The
World of
U
N D E R W O R L D
Action/Adventure,
Romance and Suspense/Horror. 2 hrs. 01 min.
Set in the secret nocturnal and supernatural world of vampires and
werewolves, two groups that have been at war for centuries, this is
the story of a romance between a female vampire warrior, Selene (Beckinsale),
who's famous for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess, and a
peace-loving human, Michael (Speedman), who wants to end the war.
Release Date: September 19th, 2003 (wide).
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence/gore and some
language. Distributor: Screen Gems (Sony) Starring:
Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy, Danny McBride, Michael
Sheen Directed by: Len Wiseman Produced by: Robert Bernacchi, Gary
Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Richard S. Wright.
Movie
Mom’s Review
Imagine
West Side Story with vampires and lycans (wolfmen) instead of Sharks
and Jets and guns, blades, and teeth piercing necks instead of musical
numbers, then dress them all in Matrix-inspired goth-bondage attire
and you'll have "Underworld," a pulpy, punk-ish story filled
with runes and ruins. This is the kind of movie where characters with
names like Craven say things like "But what about the Covenant?"
and the exposition explanation begins in the 5th century, dust is
blown from the cover of weighty medieval tomes, and huge heavy chains
hang down for no particular reason. The action begins before we know
which side we're on, with a stylish subway shoot-out. It turns out
that there has been a centuries-long war 
between
the vampires and the lycan. Now the lycan are very interested in a
human doctor named Michael (Scott Speedman) and the vampires want
to know why. Michael is rescued by Selene (Kate Beckinsdale), and
he rescues her in return. She is ordered to kill him. But he did save
her life. And he is kind of cute. And you can tell they are meant
for each other because while everyone else in the movie has slicked-back
hair, Michael's and Selene's hair falls adorably over their eyes.
If this movie doesn't quite rise to the category of silly fun, it
is a tolerable comic book-style time-waster with some stylistic flair
and some energetic action sequences. Parents should know that the
movie has extensive and graphic violence. There is a reference to
"misegenation"
and adulteration of bloodlines. Characters drink and smoke and use
strong language. Families who see this movie should talk about how
centuries-old conflicts can be resolved in a way that feels fair to
all sides. Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy The Matrix
and Blade.
Audience:
15 and up MPAA Rating: R for strong violence/gore and some language.
Profanity: Some strong language Nudity/Sex None Alcohol/Drugs: Smoking,
drinking Violence/Scariness: Intense action violence, graphic injuries,
characters killed Diversity Issues: A metaphorical theme of the movie,
strong female character Release Date: September 19, 2003.
Kate
Beckinsale
First
making an impression on international audiences with her role as the
sweet, virginal Hero in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993),
pale-skinned, fine-boned British actress Kate Beckinsale has since
stepped beyond period pieces to prove that she is anything but a fragile
English rose.
The
daughter of a BBC casting director and famed television actor Richard
Beckinsale (known for roles on Porridge and Rising Damp), Beckinsale
was born July 26, 1973. After her father's death from a heart attack
in 1979, the actress was raised by her mother.
By
her own account, Beckinsale's childhood and adolescence were fairly
troubled, marked by struggles with anorexia. She decided to follow
in her father's acting footsteps while still a teenager and in 1991,
had her major television debut in Once Against the Wind, a World War
II drama in which she played Judy Davis' daughter.
The same year, Beckinsale enrolled at Oxford,
to study French and Russian Literature, and pursued her education
until committing herself full-time to acting. In 1993, while still
a student at Oxford, Beckinsale was cast in Branagh's Much Ado About
Nothing. Her supporting role was a memorable one, winning the actress
a limited amount of recognition amongst American audiences, but it
was not until 1995, when she starred in John Schlesinger's adaptation
of Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm, that her wattage began to increase,
at least in art houses everywhere. The film, which was initially made
for BBC television, proved to be a modest hit, bringing in respectable
box office and glowing reviews.
Beckinsale followed the film's success with
another two years later, starring as an altruistic con artist in the
quirky romantic comedy Shooting Fish. The film was an unqualified
hit in its native country, becoming the third-highest grossing film
in England for 1997. The same year, Beckinsale further increased her
visibility with the title role in A&E's Emma.
