Category Archives: Film

Comics, Film, Gaming

Gaming update: Evil Dead – Regeneration and Marvel Nemesis

Having decided against the next gen consoles for a little while (at least until the Nintendo WII comes out, which might be the console to wean me of my Sony/MS dependence), and really, really being bored of wasting my life on Civ4, was looking for a new way to, erm, waste my life. And on browsing Amazon’s bargain basement, decided to pick up a couple of games that I knew were just going to be a useless waste of money at full price… but might prove entertaining with a twofer 15 quid deal.

Both are obviously based on film / comic franchises that I love. Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series (of which I’ve seen 1 and 3: Army of Darkness) is fully entertaining, and there’s something about Bruce Campbell’s ridiculous machismo that is hugely entertaining – and proves to be in the ludicrous cutscenes of the game. It’s like Duke Nukem meets… well, Evil Dead. Very, very funny – simple, addictive, button mashing game play, decent graphics and a plotline worth sawing your arm off for. So far, anyway – I’m only about 20 minutes in. Have a feeling its going to get repetitive quick, but for now…

And Marvel’s newest beat-em-up, after a long line of really, really awful games, is actually relatively entertaining. It, like MK: Shaolin Monks, turns the game into something more of a platform game and gives a nice bit of variety between characters. Of course, there’s no two-player cooperative mode (d’oh! – although haven’t tried on Xbox Live yet), and the combos seem limited, it is very true to Marvel so far and quite fun as a consequence.

In short, great diversions for a small investment. This pleases me.

Film, Weird

The greatest film ever?

If Sam Raimi Directed this film, and cast Bruce Campbell, could we have…

Evil Dead Snakes on a Plane?

Awesome.

Sorry, this post may or may not be an indirect consequence of a conversation with Tom and Chris, but who can say. Either way, EDSOAP could be a great sequel.

Culture, Film

From cult to mainstream

Was having a conversation with siblings a couple of months ago about how things make the leap from cult to mainstream – for example, Spider-Man, the comic – largely cult. Spider-Man, the movie – definitely mainstream. Some don’t succeed – the Hitchhiker’s film, much as I enjoyed it, was clearly one of those that failed to break the ‘cult’ barrier.

The X-Men are a trickier. Have they brokered the divide into the mainstream with their recent set of films? I think they did with the first two – but the third suffers from Too Much Source Material – the writers clearly got confused as to which of the universes they wanted to draw upon.

See, I really enjoy the little jokes they bury in the film for fans to enjoy – but when character development is stunted (as it is for Colossus in the X3, for example) – it becomes that much harder for non-fans to understand the emotional subtext in key scenes.

I can’t say much more without spoiling the film (and it still doesn’t open for a couple of days!), but would be interested to hear thoughts on other films that have successfully bridge the gap between cult and the mainstream and what made them successful.

For me, there are always two components – solid character development and a simple, believable plot – and by ‘believable’ please don’t assume I mean realistic, I would never ask for that – but rather one that passes its own laws of internal consistency. Like Mr McKee, I’m not a fan of deus ex machina…

Current affairs, Film

Dogma vs. The Da Vinci Code

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Don’t know why people didn’t raise the same fuss over Dogma – it’s got to challenge at least as many of the same institutional ‘truths’ – I guess maybe people don’t take Kevin Smith as seriously as they take Dan Brown, which makes me sad with the universe. Kevin Smith is a genius.

And yes, I am watching E4 tonight…

Film

X3

So, I saw X3 over a week ago and still no comment: what, l ask you, is wrong? Could lt that it was awful? Well, it could have been, and have been making up my mind about it over the last week: but on the whole think that it just about held its own weight.

There’s no doubt that the writing on X3 is, well, mediocre, when judged by the standards set by its predecessors. Characters struggle through some fairly awkward exchanges that never quite succeed in convincing you that they are experiencing a normal range of (mutant) emotions.

That said, some of the action sequences are delightful in their ridiculousness (what exactly are Jean Grey’s powers?)… And Frasi- erm, Kelsey Grammar brings some bright blue colour to the cast, which had us all chuckling.

All in all, it’s a film that takes less energy to like than dislike, for all its flaws.

Definitely one for a fly by night fan of the franchise like myself. If Spidey 3 is as poorly scripted I will probably be upset.

This post is published with two NTKs:

    (1) We’re still quite a long way before the film’s official release, so have tried to avoid spoilers. Apologies for scant nature of information offered.
    (2) This review was initially tapped away by hand on a PDA. Which is a great way to give yourself RSI, but little else…
Film

You know your brother is a movie producer…

…when he delivers preview tickets to X3 after taunting me for a week and a half that he does, in fact, “know something you don’t know.”

I am so excited. I wish I could Tivo my way through Wednesday and Thursday and just land on Friday even more than usual, now.

Film, Personal, Technology

Slingshot (or: how David slayed Goliath)

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My brother’s just launched the website of his film company, Slingshot Studios, an all-digital film production company. It’s a pretty ambitious project – making relatively low-budget films come to life through digital production and using innovative new technologies to make it all work effectively.

I’m really excited about where he’s going with this: its a great concept and I know he’s working with some very impressive people. And my brother’s always had a flair for identifying the things that make stories work, so is well suited to the task.

Toured his offices at Ealing Studios the other day – also very impressive. What can I say, I’m itching for a role as an extra (and possibly a credit as a writer, once I get my stories off the ground ;)).

Comics, Film

V is for Vonderful

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Massively enjoyed ‘V for Vendetta’ last night – whilst there were some issues with the fact that the main character wears a mask and you can’t see his facial expressions, on the whole the alternate history they told was gripping, the visual effects and the alternate London were stunning, the love story was plausible and the dialogue entertaining. Liked the ideology too – although the parallels to other forms of extremism made me very unconfortable with the justification of violence to achieve any ends.

Favourite line (and still loving my recent discovery of the block-quote tag):

“Ideas are bulletproof.”

Oddly, Alan Moore wasn’t credited. Wonder why?

Books, Film, Media & Marketing, Personal, Television

Busy like a monkey on amphetamines

Gosh its been a busy week or two. One of the busiest weeks at work since I started – and have had busy weeks before, I promise – parents imminent arrival, plotting a summer break, looking after Mousecapades for Gem and getting over the remnants of last week’s flu – a two day weekend is just completely inadequate!!

But beginning to feel in the driving seat again, which is good – and will mean I do a little more blogging and Linklogging too – so apologies for temporary radio silence.

Interesting things that I’ve done/seen thoug: reading the Jonathan Stroud books, seeing Good night and good luck, both of which are awesome. Have also watched a lot of Transformers Cybertron, which is a world improved on the recent Japanese dubs, ‘Robots in Disguise’ and ‘Armada’, and has some of those appealing story arcs that keep you hooked…

Anyway, more to come. Good night, and good luck!