OVER THEEDGE Fonriary 27 -~ March 12, 2008 VIDEO GAME REVIEW GAME: SILENT HILL: ORIGINS PLATFORM: PSP PRODUCER: KONAMI RATING: MATURE HAAKON SULLIVAN Propucrion/PHoTo CoorDINATOR A lone trucker is driving along chatting with his buddy over the radio. Suddenly, he brakes as a young woman falls in front of his truck and dashes away. The trucker gets out of the truck and tries to follow the girl until he comes across a building on fire. He hears a scream and with much bravado he runs inside the burning build- ing and rescues a charred woman lying in the middle of a pentagram. Swept with exhaustion, the trucker collapses with the woman beside him and he wakes up lying on a street bench wonder- ing what the hell happened. Welcome to Silent Hill. A prequel to Konami’s four other Silent Hill games, this game delivers horror and suspense just as proficiently as the other games. As you ex- plore the town of Silent Hill, you will find many puzzles to explore, many monsters to defeat, and an in-depth mystery to uncover. It should also be known that there are two versions of the town to explore and crossing between the two is neces- sary to progress in the game. The monsters can be extremely difficult to de- feat at times as you will have a hard time finding _ ammunition for your guns or objects to bludg- eon them with (objects ranging from hammers to toasters). Also, if you get too close, they oc- ystery and Horror Surround the Town of Silent Hill casionally try to grapple you and you have to quickly press a sequence |, of buttons to escape be- | fore they kill you. The graphics in the game are astounding for the PSP as they seem almost worthy for the PS2. The environment is perfect for giving the player a feeling of suspense and fear since the town is enveloped in a weird fog and the “other world” is filled with fleshy walls and bloody floors. The music and ambient noises also creates a strong feeling of suspense as it constantly gives the player a feeling that something bad is going to happen. The downfall of the game is that it can be too difficult at times. Some monsters take a lot of resources to defeat and, in a game with hard to find resources, that can put you in some very dif- ficult situations later on. As well, some parts of the game don’t seem that fun. In some buildings you have to defeat the same kinds of monsters over and over and since save points are spread out thinly it’s easy to have to restart a tedious task again. In general, this game is puzzle solving action adventure that has the goal of creeping you out. If you’re squeamish or faint hearted, I suggest that you don’t follow the suggestion of turning out the lights and wear headphones as you play the game. It will only immerse you in the terrible nightmare that is Silent Hill. Fun; 1.2/2 Difficulty: 1.5/2 Presentation: 2/2 Story: 1.8/2 Replay Value: 1.2/2 Total: 7.0/10 B&W ANDREW BERGEN AND ZAINAB KOTADIA STAFF WRITERS The Maltese Falcon On a cold, sunny day in San Francisco, private detective Samuel Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) is hired by beautiful Ms. Wonderly (Mary Astor) to find her sister, who had run away from New York with a Mr. Floyd Thrusby. Unfortunately, this seemingly routine job proves fatal for Sam’s partner, Miles Archer, who, while trailing Thursby, was shot and killed. It turns out that there wasn’t a shred of truth to Ms. Wonderly’s storey—she was really after something else—she was really after the Maltese Falcon (a ficti- tious, priceless statuette). Under a false name, this harmless-looking woman draws Sam into a cyclone of trouble, lie by lie. The Maltese Falcon (1941) is a suspenseful drama that delivers so many twists, according to Eric Lax, that even the actors had difficulty keeping the story straight. The picture was given only 36 days to shoot. John Huston, the director, finished two days ahead of schedule and under budget. In this dark film (or as the French call it, film noir), there were no extravagant sets or cinematography; it is the story, with its complex plot twists, great dialogue, and superb acting, that draws you in. This is definitely the best version of The Maltese Falcon ever made. Humphrey Bogart is one of our favourite actors. He really loved what he did, and he did what he loved well. He married four times and divorced three, but love struck him hard with his last wife, Lauren Bacall (twenty-four years his junior), During his illustrious career, he acted in over seventy movies; his performance in The Maltese Falcon was one of his best. The Tracey Fragments is gritty and brilliant Resecca CARMICHAEL Copy Evitor Movie review: The Tracey Fragments (2007) Directed by Bruce McDonald Written by Maureen Medved Starring Ellen Page When I went into the CNC Film Festival double feature of The Tracey Fragments and All Hat, I didn’t quite know what to expect, knowing only that one involved teen angst and that the other had something to do with cowboys. Unfortunately, I never did get to see All Hat, as it was mistaken- ly en route to somewhere other than Prince George. But I did get to find out that there was a lot more to The Tracey Fragments that just teen angst. The Tracey Fragments is often brutal and difficult to watch, ~ but it is also brilliant. The film opens with a pale, fragile look- ing Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page) wrapped in a shower cur- tain on a bus; informing us that-she’s just a normal 15 year girl who hates herself. The screen is split throughout the movie into several different shots, showing different perspectives of the same scene. While somewhat disorienting at first, it soon makes perfect sense as a way to show Tracey’s life, which is indeed fragmented, raw and disoriented. The desolate and gritty urban Canadian winter is the perfect backdrop for her depression. The plot centers loosely around her search for her missing little brother Sonny before a blizzard arrives. Other elements include her highly dysfunctional family, cruel bullies, her intense crush on Billy Zero, her mostly useless psychiatrist Dr. Heker, and her pseudo-friendship with the seedy charac- ter Lance. The film jumps through time as she tells her story, changing between first and third person narrative. There is little differentiation between fantasy and reality, particularly regarding Billy Zero. I won’t spoil it, but the film comes to- gether brilliantly near the end, where we find out what hap- pened to Sonny, what her connection to Billy Zero actually is, and why she’s wrapped only in a flowered shower curtain on a bus. Ellen Page’s performance is incredible, conveying the depression, guilt, anger, immaturity, and hope of Tracey in a heartbreaking manner. | The movie was based on a novel by Maureen Medved, who also wrote the screenplay after being approached by Bruce McDonald. The film was shot in only 14 days in Hamilton, although it takes place in Winnipeg in the novel. The edit- ing took much longer, of course. According to IMDB, it is the “{flirst feature film to use Mondrian multi-frame compos- itions for the entire length.” This style makes for an interesting viewing experi- ence, and overall it works very well with this story. Unfortunately, it does seem at times like the film is trying too hard to be artistic and original in style, which detracts slightly from the story, but not enough to ruin it. Any good Canadian indie flick needs a soundtrack of good Canadian indie music, and this is no exception. The subtle, minimalist score was done by Broken Social Scene. A musical high- light was a great cover of Patti Smith’s “Land” by Elizabeth Powell as Tracey ran like a horse through a grey landscape. Other artists featured include Peaches and The Fembots. Un- fortunately, the soundtrack was not actually released separ- ately, so I have yet to find any of the songs I liked from the movie. For anyone who has ever been 15 and hated themselves, this film will touch a deep nerve and linger on after watching it. It probably isn’t very accessible to a mainstream audience, but those who appreciate darker, grittier stories will likely appre- ciate this. I highly recommend watching it, keeping in mind that you won’t necessarily enjoy it. 4/5 stars.