Cloverfield Rulez!

I just got home from an advance screening of Cloverfield -- GO! And go soon, because there's some fun surprises that will quickly be ruined by word-of-mouth and reviews. A great movie to see when you pretty much know nothing at all. I will say this...SPOILER ALERT...this picture is a fake or a decoy.

Thundercats, Ho?

With the recent announcement of the Thundercats movie, I am happy to direct you to a wonderful PSA (thanks, YouTube) from the 80s in which Snarf and Lion-O remind you kids to stay off the liquor. Give me sobriety beyond sobriety!


Oh, and let's not forget that He-Man is also on the fast track to become a "major" motion picture. Can Silver Hawks be far behind? Or Crystar? How about Rock Lords? Oooh! Perhaps even Rainbow Brite Unleashed? Well, we can dream!

This trend speaks to my theory about cyclical cultural phenomena: as the "tastemakers" of our culture, AKA the entertainment executives, come of age and get into a position of influence, they quickly reach into the entertainment experiences of their collective childhoods for ideas. Hence: retread films from the 80s. Just you wait...in ten years, we'll be seeing Tamagochi: The Motion Picture, starring a craggy Shia LaBeouf.

Hollywood is really a creative wasteland, isn't it?

Don't Meet the Robinsons

Despite Toonzone's positive review of Disney's Meet the Robinsons, I found the movie to be pretty hard to stomach. Yes, the animation was nice and YES, the production design and general visual direction were both quite amazing. However, the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts. Wait, you mean SEVEN writers couldn't get this thing off the ground? Nope...I guess they needed to hire a few more -- seriously, if Disney aimed to suck out all that which was cool and beautiful and quirky about William Joyce's book and replace it with a whole lot of noise, well, they did a bang-up job. (Not sure if Mr. Joyce was involved in the film, but I'd be pretty PO'd if I were him.) The unusual characters and retro designs are sidelined by a mundane plot and a stupid "twisteroo" ending, not to mention the ADD-theater aspect to the proceedings once the movie (finally) arrives at the Robinson abode. Poop!

So much good here, but so much wasted...just further proof of my theory that a film's quality is indirectly proportional to the number of its writers.

Lord of the Puffs?

The Internet reports that Peter Jackson is making the live-action PPG movie. Riiiiight...thanks to Mario for the tip!

What I'm Watching, Playing, Hearing, Reading

As an avid consumer of all things media en masse, I am pleased to report that I have recently had a lot on my plate to enjoy. Sure, there are always good TV shows to watch, movies to see, games to play, etc. -- but there's also a lot of crap out there, making it challenging to find the good stuff. Since I don't have all the free time I used to have, getting stuck with a stinker is often a big disappointment. Fortunately, the last few weeks have been host to a parade of fun happy goodtimes, and I've been itching to report my findings here:

Movie: 300 -- Oh, you would be a fool indeed if you missed this one in the theater. I'm not saying it was Shakespeare or anything (even though Frank Miller would probably like you to think so), but what a spectacle! Really just one of the best recent examples of pure cinematic entertainment. The director (Zach Snyder?) uses the medium to its full advantage here...might I say that it is one of the finest comic-to-film translations ever? I might, rabbit. I might. Oh, and the giant rampaging rhino is totally historically accurate, too!

Movie: The Illusionist -- Where did the filmmakers go wrong? I ask this question because somehow this movie was ignored as a "best of 2006" entry. Was it even noiminated for any awards? I haven't a clue, but it should have. Another fine piece of entertainment...great cast, beautiful production design and cinematography, an airtight script, I could go on. Even the gimmicky ending was brilliant! And Jessica Biel is hawt! Seriously, this was like a little character play/mystery starring four actors, a old theater and the city of Vienna. Just perfect. What happened?

Game: Titan Quest -- Kill. Loot. Repeat. An action RPG of the finest order. The developer, Iron Lore, (I believe) was the toast of GDC, receiving kudos from their fellow developers at the "choice" awards. Deservedly so. What a great game. The item management is fun, not tedious. The voice acting is good, not annoying. The weapons and powers are familiar, yet original. And it's like playing in your very own Harryhausen movie. What could be better?

Game: Rogue Galaxy -- Okay, I just don't have the time to slog through a Japanese RPG. But this one is worth the effort. It was a little slow to get going, and the learning curve is rather steep. But I'm having a lot of fun with it. And the storyline, characters and cut-scenes are actually entertaining! Gadzooks! If anything, the co-op AI of your party members is pretty weak, making the real-time battles a little unfair at times. But I am enjoying the weapons and abilities and switching between characters. And the graphics! Why buy a PS3? Seriously.

Television: Battlestar Galactica -- I stayed up past my bedtime to watch the final two episodes of season three last night. This is a damn fine show. and the producers really know how to leave us hanging! Season four can't come fast enough. I'm reading the blogs...everyone thinks we've seen four of the "final five" Cylons, but I'm not convinced. Theories from clever viewers suggest that our "watchtower" friends are not Cylons at all. Seriously, could Tigh be a Cylon and keep his dignity? Doubtful. Starbuck's return was also welcome, and expected. Hopefully the rumor of a mid-break summer movie will help with the agony of waiting...

Movie: Idiocracy -- Okay, the movie doesn't really live up to the brilliance of its premise, but there are so many LOL moments here. "Excape!" The House of Representin'. Law degrees from COSTCO. And so on and so forth. Mike Judge should make more movies.

Comic: The Walking Dead -- Chris lent me the first five trades, and I am hooked. You know how like at the end of a zombie movie, you want to know what happens next? This comic tells you.

MC: Royce the 5'9" -- So I got the album "Death Is Certain" when I was in San Fran, and I can't stop listening to it. This guy is criminally overlooked, but then again, maybe he should stay underground. I think his busted friendship with Eminem might have actually been a good thing. Cold raps, indeed!

Book: Cartoon Modern -- An amazing overview of 1950s animation, when people started smoking dope and listening to jazz and getting all freaked out, man!

Movie: Monsters, Inc. -- Okay, an older movie, but Aviella can't stop watching it. (And as a result, neither can I.) Having now seen the thing about a dozen times, I can say without a doubt that it is tied with "The Incredibles" as PIXAR's finest hour.

Okay, I'm done. I really have to get to work now.

Ubi to Make Movies

I get a lot of PR updates from game publishers, but most of them are boring game announcements. This one from Ubisoft, however, was really interesting!

Today at a press conference in Montreal, Canada, Ubisoft is announcing that it will create a new CGI movie production house within its Montreal studio and it will significantly expand its video game development operations in the region. In partnership with the local government, Ubisoft will create 1,000 additional positions by 2013, 500 of those positions will be within the new CGI studio.

The new CGI studio's mission will be to produce short digital films based on Ubisoft's video game properties. Work on an eight-minute short film inspired by Assassin's Creed is already underway.

This takes game makers right into the realm of film makers. Though it is similar to what we've seen from the CGI Final Fantasy flicks, this seems on a much grander scale. Wow! It will be cool to see what comes out of this studio. Assassin's Creed looks like dynamite on a plate.