained after completing later parts of
the game, so you'll find yourself repeatedly
going through already finished levels.
A vast selection of Batman’s rogues
gallery appear in the game and the voice
cast is just perfect. Kevin Conroy and Star
Wars’ Mark Hamill return from Batman:
The Animated Series as Batman and The
Joker, respectively.
The plot involves the player as Batman
moving through Arkham Asylum, which has
been overrun and is now controlled from
the inside by The Joker. As you make your
way through the mad house, you'll have to
figure out creative ways to subdue multiple
opponents at once. Stealthily, you need to
avoid detection on a number of occasions,
level up Batman and upgrade everything
from your basic move-set to the attributes
of the Bat-suit. Special challenges can be
unlocked as you progress through the game
and find hidden bonuses.
The story is richly woven, and it’s
unmistakable that Dini has really brought
the images from the comics to life. Plain
and simple, it really feels like a classic
Batman story. Like Batman comics today,
the plot isn’t necessarily for kids, it’s very
mature and remains dark throughout.
When it’s all said and done, this is a
game that people will remember for years
to come. In a short time, people will be
comparing it to such classics as Super
Mario Bros’, GTA: Vice City, The Secret of
Mana and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Do
yourself a favour and don’t miss out on this
one.
Arkham Asylum is available for PC
and Xbox 360 but the Playstation 3 version
allows you to play certain levels as The
Joker.
Hitler: the biggest Basterd of them all!
Tarantino gives us his version of how the war should have ended
By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor
hat is the worst thing in the
world? Waking up five minutes
after class should have started?
Having your car fail on you during a road
trip? How about going into a job interview
with a piece of spinach stuck between your
two front teeth? The answer, arguably, is
World War II, a battle between nations that
saw most of Western Europe fall under the
command of possibly the most evil man of
all time, Adolf Hitler.
Over the years, war films show
the heroics in battle and terror amongst
citizens of the countries involved. In
Quentin Tarantino’s film nglourious
Basterds both aspects are there except that
the point of the film comes down to two
words: “killin’ Nazis.”
Anyone who knows Tarantino will
member of the third Reich will be in the
audience. Little do they know that the
Jewish owner of the cinema has a secret
agenda to wipe them all out and the
Basterds are invited.
Eli Roth, the talentless waste of
oxygen he is, plays “The Bear Jew,” a big
American Jew from Boston who loves
taking his Louisville slugger to the side of
a Nazi head. Despite his horrible career,
Roth does have a good swing and I did
enjoy his torturing of evil humans. Well
done, Eli, now go find a hole to curl up in.
Christoph Waltz and Til Schweiger
were both fantastic as “Jew Hunter” Hans
Landa and Nazi-killing Hugo Stiglitz
respectively. Pitt was a good all-American
who even up to the last minutes of the film
never lost sight of his goal to exterminate
the exterminators.
Quentin decided that about half of
“The entirely original premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a ‘this is
what should have happened’ look at the World War Il.”
attest to two things: he loves dialogue and
nothing in his movie making process is out
of bounds. Again the former video clerk
delivers with intriguing scenes that quickly
turn around to bite you in the ass before a
sweet musical montage.
Set “somewhere in Nazi-occupied
France,” the movie follows a group of
American, French and German Jews who
turn against the Nazis in an attempt to take
down the Reich. Unlike the allies, they
don’t follow any international war rules
except those laid down by their leader Lt.
Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt. They are
called his Basterds, and their mission is to
collect 100 scalps each, or die trying!
When a pro-Nazi film is being
premiered in Paris, every important
14
his dialogue would be in either German
or French, a logical and intelligent choice
for a Hollywood film. Last year’s Valkyrie
was based entirely on the third Reich and
yet there were no more than two sentences
spoken in the mother tongue. Brad Pitt: 1,
Tom Cruise: 0
For Quentin fans this is not Pulp
part two and for historians, my sincerest
apologies, but the Basterds are entirely
fictional. Despite that, the entirely original
premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a “this is
what should have happened” look at World
War II.
See it for entertainment, see it for film
study, or see it like I did: for revenge.
Whatever the case, you will leave the
theatre applauding.
District 9 can’t change the world
Blomkamp’s debut film wanting in substance
By Liam Britten
Science fiction is a genre almost entirely
devoted to high-concept morality tales.
Take a look at the Star Trek franchise; over
the course of their countless series and
movies, how many pieces have been fables
that tell us in a thinly veiled manner that
racism is bad?
The thing about Star Trek and their
life-lessons-in-space plotlines was that
they followed through with their message.
By the end of the episode, the bigoted
aliens (or humans, robots, or whatever)
had either learned to accept each others’
differences or they had failed to do so and
perished. Either way, these episodes took
their “racism is bad” stories to their logical
conclusion and made a point doing so: we
must confront bigotry or it will destroy
us—and that’s a message for those of us
living on Earth, not in space!
