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X-Rite EODIS2 Eye-One Display 2
$249.00
I'm using this colorimeter with a new Eizo monitor that has its own profiling software so I did not install the I1Display2 software. However, there's no question this is a quality product. It is also recommended by virtually all high end monitor makers.

Valeo U-21 Gen2 Premium All-Season Bracketless Wiper Blade - 21", Pack of 1
$17.98
The Gen2 beam blade has a revolutionary design with a single piece of rubber and integrated spoiler. This blade offers you the quietest performance with no vibration or chatter because of the patented 1,500 pressure points on the blade when moving across the windshield versus a conventional blade that has only 4 to 8 pressure points.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
$59.99
I've been looking forward to this game since I first played MUA1 (my ATF game). I probably should have known better. The online hype machine was in full-effect early, but pre-release game review or demo DL never materialized. I was expecting another Epic experience, including a full spectrum of characters produced by a team that truly understands/appreciates Marvel history... but I came away unfulfilled.

Essentially MUA2 is a stripped down version of MUA1. You'll read a number of supporters (whom I suspect could have been compensated) tout the improved graphics. I notice no such improvement, primarily because I can't see what's going on half the time. It's often hard to discern where your character/s are on the screen or what is actually happening. Lots of explosions and no real story, ergo my bad hollywood sequel analogy. Ofcourse this sequel doesn't include the starring/returning cast (voices). I'm not sure what happened here, but it's not the same studio/team that brought us X-Men Legends 1, 2, and MUA1... and it SHOWS.

Disappointments include:
- Fewer powers (from 8 to 4)
- Fewer customizations (a maximum of 1 alternate costume per character, which has no effect on powers/abilities)
- Enhancements locked out (depending on Pro or Anti-registration)
- Many characters locked out for much of the game (again depending on Pro or Anti-reg)
- Poor voice-overs for some (especially Spider-man & Thor)
- Powered down characters (I'm usually all for this, but Cap & Iron Man are complete wimps in this game)
- Confusing gameplay... busy effects, and hard-to-differentiate characters leave you hitting buttons and hoping for the best
- HORRIBLE camera that only works 25% of the time
- No on-screen Map
- Non-playable guest 'ride-along' AI characters... a nuisance which often look just like the 'bad guys' you're supposed to fight
- Missing favorites (e.g. Cyclops & Spider-woman)... I admit many people didn't like Spiderwoman as much as I did
- Returning favorites who who are now less enjoyable (since 4 past powers no longer exist)
- New characters: Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Penance??? does anyone really care about these guys?
- Enemies: Soldiers, robots, and more soldiers. BORING as heck. No sign of the refreshing variation of Asgardians, underwater battles with Atlanteans, Arcade clowns, etc
- UI displays powers as A,B,X,Y instead of some graphic to remind you what each does during game-play
- DLC content more expensive. MUA1: 500 MS points for 4 characters or 800 MS points for 8 characters. MUA2: 800 points for only 5 characters... and 2 of those are Black Panther and Cable, sheesh!!!
- Boring Boss battles. No chance of facing off against the classic X-men here
- SHORT. Feels about 30-40% shorter than MUA1, but in all honestly I kinda wanted it to end already.

Few bright spots:
- New playable characters: Jean Grey (Phoenix), Green Goblin, Songbird, Juggernaut
- Online multiplayer allows you to use previously saved (offline) attributes

Overall, it seems that Marvel or Activision, or whomever cut corners or just didn't understand what made the first game so great. It feels pieced together, sloppy, and stale. Did they knowingly decide to cut the budget?, or truly feel this was a quality product? I'd really love to see Marvel redeem themselves with a 3rd installment, but they'd first need to understand how this iteration missed the target before I'd buy again.

8 1/2 (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
$39.95

"Unless Fellini's problem has been preying on the mind of the viewer, he may not care to take on the director's doubts and confusions." TIME Magazine


Like all Frederico Fellini's shallow, hypocritical 'masterworks', may be with the exception of Quinn's la Strada, this film lacks a definitive plot or narrative structure. It is even more difficult to approach, largely because of his controversial complex reputation. Some critics also state that the film is so complicated that it requires repeated viewing to unclue, which is likely to intimidate even more viewers, than those who read the back-boneless critics. But it seems to me, in spite of its pretentious surrealistic air, an early prophecy of a serious dementia that Fellini preached, without a glimmer of genuine creativity, extending a false hallucination of Mussolini's Fascism.

Top Critic Reviews:
"Fellini's flights into the surreal are his self-examination and confession. Alas, unlike Bergman, his confession is without moral rigor; he wants to be indulged, not absolved."
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide