Since Batman Begins debuted in 2005 the long standing belief that it was the best, and most faithful, superhero adaptation from comic to screen has been held by many. While Batman’s reboot is still one of the most faithful silver-screen portrayals ever, Jon Favreau’s Iron Man has superseded it as one of the best, if not the best comic to movie transition ever. Iron Man is simply spectacular, reaching heights not seen since Spider-Man 2 and accurately portraying all of the characters involved thanks to spot on casting, a tight script, and the unmatched abilities of star Robert Downey, Jr.

Iron Man, the story of the womanizing, boozing, and tinkering Tony Stark, leaves nothing on the pages of the comic that doesn’t transition here to the big screen. The way the film begins, Stark sitting in a Humvee, with what appears to be scotch on the rocks, and a charismatic, death-dealing personality who makes it almost impossible not to like him, even if his weapons are responsible for possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths.

His life-long ambition is changed when he’s held captive for three months, forced to build a missile of incredible power for a terrorist sect in Afghanistan. The rest of the film provides an origin backdrop for Iron Man and the growth of Tony Stark as someone seeking redemption for all the harm he’s caused in the world. Along with his personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and military-backed best friend James Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Stark as Iron Man begins to amaze us.

Really, the most amazing thing about Iron Man is two key elements, the acting of the pitch-perfect Robert Downey, Jr. and the direction of Iron Man fan Jon Favreau. As we saw with Spider-Man (not so much the giant mistake that was Spider-Man 3) a true fan is the best person to adapt a character to a new medium. Sam Raimi’s loving touch really brought Peter Parker to life in a way we’ve never seen before, and didn’t really see again until Christopher Nolan presented us with the excellent reboot of Batman. Favreau is quick with the film, never stopping for two hours, never reaching a lull for the audience to think too hard, but never speeding by important moments needed to further things along. The film does feel a bit rushed at times; the introduction, betrayal, and culmination of Stark’s right-hand-man Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) into Iron Monger seems a bit forced, but only because this isn’t a Lord of the Rings sized adventure.

Downey embodies Stark and makes the audience like the character even when we know what he is, and alcoholic, WMD-crafting, one-night-stand infused genius who actually comes across as a good guy well before his capture and subsequent redemption. There’s an everyman quality to Stark absent from most superheroes because he’s weak both emotionally and physically. He lacks superpowers, and while his motives are good, they’re also selfish in nature as he’s cleaning up a mess he’s caused for decades. Still, you feel for Stark, the emotional rollercoaster that is his life is portrayed so well it’s a shame the Academy pretty much shames any superhero movie from any higher considerations as Downey’s performance is worthy two times over.

Iron Man equally caters to those unfamiliar with the character and those who grew up with him, watching him change, retconned into many iterations with the changing environment of our world. The insides jokes, surprise cameos (hint: stay after the credits), and excellent special effects from ILM coupled with everything said prior deliver probably the most well rounded comic book movie ever printed and an immediate joy to old and new fans alike. Iron Man is simply one of the best comic book movies ever made, and one of the best movies, in general, to come out this year.

Many gamers around the globe will recognize the name Razer, long known for its PC gaming products before the niche market was even developed there wasn’t an aspiring PC gamer who didn’t want a Razer mouse strapped to their hang fragging way in Quake III Arena. The company has expanded into all markets of gaming geared products. The lightweight Piranha is the latest headset from the company which offers a combine headset and mic setup, how does the headset fare in the ever crowding marketplace?

The first thing you notice about the Razer is the USB cable dangling off the end next to the red mic and green headphone plugs. This powers the hypnotizing blue Razer logo on each of the earpieces and the cord-based volume control unit. A nice little touch not seen on most headsets that would really make you stand out at the next LAN party.

The headset features a swivel microphone as opposed to the hide-away ones used on SteelSeries’ lineup of headsets. The mic has a 90 degree rotation and meshes in with the contours of the headset while in the up position and rests far enough away from your mouth in the down position. There is very little adjustment to its placement when down, the plastic constructing the unit isn’t very formable, with good reason as moving it too much would prohibit it from return to the up position. The gain on the microphone is excellent for its distance from your face, in our tests microphone recording was excellent, clear, and crisp without any static on the files we created or over Vent.

