VideoGame Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There are plenty of fun, or at least serviceable, video games based on movies, and there have been plenty of abominable ones as well. I've paid cash money to see freaky skinless zombie dogs in Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and Lara Croft swing from the ceiling in at least one of the Tomb Raider movies. I've wisely avoided the Uwe Boll poopfests, especially Postal, an adaptation of a game that was a cheaply made piece of crap when I first played it in, oh, the early '00s. Let's not even discuss the Mortal Kombat movies or the Super Mario Bros. movie that Harold Ramis wisely passed on. There are just so many mediocre games that have gotten way too much screen time.

But perhaps the cinema will begin to shine for us video game/film nerds. (Not too brightly, though -- it's dark in here with all the monitors!) There are plenty of excellent games out there, and even if they don't all quite make it to the big screen, recent developments have got me hopeful that really cool directors are sitting up and taking notice.

Bet you didn't know there's a Shockwave game for Year One. That's because Shockwave, well, kinda sucks. I can't even get the game to play on my Mac; I tried Safari and Firefox, so if anyone would like to give it a whirl and report back let me know. So far all I know is that you try and herd ox without making them nervous and run away.

Granted, Sony's Year One is not exactly a property ripe for video game adaptation, and its target audience is much broader than movies whose studios put in a lot of effort at viral buzz, but if it's that the case, why bother even making one at all? It's shoddy and looks like the marketing department already knew Year One (which I liked, by the way) would already be poorly reviewed and have a weak box office showing despite the big names attached.

On the other hand, The Dark Knight, which was distributed by Warner Bros., built up a ton of online buzz from its viral websites like WhySoSerious.com, Friends of Harvey Dent, and others with help from the marketing company 42 Entertainment. The Dark Knight would have been very successful even without these sites, which took a lot of effort and money to put together. Same with the campaign for Terminator Salvation and its Skynet Research site. It's a no-brainer summer blockbuster, destined to rake in the bucks despite the many complaints from critics and fans.

What does Willem Dafoe's junk, a talking fox, and a dead child all have in common? Well, they're going to star in a video game adaptation of Lars von Trier's Antichrist courtesy of Morten Iversen, a developer with some serious credentials in the world of game geekery. Formerly of Io Interactive, Iversen now works at von Trier's Zentropa production company.

Russ Frushtick over at MTV Multiplayer tracked down Iversen to ask him what the hell is up with this project, so to speak, and here's what he had to say.

"Von Trier has been extremely fond of video games for ages, and has been an avid player of 'Alone in the Dark,'" explained Iverson. "He's been circulating the idea internally... that making games would be a good idea." He describes it as "a nightmarish version of 'Myst.'"

("Alone in the Dark"? Really? Come on, Lars!)

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Considering most of us have given up on the idea that you can make a great film from a video game, you have to hand it to someone who is still willing to try. Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) recently spoke with Bloody Disgusting about his upcoming feature based on the best selling game, Gears of War, and the big news is that he has already planned three installments of the 3rd person shooter. Wiseman tells Disgusting, "The hope is that were wanting [sic] to do a three movies and really cover the bases on everything. Basically a harder edged Lord of the Rings."

Gears of War centered on the elite military group known as the Delta Squad, and when the planet Sera is attacked by the vicious Locust Horde, it's down to the Delta to save the day. Wiseman seems to be less interested in the creatures in the story, and is going to focus instead on the bad-ass squad. When asked about the script, Wiseman told Disgusting, "It's going to be much more [on the] science fiction side of it than the creature side of it. I've always been much more of a sci-fi action fan than a horror fan,"

Wiseman will be sticking with green screen to bring the 'Hoarde' to life, saying, "the more and more I get involved with these movies and the bigger they are the more you rely on CG effects to help you out. And you can do it properly; I've been a big fan of practical work and still am, it's finding a way to incorporate them together." Unfortunately, I don't think relying on CG is the problem with most video game flicks. It might however have something to do with substandard storytelling, bad acting, and crappy dialogue; but that just might be me.

So even though Wiseman has the odds stacked against him, is there anyone out there who thinks that he has what it takes to pull off not one, but three films? Sound off below...

For a movie based on a video game, there's a curious dearth of action in Max Payne. I know we've often complained that these movies were ALL action and NO substance, but this one has gone in the opposite direction. Well, except there's not really any substance, either. So it went in the opposite direction, but only part of the way. It stopped in the middle and is now a one-dimensional detective noir rather than an exciting shoot-em-up.

By the way, I have never played the Max Payne video game. Does this disqualify me from reviewing the movie? Then stop reading now! Cuz I'm totally about to review the hell out of it anyway.

Mark Wahlberg takes a break from his talking-to-animals duties to play the title character, a New York City police detective whose wife and baby were murdered three years ago by three assailants, one of whom escaped and was never identified. (The other two are dead and thus unhelpful.) Max now works in the cold case bureau of the department, basically pushing papers around all day so he can focus his efforts on his real objective: finding the guy who killed his family.

Following a lead, he winds up in the company of a sultry Russian named, like all sultry Russians, Natasha (Olga Kurylenko), whose sister, Mona (Mila Kunis), is a villain of some kind. (Assassin? Gangster? At one point Mona reminds Max, "You know what I do for a living," and I thought, "Well, that makes one of us.") Natasha winds up dead with Max's wallet nearby, making him a suspect. The subsequent death of a police officer in Max's apartment makes things look even worse.

How do you know when an as-yet-unreleased video game is rrrreally good? When a production company gets started on the movie version -- six months before the game hits the shelves! (OK, that's not even remotely true, but it sounded like a good intro.) But I can tell you one truly promising piece of news regarding the upcoming Electronic Arts game Dead Space: It's science fiction AND horror! Yeah, just like Galaxy of Terror!

