NOTE: Apparently today is the 4-year anniversary of Heath Ledger's death. The posting of this episode did not mean to correspond with that day... it's just a really bizarre coincidence. (Kinda like how this season started on Nic Cage's birthday... but more morbid.)
It's time for the first Story Time of the season! I consider these episodes "Plot B," as it were, while the even-numbered episodes from this point on are "Plot A." And this is also where things start to get even crazier. Dylan turns in yet again a fantastic performance with some brilliant camera work that just adds to the atmosphere of the scene. (I'm sure he'd like to tell you it was intentional... but I'm relatively sure it just kinda happened that way. Sorry, Dylan!)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this episode. If you want reference to what's being done in this episode... either watch the movie or click here for the scenes. Otherwise, have fun and let me know what you think!
1.18.2012
50/50 Review #1: Jackie Brown.
Welcome to the first post of the 50/50 Project. I've been wanting to see this one for a while, as it's the only full-length Tarantino I hadn't seen. Though from what I had heard, it was one of his lesser efforts (or at least the one nobody seems to talk about). Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a flight attendant who brings money back from Mexico for an arms dealer named Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson). Ordell is meanwhile entertaining Louis (Robert De Niro), a guy who has recently gotten out of jail, by letting him hang around and chat up Melanie (Bridget Fonda). But after Ordell takes care of a situation with Beaumont (Chris Tucker), he hires a bail bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster) to get Jackie out of jail when she gets mixed up in the situation. But a couple FTA agents, including Ray (Michael Keaton), want her to bust Ordell, bringing up a complicated heist-like situation.I can understand why nobody tends to talk about this one out of the Tarantino filmography. The man is known for a certain style, but it seems only half of style was there. The film was almost all dialogue, as his films always are, but the dialogue this time around wasn't super interesting. Tarantino also tends to have a kind of kinetic style, a certain energy to his films, and this was also lacking here. At least half the movie felt dry and stagnant. I guess it just didn't have the usual pizzazz one would expect from Tarantino.
The part of the movie that did feel stylish and did finally catch my interest was the last 45 minutes (roughly). Basically when the money exchange sequence happens up through the end of the movie. The whole sequence plays with narrative style in a way I really enjoy, not to mention it's just a fun and suspenseful sequence.
Despite the flaws elsewhere, the acting was really good all around. Everyone seemed to be having fun, but the most fun to watch was Robert De Niro. It wasn't a very De Niro-type role, and he was pretty funny just doing pretty much nothing for the majority of the movie. By the third act, he's more De Niro-ish, but it's all good. On the whole, everybody does the best they can with what they were given.
In the end, I agree this was a weaker effort from Tarantino, but it's still a decent film. It's just that in the front 2/3s of the film, there were a lot of scenes that really dragged and could have been trimmed down. There were some key visuals that definitely made it Tarantino (some worked, others were slightly awkward), but something just didn't mesh well. Though, again, the last third of the film was entertaining enough to really hike up my feelings on the rest of it, so at least it ends on a high note, making the rest of the film worth sitting through.
I Am McLovin!
1.16.2012
V.G. Movies #1: Cloak & Dagger.
Welcome to the first post of the Evolution of Video Game Movies series, where I will hopefully be mixing entertainment with a wee bit of history and education. I'm not an expert, so don't quote me on everything. I just know what I get from my research (if I haven't played the game myself and/or don't know the history myself). So let's get started, shall we?
THE HISTORY
In the early-to-mid 80s, there was a growing phenomenon going on with movies and their video game tie-ins. Of course you have your truly infamous releases like the E.T. video game. But there are four in particular where video games were central to the plot of the films themselves, and there was a near-simultaneous release of the tie-in games with the release of the films (with the exception of one, wherein the game came a while later). These films were WarGames, Tron, The Last Starfighter, and Cloak & Dagger.
So what sets Cloak & Dagger apart from the other three? It's a popular trend these days, even, to release a video game tie-in to a popular film soon after the movie's release. But what sets Cloak & Dagger apart is that the video game actually came out first. As the film was being produced, the early video game company "Atari" was producing a game entitled Agent X. The two productions heard of one other and joined forces. Agent X became Cloak & Dagger and was released in March 1984 in arcade form.
The film version was released as a double-billing with The Last Starfighter in July of 1984, and later alone the following month. Now, as I said earlier, the game itself is central to the plot of the story... but while the game footage shown is from the arcade version, the actual cartridge shown within the film is for the Atari 5200 system. Now, apparently this version was planned to happen, but then something tragic occurred, and the home version could never be made.
From 1983-1985, there was a major video game crash in North America that nearly brought the industry crumbling into non-existence. It was due to a mixture of reasons, including but not limited to an excess of consoles and competition (including the ColecoVision, which put out, among other things, the video game adaptation of WarGames), as well as a slew of poor titles for said consoles. One such title was the aforementioned video game adaptation of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which was so bad it almost single-handedly tainted the reputation of the industry. In fact, all extra copies of the game were henceforth buried (yes, buried) and Atari had to be sold.
