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HAAKON SULLIVAN
STAFF WRITER

Beware the Welder

So many games are out on the market
right now with such large media hype
and such impressive looking trailers to
the point where the smaller, made-at-
home games get drowned out, Such
games that should not be ignored are 5
Days a Stranger and 7 Days a Skeptic.
Both are made by Ben Yahtzee Croshaw
using the Adventure Game System
(AGS) and these games are good enough
to contend with today’s horror games.

5 Days a Stranger has a humble start.
A cat burglar known as Trilby gets a tip

KYRA JANOT
STAFF WRITER

The plot: A Jewish woman by the
name of Leni comes home to Madrid to
introduce her Palestinian fiance, Rafi, to
the family. She has led them to believe
that he is Israeli (and he does, in fact,
have an Israeli passport), and thus the
truth is predictably revealed and hys-
teria ensues,

At first glance, this movie appears to
be nothing more than a world-crisis
chick flick, or perhaps a spanish version
of “Meet the Parents.’ One might even
worry that one would be required to be
caught up on current political conflicts,
but this is not the case. In reality, the
producers rarely use specific cultural
differences as a platform for comedy, and
instead draw upon much more universal

COREY WINTEMUTE
STAFF WRITER

Legendary M*A*S*H director Rob-
ert Altman is in fine form for his latest
project A Prairie Home Companion.
The film is a fictional representation of
the long running American radio show
of the-same name. The show's host Gar-
rison Keillor not only wrote the movie,
but stars in it as himself. With a big
name like Altman behind the film, it
is no surprise that the cast of A Prai-
tie Home Companion includes such
renowned names as Meryl Streep, Lily
Tomlin, and Tommy Lee Jones.

A Prairie Home Companion is one
of the staples of National Public Radio,
which is essentially the American equiva-
lent to our CBC. If you are not familiar
with the program it would be fair to
compare it to Stuart Maclean's Vinyl
Café, with its dry, down home sense
of humor, and stories that may sound
rambling and pointless if you. aren't a
native Minnesotan. With a premise like

this it makes it hard for the film adap-

from his fence about a mansion whose
tenants have recently died. Right be-
fore he enters the DeFoe Manor he
exclaims, Yes, this should be a painless
and rewarding evening's entertainment.
He couldn't have been more wrong, The
story is well done, matching up with any
horror movie or game out today. Prob-
lem solving is the major form of play in
the method of walking around for clues
and interacting with the environment.
This can be tedious at times, yet when
you find that body or that diary you will
be given a major piece of the mansion’
horrific past. The music and ambient
noises attribute well to the game, oc-
casionally making you feel the tension
when the music plays and jump when
footsteps are heard. This game is deserv-
ing of the 5 AGS awards and it also sets
a standard for other games made using
the AGS engine.

7 Days a Skeptic is a sequel to 5 Days
a Stranger and is instead set in the fu-
ture on the EMS Mephistopheles, a
ship exploring an isolated part of the
universe, This time we are introduced
to a new character in the series: Jona-
than Somerset, the ship's counselor and
licensed psychiatrist. In this game you
lead him around to investigate strange

situations to create the films undeniable
appeal,

“I would suggest Only Hu-
man for movie-goers re-
quiring clever dialogue and
slapstick humour...” |

This movie could have been about a
chinese woman bringing home a cau-
casian man to her traditionally minded
parents...the cultures themselves do not
matter, only the tension that arises as a
result. And tension does arise frequent-
ly, though much of it appears to have
been lurking pre-arrival off the happy
couple. This is probably the main reason
cultural issues more or less fade into the

background quickly...after all, what is a

tation to be anything but heartwarming
and delightful.

The film plays out as the final per-
formance of the radio show, as they are
going to tear down the theatre to make
way for a parking lot. We are treated
to some charming musical numbers by
Keillor as well as the Johnson Sisters
(Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) and
ptairie cowboy duo Dusty and Lefty
(Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly).
Juxtaposed against the beautiful music
on stage is the hectic goings on behind
the scenes.

