Let me start by saying that yes, it is violent.

Yes, much of the game is spent shooting at people and exhibiting a blatant disregard for anything resembling safe driving.

But there's more to the game than the stuff that has parents' groups and other mediators mad at it.

For people willing to look beyond the ability to pick up ladies of the evening, there are redeeming qualities to this game.

For one, the design. The game takes place in Liberty City, a stand-in for New York, and the attention to detail is astounding. For example, rather than being a uniform asphalt gray, the streets show the wear and tear of city traffic: oil stains, random grit gathered along the curbs, repair patches that are darker than the rest of the street.

Shadows of bridges and buildings move as time in the game progresses. And each car in the game has its own realistic driving quirk: If you're driving that massively oversized SUV, it doesn't accelerate well, and handles like an elephant. If you're in a sports car, it jumps over hills with very little encouragement. And that long 1970s sedan will fishtail if you take a corner too quickly.

There is humor in the game, as well. Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams do stand-up shows in one bar in the city, and a Russian bar features an acrobatic cowboy show and a lounge act.

The ads and radio programs mock current TV shows and trends, including "America's Next Top Model" and talk radio.

In-game games such as pool, bowling and darts require real skill (the pool game in particular uses real-world physics, letting you make bank shots that will have you standing up with excitement ... OK, maybe that's just me).

The story is thought-provoking for gamers patient enough to sit through the cut scenes. Niko, a former Serbian soldier, comes to the United States to try to make his fortune. But he finds that the fresh start he thought he was getting by moving to America won't come without the violence he thought he was leaving behind.

Some critics have compared the game to the film "The Godfather," and while many people (myself included, at first) balk at the idea that anything about a video game could possibly compare to an American masterpiece of film, it's an idea that has merit.

There's the organized crime that Niko eventually must be part of, but there's also the idea that being successful in America comes at a higher price for some people than for others.

Niko is not happy that he's having to fall back on violence to get the money and power that he equates with success. And that's an important realization to make.

There's something wistful, almost naive, about his idea of America, and it is sad that, like Michael Corleone, he keeps getting pulled back into society's underbelly just when he thinks he's through with it.

One of the biggest statements the game makes is with its Statue of Liberty -- or rather, the Statue of Happiness.

Rather than holding a torch to light the way for immigrants, the Statue of Happiness is carrying a styrofoam coffee cup. In America, commerce equals happiness.

And according to game sites, inside the statue is a chained, beating heart.

Shooting people and stealing cars? No, the game is certainly about more than that.

Well, get prepared for 3-D Jonas Bothers next year: Disney's planning a 3-D movie featuring footage from their upcoming "Burning Up" tour.

The 3-D arena isn't new to the group. After all, they appeared in Miley Cyrus' 3-D concert film earlier this year.

Here's my question: Do you get special Jonas Brothers-emblazoned glasses to take home after the event?

Do you get a themed pillow should the 3-D experience prove to make you faint?

From an Associated Press notice on the story:

In a statement, brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick said: "We can't wait to start working on this film for our fans. It's going to be awesome and we really want to bring a totally unique and different movie experience to everyone whether they've seen us live or not."

So, I guess I was woefully incorrect in my extreme feeling that 3-D movies are just a fad.

How do you think the Jonas Brothers' movie will be?

The boys are playing at Wango Tango in Irvine on May 10, and will be back in Irvine on July 12. For more concert info, check their site.

There! Does that finally cap all the metallurgic jokes you've heard about how well "Iron Man" did this weekend?

The film's success was pretty well-predicted, even by people who tried to downplay it by saying that sure, it would be good, but nowhere near "Spider-Man's" numbers (*cough-Paul Dergarabedian-cough*).

And while that's true, it still did better than the $70 million open predicted by most experts.

Considering it's not even the most famous marquee Marvel character (the roster includes the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Hulk), it was still an impressive opening, raking in more than $104 million, about $1.08 million of that in the Inland Empire. It overperformed here, too, making $35,956 per theater. Nationally, it scared up $24,543 per theater.

Considering it's a PG-13 action movie, its success in this region wasn't too big a surprise. After all, the movie made money in every market, even foreign markets.

Then there's "Drillbit Taylor," about as far away from "Iron Man" as a movie can get: lower-brow humor, goofy plot, and made for less than 25 percent of "Iron Man's" budget.

Yet, the movie made a miraculous recovery on the IE charts this weekend.

The film opened in fourth place on March 21, but dropped from there, falling off the regional top 10 by April 11.