Sound output was great as well, although a little lighter as far as a medium volume setting goes compared to other headsets we’ve tested. This is by no means a problem; you just need to be careful when switching between headsets, or going to speakers. To test sound we utilized several high quality AAC files in Apple iTunes, a combination of tracks ripped, purchased, and listened to directly from a CD were used, with all sounding excellent. The bass spectrum wasn’t as punchy as we would like, and when compared to the upper models of rival SteelSeries’ offerings I was a little disappointed, but sound output was great otherwise with crisp music and sound effects in World of WarCraft (our benchmark title). Moving the headset to an Apple 5G iPod also yielded similar results, a slightly softer bass but overall excellent quality sound.

Comfort is the biggest thing, besides sound, when dealing with headsets and the Piranha is a light-weight entry into the market with its over-the-head band and padding make it rest easy on the ears without nearly any fatigue after a long raiding session. The padded earpieces fit over the ear for the most part providing a good cone of sound, however the headset is not noise canceling.

The little touches also add up including a ridiculously long cable which is braided until about the last foot when it separates into three distinct wires (mic, headphones, USB). I would have liked to see a little less of the three separate cables as most gamer’s systems are going to have the three ports fairly close together negating the need for so much unbraided cable. The in-line remote, as previously mentioned, features a bright blue Razer logo, microphone mute button, and headset volume control along with a clip to hang it from your clothes while playing.

The $80 MSRP headset is a great addition to your gaming setup with excellent sound quality and the noise-canceling mic is one of the best we’ve seen. The unit doesn’t have some of the flashy bells and whistles found on some of the competing products, and its bass output isn’t exactly gamer tuned, but a solid, light-weight and comfortable construction with its own set of perks certainly put the Piranha in the top of its class.

The work of Judd Apatow will be celebrated when most of the world is long dead and gone. The man knows how to put good movies on the big screen whether or not he writes, directs, produces, it doesn’t seem to matter as everything his name graces turns to gold. Current darling Forgetting Sarah Marshall, written and starring long-time Apatow actor Jason Segel, ups the ante once again and further solidifies the formula for a guy’s romantic comedy, this one just so happens to be a relationship disaster of epic proportions.

Peter Bretter (Segel) is dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) a hot, blonde TV starlet starring in one of the best lampoons of CSI: Miami ever put on film. After eating a mixing bowl full of Froot Loops, Sarah breaks the bad news to a heart-broken and naked Peter, she’s leaving him and his Dracula musical. Peter begins to break down after a not so successful pep talk with his step-brother (Bill Hader), and decides to take a vacation to Hawaii and get away from it all.

Once in Hawaii Peter meets Rachel (Mila Kunis) and accidentally bumps into Sarah and new boy-toy Aldous (Russell Brand) on holiday as well. As you can guess, the next 90 minutes are filled with well timed jokes, visual cues, awkward moments, and just about everything else you’d expect from an Apatow production including the touching moments as well.

While the storyline itself isn’t anything revolutionary or new, it’s a simple break up story, but there are so many layers to each of the characters that you actually feel bad for Peter to the point where, near the film’s climax, when he has the opportunity to get Sarah back, and acts on his wishes, the entire theater erupted in displeasure. That’s the kind of involvement director’s dream of, and first-time director Nicholas Stoller and Segel’s script really bring out the audience’s emotions.

Like Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin, it’s the characters that really make this film what it is, the romantic connections do nothing if you don’t care for each person involved. Yet, the film also needs to be funny, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall will have you splitting many times throughout with some very memorable gags, and some great, unexpected lines that had me rolling, even when the rest of the audience had stopped laughing long ago. Many Apatow-alumni show up including Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, and Segel himself being a veteran of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.

However nearly stealing the show is 30 Rock co-star Jack McBrayer as newlywed Darald who has to please his wife and consummate the relationship. A montage near the end of the second act, with him receiving advice from rocker Aldous, is hilarious beyond all bounds, and the results we’re treated to later didn’t leave a single person not laughing hysterically.

