Three Player Bridge

I spent shabbat at my parents. My brother was there as well. My father prefers not to play with us too often anymore; it's hard for him to sit at the table and he wants to read his newspaper. Still, he did play a few hands with us.

Otherwise, my brother, Mom, and I had to play the two card games we usually play with three: Progressive Rummy and Three-Handed Bridge.

If you want a good bridge game for three players, your best bet is for one player to play two hands, partnering for the other players. Or play a three player game, such as Skat or something. But my Mom and brother are used to this already, so it doesn't look like we're going to be changing to a new paradigm any time soon.

Three Handed Bridge Rules

Three-player Bridge has come in several forms, but the one we play is as follows:

Deal four hands. Turn face-up exactly 8 cards of the fourth hand. Players bid for the contract. Whoever wins the contract gets the fourth hand as a dummy. The remaining 5 cards of the dummy are revealed after the first lead.

This makes for difficult bidding, as you don't know if the remaining five cards contain no points or ten points, two suits or four suits. Furthermore, with players bidding without conventions, less information is available for the play of the hand. Still, a lot of the game still remains and it's still enjoyable.

Other sites I've seen indicate that 0, 4 or 6 cards are turned up, instead of 8. The people I played with in college played that the dealer could choose open as many or as few cards of the fourth hand as he or she wanted. In this case, the decision as to how many to open had to be finalized before looking at your own cards.

Wikipedia has another variant, and other variants exist, such as Dummy Bridge and Cutthroat Bridge.

Other games played

Ben also played some Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers with my mom, and Sorry! with his kids. I tried, again, to teach Ben how to play Netrunner, but he once again resisted. He keeps asking why we don't just play Magic.

Game News

Lifelearning is running a competition for a logo for their yearly award for best homeschooling resource. Prize for the logo is $100. What does this have to do with board games? Well, gaming and homeschooling are both non-traditional means of education. And Lisa's a cool chick who likes my site.

Do you live in Ireland? Invite me for a week! No wait, that's not what I meant to write. Oh yeah: schools across the Midlands are being encouraged to support children with autism by taking part in a National Boardgame Day.

A new company called I Can Do That Games has acquired the rights to produce games based on Dr Seuss books. Four games are already printed.

Police solved an old murder case by giving inmates playing cards with unsolved murder victims' information on them.

I somehow missed this entirely awesome ... something on the subject of video games and art: Gamescenes. It's packed with nifty articles on the subject.

Boylston's blog points us to Kasparov's appearance on the Colbert Report, where Steve beats Gary in a game of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.

There's an article in Wired magazine entitled "It's Alive" about the persistence of the Frankenstein myth. Someone should make a board game on the subject.

There can never be too many Islamic Barbie dolls. Here's the latest one: Elif, who kneels and performs namaz.

And JK Rowling has given many Q&A's about Harry Potter, but this one is one of my favorites. Aside from declaring that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay, she fielded this tricky question:

Q: In the Goblet of Fire Dumbledore said his brother was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms [JKR buries her head, to laughter] on a goat; what were the inappropriate charms he was practicing on that goat?

JKR: How old are you?

Eight.

JKR: I think that he was trying to make a goat that was easy to keep clean [laughter], curly horns. That's a joke that works on a couple of levels. I really like Aberforth and his goats. But you know Aberforth having this strange fondness for goats if you've read book seven, came in really useful to Harry, later on, because a goat, a stag, you know. If you're a stupid Death Eater, what's the difference. So, that is my answer to YOU.

[loud applause]

Yehuda

Online Tabletop Gaming

Yesterday I pointed out how Wizards will be introducing an online tabletop experience to its 4e release of D&D. Wizard's idea is hardly the first in online "rules-free" tabletop gaming.

All of these systems allow one player to make a map and populate it with things. Players can make their own figures and place them on the map. Either the players or the hosting player can then move the figures around on the map.

All the systems have simulated dice-rolling. Often it's the best developed part of the engine, with fancy dice spinning around and them coming to a stop. Players seem to love rolling dice.


The most well-known is probably Vassal Engine. Vassal is used by hundreds (thousands?) of war gamers around the world to play games. War gamers in particular need the access to like-minded players ready to play very long games. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and I can't see why it couldn't be played for board games as well. It's Java technology, however, which might already be considered old-school.

Other systems, like Wizard's new system, are dedicated to RPG players. RPG players tend to lose interest in the game after moving away from their old group or getting married and having kids. They can no longer spend dozens of hours every night playing. Therefore, a tool that lets them cut out the travel time and saves the state between games contributes to solving the problem.

RPG systems generally include PC generation and customization and may also include pat animations or graphics for spells, events, or monsters.


Fantasy Grounds already looks pretty advanced and seems to do most of what Wizards' new tool will do.


Battlegrounds


ViewingDale - is fairly basic.


OpenRPG


RPG Tonight


d20Pro


ScreenMonkey


Tabletop Network (Gabob) by Tim Fowers is designed specifically for board gaming. It's being developed as I write, so send him your suggestions.

Yehuda

Strange Items Refered to in My Mother's Memoirs

My mom was born in 1938 in New York City. I've been reading through her memoirs.


Icebox

This is what they used before they had refrigerators. My grandmother always referred to a refrigerator as an "icebox". Blocks of ice were sold from ...


Horse-drawn carriages

You've see these in lots of movies about early times, and they still have a fleet of them in New York for impressing your date. In the 1940s, these were still common transportation along with motorcars.

Many traveling carriages were driven by ...

Peddlers
Peddlers sold every kind of good and services. From candy to shoe repair to medical services.

Apparently, the world was once a lot more mobile. I don't think you needed a license to sell things, nor were the goods or services you sold overseen by any sort of standards committee. So buyer beware.

One type of peddler sold ice in a horse-drawn carriage for the iceboxes. Kids would jump onto the back of the wagon hoping for slivers of ice to suck on. Others sold gum or chocolate for a penny.

Some of the medical services included ...


