In the interest of things other than politics and the struggle for survival of Western Civilization, let us take a detour and remind ourselves of what we are fighting for. (In other words, "And now for something completely different...")

What are the odds that in the same batch of Blockbuster rentals, I would choose movies that have scenes utilizing the exact same method of mass-zombie dispatch? Efficacious, but gas-guzzling: the chopper blade. Mind the splats.

28 Weeks Later is the follow up to the successful 28 Days Later. The sequel is good, but not quite as satisfying as the first.

Robert Rodriquez's Planet Terror is shot in the style of an old drive-in "grindhouse" low-budget flick -- complete with film noise and "missing reel." Great fun. Highly recommended. Not for kids. The film has a slight overlap with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, also part of the "grindhouse" series. Tarantino's film has its moments, but he's far too in love with his own dialogue for his own good.

In other news, I've recently played through the single player of both Crysis and Call of Duty 4. Both managed to test the limits of my graphics hardware. Crysis has the slight advantage in the graphical wow-factor department, but the motion captures in CoD4 are remarkable and do an amazing job at drawing one into the experience. The Crysis story-line, though based in North Korea, is pretty well pure fantasy, while CoD4's is reminiscent of the current global War on Terror.