DVD Picks: Aviatices, Satanic Cults and LeBron James
February 11, 2010
‘Amelia,” starring Hilary Swank as famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart, is a perfectly serviceable, standard-issue Hollywood biopic that hits all the requisite notes and risks little. It’s an enjoyable movie experience and, at under two hours, admirably restrained in length. I only wish the movie, like its heroine, had a little more guts.
It’s a problem of form, really. “Amelia” is done about as well as this type of movie can be done – but that’s the problem. The celebrity biopic has become Hollywood’s most tired and predictable genre. If you recall, we were tipped to this problem in 2007 with the very funny mock-biopic “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” “Walk” tackled the subgenre of the musical biopic, but its cautionary lessons can very easily be extrapolated – and, evidently, ignored. Read the rest of this entry »
Already a legend of low-budget horror, ” Paranormal Activity” is an object lesson in the power of viral marketing. Filmed for $15,000, its theatrical take after wide release on Halloween is $107 million, with an additional $10 million or so still coming in from the UK.
So why such astounding success? First, “Paranormal” is a scary ghost story with an effective gimmick: Like “The Blair Witch Project,” the film is presented as found footage, the record of a haunting caught on camera and left by the dearly departed victims. Read the rest of this entry »
NPR Monkey See
You won’t read about it in the headlines, but deep in the high-tech corporate campus of the Research Triangle Park, in Durham, North Carolina, desperate refugees fight for survival against mutant cannibals in a dystopian wasteland where civilization is just a dim memory.
No, it’s not a hyperbolic recession metaphor (at least not exclusively), it’s Fallen Earth, the post-apocalyptic virtual world created and maintained by RTP game company Icarus Studios. Fallen Earth, you see, is a video game — one in which thousands of players play simultaneously via the Internet and their personal computers.
Video games to give or receive
December 4, 2009
This holiday season, why not give the gift that, if properly selected, will hijack your loved one’s life for several months, devouring all discretionary time?
The trick, of course, is selecting the right game – especially for children and younger gamers. You’ll lose a lot of cool points if you get your niece Cooking Mama 3 when what she really wanted was Command & Conquer 3.
Below is a list of some of the best recent games for gift-giving, arranged by ESRB Rating. Most of these titles have something to offer children and adults, with a bonus pick for grown-up gamers who might be interested in blowing up space zombies. Read the rest of this entry »
All I Want for Christmas…
December 13, 2005
PopMatters.com
Dear Santa,
As you know, I’ve been a relatively good boy this year, certainly as compared to last year. And now that my community service is done and many of the civil suits settled, I feel like I’m finally working with a clean slate!
We’ve not always communicated efficiently in the past, and so I’m keeping this year’s wish list short and “civil-tongued” — I think that’s the term you used in your reply to last year’s letter. You’ll note that this time around, per your request, there are no overt threats against Mrs. Claus or the elves if I don’t get my way. I am willing to make some changes if you are. Read the rest of this entry »