Bankes
Also known as cupping or fire cupping, it was used by many Eastern European Jews. Basically, you heat the air in cups, put it on the skin, and then pull it away after a suction forms. Leave nice dark circles. It's still used today in some places as a form of acupuncture/acupressure.

Another treatment was to put mustard plaster onto a cloth onto the skin, also for the apparent effect of stimulating the skin. And there was always cod liver oil.

Games
Believe it or not, people played games back in the 1940s. Some games my mother played:

• penny poker
• hop scotch - with the chalk numbered boxes and jumping
• potsy - a hop scotch variant
• skelly - kind of like marbles with checkers: toss into the numbered squares in sequence, knock opponent's pieces out of the squares.
• war - not the card game, but another street game.
• boxball - like ping pong played on a drawn sidewalk board with hands and a rubber ball. I used to play this with my brother, too.
• stickball - baseball on a street. First base is the Green Dodge, Second is the old gumwrapper, ...
• tennis
• shuffleboard
• ping pong
• handball - played against a wall with your hands, otherwise like squash. I used to play this all throughout high school, too. I was pretty good.
• jacks
• jump rope - games
• pickup sticks
• cops and robbers - and also ...
• cowboys and indians - are games of tag.
• dodgeball
• punchball - like baseball with a big pink rubber ball the size of a basketball, using your fist instead of a bat.
• hit the penny (like boxball) - but the object is to hit the penny, of course.
• rummy
• gin rummy
• black jack
• casino
• bridge - the card game. My mom learned when she was six.
• battleship - played with pencil and paper.
• checkers

Spauldine
Everyone called it a "Spauldine". It was a pink rubber ball the size of a tennis ball. I can only assume it was produced by the company Spalding.

Cheese box
Three pounds of cheese was sold in these. They made for cheap wooden storage boxes in school for pens and stuff.

Grades
In my mom's school, there were grades 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and so on. Not in parallel, as in two 1st grade classes, but in sequence. You graduated 1A half-way through the year and then went to 1B.


Ration stamps and ration points
Ration stamps were given out during war time owing to shortages of meat, cheese, gas, metal, and so on. In order to buy something, you had to pay both the cash cost and the ration point cost in stamps.

Subway
I'm not sure how it is today, but back then the front car of a subway was a glass door. Kids would stand up by the door and watch the tracks go hurtling at them.

Ink wells
School desks had builtin inkwells for writing with pens which dip in to them. Also good for dipping the ponytails of the girl in front of you.

Fluoroscope
You may remember these from cartoons where the cat runs behind it and you see the cat's X-ray (and the bird the cat just swallowed). They used to use these all the time. Everywhere. You would go into a shoe store, and the assistant would have you stand with your foot under a Fluoroscope for as long as you were trying on shoes.

It was all great fun until they discovered that X-rays cause cancer.

Civil service
The Police Athletic League was one of those wholesome activities you do to help make yourself a better citizen. They opened the fire hydrants for the kids to play in the water, and drew painted hopscotch boards on the streets for kids to play in. Nowadays, I'm not sure if that would still be considered being a good citizen.

Along with the PAL, there was the Air Warden Service and their Air Raid Wardens, who trained on directing people to air raid shelters and giving first aid. One of the things they used to do is run civil defense bombing drills. After WWII, they ran civil defense nuclear fallout drills.

And if that isn't enough, she was also part of the Civil Air Patrol, or CD-CAPC doing air force training, ROTC, and the American Youth Hostels, or AYH, which used to be people who organized hiking and writing to pen pals and offering lodging for fellow travelers. This evolved into today's youth hostels, I believe.

She was also on the English Service Squad, which gave you service credit for being a gopher for your teachers. Service credit was added to your school record and was helpful for your college application.

School hallways
School hallways had traffic lines down the middle. You had to walk on the right side of the line. They also had up-only and down-only staircases. An excellent book on these type of phenomena is Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman; it was also made into a movie. Very funny and poignant book, even today.

Needle Trade
This is what they called low-level workers in the garment district who did the sewing and so on.

Delaney cards
Every teacher in every subject in New York gave these cards out on the first day of class and the students had to fill them in and pass them back. They were supposed to contain vital information about each student: name, address, emergency telephone number, etc.

The cards were put into pages with slots on them according to seat order, so as to help determine a) the names of the kids while you were still learning them, and b) who was absent.


Seniors hats
Seniors in high school were given the privilege of wearing a hat sometimes which they could decorate. This was supposed to be cool.

Yehuda

Session Report, in which we play on the France Power Grid board for the first time

The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Puerto Rico, Havoc, Princes of Florence, Power Grid: France, Blokus Trigon, It's Alive, Bridge.

We play on the France Power Grid board for the first time.

Raph Koster designs a construction building MMO game in the Penny Arcade forums.

Wizards of the Coast gives a video overview of how they will be using online networked presentation tools to allow gamers to play D&D across the network. Just avatars and map making, no rule enforcement.

Freakonomics exposes an online poker site cheating scandal, where the site owners are allegedly playing while having access to hidden information about the other player's hands.

One interesting game presented at the current Essen game convention is the game Ohne Bewaehrung, devised by prisoners from the German Kapellen Prison demonstrating life in prison. Essen is the world's largest board game fair, attracting over 150,000 visitors over 4 days.

Yehuda

Board Game Geek's Secret Santa

BoardGameGeek has already kicked off this year's Secret Santa program. Join the fun. Essentially, you agree to ship a game to a randomly selected person, and some randomly selected person ships a game to you. Receivers don't get to know who the givers are, unless they choose to tell.

Receivers are often, but not usually, from the same country to save on shipping expenses, but even if they aren't you can usually order online and ship from a local store closer to the receiver. Everyone is invited to set up a wish list of reasonably priced items to aid (but nit compel) the sender in choosing the gift that will be most likely to be well received.

Game News

The Almogordo Daily News explores the perils of dumbing down board games for kids.

Eric of Gamethyme was interviewed about his board games rules translation services.

GameInk, the new board game accessory store, will be offering a $d6 discount at BGG.con. Roll a d6 and take that many dollars off the price.

