TOP PICK
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II
(Adult Swim)
The second installment of Robot Chicken’s stop-motion
Star Wars tribute is just as hilarious as the first (best is
Attack of the Clones’ Geonosian battle reimagined as a
monster-truck rally). All your favorite characters show up: Boba Fett,
Darth Vader, Jar Jar. This DVD includes 15 additional minutes not shown
on TV.
VIDEOGAME
The Bigs 2
(2K Sports)
Yeah, MLB: The Show and 2K’s Major League Baseball
series are pretty damn real. But sometimes you just wanna slug away
like a superhuman. That’s where this fun game (for pretty much every
videogame system out there) steps up with tons of crazy gameplay
(gravity-defying leaps, speed-barrier-shattering home runs). The
mini-games hit a grand slam too.
VIDEOGAME
Fight Night Round 4
(EA Sports)
This has always been one of the all-time best boxing sims. The
latest outing (for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) is now the greatest.
Speaking of the greatest, all the champs — including Muhammad Ali
and Mike Tyson — are here. It’s the most realistic boxing game
out there. Best of all, the knockout career mode lets you build a
fighter from training to championship bout.
DVD
Mystery Science Theater 3000:
Volume XV
(Shout! Factory)
The latest four-disc box starring smartass robots and some of the
worst movies ever made pulls a quartet of shows from the series’ run
(including MST3K’s second ep). The films — especially The
Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy and The Girl in Lovers Lane — are awful. The Satellite of Love crew’s onscreen commentary
makes ’em better.
COMIC
Wednesday Comics
(DC)
Newspapers may be dying, but this new weekly paper featuring some of
DC’s biggest heroes (Superman, Batman, Sgt. Rock) is full of life. The
color newsprint makes the comic panels pop from the page; the stories
make you want to pick up the next issue. Each paper is 16 pages and
includes a little bit of everything from the DC universe. It sure beats
Family Circus.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009.