I was presented with a screener for a new low budget web-series titled “The Fold” from series director Matt Lambert and co-writer Polly Frost. Now, when I say low budget, this doesn’t necessarily reflect on the series’ originality but does show in the quality of filming and most of its production value. The entire series worked on a budget of only $8,000 (USD). However, because the series is a sci-fi, soft-core porn comedy, the fact that less dollars were available only added to its appeal in the sense that one is reminded of the kind of soft porn routinely vetted out on an almost daily measure, and with that in mind, and if you can get through some of the garishness of a few of the scenes, then the premise of the story itself is kind of interesting.

The story centers around Cody Ferguson, the son of a corporate giant who is financing a time travel vacationing enterprise. Cody is a true geek who also happens to suffer from Aspergers Syndrome. His father, a real hard lined “I know what’s best for mankind” kind of guy, wants to use his son’s invention to remake history after his own puritan ideology. The plot includes an investigation by a journalist for Gaming Babes Magazine, a sex-cult guru, a hot-tube salesman with an out-of-control sex drive and a mysterious force that causes the entire world to experience a universal orgasm all at the same time.

As you can tell from that description, this is not for the kiddies and is R-rated.

While I can’t recommend this web-series for our PG-13 audience, some of our adult fans will probably enjoy “The Fold” and find it enjoyable. In its own way it was funny and a comedic romp into sci-fi soft-porn. I was able to screen the first three episodes of the series for this review and can honestly say that I’ll probably view the rest of the web-series online just to see what happens next.

Don’t expect Ridley Scott or Martin Scorsese with “The Fold.” It’s called a low-budget series for a reason. I can’t recommend that all will like this, it is definitely not for everyone, but if you like biting satire, a thinly veiled plot, and the occasional bare breasts and wanton sex (ala “Barbarella”), then “The Fold” could be right up your ally.

While I will most likely watch it online to see where Lambert takes his production, I won’t stick around long if all it ends up being is just another sex farce. I can watch some of Woody Allen’s big budget flicks for that.

On a scale of 0 to 5 stars I give “The Fold” —

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Written by: BEN FRITZ for Variety

Grand Theft Auto IV (Rated M. $60 [USD])

Gamers can explore a lifelike replica of Gotham in ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’

A Rockstar Games presentation of a game developed by Rockstar North for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Reviewed on Xbox 360.

Screenshots:
• Gallery I

Related links: The Cut Scene

“Grand Theft Auto IV” marks a huge leap forward for videogames as an immersive experience while making little more than a few tweaks to the ultra-successful franchise’s formula. The technological prowess and artistic detail are so phenomenal and the sheer amount of content is so staggeringly deep that players will find themselves drawn into Liberty City like no other fictional place. Such deep immersion sometimes highlights the flaws in “Grand Theft Auto’s” well-worn formula, but that will be little more than an asterisk for the millions of gamers sure to be carjacking their way through “GTA IV” for a long, long time to come.

Like the last few “GTA” installments, the game follows a tough-as-nails newcomer working his way up in a city full of crazy characters, sexy women and endless opportunities to cause mayhem. The game opens with a man getting off a boat in Liberty City, a significantly downsized but amazingly lifelike replica of New York. Protagonist Niko Bellic, who’s succinctly described as “a drug dealing de-fucking-generate from some armpit in Eastern Europe,” is in town to start a new life and, players slowly discover, make up for sins in his past.

But while Niko is the only fresh-faced foreigner in the game, the ideal of the American Dream that immigrants represent is the theme that runs through it. Every character in “GTA IV” is hustling and scheming for that elusive success that’s always just out of their grasp. “One day,” Niko’s cousin Roman vows at one point, “I’ll find that shortcut to the top.”

While Niko speaks primarily with his fists and weapons, he’s surrounded by the funniest cast of characters this side of “The Office.” From the delusional Roman, who’s convinced success is his before it arrives, to Brucie, a crazy steroid junkie with a bad habit of bashing his head into walls, to the media-savvy Manny, who boasts to his personal cameraman about how he’s saving South Bronx while Niko does his dirty work, they all create a living, breathing and surprisingly hilarious world. Though the stiff animation in the game’s frequent pre-animated cut scenes serves them poorly, writers Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries demonstrate that, unlike most videogame writers, they understand that a good story starts with great characters.

The “GTA” series fundamentally altered the videogame world years ago by creating a huge open world that players could explore at their own pace with no loading times. “GTA IV” ups the ante by rendering it all in hi-def with extreme detail and barely any technical glitches. All of New York’s major landmarks, like Central Park, the Empire State Building and JFK Airport, are present, as are local touches in every neighborhood. Even more astounding, however, is that Liberty City is a living, breathing city. Early morning in the South Bronx is marked by garbage trucks on their routes, junky cars parked on the side of the road, and homeless men huddled over makeshift fires, while afternoon Manhattan is a morass of sharply dressed business folks and luxury cars stuck in traffic.

Playing through the main story could easily take 40 hours, but there’s a virtually unlimited amount of game for those who want to explore every bar, every comedy club — and every hooker. (The game is rated M for a reason.)