We'll get a little more into the effects of this next time... but for now, back to Cloak & Dagger.
I mentioned the ColecoVision earlier, having released the WarGames game, but it was also the primary competition for the Atari 5200. Curious that one of the co-stars of WarGames was none other than co-star of Cloak & Dagger, Dabney Coleman. It's also funny that the E.T. game was monumental in the downfall of Atari and the fact that Cloak & Dagger could not be released on the Atari 5200, as shown in the actual movie. Why, you ask? Because the star of the film Cloak & Dagger... is none other than Elliot himself, Henry Thomas.
Synergy, baby.
THE FILM
This is one messed up kid's movie. Seriously. I would have liked to have been in the board meeting when they came up with the idea for this movie.
"OK, for our main character, let's have two little kid main protagonists (Henry Thomas and Christina Nigra) who hang out with a middle-aged hacker/store owner (William Forsythe). The main boy's mom has recently died, leaving him and his father (Dabney Coleman) in a grieving state. Due to this, he speaks to a fictional character (also Dabney Coleman) who only he can see so that everybody else thinks he's insane. Of course, said fictional character also talks him into doing insane, dangerous, and illegal things. He then gets his hand on a microchip inside a video game that mobsters are after, so they constantly destroy his things, try to kill him and his friend, and chase him all around the city. To make it even better... not a single person believes him!"
This movie really has some dark stuff. I mean, there's even a scene where Jack Flack (the imaginary guy) forces Henry Thomas into the trunk of the bad guy's car, where he has to lay next to a dead body of a friend for the whole of the drive. There's another scene where they dangle a little girl over the edge of a cliff just to get the game cartridge. And... just a ton of other things I can't even get into due to spoilers (anything within the climax, for instance). But all of it is under the tone of a light, fun kid's movie.
On top of the dark stuff, there's quite a mix of cheesy and illogical. These people never act like normal people would act, for starters. The bad guys are total morons, and I have no idea how they've ever made it this far in life, much less in villainy, with some of the stupid things they do (or are stupid for not doing). Then there's the whole fact that this kid is such a huge fan of the game Cloak & Dagger that he imagines the main character as real... and he just so happens to get mixed up in a conspiracy of some kind that hides government information in a chip within a Cloak & Dagger cartridge? And one of his best friends just so happens to be a middle-aged gamer/hacker? Keep in mind, this kid is like 12 at most, and his female friend is 8.
The acting is absurd, too. Besides the "this is SO not how a person would react" type acting, you're mainly left with cheese. Actually, Henry Thomas does fairly well. But Dabney Coleman is a bit hammy, and every other actor is cheesy or over-the-top. The worst, though, is Christina Nigra as Henry Thomas' friend Kim. Her performance is something else entirely. I can't even explain it.
If you took away the whimsical music and child-friendly tones and gave it to a director like David Fincher, this would be one heck of a psychological thriller (as it is, it's almost like an 80s kids version of Black Swan). But as it stands, this movie is totally screwed up... I mean, it's almost traumatizing how disturbing this movie gets (again, mostly thanks to the tone vs. what's actually happening). If you look past all that, it's actually not that bad of a film. It's entertaining for what it is, and it's never boring. I'm relatively certain it's not a direct adaptation of the game, but rather a film that involves the game itself, its themes, and its main character (actually, it is fun that they mention Jack Flack's previous name was Agent X, which--as previously stated--was the name of the game before they changed it to Cloak & Dagger). If you haven't seen it, it's not incredibly recommended viewing, unless you just really want to see one of the most messed up kids movies I've seen in a while. But it's good enough.
WTF
(P.S. I know it's kind of a bad start to basically say "this is the first movie of this series, and I have no idea how to rate it"... but that's how it's gotta be!)
FINAL NOTE
OK, so the real reason I wanted to include this film is because of one scene. There's a moment where Henry Thomas goes to the Alamo (the whole movie takes place in San Antonio, TX), and at the end of the scene, there's a brief moment where he's apprehended and questioned by the Alamo guard. The guard? My (late) grandfather! This was one of the two movies he was in (the other being Terms of Endearment). Yup, he got to talk to/interact with Henry Thomas here, which I think is pretty cool. You can click here to go to a video of the scene (and just skip ahead to about 8:30).
THE HISTORY
In the early-to-mid 80s, there was a growing phenomenon going on with movies and their video game tie-ins. Of course you have your truly infamous releases like the E.T. video game. But there are four in particular where video games were central to the plot of the films themselves, and there was a near-simultaneous release of the tie-in games with the release of the films (with the exception of one, wherein the game came a while later). These films were WarGames, Tron, The Last Starfighter, and Cloak & Dagger.So what sets Cloak & Dagger apart from the other three? It's a popular trend these days, even, to release a video game tie-in to a popular film soon after the movie's release. But what sets Cloak & Dagger apart is that the video game actually came out first. As the film was being produced, the early video game company "Atari" was producing a game entitled Agent X. The two productions heard of one other and joined forces. Agent X became Cloak & Dagger and was released in March 1984 in arcade form.