Castles in the Air tries to create a Homo Ludens taxonomy.

The next Board Game Speakers Colloquium will be held in Lisbon on March 23-26, 2008. Check out the invited speakers and topics.

Another board game is available about AIDS, sexuality, and contraception called Think Negative! And the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute is raising money by means of an hour of game play called It's All in the Game.

Armenian Chess players sometimes face uncomfortable situations playing in Turkey, according to Panorama.

Local charities are being cautious about accepting toy and game donations in the wake of the numerous toy recalls, according to Public Opinion Online.

Yehuda

1400+ More Game Jobs

(And another 5,000 computer industry but non-gaming jobs, too.)

This list is in addition to my 3500+ and 1000+ posts; these are all from companies not on the other two lists. This list is a side-effect of my continuing research into the game industry.

Some entries below are for multiple positions. I.e. "Programmer" might mean that they are hiring 1 to 30 programmers. Furthermore, they may have other positions not listed. Furthermore, just because a company doesn't list positions, doesn't mean they're not interested.

Note that jobs available change every day on these sites, so check them regularly. And don't send me resumes; I'm not a job agency.

7 Studios - Los Angeles, CA
Senior Programmers and Programmers
Tools Programmer
Game Designer

Acclaim
Internship
Project: Top Secret Moderators

Apple
Apple presently has 954 job opportunities throughout Australia, Canada, Europe, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States. Some of these are in their interactive media divisions: Mac games, Ipod games, and so on. Unfortunately, they provide no way of searching just within these divisions.

Audiokinetic - Montréal, Canada
Sofware Developer Sound Engine

Auran - Brisbane, Australia
Senior Server Administrator (Windows) - F27
Senior Artist - Job No F20
Senior Programmer -F21
Senior Server Administrator - Linux - F26
Server Operator - F25
Senior Level Designer - F29

