HALO 3! New stuff

If you've been waiting for Halo 3--which means all of you who have ever owned an Xbox or Xbox 360--you need to sign up for the Halo 3 for 3 contest over at Xbox website. There's three rounds of giveaways, and in the first round alone, you can run away with:

Grand Prize Winner (1)
Halo 3 Legendary Edition game
Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Subscription
1600 Microsoft Points

First Place Winners (2)
Halo 3 Legendary Edition game
1600 Microsoft Points

Second Place Winners (3)
Halo 3 Limited Edition game

Third Place Winners (10)
Halo 3 Standard Edition game

While you're at the site, check out the latest HIDEF HALO 3 trailer from E3 '07!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix--What Does the latest book do for this movie's success?

The fifth Harry Potter movie has been out for a while, but what happens in the seventh book will seriously impact the success of this movie, not to mention the entire Harry Potter franchise.

Now, if you've read the seventh book, you are sitting back smugly in your comfy chair (we can see you!), and you know whether this whole Harry Potter merchandising bonanza will continue. Really, there's only one question to be answered which decides the whole thing: does Harry die in the seventh book?

If Harry dies, it could be argued that any future movies are not only iffy to begin with, but in serious danger of "coming straight to DVD" fare. Fans interest in the franchise will die out just as surely as their hero did.

If Harry survives, the movies can only continue to enjoy their success at the box office, fueled by the books' current fans and future readers.

It doesn't take a marketing genius to know that it's best for Harry to survive in that last book, does it?

So, what's happened to the movie now that the seventh book is out? It came out strong, with over 32.2 million dollars, a real blockbuster in the box office. So, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the shelves, Is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix holding its own?

Surprisingly, it's now losing ground to "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."

I say surprisingly because anyone who has watched any review of the movie on any morning or late-night interview show already knows "Chuck and Larry" SUCKS. It's a shame, because Adam Sandler and Kevin James are likable, but even they couldn't save this homophobic train wreck from crashing and burning.

And yet, it beat out Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a movie with a great storyline, fantastic special effects and the adoration of millions of fans around the world. Granted, the movie has been out for a few weeks now, and the popularity was bound to wane.

And it could be that the Harry Potter fans are so busy reading out there that they simply don't have time for the movie. Or maybe J.K. Rowlings decided to buck the whole marketing industry and kill Harry Potter off after all.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

We've read the book. We KNOW what happens. Do you?

Oh, yeah, and the games are out for the fifth movie, too.

Guest Post: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review

This post contains no spoilers

I want to reassure you all here that I am not the type to just up and post all the best and worst specifics in the books and spoil it for the rest of you. I know you all want to read what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the cast of characters for yourselves. I also know that posting spoilers, true or not, changes everything for the reader. You can't go into a book objectively once you've read the rumors, not knowing whether they are true or not. You look at each character in a different way--is he or she going to make it through this book? Will this character be in the last novel? What happens between this couple, or this group? Where does the action take place, and does it matter, and what mysteries evolve, only to be solved or left as cliffhangers as the book nears completion?



So I won't spoil the adventure for you. Instead, let me just say that in this last installment of the Harry Potter septology (thanks to Jon Stewart for the term), J. K. Rowlings delivers to her fans in a big way.

Naturally, it isn't a short book, but there's good reason for it. Rowlings has dealt with all the important, unanswered questions her fans have. She's plotted adventures and twists you can't imagine, magical duels and harrowing adventures, terrific new characters and creatures and the very best from those old characters she chooses to re-visit. (Vague enough for you?)

In this book, much of the plotting that has gone into the first six is revealed as part of a much vaster chain of events, which just goes to show, as her devoted fans have known all along, that Rowlings' phenomenal success is not the result of simple luck or formulaic writing. Hopefully, critics will back off a little and accept that her work is here with us to stay. Rowlings' series is not popular because it is the latest "in" thing among tweens but because it is a classic in its own right, a magical world that comes to life between the covers of each of the seven books, finally culminating in a resounding finale worthy of the author at her best.

Now, go out, get the book, sit down and read it.

Guest Poster: Thanks to Viv from Cool Moms Rule! allowing us to use her review

I am Murloc

I am Murloc

Simply the best WoW video ever.

My Hands Are Bananas

It's not new. But it's still...special.

Bewaaaaare the Milky Pirate!

So, I had a little free time...

We don't know what this Youtuber does for a living, but this is an excellent dance montage from WoW. (Bonus: Seriously hot French chick dancing in little black outfit.)

Smart Choice

So, went to see the latest Harry Potter movie (SPOILERZ: Harry kisses a real live girl!), and I was blown away. No, not by the movie, by the previews.

They're making Get Smart into a movie, and for once the Hollywood casting geniuses have it right. For all of you too young to remember, comic genius Don Adams, also known as the voice of Tennessee Tuxedo, starred in the original Get Smart series, in the title role of lovably inept Maxwell Smart. Smart, a covert agent for Control (think CIA without the humongous budget), battled evil in the form of the obviously intellectually superior, but sadly unlucky evil agents of KAOS, led by Smart's nemesis, the sinister Siegfried. Unfortunately, though cutting a snappy figure in a tux, Maxwell Smart was neither suave nor smooth, but painfully klutzy and not very bright. Smart's ultimate success was largely attributable to his beautiful partner, Agent 99, played by Barbara Feldman.

Without Don Adams, making a movie out of this classically campy series would seem disastrous, were it not for some inspired casting: Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart. At least, that's what all of us sitting in the audience thought, as we watched the preview. Lots of excited murmurs, and "I used to love that show!" peppered with, "perfect choice, really," which is good news for all Carrell fans after the (less than stellar) Evan Almighty performance this summer. In addition, lovely Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada) plays Agent 99.

Special treat for fans of the original series: look for Bill Murray as the perpetually unlucky Agent 13.

Get Smart, the movie, is due out next year. You can catch the original 1965 series with Don Adams on DVD over at Amazon.

(Oh, and if you're wondering, more movie reviews are on the way, including the latest Harry Potter.)

Happy Fourth of July from Fuel the Rebellion!

Fireworks - Detonate the colorful rockets

Fuel the Rebellion!

Don't forget to cast those votes for Fuel the Rebellion over at Fuel My Blog! Keep 'em coming!
Remember, there's a free logo t-shirt in it for one lucky reader! Plus, we just want to win. A lot.
Now go vote!

Bloxorz!

If you haven't tried Bloxorz, you must go and do it NOW, if only so that you can feel the frustration and agony we have gone through to get to the end.

The game has 32 levels, each one more challenging, and though the goal is laughingly simple: "put the block in the hole," doing the dirty deed is wickedly difficult.

We'll make it easy for you to get started, at least, and give you the link to Bloxorz. Give us your comments if and when you beat the game!