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Remember The Wizard?
trotski writes "I remember when I saw The Wizard as a kid, I thought it was the perfect movie. X-entertainment has released a review through the eyes of geek of this classic. Few movies have ever dwelled in pits of infamy quite so deep as The Wizard, Nintendo's 100-minute video game commercial that vaguely masqueraded as a real movie. The Wizard should've been able to keep kids well into their late teens interested, but the entire thing goes down the tubes once you hear the villainous cool kid's pickup line: "I love the Power Glove. It's so bad." The site includes video clips of this and other great moments in the movie."
There's also a
just-the-facts plot review of this timeless classic, at the Onion.
The best geek movie from when I was a kid was Time Bandits. Does anyone else remember this? I just bought it on DVD the other day and watched it for the first time in years. It was awesome!
Why is it that most... ok, ALL, video game- based movies are bad?
Take Joysticks, for example. As anyone that has seen this movie can tell you, it's one of the WORST movies EVER made. But as a "period piece" (it came out in 1983), it's pretty cool. The arcade scenes pretty much make up for the horrible acting and lame plot (local rich guy wants to shut down the local arcade... yawn). Plus, there's a bit of T&A in it and it stars Joe Don Baker. w00t!
More info about this atrocity here.
"You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic."
"Thank you, Master Control"
-Sark and the MCP
"Compare it to videos that exist in their own right, rather than just to sell toys. Examples include Power Rangers, Transformers, Pokemon... "
Commercialization? Sure. Bad? Not necessarily. The Transformers universe in particular was rather rich with creative ideas. Have a peek at the Transformers FAQ. You'll be surprised at how the mythos of that series developed.
No doubt that the original purpose of this cartoon was to sell toys. That doesn't mean it can't be appreciated on some levels.
"Derp de derp."
A friend and I came up with the idea after watching Minority Report and turning the power glove into some kind of control device for a computer like Tom Cruise had. Neither of us being THAT in depth technically, we blew it off as not being possible and kept it to just being "something cool."
.. ?
For you electronics "Wizards" here just how possible is it to hook up a power glove to a computer and use it as a mouse or joystick type device for playing Quake or sol.exe
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...photos of her.
These shots are from the premiere of Donnie Darko, and apparently she was dating Jake Gyllenhaal at the time.
"Hey, honey! It's called 'smiling,' why don't you look into it?"
/obvious Coneheads refference
Yeah, he's right. That IS the same Dinosaur Pee-Wee got laid in.
All kidding aside, I remember waiting dilligently for this to come out on VHS as a kid. My parents hardly ever took me to the movies. When it did, and I finally saw it, I wasn't really all that impressed. By then, SMB3 was already out, and I had already whomped it's digital ass. But it was still a fun movie none-the-less.
Oh well. Nostalgia sure is fun, isn't it...
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
Why is it that most... ok, ALL, video game- based movies are bad?
See, there're rules for these things:
* Movies based on video games will suck.
* Movies based on Saturday Night Live characters or skits will suck.
* Remakes of classic movies will suck, but lots of people will go to see them anyway because they don't remember the originals.
* Sequels to movies where a majority of the original characters do not return will suck.
* If these characters are not played by the original actors, the movie will suck.
It's not the filmmakers' fault, those are just the rules. They look up the type of movie thay want to make. If it's there, the suck flag gets set.
On Topic:
If you want a serious answer, I think it's because unless you use animation, you can't reproduce the action of the game, so you have to rely on making it a conventional action movie. Since it's going to be nothing like the game, and since the plot of the game will be much less interesting by itself, it will, by necessity, suck.
Java: the bastard demon spawn of C++ and Ada
What videogame enthusiast didn't like *Cloak and Dagger* or *D.A.R.R.Y.L.*? Those were full-on Atari commercials...
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
There was only one R. Data Analyzing Robotic Youth Lifeform. Sorry to be picky. And yeah, those movies kicked ass. Dabney Coleman was the shit in C&D.
Does anyone here remember the Nintendo World Championships in 1990? Or did anyone take part in it? I think it's pretty funny that the kid who won in the Wizard movie was from Utah (just like the Real Championships). E-mail me if you took part in it. It would be great to have a reunion or something. jeffhansen.com
No fucking kidding? I actually have a mix CD a friend gave me with a couple of things from them on it. I think I'm going to kill this friend for not mentioning this very pertinent detail. They hadn't really stood out too much for me, but they're not bad. They're kinda halfway between something like The Pixies and the kind of thing that gets put in ads for WB dramas. Sorta weird, but not in a bad way.
It's a little creepy that, if anything, she sounds more like a 12 year old girl in the band than she does in the movie, and in at least one of these songs, she's upgraded from "He touched my breast!" to "Would you fuck me?/'Cause I'd fuck me." and being pressured into an orgy. Hmmm. Maybe my friend made the right choice to keep me in the dark. I think this song was better when I didn't have to spend it fighting back VHS-quality images of child actors.
Actually, the more I listen to these, the better the songwriting gets. I think I'll need to wait a few months for a bisfully ignorant enough mood to really enjoy their tone, but they seem worth a bit of the old non-RIAA CD budget...
....Mike Jittlov, the Wizard of Speed and Time.
If we're going to spend some time contemplating the deep philisophical meaning of the Fred Savage Nintendo Movie, then maybe we can set aside a few minutes to consider this fantastic film.
Over time, I've consistently held The Wizard of Speed and Time to be my number one film, trumping all others by a long shot. Certainly if your primary source of entertainment is a little box with a keyboard, then you can appreciate more than anyone the amount of work and care that this film shows in scene after scene. Jittlov is, basically, a master animator, and this story of a man trying to tell his dreams through filmmaking is both inspiring and entertaining.
For most people, the response to my mentioning this film is "Well, of course." but if you haven't heard of this film before, trust me, you're in for a treat. Mike Jittlov is a great guy personally, and a fantastic filmmaker professionally, and the more people who know about this incredible piece of work and bring it into their lives, the better.
Due to the usual vagaries of the film production business, Mike sees little or no financial reward from the versions of the film currently out there, so don't pay too much thinking it'll get back to him. But see this film. I risk breaking its back with the accolades I and others heap on it.
She was also involved in a rescent project with Ben Gifford of Death Cab for Cutie, called The Postal Service. I personally like all these bands mentioned, but to each his own if you dont. Another interesting thing of note is that Pinsky from Salute Your Shorts is in Rilo Kiley as well, his name is Blake Soper http://us.imdb.com/Name?Soper,%20Blake