I haven’t seen a movie in the theatre since 300. I know, I know, you’re asking yourself, “What’s wrong with him?”

Listen, get your wife pregnant and have a kid and six months in, tell me how many films you’ve seen in the theatre, jerk.

So I’m a bit out of touch when it comes to what’s coming to the theatre, because why bother paying attention if you know you’re not going to go?

Which is why it’s so nice of Ken Levine to give us a rundown of what “Hollywood is force feeding” us this holiday season.

Here’s a taste:
JUNO – Teenager puts her baby up for adoption. Great buzz on the script. Written by a former stripper. If the strike drags on forever she at least has something to fall back on.

He’s a funny guy, that Ken Levine.

Read part one.

Read part two.

My first cover feature for the Georgia Straight publishes today. It’s a look at the cultural impact of the Halo video-game franchise.

Also in today’s issue is my review of Halo 3 and an article by the Straight’s Charlie Smith looking at the challenges facing video-game developers in British Columbia.

Ken Levine, Emmy winner, funny guy, and writer of television programs (from MASH to The Simpsons to Cheers) has posted a dialogue between Smithers and Mr. Burns that sparks off the film and television writers’ strike in the States.

It’s funny, and you should read it.

Make sure to read some of the comments, too, from people who think they know the Simpsons bible and format better than the guy who actually wrote for the show.

Seriously, what kind of tweak has the nerve to give notes to Levine on a blog post?

In the second “Techno Logic,” my column on technology that runs in the Georgia Straight, I look at how distributed computing has changed over the years.

The first real distributed computing project that regular humans could participate in was put together by SETI, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.

Things have come a long way since then, as you can read over here.

This week’s Georgia Straight is a high tech special issue, and includes an episode of “Trigger Happy.”

In the column, which you can read here, I review the stellar games Bioshock, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, NHL 08, and Heavenly Sword.