This weekend, however, it made enough money to score the sixth spot on the regional top 10, even though it's only showing in five area theaters, at least two of which are second-run theaters.

Its per-theater average in the Inland area was $7,504, second only to "Iron Man's" take and beating the per-theater average for "Made of Honor" at $5,387.

So, apparently, the IE's love for PG-13-rated slapstick comedies outweighed our love for romantic comedies and, well, almost everything else this weekend.

The movie saw an unprecedented uptick in attendance from last week: Its take had a 1,566.77 percent change over the previous week.

Whew, I am finally back from two long weekends in the desert for Coachella and Stagecoach, but I am leaving again today.

Thank you so much for following our coverage and commenting. It's been a crazy couple of weekends.

If you missed it, just scroll down.

I'm going to be out of town this week for family things, including my sister's college graduation.

I have a few tidbits I'm pre-writing to keep you entertained while I'm gone, but I'll be back and up to full blogging force on May 12.

Michael Martin Murphey won the affection of his audience in an hourlong solo set that included his signature song, "Wildfire." Then he lost a little of it by failing to show up to a scheduled autograph session.

It was supposed to be at 7:30 p.m., a half-hour after he finished at the Mustang Stage. At 8 p.m., the staff at the Borders booth turned away a dwindling line of 30 people, offering them refunds on their CD purchases.

Fielding Buck
fbuck@pe.com

During Big & Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy," they broke it down to invite the "pint-sized member of the music mafia" and introduced Two-Foot Fred, while they sang Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback."

Fred had a message for the fans about Big & Rich:

"These guys rock!"

Big & Rich take the award for best cover song.

They're performing a Western swing cover of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."

Bucky Covington, this is how you do a cover!

And they've got the crowd singing one final chorus.

Kudos to you Big & Rich, you guys are working the crowd.

"Looks like 50,000 people out there shaking to me, John," "Big" Kenny Alphin said to John Rich.

We haven't gotten the official tally today, but there were 35,000 people here Friday and 35,000 people here today, according to the festival's publicists.

We are still waiting on Coachella numbers.

John Rich of Big & Rich took the time to give a shout out to friend Gretchen Wilson and to "the best man in country music," Trace Atkins.

Half-way through his set he became much more recognizable, switching out a University of Texas Longhorn hat for the black cowboy hat fans know and love.

I was wandering around the backstage area when I ended up in this line and then I realized Carrie Underwood's trailer wasn't too far away and that she was going to get in this van standing right in front of me.

So about 15 minutes later she walked by, stopping to take a few photos with little kids and security kept pushing us to the fence.

Then she got in a van and presumably went backstage.

The artist compound is pretty cool. Everyone has a brightly colored homemade sign saying which trailer they're in.

Crazy cameraphone photo to follow soon.

Gretchen WIlson has been sounding great on the Mane Stage, playing hits like "Here For the Party" and "Homewrecker."

She also played a new song, "Growin' Up Down South," off the album she is currently recording. Her fourth effort is due in September.

What strikes me as odd, though, is that while she sounds totally on, she's not really dynamic on stage and at least on the big screen, she looks a little tired.

My favorite part of her set was the rock cover break (because everyone does a cover at Stagecoach) when she asked the audience "Are you ready to rock and roll out there?"

She covered Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and man, Journey should have hired her to replace Steve Perry. Not only did she sound awesome, but her hair is way better than the mullet Steve was rockin' in the 1980s.

Then she did Heart's "Barracuda."

As my colleague Fielding Buck noted--"Guitar Hero" has really changed the landscape of music.

Wilson is closing with her breakthrough hit "Redneck Woman" and is getting the crowd to sing along with the chorus.

Towards the end of his set, Trace Adkins started talking about his videos and how he showed his mother the one he did for "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" before it came out.

He said that she told him, "I think I'm gonna have to change churches now."

He told her that it would answer the biblical question of "How do you think Eve got Adam to eat the apple?"

I think Sunday school teachers in the audience might have have cringed at that one.

I ran into Sandi LaPlaca of Yucca Valley over at Karista Smith's set and she had a recommendation for Stagecoach organizers--free shuttles to the parking lots. She said she wouldn't even mind paying for parking if there were shuttles.

There are a few bicycle taxis around, some golf carts willing to pick up passengers and an odd kiddie-like train called the "Western Express," but no formal shuttle.

A number of fans have mentioned that to me over the weekend, especially with the festival drawing older fans and people with young children.

And believe me, the hike to and from the parking lot is my least favorite part of the day.