The film version was released as a double-billing with The Last Starfighter in July of 1984, and later alone the following month. Now, as I said earlier, the game itself is central to the plot of the story... but while the game footage shown is from the arcade version, the actual cartridge shown within the film is for the Atari 5200 system. Now, apparently this version was planned to happen, but then something tragic occurred, and the home version could never be made.
From 1983-1985, there was a major video game crash in North America that nearly brought the industry crumbling into non-existence. It was due to a mixture of reasons, including but not limited to an excess of consoles and competition (including the ColecoVision, which put out, among other things, the video game adaptation of WarGames), as well as a slew of poor titles for said consoles. One such title was the aforementioned video game adaptation of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which was so bad it almost single-handedly tainted the reputation of the industry. In fact, all extra copies of the game were henceforth buried (yes, buried) and Atari had to be sold.
We'll get a little more into the effects of this next time... but for now, back to Cloak & Dagger.FUN FACTS
I mentioned the ColecoVision earlier, having released the WarGames game, but it was also the primary competition for the Atari 5200. Curious that one of the co-stars of WarGames was none other than co-star of Cloak & Dagger, Dabney Coleman. It's also funny that the E.T. game was monumental in the downfall of Atari and the fact that Cloak & Dagger could not be released on the Atari 5200, as shown in the actual movie. Why, you ask? Because the star of the film Cloak & Dagger... is none other than Elliot himself, Henry Thomas.
Synergy, baby.
THE FILM
This is one messed up kid's movie. Seriously. I would have liked to have been in the board meeting when they came up with the idea for this movie."OK, for our main character, let's have two little kid main protagonists (Henry Thomas and Christina Nigra) who hang out with a middle-aged hacker/store owner (William Forsythe). The main boy's mom has recently died, leaving him and his father (Dabney Coleman) in a grieving state. Due to this, he speaks to a fictional character (also Dabney Coleman) who only he can see so that everybody else thinks he's insane. Of course, said fictional character also talks him into doing insane, dangerous, and illegal things. He then gets his hand on a microchip inside a video game that mobsters are after, so they constantly destroy his things, try to kill him and his friend, and chase him all around the city. To make it even better... not a single person believes him!"
This movie really has some dark stuff. I mean, there's even a scene where Jack Flack (the imaginary guy) forces Henry Thomas into the trunk of the bad guy's car, where he has to lay next to a dead body of a friend for the whole of the drive. There's another scene where they dangle a little girl over the edge of a cliff just to get the game cartridge. And... just a ton of other things I can't even get into due to spoilers (anything within the climax, for instance). But all of it is under the tone of a light, fun kid's movie.
On top of the dark stuff, there's quite a mix of cheesy and illogical. These people never act like normal people would act, for starters. The bad guys are total morons, and I have no idea how they've ever made it this far in life, much less in villainy, with some of the stupid things they do (or are stupid for not doing). Then there's the whole fact that this kid is such a huge fan of the game Cloak & Dagger that he imagines the main character as real... and he just so happens to get mixed up in a conspiracy of some kind that hides government information in a chip within a Cloak & Dagger cartridge? And one of his best friends just so happens to be a middle-aged gamer/hacker? Keep in mind, this kid is like 12 at most, and his female friend is 8.
The acting is absurd, too. Besides the "this is SO not how a person would react" type acting, you're mainly left with cheese. Actually, Henry Thomas does fairly well. But Dabney Coleman is a bit hammy, and every other actor is cheesy or over-the-top. The worst, though, is Christina Nigra as Henry Thomas' friend Kim. Her performance is something else entirely. I can't even explain it.
If you took away the whimsical music and child-friendly tones and gave it to a director like David Fincher, this would be one heck of a psychological thriller (as it is, it's almost like an 80s kids version of Black Swan). But as it stands, this movie is totally screwed up... I mean, it's almost traumatizing how disturbing this movie gets (again, mostly thanks to the tone vs. what's actually happening). If you look past all that, it's actually not that bad of a film. It's entertaining for what it is, and it's never boring. I'm relatively certain it's not a direct adaptation of the game, but rather a film that involves the game itself, its themes, and its main character (actually, it is fun that they mention Jack Flack's previous name was Agent X, which--as previously stated--was the name of the game before they changed it to Cloak & Dagger). If you haven't seen it, it's not incredibly recommended viewing, unless you just really want to see one of the most messed up kids movies I've seen in a while. But it's good enough.
WTF
(P.S. I know it's kind of a bad start to basically say "this is the first movie of this series, and I have no idea how to rate it"... but that's how it's gotta be!)
