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I’m a fan of the Hot Shots Golf series in general and logged many hours on the first PSP version, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee. Now, along comes the long-awaited follow up, Open Tee 2. And the only real problem is, there’s not really as much new content as one might expect.

The same formula, the same control scheme, most of the same courses, the same collectable gear and even, to some extent, some of the same golfers appear in OT2 as appeared in the original. While there is new content, there’s simply not as much new content as one might reasonably expect from a sports sequel that took over two years to make.

The formula is pretty much unchanged; you have to compete a lot to earn prizes like better clubs, better balls, better clothes and accessories, and so on. You work your way up in ranks and work loyalty up in your characters to improve their skills and abilities until they’re just how you like to play them.

One element new to challenge mode, however, is actually kind of fun; in your course overview, you will sometimes spot a glint off the beaten path. That sparkle indicates a rare hidden item to uncover, such as better clubs or balls.

They’re so far off the beaten path that it’s often not worth going after; however, if you blow a round early on in a match or tourney, tracking down those rare items is a way to inject a sense of purpose back into playing out that event, rather than just hitting the reset button and reloading the game.

While playing Open Tee 2 long enough might cramp up your shoulders significantly enough to require some light massage therapy, other than that, the game is pretty much all good. The game is fun as ever, has better online multiplayer support, and integrates into a WiFi area more smoothly.

And now, Sony is even releasing extra characters and courses via the PlayStation Network, so despite a lot of recycled content, Open Tee 2 does have enough new features and some new content, so that it’s not a complete waste of time buying the new version.

In the end, it’s worth a buy if you’re a series fan; but if you’re more casual about the series, and you already own the first Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, there may not be quite enough reasons to buy it again. It’s a must-have only for series completists.

The List is an example of a truly independent film made good. Originally released one city at a time throughout the South in 2007, the film did such a high per-screen gross ($22,000) in limited release that it was finally decided to release the DVD nationwide in June 2008. Based on the Robert Whitlow book of the same name, the film stars Malcolm McDowell, Chuck Carrington, Hillarie Burton, Pat Hingle and Will Patton, among others.

The concept of the film revolves around a secret society in the South, called “The Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd.” Carrington plays the starring role of Renny Jacobsen, a man who is made curious by the sudden, mysterious death of his father, and a mention of this list made in his will. At his father’s funeral, he meets a woman (Burton) mourning the loss of her own father, and as it turns out, both are the only surviving children of their fathers and thus have a claim to the fortunes that await them as heirs of this Covenant List.

Basically, the Covenant List involves a fair amount of money that was set aside to ensure members and their direct families never slip into poverty; however, there is also a mild spiritual or supernatural element that seems to lend List leader Desmond Larochette with certain powers over events. The Covenant List society is male-only and quickly excludes Jo Johnston (Burton) from her father’s inheritance; this bugs Jacobsen, who is taken with her immediately, and he soon tries to find ways to restore her inheritance to her.

An old-fashioned morality tale with elements of suspense and the supernatural, it’s an enjoyable film that does well building the sort of “caught up on power” paranoia that powered some of John Grisham’s early legal thrillers, like The Firm. As a member in good standing of the Covenant List, Renny suddenly has access to all the material wealth he could ever need, but is not given personal control over his share, so he can get a hot car from Desmond, but he can’t just write out a check to go on Mediterranean cruises with Jo whenever he wants to, and this sparks a battle for control between Desmond and Renny.

Ultimately, the tale twists and turns in enjoyable and unexpected ways that, unlike other films I’ve recently reviewed, such as The Recruit, actually kept me guessing. A solid independent film with a good mix of established and emerging talents, The List is worth owning, whether you live in the South, or not.

M. Night Shyamalan is an interesting director who took a turn toward mediocrity somewhere around The Village or perhaps Lady In the Water. And while The Happening seems to be a step in the right direction, only a movie like Signs is able to remind you why he was so well-thought-of to begin with.