Avid- Avid is a supercompany of several companies (such as SoftImage) that make images, video, and audio used in the game industry, as well as other industries.
WW Enterprise Account Program Manager,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/11/2007
Workflow Project Manager,Burbank, CA, United States 10/4/2007
Vice President and Corporate Controller,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/19/2007
UK & MEA CS Specialist,Iver Heath Bucks,Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/10/2007
Technical Support Representative,Irwindale, CA, United States 10/12/2007
Technical Events Supervisor,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/21/2007
Tax Manager,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Senior Systems Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Portal Applications Developer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/19/2007
Senior Automation Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Software Engineer - 3D Graphics (Entry Level),Midvale, UT, United States 9/14/2007
Software Engineer (Entry Level),Midvale, UT, United States 10/10/2007
Informatik Werkstudent(in),Munich , Germany 6/15/2007
STUDENT INTERNSHIP - Software Engineering,Daly City, CA, United States 8/10/2007
Sr. HR Manager, Corporate BU & HR Global Programs,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Sr. Device Driver Engineer,Irwindale, CA, United States 10/8/2007
Software QA Engineer II,Rochelle Park, NJ, United States 10/11/2007
SQA Engineer,Mountain View, CA, United States 10/4/2007
Software Tools Engineer,Irwindale, CA, United States 9/18/2007
E-Technik, Multimedia, IT- QA Werkstudent (m/w),München , Germany 6/29/2007
Software Test Engineer Student,München , Germany 8/8/2007
Software Test Engineer - Co-op,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/1/2007
Software Test Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 7/30/2007
Software Engineering Manager,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/6/2007
Software Engineer- C/Linux Drivers,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Software Engineer - Kernel Windows & OS/X Mac,Tewksbury, MA, United States 6/6/2007
Software Engineer – 3rd Party Interoperability,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/21/2007
Software Developer (Video Effects) - Coop,Montreal, QC, Canada 10/10/2007
Shipper/Rec,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/27/2007
Software Developer XP Vista .Net,München , Germany 9/25/2007
Software Developer XP Vista .Net,Braunschweig, Germany 9/24/2007
Software Developer XP Vista .Net,München , Germany 9/19/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Edmonton, AB, Canada 9/17/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Madison, WI, United States 10/12/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Edmonton, AB, Canada 10/5/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 10/5/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 10/5/2007
Senior Product Designer, Interplay,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/23/2007
Senior Mechanical Engineer,Irwindale, CA, United States/Seminole, FL United States 9/18/2007
Senior Firmware Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States/Daly City, CA United States 10/12/2007
Senior Executive Administrator,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/9/2007
Senior C++ Developer (m/f),Munich , Germany 9/24/2007
SAP Business Analyst MM & SD,Dublin, Ireland 10/5/2007
SAP Business Analyst FI & CO,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/18/2007
SAP ABAP Developer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Sales Representative,Louisville, CO, United States 10/12/2007
Sales Representative (m/f),Hallbergmoos, Germany 9/28/2007
Sales Engineer Tewksbury, MA, United States/Irving, TX United States 3/8/2007
Sales Administrator,Walnut Creek, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Sales Account Manager,London, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/24/2007
Senior C++ Developer (m/f),Munich , Germany 9/24/2007
SAP Business Analyst MM & SD,Dublin, Ireland 10/5/2007
SAP Business Analyst FI & CO,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/18/2007
SAP ABAP Developer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Sales Representative,Louisville, CO, United States 10/12/2007
Sales Representative (m/f),Hallbergmoos, Germany 9/28/2007
Sales Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States/Irving, TX United States 3/8/2007
Sales Administrator,Walnut Creek, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Sales Account Manager,London, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/24/2007
Sales - Manager, Japan,Tokyo , Tokyo, Japan/Tokyo , Tokyo Japan 8/15/2006
Repair Technician,Irwindale, CA, United States/Irwindale, CA United States 9/17/2007
Regional Sales Manager,Dubai, Aceh, India 9/27/2006
Regional Sales Director,Burbank, CA, United States/Burbank, CA United States 7/18/2007
Senior QA Engineer,Edmonton, AB, Canada 10/9/2007
Project Engineer,Dublin, Ireland 10/15/2007
Program Manager, Hardware,Daly City, CA, United States 8/22/2007
Product Manager - Asia,Singapore , Singapore/Walnut Creek, CA United States 5/8/2007
Product Manager, On Air Servers,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/15/2007
Principal Software Engineer / Shared Storage,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Principal Software Engineer / Shared Storage,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Principal Software Engineer / Shared Storage,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Senior Audio Systems Software Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Principal Engineer - Storage Server,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Principal Engineer - Embedded Linux,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/11/2007
Outside Account Executive – Education, Southern,Walnut Creek, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Outside Account Executive – Education,Walnut Creek, CA, United States 8/15/2007
Office Manager,Irwindale, CA, United States 9/27/2007
National Account Rep,New York, NY, United States/Burbank, CA United States 10/11/2007
Senior Java Software Developer (m/f),Munich , Germany 10/15/2007
Mission Critical Support Representative,Burbank, CA, United States
Chicago, IL United States 8/14/2007
Senior Product Manager, Post Production,Daly City, CA, United States 8/10/2007
Software Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Senior Software Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Software Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Software Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Senior Mechanical Design Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Marketing Segment Mgr, Post-Production Facilities,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/28/2007
Marketing Database Analyst,Tewksbury, MA, United States/United States 10/12/2007
Manufacturing Support Rep (part-time),Dublin, Ireland 9/6/2007
Manager, Learning & Organizational Development,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/15/2007
Manager Sales Operations,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/11/2007
Manager of Software Plug-Ins,Daly City, CA, United States 6/28/2007
Human Resource Manager II,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/9/2007
Corporate Finance Manager - Revenue Recognition,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/11/2007
Logistics Order Administration,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/21/2007
Lead Release Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/15/2007
Junior Software Developer Java (m/f),Munich , Germany 10/15/2007
International Product Specialist - Asia,United States 6/8/2007
Instructor & Curriculum Developer- Interplay,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/2/2007
Instructor & Curriculum Developer- Interplay,Madison, WI, United States 10/4/2007
Instructor & Curriculum Developer- Interplay Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/2/2007
Instructor & Curriculum Developer- Interplay Madison, WI, United States 10/4/2007
Inside Sales Representative,Montreal, QC, Canada/Venice, CA United States 10/10/2007
Inside Account Executive - Education,Walnut Creek, CA, United States 10/10/2007
Contractor - Grafik-/ Industriedesigner (w/m),München , Germany 7/4/2007
Field Marketing Representative,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/1/2007
Executive Administrative Assistan,Mountain View, CA, United States 9/24/2007
Engineering - Sr. Application Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 8/10/2007
Engineering - Quality Assurance Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/28/2007
Software Engineer,Irving, TX, United States 9/26/2007
Eng - SW Quality Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/15/2007
Director, Development,Mountain View, CA, United States 10/8/2007
Director of Sales - Enterprise Accounts,New York, NY, United States/Burbank, CA United States 6/19/2007
Marketing Operations Director,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/15/2007
Director of Internal Audit,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/23/2007
Director of On-Air Product Management,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/12/2007
Director, Editor Product Management,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/12/2007
Developer Services Engineer,Daly City, CA, United States 9/26/2007
Customer Support Specialist (m/f),Hallbergmoos, Germany 10/10/2007
Customer Service - Technical Support - Digi,Daly City, CA, United States 8/10/2007
Customer Service - Technical Support - Broadcast,Irving, TX, United States 10/5/2007
CS Field Service Engineer,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/18/2007
Field Engineer,Burbank, CA, United States 9/19/2007
CRM Project Manager,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Creative Director,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/15/2007
Country Manager, Japan, Video,Minato-Ku, Aichi, Japan 10/1/2007
Corporate Public Relations,Daly City, CA, United States/Mountain View, CA United States 9/13/2007
Corporate Public Relations,Mountain View, CA, United States/Daly City, CA United States 9/13/2007
Corporate Counsel,Mountain View, CA, United States 10/2/2007
Corporate Counsel,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 9/20/2007
Corporate Counsel,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/14/2007
Licensing and Corporate Counsel,Daly City, CA, United States 8/21/2007
Communications Program Manager,Mountain View, CA, United States 9/19/2007
Communications Program Manager,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/28/2007
Eng/Eng II,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/26/2007
Contract Customer Service Screener,Daly City, CA, United States 8/10/2007
Business Support Specialist - UK,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 10/11/2007
Business Analyst,Iver Heath Bucks , Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom 10/11/2007
SAP Security Analyst & SOX Compliance Admin,Tewksbury, MA, United States 8/29/2007
Beta Programs Coordinator/Engineer- Newsroom & OAG,Tewksbury, MA, United States 9/26/2007
Avid Marketing Praktikum,Hallbergmoos, Germany 9/10/2007
Automation Engineer,Tewksbury, MA, United States 10/12/2007
Audio Measurement Engineer,Irwindale, CA, United States 8/15/2007
Artist Relations Administrative Asst.,Irwindale, CA, United States 7/19/2007

Big Huge Games - Timonium, Maryland
3D ARTISTS
ART CONTRACTORS
ART INTERN
CHAR ANIMATOR
LEAD CHAR ARTIST
SENIOR/LEAD ARTIST
SR CHAR ANIMATOR
TECHNICAL RIGGER
UI ARTIST
SYS DESIGNER
LEAD SYS DESIGNER
SENIOR LVL DESIGNER
PRODUCER
RPG PRODUCER
RTS PRODUCER
ASSOC PROGRAMMER
PROGRAMMER

Blade Interactive - Manchester, UK
Senior Programmers
Physics Programmers
Next-gen AI Programmers
Next-gen Tech Programmers
Experienced Character Animators
Experienced Character Artists
Experienced Concept Artists
Experienced Environment Artists
Experienced Flash artists with strong ActionScript
Experienced Level Designers
Experienced Script Designers
Experienced Project Manager
Experienced Testers

Blue Fang - Boston, MA
Lead Artist
3D Animator
Senior Game Designer
Flash (ActionScript) Games Programmer - CONTRACT POSITION
Game Tools Programmer
Lead Game Programmer
Senior AI Programmer
Senior C++ Programmer
Senior Physics Programmer
Senior Wii Programmer
Producer
Sound Designer Position

Boonty
An unspecified number of positions around the world.