FINAL NOTE
OK, so the real reason I wanted to include this film is because of one scene. There's a moment where Henry Thomas goes to the Alamo (the whole movie takes place in San Antonio, TX), and at the end of the scene, there's a brief moment where he's apprehended and questioned by the Alamo guard. The guard? My (late) grandfather! This was one of the two movies he was in (the other being Terms of Endearment). Yup, he got to talk to/interact with Henry Thomas here, which I think is pretty cool. You can click here to go to a video of the scene (and just skip ahead to about 8:30).
1.15.2012
The Vlog: Season 4, Episode 2 (Switcheroo - Part 2).
Alrighty. Here's Part 2 of the 2-part season premiere. This one was a bit tricky as I had to do a lot of image movement, but it turned out just fine, I think. Hope y'all enjoy! And as always, let me know what you think.
1.14.2012
The Demented Podcast #31 - It's Frankenstein's Monster!
NOTE: Not sure why it hasn't shown up on the player yet... but it's available for download on iTunes and on the podomatic site... so if Ep 31 still hasn't shown up here, just check there.
----------------------
I honestly can't believe I pulled it off (OK, maybe just a little). Let me give you some back story on "the episode that refused to exist." So our poor guest this week was Jessica from The Velvet Cafe. For those who do not know, Jessica is from Sweden, so the time difference is slightly trickier to play with when setting up a recording time. So a few days before we come to record, some issues arise on Jessica's end, and we have to reschedule. Finding a day/time takes us a while, but we settled on early Sunday morning.
So come Sunday morning, I wake up about 15 minutes prior to recording and try to log on to Skype... only to find out that Skype decided to have problems at that time and refused to let me on. We did later come to the conclusion that Skype was at fault and not my computer. So I ended up coming on about 20 minutes late. So we start the show... only to very quickly discover that Steve's internet connection totally blows. The following 45 minutes is agony as it takes us that long just to get TO the listener feedback/comments. There was a mixture of massive delays horrid audio, and even a few echoes here and there.
We finally come to the realization about 2 minutes into the discussion of the first film (after trying to record for almost an hour) that this isn't going to work. Our solution was this: I continue the show alone with Jessica, then Steve and I would meet up later in the week and record a mini-session discussing the films. I would then splice in (no pun intended) his audio with the main file at variable moments. It would take a lot of work on my part, but it was possible.
But then the day came... and now my connection turned to crap. I couldn't stay connected. The audio sucked half the time. Basically everything that was happening to Steve the first time through was happening to me this time. But we did get through it, somehow, and I ended up with about 2.5-3 hours of audio and 5 different audio files (plus a 6th for the opening segment of this episode which was recorded a week or more before we did the rest of it). And after 4 hours of non-stop editing, I pulled it off. I managed to create my own Frankenstein monster, Hodge-podge of an episode. And I think it actually turned out rather well! You can barely tell there were any audio problems at all... and hopefully the majority of the time the transitions into Steve's comments feel natural, as if he were there the whole time (since, you know, he wasn't). Even will all that description, I guess only Steve, Jessica, and myself will be the only ones to truly know the transformation of what I was given and what I'm giving you.
All of that being said... I hope you enjoy this episode. We discuss idea/moral-based Sci-Fi films with Silent Running and Splice. And then Jessica climbs the Tower. The last Swede to do so gave us our best score ever... so how will this one fare? Listen to find out!
Current/Previous Battle Royale Champions
(BR3) ? - ?
(BR2) Dylan Fields - 114 Points
(BR1) Rachel Thuro - 171 Points
You can listen to this episode on the player below or by subscribing through iTunes.
----------------------
I honestly can't believe I pulled it off (OK, maybe just a little). Let me give you some back story on "the episode that refused to exist." So our poor guest this week was Jessica from The Velvet Cafe. For those who do not know, Jessica is from Sweden, so the time difference is slightly trickier to play with when setting up a recording time. So a few days before we come to record, some issues arise on Jessica's end, and we have to reschedule. Finding a day/time takes us a while, but we settled on early Sunday morning.
So come Sunday morning, I wake up about 15 minutes prior to recording and try to log on to Skype... only to find out that Skype decided to have problems at that time and refused to let me on. We did later come to the conclusion that Skype was at fault and not my computer. So I ended up coming on about 20 minutes late. So we start the show... only to very quickly discover that Steve's internet connection totally blows. The following 45 minutes is agony as it takes us that long just to get TO the listener feedback/comments. There was a mixture of massive delays horrid audio, and even a few echoes here and there.
We finally come to the realization about 2 minutes into the discussion of the first film (after trying to record for almost an hour) that this isn't going to work. Our solution was this: I continue the show alone with Jessica, then Steve and I would meet up later in the week and record a mini-session discussing the films. I would then splice in (no pun intended) his audio with the main file at variable moments. It would take a lot of work on my part, but it was possible.
