The television channel devoted to video games, G4 should be good at reviewing video games and they seem to have a good system. The review of "Hellgate: London" by Greg Stewart is a simplistic critique of the game that is not to technical for the layman (such as myself). I can't help but wondering what an avid gamer would think of the review.
The real star of the review is the page design by G4. Upfront there is large rating and a list of pros and cons to the game. images of game play also adorn the review so one can see what they are getting into. Of course, this was all that really helped me to judge the game and while Mr. Stewart's words were perfunctory they didn't provide any exciting information to captivate my attention.

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The London Review of Books has a review of the book Mirror of the World: A New History of Art by the author Julian Bell. The review by Peter Campbell is what is to be expected of the London Review. That is to say that it is comprehensive, informative and knowledgeable on the subject matter. Mr. Campbell is very fond of Mirror of the World and compares it with the last great art history The Story of Art. The usual problems with a comprehensive undertaking such as a history of art (or music) such as addressing the shear scope of information are pointed out and also the personal note that sometimes words just get in the way of enjoying a piece of art work, a criticism that Mr. Bell seems to fully recognize. Furthermore, Mr. Campbell establishes the tone of the book and its value not just to the art connoisseur but also to the less educated art lover. The review also gives us an adequate amount of background information on Mr. Bell so that we can see how he has crafted his book and why it may be of interest.
But more than just being informative, the review is fun to read. Mr. Campbell describes the work by saying "... a large scale account of the world art is mapped onto a geo-chronological structure, but on traverses these wide historical and geographical territories by narrow paths that cross more often than you might expect."
The end of the review degrades into Mr. Campbell's personal musings on art and have little to do with the book itself. This is a typical endeavor of the expert critic and I feel it has no place in a review. It does not tell me about the book, nor does it really help to appreciate the book. If I wanted to know Mr. Campbell's opinions on art I would buy his book.

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Upon first reading Jeff Lester's review of the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:Black Dossier Original Graphic Novel by Alan Moore i thought that the author was giving Mr. Moore too much credit. After all, would literary critics throughout history really want to read a "comic book" written by a drugged out philosopher. Perhaps they might. The hypothetical "pastiche" that Mr. Lester refers to is an adequate way to establish the world of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and the tone of the review.
The review, like all reviews of Alan Moore's work quickly collapses into unabashed praise for his genius and creativity and sheer audacity. But in this fawning there are several actual revelations of what may very well be his genius, creativity and audacity. Perhaps this is to due with the fact that Mr. Lester was not impressed with the work, which leads to objectivity.
The review is also long. It is almost a literary criticism though, in the Mr. Lester's own words he lacks the skills of his colleagues. The problem in this critical approach is that details are revealed that would have been nice to encounter during the reading of the actual book. But that is the only real drawback to the review. It is very thorough and thoughtful and easily able to keep up with Alan Moore.

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Today is Veteran's Day and the "New York Times Sunday Book Review" does not have a single book about Veterans. Disappointing and saddening to say the least. Richard Brookhiser does review Christopher Hitchens' latest book entitled "Thomas Paine's 'Rights of Man': a Biography".
Mr. Brookhiser moves adroitly through the introduction of the book and its background as part of a series giving little mention of Mr. Hitchens and his controversial persona. So far so good, however the pace is soon lost by a biography of Thomas Paine. The details of the review of Mr. Paine's life seem to merely take up space and offer little information that is relevant to the review of the book at hand. When the reviewer does get around to Mr. Hitchens work he merely parrots the device used by the author and quotes not the text he is reviewing but the texts anaylized by Mr. Hitchens. Finally Mr. Brookhiser attacks Mr. Hitchens' political beliefs manifest in Mr. Hitchens dedication of his book to the president of Iraq Jalal Talabani. And nowhere is there a valuable critique of the literature or even whether the author enjoyed the book. I did not enjoy this review in case you were wondering.

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Yesterday I reviewed a review of the new internet series "Quarterlife". The result was, lets say, less than satisfactory. The review tried to follow to closely to the review and tried to parrot the what the original NPR review had said and that is not nor should not be my job. I lost sight of my objective which is to say whether or not the review is any good and not the piece being reviewed. If read carefully, the pieces are all there but the organization is atrocious and the piece is filled with useless information.  I am not sure that I can recommend my review for NPR or anything else unless I improve

The media is abuzz with the writers' strike and reviews are not free. Television and movies have not been affected yet, but that has not stopped Andrew Wallenstien, an editor of the Hollywood Reporter from looking for the next big show on the internet. Over on NPR's Day to Day Mr. Wallenstein has a review the latest offering of Marshal Herskovitz and Ed Zwick called Quaterlife, a show that will be premiering on myspace and its own site. The show is not a typical internet offering. It will be fully produced as a TV show would be, but each episode will only be about 8 minutes long. The review is very comprehensive in its dealing with the show, its premise and its relation with the Writers Guild, Teamsters and other unions involved in production. Of course, this being NPR the review is really more of a news piece than a typical review, but this is not a bad thing. A piece of art or entertainment is created by a specific person or group for specific reasons and knowing as much as much about a piece as possible can help to make a more informed decision. Mr. Zwick and Mr. Herskovitz are subject to a great deal of praise by the reviewer do to their previous shows "thirtysomething" and "My So Called Life" and he is very excited for the show. The advantage of an audio or video review is that they can present a piece of what is being talked about. In this case, the audio clip of the show did not impress me. The characters seemed overly dramatic and characatures of real people with real problems. The reviewer was too blinded by his admiration to clearly present the show and give reasons why i should watch it other than the producers. However, due to the format and thoroughness of the presentation, I came away with a judgment on the show.

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