A solid realization of his filmic themes of isolation and paranoia, Signs is a classic film featuring a pre-Passion of the Christ Mel Gibson and a pre-Walk the Line Joaquin Phoenix in a movie aimed directly at the Art Bell conspiracy crowd and presupposes, in a War of the Worlds-style vein, what it might be like if crop circles really were a precursor of an alien invasion. The movie did well enough when released in the wake of September 11 that it grossed enough to enable the cast to afford Outer Banks rentals.

The Blu-Ray format restores some of the big-screen detail to the movie that got lost in translation to the small-screen, standard-resolution TV format when the flick first appeared on DVD. There are, unfortunately, no new extras in this package, but the standard extras that came with the original DVD are present in this Blu-Ray package as well.

The quality of the transfer is quite good and displays with no noticeable issues; my biggest problem with the presentation is that the flick features one of those annoying “downloading is stealing” ads that are so unnecessary, since, if you were downloading the movie, you’d never see the ad to begin with. Whatever.

One of the main underlying themes of Signs is the theme of faith; how the graphic and tragic death of his wife draws Mel Gibson’s character away from his faith, while the invasion improbably restores it. I say improbably because you have to see the entire movie, including the somewhat surprising resolution, to really appreciate how an alien invasion could restore faith to a Bible-preaching pastor.

One of Mad Mel’s more understated performances in years, M. Night Shyamalan drew greatness out of his cast and prepared Joaquin Phoenix for the next phase of his career on his rise to stardom. The film is a classic suspense flick and has held up well since it debuted in 2001. Worth owning, despite sporting no new extra features.

One of the most boring “thrillers” of the 1980s is now on DVD. Please, hold your yawns until the end of the review. For a film that supposedly sparked a complete movement, the French cinéma du look of the 1980s, Diva is an excessively boring spy/suspense film that takes forever to get started and never really takes off.

The plot is thin, disconnected stuff; a young guy named Jules is obsessed with an opera singer named Cynthia Hawkins and takes some video of her at a recital; however, he later takes some video of a crime in progress and is eventually sought by both the police and the bad guys. Believe me, the plot sounds more interesting than the film actually is.

The cinéma du look movement was all about noir-style crime plots in fairy tale settings and were not concerned much with any resemblance to realism. While the movement gave birth eventually to more interesting directors and films, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s DIVA is not among them; it was the director’s first film and feels extremely dated; it’s about as interesting to look at for a couple hours as a showcase of medical jewelry.

While some elite connoisseurs of French film may enjoy it, DIVA was essentially wasted time that this reviewer will never get back. Ponderous, boring and generally unpleasant, DIVA is one film I wouldn’t have missed had it never appeared on DVD.

Hostel and Saw have popularized a new subgenre of horror; the stark torture film. Yet if anyone thinks this genre is limited to America, think again. Frontier(s) is a French import with English subtitles that mimics the basic formula of films like Hostel to a “T,” as well as paying tribute to the subgenres’ progenitors, such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The film begins with a massive political riot going on in Paris, from which a group of five revolutionaries attempt to flee. Rather than taking advantage of some nice overseas cruise deals, the instead flee the city in two separate cars.

Our focus is immediately drawn to the lone female revolutionary, Yasmine, whose brother was mortally wounded in their flight from the site of the riots; she leaves him to an uncertain fate in an emergency room, narrowly avoiding capture, and then continues fleeing from Paris.

We then jump to the other car, which contains two guys, one of whom made Yasmine pregnant but has decided to dump her anyway. They arrive at a small rural hotel (shades of Psycho) where a strange pair of women seem intent on seducing them rather than merely putting them up for the night. Instead, the men are separated and one is immediately killed while the other is strung up like a slab of meat in a human butchery.

Yup, it’s cannibalism central, folks, and these freaks like their meat in whatever state extended torture puts it in, rather than finely cared for. Oh well, if you’re willing to eat human flesh, I guess there’s not much room left for kosher butchery standards to be observed, is there?

That all happens in the first 15 minutes or so, so don’t worry about me giving away too much of what passes for a plot in this excruciatingly gory and largely cliché and boring torture-horror film. While the movie is an entry in After Dark’s Horrorfest “8 Films to Die For” collection, this one is hardly a stellar example of suspense-style horror and instead just subsists on a diet of shock-n-aweful.