But then the day came... and now my connection turned to crap. I couldn't stay connected. The audio sucked half the time. Basically everything that was happening to Steve the first time through was happening to me this time. But we did get through it, somehow, and I ended up with about 2.5-3 hours of audio and 5 different audio files (plus a 6th for the opening segment of this episode which was recorded a week or more before we did the rest of it). And after 4 hours of non-stop editing, I pulled it off. I managed to create my own Frankenstein monster, Hodge-podge of an episode. And I think it actually turned out rather well! You can barely tell there were any audio problems at all... and hopefully the majority of the time the transitions into Steve's comments feel natural, as if he were there the whole time (since, you know, he wasn't). Even will all that description, I guess only Steve, Jessica, and myself will be the only ones to truly know the transformation of what I was given and what I'm giving you.
All of that being said... I hope you enjoy this episode. We discuss idea/moral-based Sci-Fi films with Silent Running and Splice. And then Jessica climbs the Tower. The last Swede to do so gave us our best score ever... so how will this one fare? Listen to find out!
Current/Previous Battle Royale Champions
(BR3) ? - ?
(BR2) Dylan Fields - 114 Points
(BR1) Rachel Thuro - 171 Points
You can listen to this episode on the player below or by subscribing through iTunes.
That being said, enjoy! Thanks goes out to Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website for great, royalty-free music. And thanks to Google for helping me find a website that will give me free video game audio samples.
1.08.2012
The Vlog: Season 4, Episode 1 (Switcheroo - Part 1).
Well guys and gals, this is it! It's the start of the newest season of The Vlog! It's full of wackiness, twists, and turns, and I hope everyone digs it! This is just part 1 of the 2-part premiere... the second part obviously going to be put up next Sunday.
I'll also say that this was probably the most difficult set of episodes I've ever had to put together. There are numerous tricks, filming and editing, that had to be done and put together. Split screen, long takes, simultaneous takes/edits, and minor special effects. So I hope it turned out as well as I hope it did. So... let's just get right to it. And, of course, let me know what you think.
(Note: You'll also note slightly higher video quality... because I finally figured out how to export it with better quality.)
I'll also say that this was probably the most difficult set of episodes I've ever had to put together. There are numerous tricks, filming and editing, that had to be done and put together. Split screen, long takes, simultaneous takes/edits, and minor special effects. So I hope it turned out as well as I hope it did. So... let's just get right to it. And, of course, let me know what you think.
(Note: You'll also note slightly higher video quality... because I finally figured out how to export it with better quality.)
1.05.2012
Announcement: The Evolution of Video Game Movies Series.
So last year, I had 2 projects going on simultaneously. I had the 60/60 Project and the Musical Mondays countdown. This year, I obviously have the 50/50... but what about the second project? It took me a while, but it finally clicked with me. It won't be as time consuming seeing I don't have the worry about "extras" with the 50/50 list as I did with the previous. So what I'm going to do...
...is the Evolution of Video Game Movies series. I'm going to start in the 80s and work my way up through 2012. As of right now, I have 45 movies on the list--but that's assuming the Silent Hill sequel actually comes out this year and the next Resident Evil isn't pushed back. But assuming those are all on board, I'll have that amount.
A lot of the films I've already seen (29 of the 45 listed... I also happen to own... 10 of the listed films, as well, either on VHS or DVD). So what I'm going to do along with the actual review is a bit of research. I'm going to discuss some history and whatnot and how it works as an adaptation (and/or fan reactions if I'm not privy to the game myself). So yeah... I want it to be entertaining from a review side (we all know video game movies tend to suck), but I also want it to be kind of educational and maybe spur some discussions. I'm not going to group the movies by type or anything. I want to view in chronological order. So here's how it's gonna go down... as best as I can plan.
(Note: I'll start this the same week as the 50/50.)
(Note 2: If I'm missing anything major... please let me know. There's space I could easily fill up here.)
JANUARY
-Cloak and Dagger (1984)
-Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen (1986)
-Super Mario Bros. (1993)
FEBRUARY
-Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
-Double Dragon (1994)
-Street Fighter (1994)
MARCH
-Mortal Kombat (1995)
-Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
-Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
-Wing Commander (1999)
APRIL
-Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (1999)
-Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
-Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
-Resident Evil (2002)
-House of the Dead (2003)
MAY
-Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
-Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
-Alone in the Dark (2005)
-Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
JUNE
-Doom (2005)
-BloodRayne (2006)
-Silent Hill (2006)
-DOA: Dead or Alive (2007)
JULY
-Postal (2007)
-The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)*
-BloodRayne 2: Deliverance (2007)
-Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
-Hitman (2007)
AUGUST
-In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008)
-Alone in the Dark 2 (2008)
-Far Cry (2008)
-Max Payne (2008)
SEPTEMBER
-Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
-Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
-The King of Fighters (2009)
-Tekken (2009)
OCTOBER
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
-Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
-Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)**
-BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2010)
-Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011)***
NOVEMBER
-Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011)
-In the Name of the King 2 (2011)
(?)
-Silent Hill Revelation (2012)****
*I know this is a cheat, but it's a damn fine movie and there's a LOT to talk about with it.
