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Reviews

The Influence is Obvious

The Philip K. Dick Reader
People found this review:
3 3 3 3
by RowanK
Mar 15, 2010
Rating:
+4

American science fiction is generally divided into a Golden Age from the 1940's to the 1960's or so, when the giant names of Clarke, Bradbury, Asimov, and more wrote. The transition between their short, pulp novels or entertaining short stories to today's modern science fiction isn't always easy to grasp, but reading a set of Philip K. Dick stories...more

1 comment

Wildly Ambitious, Insanely Successful

Promethea: Volume 1
People found this review:
6 6 6 6
review of

Promethea

by RowanK
Mar 3, 2010
Rating:
+4
Wildly Ambitious, Insanely Successful

Speculative fiction has a long history of basing its stories on premises wherein something societally recognized as metaphorical becomes real. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a famous example, which channeled anxieties about the increasing power of science into a scientist literally creating life and the disasters which ensued. More recently, television...more

2 comments

The Best Kind of Sequel

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People found this review:
0 0 0 0
by RowanK
Feb 28, 2010
Rating:
+4
There are many ways to do sequels in the video game world, but the most common can be summed up as "More of the same, only better." Keep what was good about the original game, tweak the things that can be improved upon, and fix anything that was broken. By that logic, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 is a resounding success. The primary problem...more

Mario Kart Shows Its Age

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People found this review:
6 6 6 6
review of

Mario Kart Wii

by RowanK
Feb 7, 2010
Rating:
+3
Nearly two decades after the original Super Mario Kart for the SNES, with Mario Kart Wii it seems that the venerable kart racer showing its age. It doesn't help that its console predecessor, Mario Kart: Double Dash for the Gamecube was just about perfect. So what can Mario Kart Wii do to improve upon that? The easiest way is to use the Wii's technology....more

Bigger than Big Baby Jesus

Enter the Magical Mystery Chamber
People found this review:
3 3 3 3
by RowanK
Jan 31, 2010
Rating:
+3

One of the most interesting stories of music in the 2000s was the return of the Wu-Tang Clan from punchlines to superstars, and perhaps a consistently underrated story of pop music is the persistent popularity (and hagiography) of The Beatles. It was probably only a matter of time before someone - in this case, an English DJ named Tom Caruana - mashed...more

1 comment
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Micro Reviews
The Adventures of One Button Bob
Fun, funny, and increasingly difficult. Marvelous deconstruction of video games which turns into a great game as well.
On March 08, 2010
Tokyo Story Tokyo Story
File this one under "classic I respect more than love."
On February 16, 2010
Slumdog Millionaire Slumdog Millionaire
It looks a little too cliche and uplifting at first glance, but it pulls through so earnestly it still ends up likable.
On February 08, 2010
Twitter2 Twitter
Finally broke down and joined Twitter for networking. It's pretty immersive, huh?
On February 02, 2010
iPad iPad
Amazing to be able to review a product that's not even out yet.
On February 02, 2010
see all (15)
Latest Lists

World Cup Power Rankings Zero (32)

A few months ago I wrote a review asking for World Cup predictions, based on a set of criteria that seem to work for this very difficult-to-predict tourney. It was based on five criteria: 1. Repeat champions are extremely rare. Too much pressure, probably. 2. The host nation usually does better than expected. 3. European teams win in Europe. South American teams win on other continents. 4. Qualification results don't matter all...more
Brazil Spain England Argentina Germany

Most Distinctive Rock Voices (No Boys Allowed) (10)

A few "most distinctive rock voices" lists have popped up, but are comprised almost entirely of male voices, which seems odd to me. I tend to describe my music tastes as preferring shouty-girl-rock to whiny-boy-rock, largely because the vocals are often significantly more diverse and interesting. So, my list. Criteria were: defining "rock" as primarily guitar-based music that changes between fast and slow (which led me to leave out...more
Janis Joplin Corin Tucker Blondie Beth Ditto Patti Smith

Auteur Attack! (15)

This isn't necessarily a list of my favorite directors, or the best directors I know, but rather, the ones I'm likely to be interested in if I see something by them that I haven't seen before. I'm also requiring that I've seen at least two films by the director. Also, I've gotta say, there's a distinct lack of female directors on this list, and thinking about it, in film in general. Alternate list title: Sausage Party!
Coen Brothers Alfonso Cuarón Kar Wai Wong Akira Kurosawa Pixar
see all
Comments
Haha, congrats on the join on twitter -- you can now tweet out your reviews, and then some!  On that note, your Guitar Hero review was shared on the BestofLunch twitter account this morning ;)
On February 02, 2010
Reply
Thanks! Though I thought the Bamboozled review was a little bit better, but perhaps a little edgier. What's your twitter name?
On February 02, 2010
Oh, that particular twitter account tweets out very select reviews.  I created a twitter list of Lunch Tweeps to Follow, where you can choose to follow the entire list, or just select tweeps.  My twitter handle is aloveletteraway.  Be warned though -- I tweet a lot! :P
On February 02, 2010
 
Hi RowanK, welcome to Lunch.com!  Great to see you already have some reviews up!  Lunch is a great place for finding and sharing information on just about everything!  You might like our Movie Community, you should check it out sometime!  Looks like you're finding your way around just fine, but if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message! 
On December 01, 2009
Reply
 
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The Influence is Obvious
American science fiction is generally divided into a Golden Age from the 1940's to the 1960's or so, when the giant names of Clarke, Bradbury, Asimov,
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