That’s the thing about this trend with movies based around telling the story of these milestone products: We either get a movie that should just cut the middle man and be a documentary (“Air”), or we get something so completely sensationalized/fabricated that it’s not even really worth watching anymore (“Flamin’ Hot”). With director Jon S. Baird’s “Tetris” I tuned in to see a movie about the creation and acquisition of the iconic video game. Instead what I got was a pretty vanilla espionage thriller about the KGB, spies, terrorists, politics, and warring companies fighting over contracts and whatnot. Exciting…
Tag Archives: video games
Attack of the Doc! (2023)
After the short lived resurgence of G4 TV in 2021, old school fans of the channel were brought back to the more magical days where the channel influenced pop culture. I was once upon a time a big fan of not only G4 TV, but of “Attack of the Show!” From 2007 to 2011, I would watch every single episode of “Attack of the Show!” and would even make a big occasion of their epic Comic Con coverage. While many fans of the channel and series know full well what happened to G4 and why it fell, “Attack of the Doc!” is a niche documentary with a tale that deserves to be told.
My 5 Favorite Mario World Characters
With tomorrow being the release date of the highly anticipated “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” and it arriving theaters, I thought it’d be a good chance to list some of my all time favorite Mario characters from the Mario universe. I’ve grown up with the Mario games, playing it on NES as a small child, and religiously playing his games on SNES, N64, and even the Nintendo DS.
What are some of your favorite Super Mario World characters, and or villains?
“Super Mario Bros: The Movie” 30 Years Later: The Baffling Feature Film Adaptation
Kids today will soon know their Mario Brothers as CGI animated sprites in the upcoming “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” I, for one, am psyched. But back in 1993, my Mario Bros. (beyond the video games) were found on television and in the movies. After Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells ended their run as Mario and Luigi in “The Super Mario Brothers Super Show!” in 1989, the studios decided to finally bring the Super Mario world to the big screen in 1993. Said movie was called “Super Mario Bros: The Movie.”
You’d probably think: “How they could possibly get such an easy concept so wrong?”
But they did. They really did.
Michelle Iannantuono, Multi-Talented Genre Creator [Women In Horror Month 2022]
Michelle Iannantuono is a writer, director, producer, editor, cinematographer, actress, visual artist who loves horror and video games.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
It’s kind of ironic that the villain of the sequel to 1996’s “Space Jam” is named Al G. Rhythm, the physical manifestation of an algorithm who decides the fate of not just star Lebron James but of the Looney Tunes. “A New Legacy” (Or “Space Jam 2”) feels like it was directed not by a person, but a committee of people that followed algorithms about what was appealing to modern audiences, and what was “hip.” The film doubles as a two hour EPK for the HBO Max Streaming Service. “A New Legacy” premieres on the aforementioned streaming service (and theaters), so Warner takes full advantage of exploiting every single (repeat: every single) IP that they have at their disposal.
Ashens and the Polybius Heist (2020)
Movies that are based on or around youtube personalities usually, for lack of a better word: suck. They’re awful, they’re terrible, and only mostly just vanity projects for the creators. So imagine what a shock it was to see “Ashens and the Polybius Heist” and find out that it’s actually quite good. I genuinely giggled during most of the film and loved how it all felt like a hilarious mutant amalgam of “Spaced,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” and “The Hot Rock,” in the end.
Celebrating “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” Ten Years Later
In 2010, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” shocked me. Not because of Edgar Wright. If there’s any director out there that knows pop culture, it’s Edgar Wright. It’s more so how much Edgar Wright understood the idea of pop culture and how absolutely annoying the idea of nostalgia had become. It’d somewhat become a monstrosity of awareness, sarcastic catch phrases, and smug gate keeping. While “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is a wonderful film filled with laughs, and some excellent performances, it’s also a polemic about how much pop culture has replaced actual culture. While a lot of others saw it as a great action celebration, I saw it as immensely cynical. It’s also why I love it so much.