Anyway, the game isn't due to hit stores until after summer, but that hasn't stopped Starz (and its Film Roman animation division) from snatching the property up and organzing all sorts of nifty little "tie-ins." For example, first will come a graphic novel from Image Comics. Then the Starz movie. And then the game. The assumption is that if you digest this media in the proper order, it will amplify your Dead Space experience tenfold. Or something. All I know it's it's full of monsters and it takes place on a deserted spaceship. Somebody sign me up.

For more on the (mostly likely Anchor Bay DVD) movie, check out the news at Variety. For more on the game, check out the official Dead Space website. For a peek at an early teaser trailer, just look below!

I have no idea why the word "documentary" has somehow been connected with the word "boring" over the past several decades, but I see lots of VERY entertaining docos as part of my festival exploits. Oh sure, the Oscar-givers like to focus on the "important" documentaries that deal with stuff like war, sex, religion, abortion and the Holocaust, but if you know where to look, you can find stacks of docos that are more than content to focus on issues that are A) light, B) amusing, or C) musical. (Here's a hint on where to look: Film festivals like SXSW.)

Paul Owens' Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet covers A, B and C, although it's focused mainly on the third option: Music. Specifically, music that is created by a small but passionate group of misfits who create some fantastic tunes using nothing but (ready for it?) old-school video game consoles! Yep, that goofy old Super Mario Bros. jingle can be turned into one kick-ass techno tune in the right hands, and these unapologetic gaming geeks seem to be having a great time turning great old games into funky new tunes.

Collider recently caught up with blockbuster producer Jerry Bruckheimer during a press junket for National Treasure 2, when the subject of the big screen version of Ubisoft's Prince of Persia came up. Bruckheimer tells Collider that Persia is set to begin shooting this June. Unfortunately it all hinges on whether the writer's strike has been resolved, since Bruckheimer admits that the script is far from complete, saying, "we have a screenplay, we're just starting to develop the look of it" -- which roughly translates to "my assistant has made some notes while playing the game," I'm guessing. The original plot of the game centered on Prince Shahraman, who is tricked into unleashing a plague on his land and gains the power to control time. Of course, there is also the usual video game goal of rescuing a princess.

Back in November, Chris had reported that Harry Potter director Mike Newell had been offered the job. Well, it seems that Newell is officially on board since Bruckheimer told the site, "We hired a very interesting director, Mike Newell, who did one of the Harry Potter's and also did Donnie Brasco and he's a very inventive, ingenious director and I think he's going to bring something really special to it." The film is expected to work in some of the plot elements of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

The third person action game released by Ubisoft back in 2003 was a huge fan favorite. Combined with the outright suckiness of most video game flicks, there is a lot for Newell to overcome if he wants to make sure that audiences are happy with the final product. Two more sequels to the game were released in '04 and '05, so there is plenty of opportunity for additional films. Considering Bruckheimer's fondness for franchises, there is a real possibility we will be seeing more of the Persian Prince in the years to come.

When I think back on my 'video game memories,' spending countless hours playing Namco's Tekken is at the top of the list. Well, that and Mario Brothers, but I might be dating myself a little there. So imagine my surprise that a live-action film based on the classic fighting game was not only in the works, but that a teaser poster for the flick was already here (courtesy of ComingSoon.net).

Here's a brief synopsis for Tekken, in case you don't remember its awesomeness: "A worldwide martial arts tournament is nearing its final, with a large purse of prize money to the fighter who can defeat Heihachi Mishima in the final round of competition. The contest is sponsored by the giant financial group, the Mishima Zaibatsu. There are eight fighters that remain after winning death matches all over the world. The winner of the tournament will receive The King of the Iron Fist title. Only one will have a chance at defeating Heihachi and taking home the prize money and fame". Dwight H. Little directed the Michael Colleary and Alan B. McElroy script that follows a similar storyline to the original game franchise.

It was five years ago that news of a film first surfaced, but in the barrage of game-based movies in production, I guess it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Back in 2002, Namco's chairman told IGN that, "Tekken was the perfect game to pursue our dreams together. The game has fun characters and is a wonderful story. Unlike some other games, this has a whole style of its own and is a really fun piece that is very commercial". Well forget 2002; I guess now the right time is 2009, since that is when Tekken is scheduled for release.

OK, I get it. Eventually every single video game will be turned into a film, and I mean every video game. Game Daily: BIZ reports that the classic 1982 platform game Joust has been selected for the big-screen treatment. The film is being produced by CP Productions, which is comprised of Area 51 producer Christine Peters and Michael Cerenzie (Blackout). CP is dedicated to producing films for the "under-25 filmgoer", and their slate is mainly horror and sci-fi, along with some other classic video game adaptations. Joust centered on an ostrich-riding knight who would do battle with waves of bad guys on a series of platforms suspended over a pit of lava. It might have been simplistic, but is still considered one of the best by fans of classic arcade games. Released in 1982 by Williams Electronics for Midway Games, Joust has made its way to most video game platforms even as recently as for the Xbox 360.

Since there isn't all that much to work with in terms of story and character, Peters told Daily, "We took one element of the game and the brand itself and built a whole new world around it for the film". Matt Gotleib has already finished a script for the film and it is being described as "Gladiator meets Mad Max". The film would be set in a futuristic Las Vegas, but there is no word on whether our hero will still be astride an ostrich (or emu) this time around. CP is also planning on releasing a graphic novel by Steven Elliot Altman of DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics fame, that will be based on Gotleib's script. There is also the possibility of a new series of games that would build off his story. Paramount Pictures has been reported to have a first look deal with CP Productions for the film, so stay tuned for any updates that come our way.

[ Thanks to RottenTomatoes.com for the tip. ]