That’s why this summer’s blockbuster
District 9 was such a disappointment for
me. The concept was phenomenal; alien
refugees stranded on Earth face despicable
racism and bigotry from a larger population
that views them as far less than equal.
The aliens, stranded on Earth because
their spaceship doesn’t work, live in a
fenced-off ghetto in Johannesburg, South
Africa. They are widely reviled by human
citizens who want them gone or kept
separate from the outside world. Wikus
van de Merwe (played ably by recently-
unknown South African actor Sharlto
Copley), an unsympathetic bureaucrat
responsible for the aliens, is trying to move
them into a new ghetto and begins a long
process of evicting the aliens from their old
homes, which is where the film begins.
Is there no shortage of parallels to
this plight? No end of real-world examples
of this sort of thing happening throughout
history, and sadly, today still? Palestine?
Darfur? Jim Crow? First Nations people?
Even the setting of Johannesburg itself,
with traumatic memories of apartheid still
fresh in the minds of many citizens is a
parallel in itself. District 9 could’ve done
so much more exploring these themes
of racism and cold indifference to the
unknown “others” in our society, but sadly
spends its latter acts in a fairly standard,
if well-constructed and paced, action
sequence.
Perhaps District 9 simply built
itself something too big and important to
finish in one film; that’s understandable.
Perhaps there was a bleak point to the
film abandoning the heart-wrenching and
disgusting racism shown throughout the
first act; maybe director Neill Blomkamp is
trying to make the point that racism can’t
be resolved in a three-hour film, or maybe
it can never be resolved. But if those were
his points, he certainly makes it a guessing
game to know for sure.
District 9 is not a failure by any
means; the action is tight and visceral, and
if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly
delivers. Perhaps if it was a little bit more
of a sleeper film, instead of built up by a
massive viral and traditional marketing
campaign portraying it as a thinking feller’s
sci-fi flick, I would’ ve enjoyed it more. But
ultimately, District 9 simply dug up themes
that it was either unwilling or unable to
address with due care-and attention.
Bird.
Arkham Asylum could be the best ever
By Garth McLennan
Batman: Arkham Asylum could possibly be
the best video game of all time.
That may sound like a pretty bold
statement to make but it’s true. This is one
of those few games that come around once
every blue moon.
The game is a perfect meld of action-
adventure and problem solving, sort of
like The Legend of Zelda on steroids. The
best parts of this game will blow your
mind, and the worst will still leave you
amazed. The absorbing storyline, written
by acclaimed Detective Comics scribe
Paul Dini, is simply superb, and you'll find
it increasingly difficult to put down the
controller.
Arkham Asylum sets a new height
for outstanding graphics, and the actual
gameplay is easy but complex at the same
time. The fight scenes are terrific, and really
capture the essence of Batman from the
comic books. Almost every room inside
Arkham is laced with secret passages,
mysteries and riddles that get tougher and
tougher to crack. Virtually everything has
the potential to be a clue. Much like the
Grand Theft Auto series, Arkham Asylum
has a free roaming style of play, which
allows you to move through and backtrack
around Arkham. There are certain puzzles
and clues in all areas that can only be solved
or obtained after completing later parts of
the game, so you'll find yourself repeatedly
going through already finished levels.
A vast selection of Batman’s rogues
gallery appear in the game and the voice
cast is just perfect. Kevin Conroy and Star
Wars’ Mark Hamill return from Batman:
The Animated Series as Batman and The
Joker, respectively.
The plot involves the player as Batman
moving through Arkham Asylum, which has
been overrun and is now controlled from
the inside by The Joker. As you make your
way through the mad house, you'll have to
figure out creative ways to subdue multiple
opponents at once. Stealthily, you need to
avoid detection on a number of occasions,
level up Batman and upgrade everything
from your basic move-set to the attributes
of the Bat-suit. Special challenges can be
unlocked as you progress through the game
and find hidden bonuses.
The story is richly woven, and it’s
unmistakable that Dini has really brought
the images from the comics to life. Plain
and simple, it really feels like a classic
Batman story. Like Batman comics today,
the plot isn’t necessarily for kids, it’s very
mature and remains dark throughout.
When it’s all said and done, this is a
game that people will remember for years
to come. In a short time, people will be
comparing it to such classics as Super
Mario Bros’, GTA: Vice City, The Secret of
Mana and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Do
yourself a favour and don’t miss out on this
one.
Arkham Asylum is available for PC
and Xbox 360 but the Playstation 3 version
allows you to play certain levels as The
Joker.
Hitler: the biggest Basterd of them all!
Tarantino gives us his version of how the war should have ended
By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor
hat is the worst thing in the
world? Waking up five minutes
after class should have started?
Having your car fail on you during a road
trip? How about going into a job interview
with a piece of spinach stuck between your
two front teeth? The answer, arguably, is
World War II, a battle between nations that
saw most of Western Europe fall under the
command of possibly the most evil man of
all time, Adolf Hitler.
Over the years, war films show
the heroics in battle and terror amongst
citizens of the countries involved. In
Quentin Tarantino’s film nglourious
Basterds both aspects are there except that
the point of the film comes down to two
words: “killin’ Nazis.”