Bugbear - Finland
Tools Programmer
Graphics Programmer
Game Logic Programmer
Level Designer

Buzz Monkey - Eugene, OR
Senior Level Designer
Level Designer
Lead Animator
Senior Environment Artist
Character Artist

CCP Games - Over 100 positions, according to their site.
QA Lead Atlanta, USA Quality Assurance
Testing Lead Atlanta, USA Quality Assurance
Software Tester Atlanta, USA Quality Assurance
Associate Producer Atlanta, USA Content & Game Design
Technical Content Author Atlanta, USA Content & Game Design
Level Designers Atlanta, USA Content & Game Design
Lead Writer Atlanta, USA Content & Game Design
Technical Writer Atlanta, USA Content & Game Design
Animation Director Atlanta, USA Art
Concept Artists Atlanta, USA Art
UI Graphic Artist Atlanta, USA Art
Technical Artist Atlanta, USA Programmers
Junior Technical Artist Atlanta, USA Administration
Technical Producer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Senior Programmer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Game Programmer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Associate Programmer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Technical Designer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Sound Designer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Concept Artists Reykjavik, Iceland Art
Technical Artist Reykjavik, Iceland Art
Web Editor/Copywriter Atlanta, USA Marketing
Senior Web Developer Atlanta, USA Programmers
Executive Producer Shanghai, China Content & Game Design
Lead Programmer Shanghai, China Programmers
Senior Graphics Programmer Shanghai, China Programmers
Senior Network Programmer Shanghai, China Programmers
Senior Game Play Programmer Shanghai, China Programmers
English Game Master Shanghai, China Administration
Japanese Game Master Shanghai, China Administration
Scripter / Designer Shanghai, China Content & Game Design
Lead Artist Shanghai, China Art
Associate Art Producer Reykjavik, Iceland Art
Network Engineer Reykjavik, Iceland Art
Database Administrator Reykjavik, Iceland Administration
Community Representative Reykjavik, Iceland Administration
Technical Writer Reykjavik, Iceland Administration
User Interface and Audio Developer Reykjavik, Iceland Programmers
Web Developer Reykjavik, Iceland Art
Game Master Atlanta, USA Administration
Database Programmer Reykjavik, Iceland Programmers
Game logic prototype programmer Reykjavik, Iceland Programmers
Network Engineer Atlanta, USA Administration
Content Developer Reykjavik, Iceland Content & Game Design
Test Specialists Reykjavik, Iceland Quality Assurance
Senior User Interface Designer Reykjavik, Iceland Programmers

CTXM - Latvia and Minsk, Belarus
Human Resource Assistant
QMS Auditor
Database Developer
Technical Writer
Game Producer
Configuration Manager
Junior Java Developer
Analyst
Tester
Project Manager
Flash Developer

Destineer
QA Tester/Tech Support Rep, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Senior Producer, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Senior Game Designer, RALEIGH, NC
Senior Mac Software Engineer, AUSTIN, TX

Digital Extremes - London, ON, Canada
Generalist / Animation Programmer
Associate Producer
AI Programmer
Sr. Gameplay Programmer
Tools Programmer
User Interface Artist
Level Designer
Animator
Texture Artist
Environmental Artist

Double Fine - San Francisco, CA
Art Director
Associate Producer
Lead Tools Programmer
Senior Environment Artist
Senior Gameplay Programmer
Senior Graphics Programmer
Senior Materials Artist
Senior Simulation Programmer
Senior Technical Artist
Senior Tools Programmer
Senior Visual Effects Artist
Technical Director

DS Interactive
DS Interactive is a recruitment specialist in the game industry and maintains several sites with jobs related to specific sub-industries.
Interactive Selection - 444 job listings
Game Contractor - Register to be a contractor, or find a contractor
iGaming Selection - Job listings in online gaming and gambling. Registration required.
1gameagent - Get jobs using a game agent.
GamesJobNews - News and charts, including top recruiters and so on.
GameTester - List of companies with game testing positions.

Emergent - Chapel Hill, NC and Calabasas, CA
Automated Test Engineer, Gamebryo - 117
Community Manager - 165
Development Manager, Gamebryo - 157
Director of Network Administration -150
Emergent Platform General Manager - 163
Gamebryo Product Manager - 147
Lead Tools Engineer, Gamebryo - 113
Metrics Lead Software Engineer - 155
Metrics Project Manager - 156
Partner Engineer -144
Persistent World Database Engineer - 151
Product Support Engineer - 141
SaaS Platform Architect -142
Sales Engineer - 100
Senior Product Manager - 152
Senior Server Engineer - 168
Server Engineer - 169
Server Test Engineer - 167
Software Engineer - Framework - 158
Software Engineer Intern
Software Engineer, Server Operations Tools- 170
Sr. Partner and External Technology Engineer -143
Sr. Software Engineer, Gamebryo -115
System Architect - 153
Systems Administrator - 159
Tools Engineer, Gamebryo - 118