**This film comes out about a month prior to this review schedule... but I don't want to put this at the end of the month due to timeliness, nor do I want to put it before the review of the film that comes before it.
***This is a web-series, but I cannot pass up discussing this.
****This will be shifted depending on if/when it gets an official release date.
...is the Evolution of Video Game Movies series. I'm going to start in the 80s and work my way up through 2012. As of right now, I have 45 movies on the list--but that's assuming the Silent Hill sequel actually comes out this year and the next Resident Evil isn't pushed back. But assuming those are all on board, I'll have that amount.
A lot of the films I've already seen (29 of the 45 listed... I also happen to own... 10 of the listed films, as well, either on VHS or DVD). So what I'm going to do along with the actual review is a bit of research. I'm going to discuss some history and whatnot and how it works as an adaptation (and/or fan reactions if I'm not privy to the game myself). So yeah... I want it to be entertaining from a review side (we all know video game movies tend to suck), but I also want it to be kind of educational and maybe spur some discussions. I'm not going to group the movies by type or anything. I want to view in chronological order. So here's how it's gonna go down... as best as I can plan.
(Note: I'll start this the same week as the 50/50.)
(Note 2: If I'm missing anything major... please let me know. There's space I could easily fill up here.)
JANUARY
-Cloak and Dagger (1984)
-Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen (1986)
-Super Mario Bros. (1993)
FEBRUARY
-Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994)
-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
-Double Dragon (1994)
-Street Fighter (1994)
MARCH
-Mortal Kombat (1995)
-Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
-Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
-Wing Commander (1999)
APRIL
-Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (1999)
-Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
-Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
-Resident Evil (2002)
-House of the Dead (2003)
MAY
-Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
-Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
-Alone in the Dark (2005)
-Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
JUNE
-Doom (2005)
-BloodRayne (2006)
-Silent Hill (2006)
-DOA: Dead or Alive (2007)
JULY
-Postal (2007)
-The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)*
-BloodRayne 2: Deliverance (2007)
-Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
-Hitman (2007)
AUGUST
-In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008)
-Alone in the Dark 2 (2008)
-Far Cry (2008)
-Max Payne (2008)
SEPTEMBER
-Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
-Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
-The King of Fighters (2009)
-Tekken (2009)
OCTOBER
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
-Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
-Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)**
-BloodRayne: The Third Reich (2010)
-Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011)***
NOVEMBER
-Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011)
-In the Name of the King 2 (2011)
(?)
-Silent Hill Revelation (2012)****
*I know this is a cheat, but it's a damn fine movie and there's a LOT to talk about with it.
**This film comes out about a month prior to this review schedule... but I don't want to put this at the end of the month due to timeliness, nor do I want to put it before the review of the film that comes before it.
***This is a web-series, but I cannot pass up discussing this.
****This will be shifted depending on if/when it gets an official release date.
1.03.2012
Random Thought: 2011 - A Year Of Great Action, Poor Plots?
Just a random thought, but did anybody else notice that 2011 had a lot of movies with excellent action, but that were lacking in other areas? I mean, here are 10 movies, for instance, where I found this to be quite clear. (The order of films is unimportant. I'm just listing them out.)
1) I Am Number Four
It was a very average and lackluster film, but mostly because of characters and story, etc. However, the action itself, especially near the climax, was actually pretty good. It wasn't the greatest (especially in comparison to the others on this list), but it was pretty good. Everything else needed a lot of work, though.
2) Drive Angry
A film that split a lot of people. You either loved it or hated it. I personally loved it. I mean, I won't deny that the story or the characters weren't all that spectacular (except for William Fichtner). But there were some great action sequences that really brought the movie together for me.
3) Battle: Los Angeles
To me, this movie was a lot like Black Hawk Down in numerous ways. It was an overly simplistic story with undeveloped characters... but it was pure action that actually looked pretty dang good.
4) Sucker Punch
Now this was a movie that pissed off a lot of people. Now, I really liked it when I first saw it, but I understand where everybody else was coming from. There's really no point in discussing this film any more because everybody has talked it to death. You know it was stunning to look at, you know the action was fantastic... but it lacked everywhere else imaginable.
5) Transformers 3
I'm sure you knew this one was going to end up here. Unlike the last installment of the 'trilogy', this one had some good moments, particularly in the last 30 minutes or so. But it's also Michael Bay... and does anybody actually remember what this movie was about? I know I don't.
6) Conan the Barbarian
Holy crap was this movie painful. It suffered everywhere... but it did have moments of pretty damn good action. It was the one positive thing I think I said about this movie.
7) Immortals
This one saddens me, because it's gorgeous to look at and has probably some of the best action sequences of the year. But everything in between the action scenes... leaves you a little wanting. Still, I think the visuals and action alone escalate this film to being one of my favorites of the year, despite the lackluster story and characters.
8) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Very similar to the previous film on this list, it has some of the best action of the year... but everything in between is moderately lackluster.