Anyone who knows Tarantino will
member of the third Reich will be in the
audience. Little do they know that the
Jewish owner of the cinema has a secret
agenda to wipe them all out and the
Basterds are invited.
Eli Roth, the talentless waste of
oxygen he is, plays “The Bear Jew,” a big
American Jew from Boston who loves
taking his Louisville slugger to the side of
a Nazi head. Despite his horrible career,
Roth does have a good swing and I did
enjoy his torturing of evil humans. Well
done, Eli, now go find a hole to curl up in.
Christoph Waltz and Til Schweiger
were both fantastic as “Jew Hunter” Hans
Landa and Nazi-killing Hugo Stiglitz
respectively. Pitt was a good all-American
who even up to the last minutes of the film
never lost sight of his goal to exterminate
the exterminators.
Quentin decided that about half of
“The entirely original premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a ‘this is
what should have happened’ look at the World War Il.”
attest to two things: he loves dialogue and
nothing in his movie making process is out
of bounds. Again the former video clerk
delivers with intriguing scenes that quickly
turn around to bite you in the ass before a
sweet musical montage.
Set “somewhere in Nazi-occupied
France,” the movie follows a group of
American, French and German Jews who
turn against the Nazis in an attempt to take
down the Reich. Unlike the allies, they
don’t follow any international war rules
except those laid down by their leader Lt.
Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt. They are
called his Basterds, and their mission is to
collect 100 scalps each, or die trying!
When a pro-Nazi film is being
premiered in Paris, every important
14
his dialogue would be in either German
or French, a logical and intelligent choice
for a Hollywood film. Last year’s Valkyrie
was based entirely on the third Reich and
yet there were no more than two sentences
spoken in the mother tongue. Brad Pitt: 1,
Tom Cruise: 0
For Quentin fans this is not Pulp
part two and for historians, my sincerest
apologies, but the Basterds are entirely
fictional. Despite that, the entirely original
premise is a Hebrew wet dream, a “this is
what should have happened” look at World
War II.
See it for entertainment, see it for film
study, or see it like I did: for revenge.
Whatever the case, you will leave the
theatre applauding.
District 9 can’t change the world
Blomkamp’s debut film wanting in substance
By Liam Britten
Science fiction is a genre almost entirely
devoted to high-concept morality tales.
Take a look at the Star Trek franchise; over
the course of their countless series and
movies, how many pieces have been fables
that tell us in a thinly veiled manner that
racism is bad?
The thing about Star Trek and their
life-lessons-in-space plotlines was that
they followed through with their message.
By the end of the episode, the bigoted
aliens (or humans, robots, or whatever)
had either learned to accept each others’
differences or they had failed to do so and
perished. Either way, these episodes took
their “racism is bad” stories to their logical
conclusion and made a point doing so: we
must confront bigotry or it will destroy
us—and that’s a message for those of us
living on Earth, not in space!
That’s why this summer’s blockbuster
District 9 was such a disappointment for
me. The concept was phenomenal; alien
refugees stranded on Earth face despicable
racism and bigotry from a larger population
that views them as far less than equal.
The aliens, stranded on Earth because
their spaceship doesn’t work, live in a
fenced-off ghetto in Johannesburg, South
Africa. They are widely reviled by human
citizens who want them gone or kept
separate from the outside world. Wikus
van de Merwe (played ably by recently-
unknown South African actor Sharlto
Copley), an unsympathetic bureaucrat
responsible for the aliens, is trying to move
them into a new ghetto and begins a long
process of evicting the aliens from their old
homes, which is where the film begins.
Is there no shortage of parallels to
this plight? No end of real-world examples
of this sort of thing happening throughout
history, and sadly, today still? Palestine?
Darfur? Jim Crow? First Nations people?
Even the setting of Johannesburg itself,
with traumatic memories of apartheid still
fresh in the minds of many citizens is a
parallel in itself. District 9 could’ve done
so much more exploring these themes
of racism and cold indifference to the
unknown “others” in our society, but sadly
spends its latter acts in a fairly standard,
if well-constructed and paced, action
sequence.
Perhaps District 9 simply built
itself something too big and important to
finish in one film; that’s understandable.
Perhaps there was a bleak point to the
film abandoning the heart-wrenching and
disgusting racism shown throughout the
first act; maybe director Neill Blomkamp is
trying to make the point that racism can’t
be resolved in a three-hour film, or maybe
it can never be resolved. But if those were
his points, he certainly makes it a guessing
game to know for sure.
District 9 is not a failure by any
means; the action is tight and visceral, and
if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly
delivers. Perhaps if it was a little bit more
of a sleeper film, instead of built up by a
massive viral and traditional marketing
campaign portraying it as a thinking feller’s
sci-fi flick, I would’ ve enjoyed it more. But
ultimately, District 9 simply dug up themes
that it was either unwilling or unable to
address with due care-and attention.