Foundation 9 - and several subcompanies
User Interface Artist Backbone - Emeryville 2 10/8/07 2:53 PM
UI Artist Backbone - Vancouver 1 8/6/07 1:16 PM
UI - Graphic Artist Collective - Newport Beach 1 9/25/07 2:15 PM
Tools Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/10/07 6:21 PM
Studio Design Director Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/9/07 1:21 PM
Sr. Network Engineer Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/9/07 5:10 PM
Software Engineer ImaginEngine - Boston 1 3/2/07 4:01 PM
Senior Software Engineer Backbone - Vancouver 1 8/6/07 1:15 PM
Senior Programmer Pipeworks - Eugene 1 7/31/07 12:38 PM
Senior Mechanics Designer Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/8/07 3:02 PM
Senior Game Designer Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/8/07 2:51 PM
Senior Designer Backbone - Vancouver 1 8/6/07 1:16 PM
Senior Animator Shiny Entertainment - Newport Beach 1 7/31/07 12:40 PM
PS2 Graphics Programmer Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/8/07 2:58 PM
Producer ImaginEngine - Boston 1 3/2/07 4:00 PM
Producer Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/10/07 12:46 PM
Producer Shiny Entertainment - Newport Beach 1 10/8/07 1:24 PM
Producer Pipeworks - Eugene 1 10/9/07 1:03 PM
Nintendo DS Programmer Backbone - Emeryville 2 10/8/07 3:01 PM
Level Designer/Scripter Amaze - Kirkland 5 10/9/07 2:09 PM
Level Designer Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/8/07 2:54 PM
Lead DS Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/5/07 5:51 PM
Human Resources Director Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/5/07 6:11 PM
Graphics Programmer Pipeworks - Eugene 1 10/9/07 1:00 PM
Game Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/10/07 6:27 PM
Environment Artist Amaze - Kirkland 6 10/10/07 6:26 PM
Effects Artist Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/12/07 1:46 PM
Effects Artist Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/15/07 10:30 AM
DS Tools Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/5/07 5:55 PM
DS Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/5/07 5:45 PM
Development Manager Pipeworks - Eugene 1 8/6/07 1:07 PM
Development Manager Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/5/07 6:02 PM
Development Manager Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/5/07 6:04 PM
Core Tech Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/12/07 1:42 PM
Core Tech Programmer Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/15/07 10:33 AM
Cinematics Scripter Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/12/07 1:39 PM
Cinematics Scripter Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/15/07 10:31 AM
Character Modeler Amaze - Kirkland 2 10/10/07 6:24 PM
Associate Producer - Nintendo DS Amaze - Kirkland 1 10/9/07 1:55 PM
Associate Producer - Boston, MA ImaginEngine - Boston 1 3/2/07 3:59 PM
Art Director ImaginEngine - Boston 1 5/8/07 3:36 PM
Art Director Backbone - Vancouver 1 8/6/07 1:15 PM
Art Director Pipeworks - Eugene 1 8/6/07 1:07 PM
Animator Amaze - Kirkland 3 10/10/07 6:23 PM
Animation Scripter Shiny Entertainment - Newport Beach 1 9/17/07 4:07 PM
3D Environment Artist Backbone - Emeryville 1 10/8/07 2:57 PM

Fresh Games - New Albany, OH
Web Developer
Puzzle Designers
Business Development Director

GamePoint - The Hague
Webprogrammeur

Gas Powered Games - Redmond, WA
Character Technical Director
Senior Modeller: Cartoon-Style Contraptions (Console)
Web Developer
Lead Level Designer (Console)
Level Designer (Console)
Senior Designer (Console)
Senior Graphics Engineer (PC)
Level Designer
Senior Tools Engineer
Senior/Lead Content Engineer
.Net Tools Engineer
Systems Engineer (Console)

Humagade
Administration Head of production
Administration Producer
Artistic Artist (2D)
Design Designer
Programing Junior 3D programmer
Programing Junior Programmer
Programing Senior Programmer
Quality Assurance QA Technician

IBM
IBM lists 2000 open positions in the US alone. I found only 6 in the Media and Entertainment division (in the US), but that doesn't mean there aren't more.
Sr. Managing/Managing Consultant, Business Strategy - Media & Entertainment - LA or New York
Associate Partner, Business Strategy - Media & Entertainment - New York or LA
Intellectual Property Management Industry Specialist (Media & Entertainment)
Ad Sales Industry Specialist - Media & Entertainment
Media Digital Specialist
Associate Partner, Web Analytics Industry Specialist

Bohemia - Czech Republic
2D artist - Texturist
3D artist - Modeler
3D artist – Animator
Designer
Programmer

Altar - Czech Republic
2D grafik

IGA Worldwide
US/New York: Business Manager Ad Sales
US/Chicago: Business Manager Ad Sales
US/Los Angeles: Account Manager
US/Los Angeles: Media Planner
US/New York: Media Planner
US/New York: Analyst
EU/London: Ad Sales Business Manager
EU/London: Media Acquisition Manager

Insomniac - Burbank, CA
Senior Animator
Environment Artist
Senior Designer
Engine Programmer
Gameplay Programmer
Senior Network Gameplay Programmer
Tools Test Engineer
Senior Programmer
Internships

Intenium
GameEntwickler Kaliningrad
Producer Hamburg
Praktikanten Hamburg

Interzone - Perth, Australia
Art Director
Concept Artist
Senior 3D Modeler
Senior Animator
UI Designer
Game Designer
Sound Designer
C++ Specialist
Game System Engineer
LAMP Specialist
MMO Server Engineer
Programming Intern
Special Project Lead
Tools Engineer
Web Design
Web Project Client Engineer
Web Project Lead
Web Project Security Engineer
Web Project Server Engineer
Accountant
IT Manager
Office Intern
Office Manager
Personal Assistant
QA Manager
Concept Artist - Alphaville
Game Designer - Alphaville
2D Artist - Guangzhou
Senior 3D Modeler - Guangzhou
Senior Animator - Guangzhou
Technical Artist - Guangzhou
Network Administrator - Guangzhou

Junction Point - Austin, TX
Production Designer
Animation Director
Concept Artist
Lead Prog
AI Prog
Network Prog
Systems Prog
Gameplay Prog
Content Tools

Koch Media - Germany
Localisation Testers (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish)

Large Animal - location unknown
Senior Php Programmer
Senior Flash Game Programmer
C++ Game Programmer
Senior Artist
Web/Flash Artist
Art/Design Intern
Game Producer/Designer
Office Manager