9) Warrior
I recently reviewed this one, so you can just read that for more details. I'll just say I haven't seen a more cliched and dully written film with such great action (and, to be fair, great performances).
10) Drive
Oh yeah, I went there. One of the most beloved films of 2011 fits the bill, as well... probably closely related to the previous title on this list. It has cliches and is your basic heist-gone-wrong/revenge story. The characters (outside of the hardly-says-a-word Driver) are rather basic. But the action? Stylish and brutal.
Final note: I just found it interesting not many other people seemed to pick up on this. I mean, I know every year has movies like this; I just think it was more abundant this year than I've seen in a long time. And there are most likely even more than I listed here. There were just a lot of flicks this year that had great action, but needed a little more polishing in one or more other departments. Any reasons why you think this has happened? Thoughts in general?
1) I Am Number Four
It was a very average and lackluster film, but mostly because of characters and story, etc. However, the action itself, especially near the climax, was actually pretty good. It wasn't the greatest (especially in comparison to the others on this list), but it was pretty good. Everything else needed a lot of work, though.
2) Drive Angry
A film that split a lot of people. You either loved it or hated it. I personally loved it. I mean, I won't deny that the story or the characters weren't all that spectacular (except for William Fichtner). But there were some great action sequences that really brought the movie together for me.
3) Battle: Los Angeles
To me, this movie was a lot like Black Hawk Down in numerous ways. It was an overly simplistic story with undeveloped characters... but it was pure action that actually looked pretty dang good.
4) Sucker Punch
Now this was a movie that pissed off a lot of people. Now, I really liked it when I first saw it, but I understand where everybody else was coming from. There's really no point in discussing this film any more because everybody has talked it to death. You know it was stunning to look at, you know the action was fantastic... but it lacked everywhere else imaginable.
5) Transformers 3
I'm sure you knew this one was going to end up here. Unlike the last installment of the 'trilogy', this one had some good moments, particularly in the last 30 minutes or so. But it's also Michael Bay... and does anybody actually remember what this movie was about? I know I don't.
6) Conan the Barbarian
Holy crap was this movie painful. It suffered everywhere... but it did have moments of pretty damn good action. It was the one positive thing I think I said about this movie.
7) Immortals
This one saddens me, because it's gorgeous to look at and has probably some of the best action sequences of the year. But everything in between the action scenes... leaves you a little wanting. Still, I think the visuals and action alone escalate this film to being one of my favorites of the year, despite the lackluster story and characters.
8) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Very similar to the previous film on this list, it has some of the best action of the year... but everything in between is moderately lackluster.
9) Warrior
I recently reviewed this one, so you can just read that for more details. I'll just say I haven't seen a more cliched and dully written film with such great action (and, to be fair, great performances).
10) Drive
Oh yeah, I went there. One of the most beloved films of 2011 fits the bill, as well... probably closely related to the previous title on this list. It has cliches and is your basic heist-gone-wrong/revenge story. The characters (outside of the hardly-says-a-word Driver) are rather basic. But the action? Stylish and brutal.
Final note: I just found it interesting not many other people seemed to pick up on this. I mean, I know every year has movies like this; I just think it was more abundant this year than I've seen in a long time. And there are most likely even more than I listed here. There were just a lot of flicks this year that had great action, but needed a little more polishing in one or more other departments. Any reasons why you think this has happened? Thoughts in general?
1.02.2012
2011 Round-Up: 30 Minutes Or Less, Warrior, And Drive.
Just wanted to do a few short reviews of some 2011 films I saw recently but have yet to review. The first I actually saw a while back and just didn't get around to reviewing it. The other two I saw much more recently. So first...
Talk about a disappointing follow-up to Zombieland. I loved the director, I love Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Swardson has great stand-up (but isn't that great on film, generally), and Aziz Ansari is good on Parks and Rec. Oh, and it co-stars Rebecca from Greek! This wasn't awful, but it just wasn't that great, either. It was just pretty mediocre. The comedy wasn't fantastic. I maybe smiled once or twice throughout the film. The best parts were definitely Fred Ward and Michael Pena. But on the whole, it could have had more heart, more comedy, and more... everything, really.
Stop Saying OK! OK.
Wow, talk about cliches. There was not one original idea in this movie, and it took everything straight out of the genre playbook. It could have been more a parody of this type of film than what it was. I was more blown away by the fact this movie was getting so much praise rather than the movie itself. I just could not get into it. At least for the first half. Then the fighting stuff started. The last hour of the movie has some amazing MMA fighting (though I've heard through the grapevine it's nothing like actual MMA fighting). Still, it was highly entertaining stuff. And yeah, the performances were great all around. It was just a very flawed and unoriginal movie saved by some nice action in the back-end.
I Am McLovin!