There are very few watchable films in this disturbing and dark subgenre, but Frontier(s) is hardly one of the few that are watchable. There’s mercifully not much in the way of special features, either. Avoid it like the plague.

Sometimes writing about cartoon sports videogames can be about as fun as taknig a strong dose of herbal acne treatment; it’s not enjoyable and convinces no one. You either like cartoonish sports titles or you’re over the age of six.

The one exception is the Hot Shots Golf franchise, which seems to have found just the right mix of serious golf sim and cartoon antics to remain interesting to older gamers who love real sports, not “kiddie stuff.”

I recently reviewed Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds for PS3 and really enjoyed the game; it’s a keeper. Now, after over two years of playing Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee on PSP to death and back again, the sequel is out: Open Tee 2 has a good mix of old familiar coarses updated since their last appearance, as well as plenty of new courses.

Look for a full review soon.

I don’t like buying junk, but in the realm of computers, buying anything top-notch is usually beyond my budget. Whenever I get close to making a major purpose, I am careful to be certain that I search out the best buy I can find, whether at retail, online or through word-of-mouth.

This week, I was particularly blessed. I’ve been needing a new graphic card for my PC, one that will future-proof it a bit and make running games on it a viable option. My PC came with an ATI Radeon 2400 Pro with only 128MB RAM on it. Slow RAM. DDR1-slow.

I’ve always been more of an nVidia guy, and my underwhelming experience with the 2400 Pro hasn’t changed by opinion one iota. I’d been thinking of getting a half-decent 8600 card I found online at a discount. That was I’d only be spending between $99 to $149 on it. (Well, more than that, because I need a bigger power supply, too.)

Anyway, like anyone and everyone, I admired the PNY nVidia 8800 GT Performane Edition, but there was no way I was affording that, right? After all, it typially retails at $249 or so.

Well, I was at a retail outlet on Monday and found that very card for a mere $149, due to a weekly special! Talk about savings? As soon as I can buy the proper power supply and get both these things installed, my Acer Aspire will be flying for some time to come!

Just read a preview of Silent Hill: Homecoming for the PS3, and I have to say that even though Team Silent isn’t involved in this one, I’m really looking forward to it. The new game features a more proactive, combat-ready hero, which means that perhaps standing and fighting might become as legitimate an option as running and hiding this time out.

The screens I’ve seen are definitely in the spirit of the earlier titles, but also seem to make a generational leap, sporting a lot more detail than previous Silent Hill titles. The new, US-based team working on this one is the same team that handled Silent Hill: Origins for PSP, but that title received a port-up to PS2 and really isn’t a good indicator of how awesome the work they’re doing on SH:H is looking.

I’m glad to see that, in the absence of Team Silent, the series is still in good hands and isn’t likely to devolved into a Resident Evil clone any time soon. With Silent Hill: Homecoming, Alone In the Dark, and a new Resident Evil all announced for this year, it seems like a survival horror renassaince is in the making on next-gen platforms.

Now all we can pray for is that Tecmo’s Fatal Frame series soon makes the leap to PS2 as well. Those progesterone-dependant Japanese gals with soul-cameras in tow are always great at delivering the chills!

I resisted seeing it in the movie theatres simply because the whole entertainment industry spent so much time trying to ram it down everyone’s throat as the “must-see” indy movie of the year or whatever.

But after watching it as a Netflix rental, I have to admit that Juno is quite a bit better than I expected it to be. Perhaps it was the whole local oversell of screenwriter Diablo Cody as some sort of underground genuis, rather than just a solid storyteller, that put me off the film when it was in theatres. The way she was portrayed as some ultra-liberal, underground press, anti-establishment rebel was just unappealing and made me expect the movie to be far more political and offensive than it really way.

Instead, the film does very little in the way of politicizing teen pregnancy, and instead tells a very human story of believable, if unorthodox, characters, motivated by all the same emotions we all go through. The sense of humor was unique, offbeat, and perhaps just once in a while, a bit too self-conscious.

However, overall, it’s probably one of the better “dysfunctional family” comedies to come from a Minnesota writer since Al Franken wrote “Stuart Saves His Family.” That’s not saying I want to see Diablo Cody run for Minnesota Senate or anything, however.