Much has been said about the film, whether it’s the full frontal male nudity, or the fact it seems to be the perfect romantic comedy geared for guys, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is easily the best film of 2008 so far and hopefully Oscar voters are paying attention and don’t forget to nominate the little guy.

George Clooney’s follow up to the critically praised and excellently crafted Good Night, and Good Luck couldn’t be farther from the serious tone of the historical journalism piece. With Leatherheads, about the rise of professional football in the 1920’s, comes the screwball humor and good natured sports action you’ve come to expect from Disney’s yearly releases in the genre.

Clooney stars as Dodge Connelly a player for the bankruptcy bound Duluth Bulldogs, a scrappy group of players who see their dreams crashing down when the professional football league is the laughing stock of the professional sports world and college football is where all the money, endorsements, and fame originates from. This is wonderfully highlighted in the film’s opening scenes. Connelly sees an opening in recruiting college star Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) to save his floundering team, and the league itself.

As a subplot, reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is looking into claims about Carter’s war record, thinking there could be a big story and a door to the editor’s desk involved she becomes the final piece in a quasi-love triangle between Carter and Dodge and the catalyst for the film’s climax.

As a throwback to the screwball comedies of the ancient days of cinema, Leatherheads works on many levels. The outlands setups for jokes and physical payoffs are wonderfully done, always with a smirk, and always to the point where everyone is okay afterwards. After a heated punching bout between Carter and Dodge concludes, both me are sporting a few bruises and a fat lip. The final act of the film directs attention away from the love story and the football action to focus on the revelations Lexie has discovered and their ramifications on all the principle players.

The film does have some slow points as it’s about 30 minutes overweight, some serious trimming of the script could have really saved this from becoming tedious towards the end. However the mesmerizing smile of Clooney and the comedic timing of Krasinski basically playing is role of Jim on The Office on the big screen, in the 1920’s, saves the film from the bowels of mediocrity.

As an underdog sports story Leatherheads doesn’t lend much to the genre filled with better films, but as a combination of comedy, screwball and otherwise, with a dose of romance, sharp wits, and colorful, big characters, the film excels.

The film won’t top the previous works by Clooney as a director, nor an actor, but as a change of pace from his normally serious work like Michael Clayton, its good to see the fun loving, funny Clooney on the big screen catching some pigskin and getting trounced in the mud.

Tourgasm alumni Robert Kelly is a funny man with some interesting takes on everyday habits, the very funniest of which deals with tube socks and the constant need to wear them, naked, in bed. It’s these little visual flairs that add so much to Kelly’s work on his debut album, Just the Tip from Comedy Central Records.

The album is about 50 minutes of descriptions about life, the universe, and everything from Kelly whose style seems like a manic Dane Cook constantly yelling to get his point across, and all over the place as far as content goes. The central theme to the album is the fact that he loves his life, but that married life, and the things that happen in it, are just ludicrous. His humor centers mainly on the guys for a good portion of the disc, with concerns like how to take a pee with the different states of the penis and his ultimate defiance for colorful poems from his wife about sprinkling on the seat is almost worth the price of admission alone.

One of the portly Kelly’s biggest weaknesses is food, and this is where a good chuck of his humor comes from constantly lambasting himself for being overweight and 3AM freak-outs about lost cupcakes in the trash. Like other plus sized comedians, mainly Kevin James in The King of Queens, the big guys can get all the laughs when making fun of themselves.

The disc has its gross out moments, such as “Nickelodeon Award“; which almost has you cringing in disbelief that someone would actually think this stuff up as well as its sweet and sentimental ones, well as sweet as you can get in the namesake track “Just the Tip“;. Other highlights include “Dude with a Sword,”; “She Knows Nothing About my Penis,”; and my personal favorite “Restaurants.”;

Some topics don’t work as well as others including “Punching Butter“; and the tired bit on Vegas and its all-too-familiar slogan. But more often than not Kelly hits his mark, and when he doesn’t his presentation is what brings even a dead joke back to life with a little flair.