Talk about one of the most overrated movies of the year. Now, before you get out the torches and pitchforks, let me explain that I still liked it. I just didn't think it was the total SCREENGASM that everybody else on the planet said it was. And perhaps that's because I had it so over-hyped for me by the time I saw it that I couldn't be anything else but let down. I patiently sat through the first half of the movie, waiting for really anything to happen. I kept in the back of my mind that it was supposed to get intense and brutal, and the "elevator scene" was apparently this year's hamster wheel or something by the way it was talked about. So color me disappointed when all I could say afterwards was "...that's it?" I'm also giving the film the benefit of the doubt that it could have been the format in which I viewed it. Let's just say it probably wasn't the best way to see this film. Was Ryan Gosling great? Yeah. Was the film good? Definitely. I just don't think it fell into the insane quality that I'd heard about for the last 4 months or whatever. (Note: Funnily enough, this was the last 2011 movie I saw last year. The first 2011 movie I saw last year? Drive Angry.)
A Keanu 'Whoa'
30 MINUTES OR LESS
Talk about a disappointing follow-up to Zombieland. I loved the director, I love Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Swardson has great stand-up (but isn't that great on film, generally), and Aziz Ansari is good on Parks and Rec. Oh, and it co-stars Rebecca from Greek! This wasn't awful, but it just wasn't that great, either. It was just pretty mediocre. The comedy wasn't fantastic. I maybe smiled once or twice throughout the film. The best parts were definitely Fred Ward and Michael Pena. But on the whole, it could have had more heart, more comedy, and more... everything, really.Stop Saying OK! OK.
WARRIOR
Wow, talk about cliches. There was not one original idea in this movie, and it took everything straight out of the genre playbook. It could have been more a parody of this type of film than what it was. I was more blown away by the fact this movie was getting so much praise rather than the movie itself. I just could not get into it. At least for the first half. Then the fighting stuff started. The last hour of the movie has some amazing MMA fighting (though I've heard through the grapevine it's nothing like actual MMA fighting). Still, it was highly entertaining stuff. And yeah, the performances were great all around. It was just a very flawed and unoriginal movie saved by some nice action in the back-end.I Am McLovin!
DRIVE
Talk about one of the most overrated movies of the year. Now, before you get out the torches and pitchforks, let me explain that I still liked it. I just didn't think it was the total SCREENGASM that everybody else on the planet said it was. And perhaps that's because I had it so over-hyped for me by the time I saw it that I couldn't be anything else but let down. I patiently sat through the first half of the movie, waiting for really anything to happen. I kept in the back of my mind that it was supposed to get intense and brutal, and the "elevator scene" was apparently this year's hamster wheel or something by the way it was talked about. So color me disappointed when all I could say afterwards was "...that's it?" I'm also giving the film the benefit of the doubt that it could have been the format in which I viewed it. Let's just say it probably wasn't the best way to see this film. Was Ryan Gosling great? Yeah. Was the film good? Definitely. I just don't think it fell into the insane quality that I'd heard about for the last 4 months or whatever. (Note: Funnily enough, this was the last 2011 movie I saw last year. The first 2011 movie I saw last year? Drive Angry.)A Keanu 'Whoa'
1.01.2012
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL.
I've seen all the other Mission: Impossible films, though I don't really recall much from any of them. I will say, though... with all the insane action set pieces this movie delivers, I think it'll be hard to forget this one. This time, the story gives us, again, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), whose team has been framed for inciting war on Russia. The President declares Ghost Protocol, which shuts down the unit indefinitely. So now it's up to Ethan, Benji (Simon Pegg), Jane (Paula Patton), and Brandt (Jeremy Renner) to figure out what's really going on and stop it before it's too late.There are two things that split this movie. There's the thing that makes it outstanding, and the thing that brings it down a bit. What escalates this film is the brilliant action. There are some truly suspenseful moments. I mean, you know Cruise is gonna make it, but it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. Everybody has seemingly been talking about two moments that pretty much happen back-to-back: scaling the building and the sandstorm chase. There's a reason for that, as they are both incredible moments in the film.
What brings the movie down, however... is everything else. I didn't feel incredibly invested in the overall story. It wasn't boring or anything, but it wasn't anything new or exciting. There's a nuke, they need to stop it, there are obstacles in the way. Again, what elevates the film is how they solve the obstacles. But getting to each one isn't all that enthralling. And I would actually argue that if it weren't for Simon Pegg, the non-action scenes would have been straight-up boring. Pegg brings charm and humor to every scene he's in, making the film that much better for it. And Renner does well himself, too, bringing both humor and sadness to the story.
When this film is good, it's really freakin' good. When it isn't, it's still good, but it could have been much better. I would agree that it's easily the best in the series. I do recommend it, and for three reasons. See it for the brilliant action, for Simon Pegg, and for Paula Patton eye candy... I mean, damn. They're nice. I mean, it's nice. The film. Action. Boom. Pegg. Funny. And stuff. Yeah. Check them... it... out. I'm gonna stop now.
A Keanu 'Whoa'
(P.S. Happy New Year!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)