Cavalier Daily Sports Talk hosts senior mens’ soccer star Neil Barlow in this special edition of CDTV – your source for Virginia sporting news and commentary.

If you’ve logged on to iTunes anytime during the past week, you may have noticed that about a dozen or so new albums have been released just in time for the Christmas season. Because we here at tableau are all about accommodating you — the reader — we’ve decided to give a rundown on all the highs and lows of these new albums to help guide you through the selection process.

Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster — Lady Gaga caps off her magical year with an eight-song album that features the trademark big synthesizers for which she’s known, while also pushing things in a new direction. Standout ballad, “Speechless,” finds the Lady stripped back and vulnerable, while “Teeth” combines bells, hand-claps, a bluesy beat and an incessant chant of “Show me your teeth!” The real revelation, however, is the Béyoncé-featuring “Telephone,” which may give “Poker Face” a run for its money.

Shakira, She Wolf — Following its inventive lead single, Shakira’s new album finds the Colombian wonder amid a number of Neptunes productions that all pack a sizable dance floor punch. Nothing else quite matches the single, but songs like “Mon Amour,” “Men In This Town” and “Spy” showcase Shakira at her quirky best.

Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment — Sorry, Idol fans, but after the rollicking opening track — “Music Again,” which plays as homage to 1970s camp rock and was co-written by Justin Hawkins (from The Darkness — remember them?) — there’s little here to hear. The boy can sing, but a little cohesiveness never hurt anyone.

50 Cent, Before I Self Destruct — As the decade fades away, we’ll take a guess and say “so will Fiddy.” It’s not that the man isn’t talented. There’s no denying his rapping ability. But four albums down the line, Mr. Cent seems stuck in the same rut where he became famous. The production — mostly courtesy of Dr. Dre — is still top-notch, but his relevancy seems to have evaporated.

Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream — We expect that anyone who will buy this album knows exactly what they’re in store for. In the case that there are people on the fence, we suggest you YouTube any performance of Boyle and then imagine what it would sound like on an album. Voila!

Kris Allen, Kris Allen — Readers, are you beginning to sense a reality television theme among this holiday season’s album releases? The current American Idol titleholder delivers a competent and laidback album that will slide in quite nicely next to your John Mayer and Jason Mraz playlists. There’s nothing from left field here, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Timbaland, Shock Value II — The super-producer brings in the likes of Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Keri Hilson and Drake, but nothing ever quite adds up. The exception to the rule is lead single, “Morning After Dark,” which features Nelly Furtado and French rapper SoShy, and showcases Timbaland’s best beat since “The Way I Are.”

Last week, I saw the following on fmylife.com: “Today, I realized that our generation will be remembered as the kids who liked sparkly vampires. FML” I checked out the comments and found that almost everyone agreed. The few pro-Twilight comments got hidden because of “too many negative comments.”

Obviously, many people dislike the sparkly vampire phenomenon, but there’s no denying the box office records it set two weeks ago. I’m a fan, I admit it — so you won’t get a review making fun of the prancing Bella or moaning Edward — but I’ll be fair and I won’t gush.

People struggle to understand all the hype, but for fans of the book, it’s exciting to see Stephenie Meyer’s magical story on screen. The first two films haven’t lived up to the books but they stay true to them. Overall, the improved acting, dialogue, humor and special effects make New Moon a lot more mature than Twilight.

Though Twilight set up the characters and plot, it was a little dull and mostly focused on Bella and Edward’s relationship. New Moon is far more exciting. Jacob, a small character in the first movie, steps into the spotlight when Edward says goodbye and breaks Bella’s heart. As Bella says, Jacob is “sort of beautiful.” The ripped boy-next-door brought tons of drooling girls to the theaters and added a spark that Twilight lacked. Jacob is endearingly convincing in his love for Bella. Through helping rebuild a pair of motorcycles, he helps rebuild her. Unfortunately for Jacob, though, Bella only has eyes for Edward.

Unfortunately for the viewer, Kristen Stewart’s acting is sort of awful. She rarely shows emotion and can’t seem to speak without moving her head. Luckily, she is depressed during most of New Moon, which works for her. With that in mind, Bella’s pain is most convincing when Edward leaves. The new director, Chris Weitz, effectively portrays Bella’s heartbreak through nightmares. Her terrifying screams evoke sympathy in the viewer and constantly cause her dad, Charlie, to wake her.

Bella may not be the most likeable protagonist, but Jacob and the other supporting characters make up for it; they’re all quirky in their own ways. There’s the Cullen family, Charlie, werewolves, Bella’s friends and even Dakota Fanning’s five minutes as Jane. The werewolf action is exciting and the Cullens are gorgeously compelling as (harmless) vampires. Jane and the rest of the Volturi successfully portray the creepy, not-so-harmless vampire coven in Italy.