Leapfrog
Accounting Manager CA - Emeryville
Business Analyst CA - Emeryville
CMS Engineer, Web Applications CA - Emeryville
Collections Specialist CA - Emeryville
Collections Specialist CA - Emeryville
Contract QA Engineer CA - Emeryville
Database Architect CA - Emeryville
Developer Support Engineer CA - Emeryville
Director of Product Assurance CA - Emeryville
Educational Content Reviewer CA - Emeryville
ETL Analyst CA - Emeryville
Executive Assistant - Temporary CA - Emeryville
External Reporting Manager CA - Emeryville
Field Marketing Specialist CA - Emeryville
Forecasting Analyst CA - Emeryville
Inside Sales Associate x-Remote
International Senior Brand Manager - Reading CA - Emeryville
Manager Business Analytics – Web Analytics (Consumer Direct) CA - Emeryville
Producer CA - Emeryville
Product Assurance Engineer CA - Emeryville
Product Assurance Engineer CA - Emeryville
Project Milestone Manager CA - Emeryville
QA Core Tester CA - Emeryville
QA Core Tester CA - Emeryville
QA Hardware Lab Technician CA - Emeryville
QA Test Project Coordinator - Temporary CA - Emeryville
QA Test Project Coordinator - Temporary CA - Emeryville
QA Test Project Coordinator - Temporary CA - Emeryville
Senior Accountant CA - Emeryville
Senior Accountant: Close & Consolidations CA - Emeryville
Senior Cognos Finance/Planning Analyst CA - Emeryville
Senior Doc Control Analyst CA - Emeryville
Senior Enterprise Architect CA - Emeryville
Senior Financial Analyst, Business Planning CA - Emeryville
Senior Information Architect CA - Emeryville
Senior Information Architect CA - Emeryville
Senior Manager, Business Planning CA - Emeryville
Senior Program Manager CA - Emeryville
Senior Program Manager CA - Emeryville
Senior Software Engineer, ETL CA - Emeryville
Senior Software Engineer, Java & C++ CA - Emeryville
Senior Software Engineer, Web Applications CA - Emeryville
Software Engineer (General) CA - Emeryville
Software Engineer - Universal PC Application team CA - Emeryville
Software Engineer III (Tools) CA - Emeryville
Software Engineer, Intern CA - Emeryville
Sr. Asic Engineer CA - Santa Clara
Sr. Producer of Online Development CA - Emeryville
Sr. Software Engineer - Universal PC Application team CA - Emeryville
Sr. Software Engineer - Universal PC Applications team CA - Emeryville
Sr. SW Engineer, Business Intelligence CA - Emeryville
Sr. SW Engineer, Data Analysis Systems CA - Emeryville
Sr. SW Engineer, Web Applications (2) CA - Emeryville
Sr. SW Engineer, Web Applications (3) CA - Emeryville
Sr. Web Designer CA - Emeryville
Tax Manager / Sr. Tax Analyst CA - Emeryville
Technical Support Specialist CA - Emeryville
Technical Trainer CA - Emeryville
VP & Controller CA - Emeryville

Microsoft
Microsoft has 4000 jobs in the US alone, and thousands more internationally. Over 100 of these jobs are related to their core games divisions, such as XBox. But they don't make it easy to see these in a neat list, so you'll just have to go searching yourself. Sorry.

Bungie - Bellevue or Seattle, WA
Skybox/Matte Painting Artist
Concept Artist
Programmers
Lead Character Animator
Lead Designer

Ensemble - Dallas, TX
Visual Effects Artist
Character Animator
Graphics Programmer
Database Programmer
Console Programmer
Senior Programmers

Lionhead - Birchwood Park, UK
Programmer - Various Positions
Artists - Various Positions
Standard Gameplay Scripters
Experienced Animator - Fixed Term Contracts x 3 - Fable 2 team

Mumbo Jumbo - Dallas, TX
Channel Marketing Manager
Project Manager
3D Artist
Concept Artist
Game Programmer / Lead Programmer
QA Manager

Namco - These are different from the previous NamcoBanai listings in my last post. I'm not sure where they're located, however.
September 22, 2007 WIRELESS PRODUCER
September 22, 2007 Mobile QA Tester
September 22, 2007 PHP NETWORK ENGINEER
September 22, 2007 J2ME/BREW ENGINEER
September 22, 2007 Senior Deployment Manager
September 22, 2007 Product Marketing Manager - Games
September 22, 2007 Associate Product Marketing Manager - Non-Game Products
September 22, 2007 Mobile Associate Porting Producer
September 22, 2007 Mobile Porting Producer
September 22, 2007 Quality Assurance Lead Tester
September 22, 2007 Server Applications Engineer

ArenaNet - Bellevue, WA
Graphics Programmer New!
Database Programmer New!
Application Programmer New!
Text/Voice/Video Chat Engineer New!
UI Programmer
Content Programmer
Server and Network Programmer
Tools and Engine Programmer
Environment Artist
Character Artist
Spawner / Game Designer
Level Designer

Nihilistic - Marin County / San Francisco Bay
Lead Gameplay Programmer
User Interface/Tools Programmer
Level Designer
Gameplay/AI Programmer
Senior Technology/Engine Programmer

Nitrome - London, UK
Flash ActionScript Games Programmer
Pixel Artist/Animator

Raven
Effects Artist Wisconsin - Madison
Environment Artist Wisconsin - Madison
Gameplay Programmers Wisconsin - Madison
Software Engineers Wisconsin - Madison
Technical Artists Wisconsin - Madison
UI Artist Wisconsin - Madison

Rebellion - UK
Animator – Derby (Ref 113DC)
Max Environment Artist – Oxford
Menu/GUI Artist/Designer – Oxford (Ref 112MB)
Games Designer – Derby (Ref 114SP)
Engine Programmer - Oxford
Technical Programmer - Oxford
PS3 Programmer - Derby (Ref 109JT)
Audio Programmer – Derby (Ref 110JT)
Lead Programmers – Derby, Liverpool (Runcorn) & Oxford
AI Programmers – Derby, Liverpool (Runcorn) & Oxford
Gameplay Programmers – Derby, Liverpool (Runcorn) & Oxford
Junior Programmers – Derby, Liverpool (Runcorn) & Oxford
Ruby on Rails Programmer – Oxford (Ref 116CK)
Producer - Derby (Ref 117MB)
Senior Producer – Oxford (Ref 111MB)
Assistant Producer – Oxford (Ref 115MB)

Relic - Vancouver, Canada
Senior Environment Artist
Programmer
Senior Technical Artist
Technical Artist
HR Representative
Senior Network Programmer
Senior Designer
Programmer

S2 Games - Rohnert Park, CA
Full-time Programmer

SillySoft - Vancouver, Canada
Java game engine and AI programmer
Java graphics and GUI programmer

SNK Playmore
Got me. It's in Japanese. At least 27 job listings. They have a USA site, which had no job information on it.