Kelly’s material is nothing dramatically new or explosive, but he does a great job of bringing it to the stage with enough style, emphasis, and oomph that you’ll be laughing along with the live studio audience. Included with the disc is a DVD featuring a documentary so for the MSRP you’re getting a great package with enough material that you’ll be coming back to for a few selected bits time and time again.

Back in the late 1990’s and early portions of this decade all the cool kids had CD players and 64MB MP3 players in high school. One of the inventions of the time was the neckband headphone, with some of the first being released by Sony and quickly picked up on campus by the elite few who could afford them. They were a showcase that you knew how to look good, and keep a neat head of hair while rocking out to Third Eye Blind or Dave Matthews. Today the neckband headset has fallen by the wayside to pave the way for inexpensive and unimposing earbuds ushered in by the Apple-era of MP3 players. Still neckbands are being released, and in the gaming scene they make a comeback with the SteelSeries Siberia Neckband, albeit to some mixed results.

The feature set of the Siberia Neckband is just as rich as all the other entries in the niche manufactures collection. These assets include solid construction, detectable volume control, expanded use for home and gaming, as well as a great sound from the ear cups themselves and the retractable microphone. The previous Siberia model lacked the latter option, instead opting for more functionality as a MP3 accessory with a external mic.

The two biggest options with any headset is sound, and comfort, one of which the Siberia Neckband keeps up the proud tradition of the SteelSeries line, the other, seems a bit off from previous offerings. First the good, the Neckband sounds just as good as its big brothers with deep bass and crisp audio clarity in our standard bevy of tests including gaming (Audiosurf, World of WarCraft, and Portal) and music (both direct from a PC and using a Apple 5G iPod). You can never really complain about SteelSeries and audio quality, their audio processing capabilities of their entire line of headphones is second to none.

However the comfort of this device is the one area where it is lacking and this is a direct effect of the choice in neckband style over the traditional over the head band. While the Siberia Neckband isn’t big, bulky, or particularly heavy, the headset does tend to slip, quite a bit if you’ve been perspiring. As the headphones drift down, and the neckband itself tends to angle downward, the added pressure on the top of the ears can cause some discomfort after extended playtimes. While this can easily be altered by taking frequent breaks (as you should do anyway) sometimes Shattered Halls won’t run itself and you’ll need a marathon session.

The rest of the features are great including Xbox 360 support which just puts icing on the cake (cake which isn’t a lie of course). The 360 adapter plugs into the micro jack on the bottom of your controller, then the included extension cable can be used to plug the output sound (the ear cups) directly into your receiver while allowing your mic output to pass through the console and onto the game you are playing over Live. The retractable mic also makes it easy to stow the unit when not being used, or easily pull it out for the latest Call of Duty 4 match when your buddy comes online. This is easily one of the shinning points for the unit.

As far as construction goes, it’s up to SteelSeries aforementioned solid quality. The headphones don’t feel hollow, the neckband itself stretches to fit just about anyone’s size head, and the spring mechanism distributes the same amount of force no matter the size of your noggin, big or small. The elegant white color matches with both iPods and your Xbox 360, so if color coordination is your thing, consider yourself set.

If you’re able to get past the shortcomings in the comfort of the headset you’ll find that the Siberia Neckband proudly carries on the tradition set down by SteelSeries of producing a great array of units specifically tailored to the gamer. Maybe with some modifications a v2 could eliminate the slipping problem and craft the second coming of the neckband where users are free to once again rock out, without messing up that wonderful head of hair.

Note: At the request of the SciFi Channel and Universal Media Studios this review is being kept as spoiler free as possible.

The third season finale of Battlestar Galactica was one of revelation, deep revelations as the series prepares for its final season and begins to bring all the threads of the Cylon/Terran war to a head. As we closed out last season in 2007 we were treated to the identity of four of the final five Cylon models, Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan), Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), Sam Anders (Michael Trucco), and presidential assistant Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma) and the return of the seemingly dead Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff). The fourth season premiere picks up exactly at the point when Starbucks returns to great Lee Adama (Jamie Barber) in the midst battle against a Cylon fleet who has found the humans.