She
next graced American movie screens in Whit Stillman's The Last Days
of Disco (1998). She received good reviews for her portrayal of a
cool and catty WASP college graduate (for which she assumed an American
accent), although the movie itself met with a deeply mixed reaction.
The following year, Beckinsale, in addition to giving birth to a daughter
(fathered by longtime boyfriend Michael Sheen), starred in her first
big-budget Hollywood feature. Playing opposite Claire Danes in Brokedown
Palace, the actress portrayed an American girl who, while on vacation
with best friend Danes in Thailand, gets caught with heroin and is
sentenced to 33 years in a Thai prison. That mid-budgeted film, however,
was nothing compared to her next major Hollywood production.
After
essaying roles in a television production of Alice Through the Looking
Glass (1999) and the Merchant/Ivory production of Henry James' The
Golden Bowl (2000), Beckinsale was plucked from relative obscurity
by director Michael Bay for his lavish World War II epic, Pearl Harbor
(2001). Boasting a record-setting, nine-digit price tag and one of
the most aggressive marketing campaigns ever waged on the American
public, the film featured the actress as Evelyn, a plucky nurse torn
between the affections of two soldiers.
Freedom
Fighters
It must take a
lot of work to make a squad-based action game. On top of having to
deliver all the core aspects that any shooter should have--things
like responsive gameplay and great graphics and sound--a game designer
also has to worry a lot about artificial intelligence. Freedom Fighters,
the new game from the developers of last year's great Hitman 2: Silent
Assassin, deftly avoids the many pitfalls of AI squad tactics, and
this, combined with great control, mission design, and presentation,
makes for a truly fantastic game.
Freedom
Fighters takes place in an alternate reality that never saw the dissolution
of the Soviet Union. Instead, the Red threat has continued to grow
since the end of World War II, taking hold in countries as close to
home as Cuba and Mexico. The game opens with the plumbing team of
Chris and Troy Stone paying a visit to the clogged sink of Isabella
Angelina, who also happens to be a vocal member of a watchdog organization
devoted to informing the American public about the evils of the Soviet
Union. The duo enters her apartment to find that it has been hastily
evacuated, and soon after, Soviet troops bust in to try to find her,
only to capture Troy instead. The Soviet invasion of the US has begun.
After that brief
setup, you're thrust into the role of Chris Stone, and you hook up
with Isabella's resistance movement almost immediately. Operating
from the sewers beneath New York City, the movement aims to overthrow
the invaders and drive the communists out of the country. You'll start
as a lowly member of the team, but you grow in popularity and influence
as the game goes on, and Chris will slowly transform from an average
32-year-old plumber into a battle-hardened leader.
Most
of the game's plot is advanced by a series of humorous Soviet-run
newscasts, which cover your actions as terrorist activities. Your
missions are laid out in the rebel base, and the briefings are great
at explaining the strategic significance of, say, reclaiming a high
school building for the red, white, and blue.
Though
the story is told well and works great in the context of the game,
it's pretty short on substance. Aside from a foreshadowed plot twist
that you can see coming from a mile away, not a whole lot happens
in the game. It must also be said that the game doesn't provide much
closure at the end, simultaneously setting up for a sequel while not
really leaving you with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. A
more climactic final mission would have gone a long way. These things
hardly affect the incredible quality of the game's action, though.
At the outset,
Freedom Fighters plays like a rock-solid third-person shooter, with
smooth and responsive controls. Once you've operated on your own for
a little while, the game gives you the ability to command up to two
other squad mates. By increasing your charisma rating--which goes
up as you complete missions and can also be given optional boosts
if you rescue prisoners or heal civilians--you can eventually control
up to 12 soldiers simultaneously. Running with a crowd definitely
makes Freedom Fighters feel like a much larger game, and the late-game
firefights that erupt when you have a larger squad are extremely impressive
and, more importantly, a lot of fun.
Each mission in
the game has one main goal, but that goal is usually impossible to
attain without performing a collection of secondary tasks. For example,
you'll never be able to blow up a supply bridge while attack choppers
are covering it, so you'll have to acquire some C4 and take out a
nearby helipad to remove all choppers from the area. And you can't
make your way into the police station while snipers are covering it
from the roof of a nearby gas station. So you'll have to get behind
the station and blow it up. Each mission usually has multiple locations,
and you can move freely from one area to another via manholes found
throughout the city.
Manholes
also serve as the game's save system. The game is saved automatically
whenever you move from one location to another, and you can also make
quick saves there.