Superscape
Deployment Programmer - US Office, San Clemente, California
Help Desk Technician - US Office
Deployment Assistant - US Office
QA Testers - US Office
Producer
Games Designer - US Office
QA Manager - US Office
Art Director - Russia
Art Director - Russia
Project Manager - Russia
Project Manager - Russia
Tester - Russia
Tester - Russia
Artist - Russia
Artist - Russia
Programmer - Russia
Programmer - Russia

Three Rings - San Francisco, California
Junior Software Engineer
Senior Games Programmer
Games Programmer
Artist (2D/3D)
Art Director
Software Engineer
Internships

Threewave - Vancouver, Canada
Lead Programmer
Lead Game Designer
3D Environment Modeler
Level Designer
Lead Artist
Shader Artist
Lighting and FX Artist
Producer
Senior Programmer
Technical Art Director
QA Tester
Lead Level Designer
Finance Manager

Tilted Mill - Framingham, MA
Development Support
Game Programmers - not nec. any openings
Senior Game Artist

Torpex - Bellevue, WA
Lead Artist
Senior Programmer
Senior 3D Modeler / Texture Artist

Turbo Squid - work from home?
Chief Marketing Officer / VP Marketing and Sales
Software Engineer
Operations / Project Manager
Human Resources Manager
Interface Designer

Red Storm - Morrisville, NC
Project Closer (MONTREAL)
Character Animator -NEW-
Game Systems Engineer -NEW-
Animation Engineer -NEW-
AI Engineer -NEW-
Graphics Engineer -NEW-
Technical Writer -NEW-
UI Engineer -NEW-
Network Engineer -NEW-
Tools/Utility Engineer -NEW-
Game Designer-NEW-
Game Tester

Vicarious Visions
Environmental Artist-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Executive Producer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Game Designer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Game Programmer Co-op-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Game Programmer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Junior Animator-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Junior Game Programmer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Junior Sound Designer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Nintendo DS Programmer New York - Albany
Production Coordinator-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Senior Game Designer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Technical Artist-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Technical Game Designer-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany
Texture Artist-Vicarious Visions New York - Albany

Wild Tangent - Redmond, WA
Traffic Manager
Sr. Software Engineer
Software Engineer, Internal Tools
Art Director
Senior Multiplayer Engineer
Sr. Software Engineer
IT Services Specialist
Online Marketing Manager
Director Business Development
Sr. Account Executive (New York)
Account Executive (Los Angeles)
Account Executive (New York)

Zapak - Mumbai, India
Software Engineer
Web Master
Store Managers
Project Manager
Territory Sales Executive
Territory Sales Manager
Key Accounts Manager
Chinese Translator
Website Manager
Asst. Manager Portal
Product Manager
Usability

Zombie - Seattle WA
Programmers
Texture Artist
Animator
Level Designers
3D Artists

Zoonami - Cambridge UK
Senior Artist
Senior Programmer for Wii

Zootfly - Slovenia
Senior Level Designers
Senior Engine Programmer

Review: Stardust

I just saw Stardust, the latest movie adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book of the same name.

Summary: Overly frenetic, but lovely, humorous, and romantic all the same.

The synopsis: It's complicated. Suffice to say, there's a boy who's son of normal man and a princess from fairyland. He's in love with a local priss who tolerates him. He goes over into fairyland to retrieve a fallen star as a token of his affection for her. Meanwhile, this star only fell down because it got hit with a flying necklace thrown by a dying king who told his sons that the first one to find and return it would be king. Meanwhile, a bunch of witches set off with their evil magic in pursuit of the fallen star in order to cut out its heart; see, the fallen star is a woman.

And that would be only the first of a whole bunch of "meanwhile"s, which include a cross-dressing captain and his fierce pirate crew, the enslaved princess and her witch captor, and an ever-growing chorus of snarky ghosts.

Whatever.

The only real problem with this film is that it starts too frenetically. The first quarter of the movie is a struggle to keep up with what's happening. (Frankly, I still don't understand the opening scene with the astronomers.)

Some may also be put off with the lack of seriousness of the movie. It has the same dignity as The Princess Bride. And The Princess Bride is an apt comparison for this movie, as it feels something like a cross between Bride and The Chronicles of Narnia.

All of the actors are excellent in their parts. Michelle Pfeiffer gives us a truly evil witch. Robert DeNiro is perfect as the strangely-mannered benevolent pirate captain. Claire Danes, one of my favorite actresses ever since My So-Called Life, plays a fun, temperamental fallen star. Charlie Cox as our hero Tristan, Sienna Miller as the over-sought Victoria, and everyone else are in great form.

The actors and the director give you characters; they may be two-dimensional characters, but they're characters nonetheless. Numerous little looks, nods, or other mannerisms made even the supporting characters assets to the story.

As a fantasy, it starts off a little confusing and too fast, as I mentioned. After that, it's great fun and satisfying. As a visually-rich movie, there are probably dozens if not hundreds of little fun things I missed on first viewing. I'm sure I will have to see it again.

As a comedy, it was often quite funny. But it didn't hold together quite as well as Princess Bride did. The running ghost chorus, kind of like a disgruntled bunch of Hogwart's ghosts which trail around after the action throughout the movie, seemed like a British comedy troupe thrown into a standard American movie. Funny, but sometimes a little jarring.

As a romance, it's right down the middle of the road cliche, but top notch cliche. Boy woos obnoxious girl, boy meets another girl, boy and other girl dislike each other, eventually boy learns the meaning of love. It's all perty and romantic near the end, so bring a date.

Now I have to go back an reread the book to see how it differs.

Yehuda