What if they had people park at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and did shuttles over here?

At $2, water is the cheapest meal you can have here at Stagecoach. Here are some sample prices. Remember, most don't include sides. So iif you'd like fries with that, you'll probably have to go do a different booth.

All-beef hot dog: $4
Corn dog: $5
Pizza slice: $6,and a wait is likely for pepperoni.
Garlic fries: $6, $8 with crab topping
Tri-tip sandwich: $8
Chips and cheese: $50 (comes with vegetables)
Bottled soft drinks: $3
Orange slush: $5

In the VIP area, a booth called Burgerrito's has gotten a lot of attention all weekend. A burgerrito is a hamburger patty wrapped in a buritto with lettuce, tomato, cheese and the usual condiments. It will run you $10. You might want to wait and grab a double double later.

Fielding Buck
fbuck@pe.com

Now Trace Adkins may not be as animated as say, Dierks Bentley, but he does move around the stage.

And his voice sounds great as he plays his set on the Mane stage. The field is PACKED for his set. I think it might be more jammed down there now than it was for the Judds last night.

He opened with "I Got My Game On" and followed it with "Swing," and "Songs About Me."

Before launching into current his "You're Gonna Miss This," Adkins thanked his fans for keeping the song at the top of the charts and he also thanked everyone who supported him on "The Apprentice."

Cowboy star Ian Tyson got a hero's welcome from his Mustang Stage audience, which he described as not large but good. Tyson is from Alberta, Canada, where he said there is still snow in the ditches. But he and his band were wearing red, Hawaiian style shirts, not tucked in.

He performed with two musicians he said were both named "Gord" after Gordon Lightfoot, a fellow Canadian artist he helped launch.

Tyson, 75, sang some of his compositions about cowboy life from the 1980s and '90s in a voice tempered by 50 years in show biz. He was competing with the over-miked Chuck Wicks on the Mane Stage, which he called "the rock 'n' roll show over there."

A real rancher, Tyson asked if there were any cowboys in the audience and when people raised their hands commented that he didn't notice any stockyards in Rancho Mirage.

Near the end of the 45-minute set, he performed one of his big hits from his folk music days in the early '60s, "Someday Soon." Several audience members called out for his other standard, "Four Strong Winds," but he didn't sing it. Nevertheless, he got a standing ovation and came out for an encore.

Fielding Buck
fbuck@pe.com

Concert goers fill downtime on the final day of the Stagecoach Country Music Festival.

William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise

Samantha Cole, 25, of Joshua Tree, rides a mechanical bull Sunday on the final day of the Stagecoach Country Muic Festival at Empire Polo Field in Indio.

Ramon Mena Owens/The Press-Enterprise

Concert goers have their own musical entertainment Suday at the Camping and RV Park during the last day of Stagecoach in Indio.

Emcee Waddie Mitchell kicked off Day 3 at the Mustang Stage by asking his audience if anybody who had been to Stagecoach the prior two days had trouble moving when they got up this morning.

Mitchell was introducing Wylie and the Wild West, fronted by Wylie Gustafson, the guy who does the yodel on the Yahoo! Internet commercials. But in addition to his yodeling, he delivered a number of low-key, romantic numbers in his set, including Buddy Holly's "Everyday."

Gustafson is tall and rail-thin. He wore stovepipe jeans, white shirt, red tie and cowboy hat, a wardrobe that contributed the striking effect when he showed off his dance moves in several numbers, kind of a combination of moon walk and two-step. In "Yodeling Fool," about his Yahoo! experience, he threw in a Mick Jagger parody.

Fielding Buck
fbuck@pe.com

A collective "Awww" went through the crowd when Chuck Wicks started into "Stealing Cinderella."
"My daughter loves this song," said Cat St.Clair of Norco.

She and her big group of friends - who came to last year's festival as well, said they've really enjoyed Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flats, Craig Morgan and Dwight Yoakum.

"I'm ready for Gretchen Wilson," St.Clair said. "I've heard she gets wild."

I have never seen so many signs for garlic fries in my life as I have this weekend at Stagecoach.

Nearly every booth in the food area is peddling the deep fried vampire repellant. Garlic fries and Philly cheese steaks, garlic fries with crab, garlic fries and catfish, I think the only one which may not be selling them is the Texas Twister place.

I fell into the hype and broke down and bought the mysterious 32 oz. red drink that has orange, lemon, lime and a cherry on top. The line wasn't as long as last year's, but I still waited for about 20 minutes. By the end, I was so thirsty it was worth it.