While
the enemy AI doesn't seem to be quite as smart as your team, the Soviet
troops are good at taking cover and using nearby gun turrets to ensure
that your advance is a difficult one. They'll also use cover and will
take advantage of their superior numbers, making them a consistently
challenging foe.
The
only real problem with Freedom Fighters is that there simply isn't
enough of it. While the game does a good job of making you think you're
nearly finished, only to toss another set of missions at you, veteran
action gamers should be able to get through the game on the second
or third difficulty setting in eight to 12 hours.
Sending
e-mails in Bangla
By
Mohammad Hammad Ali
THERE
can be little doubt about the fact that for those who are comfortable
with its use, e-mailing is now the pre-dominant form of communication
with other people. But there are often times when one wishes that
it were possible to write a mail to someone in Bengali. When writing
to friends abroad, or some member of the family, using our own language
provides an added touch of warmness. Recently we have seen the emergence
of several software like bijoy mail and bornosoft. But none of them
have yet been able to be the absolute choice whenever an user wants
to send e mails in Bengali. But there are some other methods that
can be used in order to send Bengali e mails, even without the use
of any special software.
By embedding true
type font: with this method it is not necessary for both the sender
and the receiver to have the same Bengali font. But there can be exceptions
to that. If your word processor supports true type font embedding
then you can e mails in Bengali using any software that you want.
In such a case the receiver will not have to have the same font in
his computer. What you have to do is, first of all type out your mail
in any true type Bengali font (you can use any of the Bijoy fonts,
they are all true type). Before saving the document, go to the "tools"
menu and select "options". Within options, click on the
"save" tab. Now look for the "embed true type font"
option. It should be somewhere right under the save options that are
all listed in order. Check the box that contains this option and click
ok. Now save the file from "File" -> "Save As".
Now you can send this file as an attachment to your e mail. That way,
even if the receiver of the mail has no Bengali fonts whatsoever,
they will be able to read the document just fine, and even print it
out.
As graphics file:
after you are done with the letter, press the "Print Screen"
button on the keyboard. Then open the paint program as follows: go
through "Start" > "Programs" > "Accessories"
> "Paint". Once the paint program has opened, click on
"edit" and then "paste". Now you should be able
to see a picture of your entire desktop, along with the letter that
you just typed. Now save this file by clicking on save as. Once you
have saved the file, you can once again send it with your e mail as
attachment. However, using this method will mean that the attachment
file will be rather large in size, and might take really long to be
attached properly. What you can do help this situation a bit is this:
while saving the file, go to the "save as type" options
and find and select "monochrome bitmap" format. Click yes
on any dialogue box that may appear. This way the file is much smaller
than in the previous case. Even when using this way, the receiver
does not need to have any Bengali fonts in their pc. This is because
the file is being sent as a graphics file and not as a word document.
Attaching font:
this is the last and rather crude way of solving the problem of how
to send someone a Bengali e mail. What you do here is type out the
letter using any Bengali font of your choice. Then find out the files
for that font from within the fonts folder, which you can find within
the windows folder. Now just find the font that you used to type the
letter and copy it on to any location that you think is suitable.
Now all you need to do is send this font as an attachment to the mail
that you wrote using that font. Now all that the receiver of the mail
has to do is download the font and save it in the windows fonts folder
of his own pc. That will enable them to read whatever it is that you
wrote to them using the Bengali font. One more thing, it is generally
a good idea to write a mail to the receiver beforehand, using English,
informing them of this mail that you will be writing to them in Bengali,
giving the some pointers about how to download the fonts attachment
in order to read the Bengali mail.
As a last resort, there are some websites which provide you with an
opportunity to send e mails in Bengali. Here are the links to some
such websites:
www.epatra.com
www.bangsee.com
www.bornsoft.com
www.akshor.com
www.akkhor.com
That will be all
for now. I hope you are able to send and receive Bengali e mails using
any of the methods descried here. Of course, in the event of you having
any more questions, you are always free to mail me at: hammad2032@hotmail.com.
Turning
the tables on record labels, makers of the most popular file-sharing
network are suing the companies for copyright infringement. Sharman
Networks, the company behind the KaZaA file-sharing software, filed
a federal lawsuit on Monday accusing the labels of using unauthorized
versions of its software in their efforts to snoop out users.