Here are my Metro News reviews from the week of Dec. 31st.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Official Movie Guide
By Brian Sibley
Three And A Half Stars
Imagine thirteen helicopters transporting thirteen dwarf teams around a mountain or a sound designer’s daughter giving Smaug his dragon’s roar. Every faction of the behind-the-scenes Hobbit community, from performers to craftspeople, gets to share a worthy story in this guide enhanced with beautiful, pinch-and-zoom photos. Oddly, the absence of video clips or interactive creativity stands out as a missed opportunity.
FitStar: Tony Gonzalez
Free/$4.99
Gonzalez’s constant, verbal encouragement is a good thing in this video series that adapts to your time and fitness needs. Experts will appreciate the creative routines and beginners the free content.
Cooking Matters
iPhone/iPad/Android
Free
Stretch your money and tighten your waistline with these health-conscious, calorie-counting recipes aimed at helping families through lean times. Highlights include cornbread-crusted chicken, cranberry walnut coleslaw, and orange oatmeal pancakes.
Best Online Moment 2013 – Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s Space Oddity
Chris Hadfield won the internet this year with a viral hit that was anything but accidental. He evoked the beauty of our world by sharing how difficult it was to leave its orbital view. These are complex emotions that he somehow captured with an iPad recording of himself singing David Bowie’s Space Oddity. His Space Station video lessons and tweeted photos revealed a master communicator who understands the web better than anyone. Through him we have an extraordinary connection to space exploration, but also an example of how a cynical web culture can embrace values that are sophisticated and sincere.
Movie Cat 2
$1.99
This two-player trivia game uses cartoon cats to act out questions about popular movies. You choose the categories and it’ll serve up witty challenges involving costumes, props, and famous lines.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
Wii U,PC,PS3, Xbox 360
Rated: Everyone 10+
4 Stars
There’s having a super-power and then there’s discovering all the different things you can do with it. That’s the delight impressively recreated here in LEGO for a whopping 155 characters. Each has a really long list of abilities put to creative use both for fighting in adventures and exploring a free-roaming city. Compared to past LEGO games the in-jokes are a bit corny and the brick-building moments fewer and farther between, but the sense of discovery is endless which is ideal for a game parents can share with their kids.