Charlie and Bella’s friends, Mike, Eric and Jessica, provide most of the film’s humor as they try to deal with Bella’s misery, which soon turns to craziness. At one point, Bella hops on a motorcycle with a stranger and Jessica freaks out, yelling: “Um, what the hell’s wrong with you, just curious?”

Books-turned-movies are rarely better than the original. New Moon is no exception but it’s still fun to watch. Pattinson and Stewart have chemistry in both films, but New Moon’s supporting characters and tangled plot simply make it more interesting than Twilight. One guy on FML complained that his wife put glitter on his face while he was sleeping. Needless to say, I’m not the only one looking forward to Eclipse next summer.

Editor’s Pick-of-the-Year!

Albums:
1) Merriweather Post Pavilion — Animal Collective
2) The xx — The xx
3) My Maudlin Career — Camera Obscura

Honorable Mentions:
-The Pains of Being Pure at Heart —The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
-Veckatimest — Grizzly Bear
-The Life of the World to Come — The Mountain Goats

Dubious Honor:
-Not an album, but the mash-up of Biggie Small’s “Party and Bullshit” and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” is amazing, inspired and a must-have for any iTunes library.

Films:
1) Inglorious Basterds — Quentin Tarantino
2) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — David Yates
3) The Hangover —  Todd Philips

Most Anticipated for the rest of 09:
-The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
-Sherlock Holmes
-The Lovely Bones

TV shows:
1) Mad Men
2) Entourage
3) 30 Rock

Honorable Mentions:
-Say Yes to the Dress
-Jon and Kate Plus Eight (come on!)

—stephanie garcia

When the first Assassin’s Creed game was released two years ago it received mixed reviews. Proponents applauded the game’s solid story and presentation, as well as the superbly crafted free running mechanic that allowed the player to go almost anywhere and climb almost anything. Critics, however, cited the repetitive fighting and mission types as being too significant to overlook. With Assassin’s Creed II, the developers at Ubisoft Montreal are looking to right the wrongs that held back the first game and advance the plot of what might be one of the most intriguing stories of this console generation.

You likely wouldn’t know it if you just watched someone play for a while, but Assassin’s Creed II, like its predecessor, falls into the sci-fi genre. You play as both Desmond Miles in the year 2012 and his ancestor Ezio during the Italian Renaissance. Desmond uses a device called an “animus” to relive important events in the life of Ezio via something called genetic memory. If you can suspend disbelief long enough to get past the shaky science, there is actually a great story that chronicles a millenia-old war between Assassins and Templar Knights.

You will spend the vast majority of your 15 or so hours of playing Assassin’s Creed II in the past. Florence, Tuscany, Venice and several other Italian locations have been masterfully recreated for your exploratory pleasure, and you can visit dozens of famous historical landmarks and even some people. I’m sort of a history buff and I just about geeked out when I realized that I was going to be hanging with Leonardo da Vinci for the better part of the game.

During your stay in those Renaissance cities, you will frequently use the climbing and running skills that make up the core gameplay of Assassin’s Creed II. It’s a real joy to effortlessly scale the side of a massive cathedral or lose a pursuing guard by perfectly executing a series of leaps and grabs in a back alley.

Though the climbing mechanics are fantastic, the other major component of the game, combat, doesn’t fare quite as well. Everything works fine when using stealth to sneak around and assassinate targets with your throwing knives or hidden blades, but when an enemy is locked in direct battle with you, engagements often degenerate into a button-mashing bonanza in which you either pound “counter” until you perform a finishing move or “attack” until you chip away at your enemy’s health. I defeated several powerful opponents by going in unarmed and using the speed of Ezio’s punches to kill them slowly during the course of several minutes when they weren’t able to execute a single move. Although it would have been nice to see more improvement in the area of combat, most of your time will be spent running and climbing or assassinating people, so it never becomes too much of a problem.

Assassin’s Creed II is a great looking game for the most part. The locations are beautifully crafted and really draw the player into the story. Character models are good but don’t live up to the standard set by the environments. There is also occasional screen-tearing that is especially noticeable when looking around from a height. The music and voice acting are top-notch, and the latter really helps keep the plot engaging.

The takeaway: Despite occasionally repetitive combat and graphical hiccups, Assassin’s Creed II is a very solid game and a must-buy for fans of the original. If you liked the first game but were disappointed by the lack of mission variety, you can rest assured that the sequel is much improved in that regard and should at least be worth a rental for the compelling story and setting.