The battle scene in the beginning of the episode is spectacular, really showcasing the programs special effects and cementing itself as a true sci-fi series. Up until this point the show has been about the characters, with the fact that they were in space, in a rag-tag fleet and a behemoth Battlestar just one piece in the overarching puzzle. Here though, the audience is treated to a great battle. As Starbuck claims at the end of last season, she’s been to Earth and can lead the fleet there, but here return is met with skepticism amongst most of the crew believe her to be a Cylon.

The events of last season also continue with the newly acquitted Gaius Baltar (James Callis) who, after being tried for crimes against humanity and the slaughter of hundreds of colonists on New Caprica, is seemingly doomed to exile with a group of devout followers who believe in his Cylon-inspired ideas of only one true god. This storyline is sure to get more and more interesting as the season progresses, the last 15 minutes, of which I’m legally forbidden to talk about, certainly change the game for Gaius.

Most of the episode deals with the return of Starbuck and her desire, nee, absolute need to direct the fleet to Earth while the newly revealed Cylons attempt to cope with their place in the fleet, and determine if they are a danger to themselves and the rest of humanity. The writers play around with some “alternate realities” that bring back eerie, chilling echoes of Boomer shooting Adama.

However, with all that said, the episode ultimately turns out to be a rather flat disappointment because it is mostly a launching board for the stories we’ll see in the final season, but there isn’t much happening here besides what’s been described above. The seeds of stories to play out in these final 20 episodes are easily sown but fans may still be questioning how people like Tigh could be a Cylon when he fought against them in the first Cylon War. I question if the writers really have a plausible reason for doing this, especially with how many plot holes it opens up. Still, the writing/producing team has kept me entertaining for three seasons of excellent, excellent storytelling and action and I trust them to finish out strong, I just wish the first new episode in nearly a year was more of a bang.

If there ever was a film that just sort of popped out of nowhere and made a big impression on you, 21 is that film. Having never even heard about the film a few months before its release, imagine my surprise when the final product turned out to be a well crafted, albeit somewhat clichéd thriller that left everyone in the audience smiling.

The story isn’t something you see everyday, but it isn’t going to win any Juno like writing awards either. Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a certified genius. He’s working at a men’s clothing store, going to MIT, and can do amazing things with numbers in his head. After making a big splash with one of his professors, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who just happens to run a blackjack card counting operation on the weekends. Where were these college professors when I was in school?

As the story progresses Ben eventually joins the team who jets off to Vegas with a system of relaying hot and cold tables to the big players in the group who then make tons of money. Ben wants to get into Harvard Medical School and is only aiming for a few hundred grand whereas everyone else just likes expensive things. There’s a subplot featuring Laurence Fishburne and Jack McGee as two security consultants being replaced by computer software, but their role in the film becomes pinnacle as the climax unfolds and the big reveal is unfurled.

While based on the best selling book “Bringing Down the House” (which shares its name with a rather unfortunate Steve Martin vehicle), 21 is full of the basic Hollywood clichés of friends fighting, jealously, love, betrayal, and revenge. How much is true and how much is liberalism with the source material all depends, but what it adds up to is an easy to follow, great story.

The strength of the movie revolves in the acting, with special commendation going out to Kevin Spacey who never ceases to amaze in the range of roles he can play perfectly. From a serial killer in Se7en, a troubled cop in L.A. Confidential, to the arrogant Micky here, the man has certainly earned his keep in Hollywood over the years. Sturgess also shows off his chops which makes you wonder why it took so long for him to hit it big in Hollywood. His resume is filled with UK TV shows, but nothing of note before his role here. His portrayal as Ben gives an added bit of authenticity to the role with Ben morphing from the character we see him as in the beginning to the mastermind of the operation at the end.

As a faithful adaptation of the book, only those who have read it will be able to determine how 21 compares to such high level conversions like Fight Club, and such abysmal ones like Jurassic Park. Even without the book backing it up, 21 is a great film, and while it’s a bit slow at times, anyone who is moderately interested in the mystic world of Las Vegas gambling, heist films, or likes to see the geek win a few rounds, this flick is for you.