Play It

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

An epic tale about the eternal struggle between good and evil, set on top of extremely solid and
surprisingly polished mechanics. Set some 4000 years before Anakin Skywalker discovers the Force, the Republic is faced with the brutal army of the Sith, who have risen to power. When the Endar Spire, the ship you're on, comes under attack, you are forced to flee to the nearby planet Taris. From that point, your character must save a Jedi, and escape Taris. One of the nicest aspects of the game is the focus on true role-playing. Players are expected to communicate not only to move the main story along, but to complete a
variety of side quests as well. Visually, Knights of
the Old Republic presents a great game world that
feels full of life and quite accurate to the style of
the Star Wars universe. The gaming experience proves to be as deep as the engrossing story and wonderful script. Almost everything about this game is utterly extraordinary, the story, the pacing, the all around gameplay, and the amazing character development. BioWare hit the nail right on the head when they crafted this masterpiece.

At The Movies

Matchstick Men

Roy and Frank are a couple of professional small-time con artists. While Roy, a veteran of the grift, and Frank, his ambitious protégé, have a lucrative
partnership due to a successful swindle, Roy’s private life is not so successful. An obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe with no personal relationships to call his own, Roy is barely hanging on to his wits, and when his idiosyncrasies begin to threaten his criminal
productivity he’s forced to seek help just to keep him in working order. While Roy is looking for a quick fix, his therapy begets more than he bargained for: the revelation that he has a teenage daughter, a child whose existence he suspected but never dared confirm. What’s more troubling, 14-year-old Angela wants to meet the father she never knew. At first, her appearance disrupts her neurotic father’s carefully ordered routine. Soon, however, with his own unique spin on parenthood, Roy begins to enjoy a relationship he never dreamed of having with his daughter.

The Buzz...

Dominic Purcell (TV's John Doe) has signed to join Wesley Snipes in Blade: Trinity for writer/director David S. Goyer. Purcell joins a cast which already includes Snipes, Jessica Biel, Kris Kristofferson, and Ryan Reynolds. Production is expected to begin this month in Canada.

Scouting is already taking place for the female lead in Mission: Impossible 3 starring Tom Cruise. Shooting will begin in January 2004 after Cruise finishes with Collateral.

Justin Timberlake's Justified and Christina Aguilera's Stripped albums have both gone triple platinum. Simple Plan earn their first platinum award for No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls while Ashanti earns her second consecutive gold and platinum awards for Chapter Two. Jane's Addiction earned a fourth gold record, for Strays, The Ataris get their first gold album for So Long, Astoria, and Tool hit the double-platinum mark last month with Lateralus, their third consecutive multi-platinum album.

Six months after reuniting for a performance of The
Sound of Silence to open this year's Grammy Awards, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel confirmed plans for a long-rumored reunion tour, their first in more than 20 years. Dubbed Old Friends, the trek will kick off at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on October 18 and wrap up sometime before Christmas.

Matt LeBlanc and new wife Melissa are expecting their first child in mid-March. No word yet whether it's a boy or a girl.

As threatened, the Recording Industry Association of America has begun hauling file-swappers into court. The Associated Press said a total of 261 civil lawsuits were filed.

CBS plans to develop a third installment of their
forensic science franchise Crime Scene Investigation. The original Las Vegas-based series, which bowed in 2000, was the top-rated show last season, while its rookie spinoff, CSI: Miami, ranked 14th in Nielsen ratings.

Eminem, in an effort to help hype Cheers, the debut album from protégé Obie Trice due September 23, is inserting three special tickets among the disc's initial 500,000-copy pressing. The lucky fans who find the tickets will win an all-expenses-paid trip to meet Slim Shady and sit in on a recording session for his next album in his Detroit studio.

The opening of the NFL football season gave ABC
bragging rights it rarely enjoys, first place on a
Thursday night. Nearly 19.2 million people watched the NFL opener between the New York Jets and Washington Redskins last Thursday, the largest network TV audience since the American Idol finale May 21 on Fox.
 

Shania Twain scored the Female Artist, Album, and Video of the Year trophies, plus the Top Selling Album award for Up! at this years Canadian Country Music Association Awards.

Madonna's first children's book, The English Roses, is being published simultaneously next week in more than 100 countries and 30 languages.

The day after Dave Matthews releases his RCA solo debut, Some Devil on Sept 23rd, the Dave Matthews Band will play a benefit show in New York's Central Park that is expected to draw upwards of 100,000 people.

David Spade will star in an untitled holiday-themed comedy that Columbia Pictures has picked up for studio-based Happy Madison Prods. The film centers on the ne'er-do-well son of Santa Claus. When Christmas is threatened by outside forces, Kraig bands together with an oddball elf and a group of underappreciated reindeer to save the holiday and reconcile with his father.

Penelope Cruz is in negotiations to star opposite
Matthew McConaughey in Crusader Entertainment's big-screen adaptation of Clive Cussler's 1992 novel Sahara for director Breck Eisner.

Eva Mendes, Eddie Griffin, Will Ferrell, Kris
Kristofferson, Jacob Vargas, Seymour Cassel and Harry Dean Stanton have joined the cast of Luke Wilson's The Wendell Baker Story for Franchise Pictures.

Lucy Lawless, best known for her role as mighty
warrior Xena, has been tapped to co-star in the WB's new Tarzan drama about the jungle boy's adventures in New York, playing Kathleen Clayton, a publishing magnate and Tarzan's aunt.

Wham-O filed suit against the Viacom Inc.-owned studio in federal court, claiming its trademarked Slip 'N Slide slide was used in the movie, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, without the company's permission.

Queens of the Stone Age are in the process of
compiling video footage for an upcoming DVD. Assisting them in the process is British photographer Nigel Copp, who has been traveling with Queens since the band formed in 1998. The as-yet-untitled DVD will likely be released before Queen' next album, which the band will begin recording in February.

Fred Durst reportedly has persuaded Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry to star in the video for limpbizkit's next single, a cover of the Who classic Behind Blue Eyes.

Nickelback and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx are among the musicians who will be featured separately in a new ad campaign for consumer electronics brand JVC.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons is negotiating with a television outlet for a Gene Simmons reality show, according to Gene's latest posting on his web site.