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bkelly9505
Reviews
Arrested Development (2003)
Genius. Pure Genius.
I loved this show. I loved it a lot. I don't know how it failed to connect with viewers. (Aside from being on Fox.) The writing was just amazing. Many techniques were used to great effect. Several episodes featured cleverly hilarious plot twist endings. Many of those twists were subtly foreshadowed in similarly clever ways. Quite a few running jokes reared their heads in unexpected ways. The writing staff must have consisted of English majors as the usage of wordplay resulted in numerous memorable lines, mostly Tobias' double entendres.
The cast acted the series wonderfully. Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, David Cross, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Howard, and several guest and recurring cast members played their characters nicely. With many shows, a special guest star would be a sign of declining quality. AD on the other hand made exceptional use of their guests.
My dismay at the show's short life is somewhat relieved by the news that the long rumored movie is a go. I can only hope it's as well written as the show was.
Gran Turismo 4 (2004)
A Car Lover's Paradise
Being a car nut, I was looking forward to this game very much. After several delays, it has finally come out and is well worth the wait. The variety and range of cars is amazing! There are many different kinds including compacts, classic muscle cars, exotics, luxury sedans, and even pickup trucks. There are even a couple of cars from 1886. (No, that's not meant to say 1986.) The tracks are nice too. Along with the city courses, most of which are realistically recreated, are several real racetracks (including the highly challenging Nurburgring) and several of the original tracks the series is known for. In the cities, many of their landmarks are easily visible during the race. On the rally courses, there are actually guys who stand in the track, take pictures of your approaching car, then scurry out of the way.
As for the soundtrack, there's more good variety. I've driven exceptionally long endurance races (some as long as 8 hours, or more) with the default soundtrack set up and it took two hours for the music to cycle around. What played in that two hours was nicely chosen. I heard some good new songs from Jimmy Eat World, The Donnas, Jet, Chronic Future, Dirty Americans, and Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers. Also, I heard some nice older tunes from Judas Priest, Yello, and Van Halen. Everything else was at least worth listening to.
There's also an oddity new the series in this game called B-Spec. With this new mode, you can let the computer drive for you while you manage its pace, tell it when it's okay to pass opponents, and when to go into the pits. This can easily make many of the longer endurance races more manageable.
Recommending this game to car nuts with a PS2 seems almost useless because they most likely have this game already.