God of War 2 [PS3]

Play it for:
* God of War but better.
* God of War but more awesome.
* God of War but superior.

Avoid it for:
* The occasional sight of bare breasts.

Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis

Play it for:
* Indy atmosphere & humour.
* Surprisingly decent scholarship on the Atlantis myth.

Avoid it for:
* Somewhat dated gameplay.

Loom [Mac/PC]

Play it for:
* unique and smart control system.
* has a certain enigmatic charm.

Avoid it for:
* unresolved, underdeveloped, and incomplete.
* short (see above).

Machinarium [Mac/PC]

Play it for:
* beautiful art style.
* you can't help but love the rustily cute world and characters.
* great combination of "point n click" puzzling and more Layton-esque brainteasers.

Avoit it for:
* despite the great experience, it's a bit on the short side for its full price (£15).

Portal [Mac][PC]

Play it for:
* Old school science fiction atmosphere.
* Unique and memorable gameplay experience.
* The song at the end.

Avoid it for:
* The game only reveals its full majesty in the last couple of chapters - though the ones leading up to that point are thankfully short and sweet.

Robin Hood 2010 [film]

Watch it for:
* Cate Blanchett.
* To see the French get whooped.
* A film that defies expectations.

Avoid it for:
* Slow.
* Tries to be too clever and takes itself too seriously.

Not a poet

How am I judged? It's fair but also terse:
I'm not a poet. No. I just write verse.
So even though my metres flow alright,
My rhymes aren't bad, my structure's pretty tight,
But even so, these virtues are my flaws;
And better if I wrote bereft of laws
With verse as free as vultures in the air
And similarly full of grim despair
(Or full of any overwhelming passion -
At least, that seems to me to be the fashion.)
These vultures soar in search of greater beasts,
Which dead they rip asunder for their feasts.
Oh must it render all my verse as nought
Because of clear-communicating thought?
Oh must I write beneath a foggy shroud?
Or else with melodrama brashly loud?
"Well, yes, you silly fool. I think you'll find
That Poetry of the most superior kind
Has multiple mixed meanings to be mined."
This mumbo jumbo makes a lot of sense;
I see the good in having text that's dense.
For as dense weights sink far beneath the sea,
Just so dense texts can plumb humanity.
My lighter wit has quite a different home
And gaily drifts amidst the froth and foam.
Though mocked, one day I'll be that which I hope;
A modern shade of Alexander Pope.
Till then my shallow lines will soothe me too,
If, reading them, you view the world anew.