Video Game Movies That Should Have Rocked

It’s a common rule of nature. Games based on movies always suck, while movies based on games, also always suck. But hey, we know where studios are coming from. If a game is making millions and becoming a pop culture smash, then it’s only fitting a movie would have to be made. The problem is there’s yet to be a good movie that’s been adapted from a great video game. Deny it all you want, but let’s be honest, even “Mortal Kombat,” while cool, just wasn’t faithful to the game. It was PG-13, Shang Tsung was a younger man, and the movie is very cheesy these days.

Like everything pop culture related, fans simply will not be able to agree on an idea for a movie, nor will they all enjoy what the adaptation is, even if by some miracle it happens to be a masterpiece of filmmaking, but these are the movies as they are, and all of them are really bad. In honor of the upcoming “Prince of Persia” and “Street Fighter” adaptations, we’re exploring the slew of bad video game movies, and what we wanted. Hey, we’re not going to pretend you’ve never seen this list before but we just had to get our licks in before the next big screen adaptations on film appears and possibly changes the way we think of video game movies. Hey it could happen. It’s got to happen sooner or later, doesn’t it? And hey, maybe you’ll see a choice here that just may steam you up some.

Let us know what you think and which movies we should have included.

Continue reading →

Serenity: The Other Half [Webcomic]

serenity-the-other-halfI didn’t want to admit it but… well… “Serenity: Better Days” sucked really badly. I kept insisting to myself that it was just mediocre, but re-reading the issues I can safely say that it sucks. If Whedon and co. were trying to show us what a poor imitation of “Firefly” would look like, then it worked. Thanks Joss. It was so bad I didn’t even finish the final issue. Yeah, that bad. So, along comes “Serenity: The Other Half,” a web exclusive mini comic book following the gang of “Serenity” in the middle of a gorram battle.

Continue reading →

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

starwars-clonewars-1024x576Is “The Clone Wars” as bad as people have said? Yes and no. I had fun, I sat through the animated “Star Wars” entry with a chuckle and a half smile and enjoyed these characters yet again. The animated team manages to comprise a film with animation that’s pretty eye catching if below par what the Lucas team is capable of. But then again, there won’t be much of a difference when the Cartoon Network airs the series in a few months. Top that off with the interesting voice work that I quite enjoyed. You have to appreciate actor Matt Lanter for putting life and energy in to Anakin Skywalker, almost completely making me forget the awful performances by Hayden Christensen. Voice actor James Arnold Taylor reprises his role from the original “Clone Wars” mini-series and does a bang up job reprising the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi and giving us the character’s charms and gravitas in full force.

Continue reading →

CJ7 (2008)

CJ7 (2008)I’d like to tell you that “CJ7” is Stephen Chow’s answer to “E.T.” but as we all have come to know, Chow would never be about providing ordinary kids entertainment that we’ve seen before. “CJ7” may have the same formula when you get down to it, but Chow gives his own spin on it and it works. It’s a healthy dose of menace, adult edge, and over the top fantasy that has become a dead art in family films and director Chow takes every chance to flex those elements with his own take on the boy meets alien tale. On the flipside, Chow also tries to tell a genuinely emotional tale about a poor down on their luck and father and son struggling to get by living in a junk yard and eating day old food, while character Dickey’s dad always tries to teach him about life and how there are simply no short cuts. Especially when you’re poor.

Continue reading →

DC Superheroes: The Filmation Adventures (DVD)

After many years without an official release, Filmation’s adaptation of DC’s greatest superheroes is finally on DVD with a pristine two disc edition featuring some of the most entertaining adventures of DC’s top tier and second tier characters. Primarily consisting of episodes from the Superman/Aquaman Hour, “DC Superheroes” is broken down in to numerous segment clusters that are comprised of episodes spotlighting the likes of The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Teen Titans and Hawkman, sadly with Superman only a glaring footnote in the compilation.

Continue reading →

Our Favorite "Star Wars" Characters of All Time

star-wars-bannerIn honor of the upcoming “Clone Wars,” on August 15th, a movie we’re actually looking forward to we’re ashamed to admit, we’ve decided to think inside the box for a while. I mean, we just admitted we want to see “Clone Wars,” we think we should let you know where we stand as a Star Wars geeks, right? There’s really not much more damage George Lucas can inflict on his universe, after all. And animation is cost effective, a no lose medium. and there’s a ninety nine percent chance voice actors could do a better job than Hayden Christensen. Hell, a log can.

Whether we like it or not “The Clone Wars” is coming, not to mention the animated series, so we figured we’d just list our top ten Star Wars characters and have some fun with this impending release.

Continue reading →

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete First Season (2008) (DVD)

Thank goodness for the writer’s strike, because let’s be honest here: Were it not for 80 percent of the series on primetime television going off the air thanks to a bunch of out of work writers, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” wouldn’t have stood a chance in the ratings. I mean, come on, let’s look at the ingredients: It’s a serialized version of two very popular movies, the third of which has been lambasted by fans worldwide. It stars a barely memorable actor from “Heroes” as young John Connor, a cult actress from a cancelled television series as a cyborg sent to protect him, and an ad campaign that revolves around Lena Headey, a woman who is only popular with fan boys. Not to mention “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” completely forgets the horrific third installment of “The Terminator” series while also leaving a trail of continuity problems and plot holes in its wake.

Continue reading →