Here’s my weekly columns from Metro News for the week of October 28th.
eBooks – Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
By Stephen King
Three Stars
It may be the Devil setting the McCandless family at each other’s throats, but when they burst into song its John Mellencamp and T-Bone Burnett playing their strings. King’s script for a Country musical about cursed brothers would be a confusing read if not for its music, animation, and all-star cast. More folksy than spooky, it’s an oddly entertaining tragedy.
Video Games – Beyond: Two Souls
PlayStation 3
Rated Mature 17+
Four Stars
Ellen Page and Willem DaFoe star in this complex journey through the lifetime of a woman with supernatural powers. Is she rebellious or reserved by nature? You make her choices while guiding her energies to infiltrate rooms, possess others, and keep those who want to harness her at bay.
The gesture-like controls take practice, but offer inventive situations for cooking, street fighting, and talking to the dead while Page’s remarkable motion-captured acting adds an emotional weight few games deliver. It is a tense, frightening, nuanced battle against possessive monsters and everyday challenges.
Entertainment Apps – The Hunting Part 1
Free
Filmed over two years using an iPhone for an impressive first-person experience, this episodic zombie adventure is a smart, terrifying mix of ominous quiet, distressed loved ones, and heart-pounding chases.
Health/Fitness – Runtastic Six Pack
Free/$4.99
Full of features, yet limited to abdominal exercises, this interval workout offers a nice mix of instructional videos, synchronized music, and calorie counter. Unfortunately the free version has annoying ads.
