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Erepublik

Erepublik is a new online game that
has gotten a lot of attention lately,
even receiving a rave review in

The New York Times. After playing
for a few days, I quickly realized
that The New York Times may be
the best newspaper in the world,
but they don’t know diddley about
video games. The idea of Erepublik
is that you’re a virtual citizen in

an alternative version of Earth,
where you can own your own
company, fight in wars against other
countries, start your own newspaper
and so on. But everything in the
game, from how much resources
you produce to how successful your
attacks are, depends on whether you
can answer lame trivia questions.
It’s like a video game that parents
would try to get their kids to play

in order to trick them into learning.
Sorry, Erepublik, but if I’m trying to
shoot another player with my tank

I don’t want whether or not I know
what the longest river in Australia
is to be what determines whether or
not I hit them.

—Mark Fisher

 

  
  

 

 

75
ot

 

Masterpiece Theatre

Marianas Trench

Masterpiece Theatre is the latest
from Marianas Trench, the
Vancouver quartet that brought you
such annoying tinker-bop hits like
“Say Anything” and “Try a Little
More.” This album is nothing new
for Marianas; another feel-good
album that will undoubtedly top
Canadian music charts and be set
to hourly repeat on MuchMusic.
The new single, “Cross My Heart,”
is a typical radio ballad from a
group who focuses on the whiny-
bad-boy style of singing and
harmonizing guitars. Mariana’s
Trench is the deepest part of the
oceanic floor, but with this album’s
release, the band fails to live up

to their name with its disgustingly
shallow lyrics. One excellent
redeeming quality of Mariana’s
Trench is that they are all vocally
trained, and at live concerts have
beautiful harmonies when they’ re
not playing their instruments.
Maybe their next release should be
a strictly choral arrangement.

—Jay Schreiber

 

 

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Something For All of Us...

Brendan Canning

Brendan Canning and Kevin
Drew, co-founders of Broken
Social Scene, recently put aside
their involvement with the ten
member-plus group to pursue solo
albums. While Brendan Canning’s
Something For All of Us... is

still remarkably similar to that of
Broken Social Scene’s self-titled
album You Forgot It In People, it
does show off Canning’s talents,
with Drew taking a backseat to
Canning for the entire album. This
enabled Canning to diversify and
incorporate more rock heavy songs
than simply artsy alternative pop
songs. However, those types of
songs do appear on this album as
well.

—Matthew Steinbach

 

 

 

WIDESCREEN EDITION

Body of Lies

Warner Bros.

Body of Lies, starring Leonardo
DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, is now
on DVD and a non-stop thrill ride

that will have you on the edge of

your seat. This movie redefines the
word intense and is one of the most
underrated action movies of 2008.
DiCaprio is fantastic as CIA agent
Roger Ferris, who travels through the
Middle East in search of an elusive
terrorist responsible for several
bombings. Crowe plays his Virginia-
based boss, a witty jerk who sends
DiCaprio to different places and
usually ends up undermining him. The
movie is a great espionage thriller that
wastes zero time in getting to the good
stuff. From start to finish it is action
packed and extremely intense. While
the characters aren’t as engaging

as Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne or
Daniel Craig’s James Bond, they

stay interesting throughout. Director
Ridley Scott does a fantastic job with
the production and makes every scene
count.

—Garth McLennan