Guy Noir (Kevin Kline), a reoccur-
ring character on the radio program, is

_determined to find out why there is a

mysterious woman in white (Virginia
Madsen) lurking around the theatre.
Lola (Lindsay Lohan), escapes from her
mother's constant barrage of old stories
by writing poems about suicide. One of
the shows regular performers is found
dead backstage. All of these chaotic mo-
ments are merely background for what
is happening out on the stage. Some of

the horrors of the DeFoe incident. This
game has a slightly different interface
then the last game but has a much dif-
ferent feel because there are actually
many more times in this game you are
put under pressure to think of a solution
quickly, For example, there is a part in
the game where you have to plan a way
to destroy a crazy killer while you run
away from it. The puzzles here involve
no tedious acts and are even gorier than
the last game, The story that the puzzles
reveal only builds a little on
the story from the last game,
but the characters are much
mote interesting. In general,
Dr. Somerset couldn't have
been more right when he
said it all happened because
we had to bring the stupid
box in as it turned their quiet ©
assignment into a real adven-
ture to remember. Oh, and
remember to save frequently
as there are many ways to die
in this game..

These great, 2D games
can be downloaded for free
at www.reloaded.org or, if
you want to design your

occurrences on the ship and rediscover

Ph: (250) 564-4267

OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. OCTOBER 11,

Palestinian fiance in comparison to a de-
pressed and medicated mother, a blind
gun-toting grandfather, a promiscuous
belly-dancing sister with her fatherless
six year old daughter, an academic fail-
ure-turned-ultra fanatically _ religious
brother and a toilet-residing duckling?

_ Now take all that and add a frozen

soup induced concussion resulting in
amnesia...suddenly you've got the mak-
ings of a frantically fast-paced ride that
has little to do with current issues of the
Middle East.

I would suggest Only Human for
movie-goers requiring clever dialogue
and slapstick humour, as well as unique
yet oddly familiar situations. However,
do not expect a politically-driven plot-
line, as the moments of genuine culture-
clash are few and far between.

the offstage plot twists can be a little
weak at times and

some of the loose ends are not tied up
in the end. It’s almost as it the entire cast
and crew was having so much fun re-
creating the magic of the radio program
that they almost forgot they were mak-
ing a movie.

While the plot of the movie can be
strange at times, it does not take away
from the movie's overall charm. Every-
one in the cast delivers a rock solid per-
formance, and you can't help but love
Garrison Keeillor’s cool, calm demeanor
in the face of the craziness happening in
the wings. Woody Harrelson and John
C, Reilly guaranteed a good chuckle
evety time they were onscreen. Over-
all A Prairie Home Companion is an
uplifting film, and manages to keep a
steady pace throughout. With this film,
Garrison Keiller’s

brilliant radio show can be seen in a
new light and hopefully will introduce it
to a new younger audience.

own adventure game, go to www.adven-
turegamestudio.co.uk to download the
AGS engine to start designing your own
game. These two games are made for a
mature audience and should be played
by anyone who loves the old-fashioned
adventure game or slasher/horror
movie genre, As a final note, if you are
a really impatient person and read the
walkthroughs, you are really ruining the
game for yourself as figuring out what
to do next is part of the fun. (PS Why
beware the welder? Play the game!)

2006

DOUG FERGUSON _
CONTRIBUTER

This is the debut album ‘from Ja-
miroquai, They're a group that’ has
never really made it big but has quite
a following. I’m sure if you were to say
the name-people would go, “Oh yeah,
I know a few of their songs” or “Yeah,
they did that one a few years back that
was... cool.” or something like that.
Well, my brother for Christmas gave
me their first three albums and I think

it's about time that I get on a review.

“As a whole I would say that
it is a really enjoyable album
and certainly a noteworthy
debut from Jamiroquai.”

As a whole I would say that it is a
really enjoyable album and certainly
a noteworthy debut from Jamiro-
quai. In one CD alone they explored
several different musical styles while
staying true to their sound. Jamiro-
quai has accomplished more here than
some bands do in their entire careers,
Though, the album isnt perfect.
Some songs really need some tight-
ening. Also, there are only a few
tracks that are really outstanding.
All the songs are at least good, but —
not quite refined enough to be grand.

. That's okay, I'm sure some of that

will come as they progress as a band.
If you feel like some cool dance music
or want to hear a modern take on 70's
music then certainly give Jamiroquai a
Lo yE

Rating: I just really like that Di-
geridoo! How many pop albums use
that? 4 stars

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