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Reviewer: Grant Burton (SoSF Fan from Melbourne Australia)

As was mentioned on the show a few weeks back about Mass Effect, (the new sci-fi game for the Xbox 360), is simply the best game you will play to date on any platform.

Its simply the best sci-fi movie/game/FPS/RPG you can get on any console right now, with a rocking soundtrack that needs to be bought and listened to independently.

In my opinion Mass Effect is an interactive movie driven by a RPG engine with added combat & action sequences controlled by the player. Its core is an astonishingly well told story based on excellent plotting and characterization. Better than anything you will see on TV this year for sure.. Its a MUST BUY!

From the second you create your Shepard (male or female) to when you make your first conversation decision, you feel like you are part of the best sci-Fi game EVER!

The conversation system is the greatest in a game, BAR-NONE! The whole time (one of the best moments was when I put together a speech for the crew of the Normandy) I really felt like no matter what I was thinking the game could convey it exactly like I wanted.

If you own an Xbox 360 you owe it to yourself to buy this game. Period!

The VOICE acting in this is simply brilliant with many Hollywood quality voices, and it’s a totally believable universe with very strong character development and storyline.

I reckon it will make a great Slice of SciFi show if you could interview the Bioware guys about this game, and find out about the past 4 years of development of this great sci-fi game — (I know I keep repeating myself, but) one of the best games out there for sci-fi gaming fans.

On November 2nd-4th 2007, our roving reporter, Linda Craddock, not being daunted or slowed down by a nasty cold, ventured forth to the Stargate SG1 and Atlantis convention in Secaucus New Jersey representing Slice of SciFi. She filed the following Con report from the floor of the Creation Entertainment Convention.

I showed up at this special convention honoring Stargate SG1’s 10th and, sadly, last season not sure what to expect from stars and fans alike. I wasn’t disappointed as the CON not only showcased the 10 years of SG1, but also celebrated Stargate: Atlantis’ 4th season that brought Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) from Cheyenne Mt. on Earth and Jewel Staite (”Firefly”/”Serenity”) to the Pegasys Galaxy.

There was lots of buzz about the two upcoming SG1 movies “The Ark of Truth” and “Continuum” direct to DVD. They will become available in spring and fall 2008 and I was lucky enough to catch the new video game “Stargate Worlds” beta version - full release version due in summer/fall 2008.

The convention was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, NJ. There were some character actors from SG1 such as Jay Acovone (Charles Kawalsky), Alexis Cruz (Skarra) and Tony Amendola (Bra’Tac) along with Kate Hewlett (Jeanie Miller) and Paul McGillian (Dr. Carson Becket) from Atlantis. The two main guests were Cliff Simon (Ba’al) and Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson). They were described as the “famous hunk sandwich, Subway could only wish they had,” and both will be starring in the new movie. I was disappointed that Don S. Davis (General George Hammond) had to cancel due to a movie-of the-week he was filming.

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Written by: Samuel K. Sloan (FarPoint Media Executive News Director)

In humankind’s constant search for life beyond our own planet by the use of spacefarying probes launched from Earth’s atmosphere, SETI’s mutil-billion dollar arrays listening to every sound coming from the cosmos, lunar probes, International Space Station experiments in orbit around us and those two hard-working roving robots, Spirit and Opportunity, on Mars, American Scientific magazine asks the question “Are Aliens Among Us?” Not out there, but right here on good ole’ planet Earth?

Scientists are currently searching for microbes that are radically different from all known organisms present on our planet with the purposes of finding evidence that life, perhaps intelligent life, arose on Earth more than once.

Science journalist Paul Davies writes a fascinating article in this upcoming December 2007 edition of Scientific American that probes the question that has remained unanswered, at least from a scientific perspective — “What is the origin of life?”

With recent discoveries, the old, over a quarter century theory, that life resulted from an accidental chemical fluke is now being questioned. Many scientists are now just as likely to accept the theory that all life is “written into the laws of nature.” That would mean that life could be everywhere, not only here but over there and way, way out there as well.

So, the new question for researchers is “which theory is likely to be the correct one?”

Davies’ article in Scientific American tackles this question and looks at all the possible answers including such ideas once considered pure science fiction, like the argument for alien intervention by a variety of means, whether accidental, like the idea that microbial life from Mars found its way to Earth via an asteroid or meteor impact, or (and this leads to another inquiry) were the building blocks of life, DNA, brought here by an advanced species of intelligent life, setting life on our planet on its current evolutionary path?

Nothing is left to chance for this endeavor as scientists widen their investigative research to include even the fields of the synthetic, or what can be termed intelligent artificial life — the kind of life we humans are currently creating in computerized robotics.

Davies even goes so far as to try and answer the hardest question of all — “What Is Life, Anyway?” His conclusion is interesting, to say the least.

Regardless of where one stands on the philosophical, scientific or religious point of view as it pertains to life, in all its forms, this article by Paul Davies can’t be dismissed and should be read by all who possess even a hint of intelligent life.