I am currently sitting on a bench at ASU staring at two crowds of people, one right next to the other. At the head of the first crowd stands an elderly woman in a sun hat, holding an oversized piece of white posterboard reading "WARNING: Fornicators, sodomites, liars, and drunkards are going to HELL."
The other crowd, ostensibly formed to piss off the guys who instigated the first crowd, is standing in front of a guy with a sign reading "FREE GAY KISSES."
Guess which crowd is having more fun.
This week, Linde, Jim, Tiff and I will discuss videogame movies. If they suck, why they suck, and which sucked the hardest. I assume that, as always, I will have to act as the last line of defense for the Super Mario movie.
As always, we live for your questions. Whether related to this week's theme or not, the best question will earn 25 smackers, so hit the comments and ask away.
Contest:
3:58 PM on 03.05.2008
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or is it just shit
What do you think, is he really thinking of himself as the next Spielberg, or was his mother viciously killed by a gamer and he's trying to get his revenge on all of us by butchering one francise at a time?
Here's my question, as it is something I've often debated with other film critics:
Can a videogame be translated into a great movie or B Grade action all we're destined to see (not that there is anything wrong with B-Grade action)?
I've always been on the side of yes, it just hasn't been done but others have had pretty convincing arguments that the pacing and "game" style of videogames don't lend themselves to film.
the creator was a huge fan of the actual game and wanted to do a good spin off of the series and took it seriously. is this possibly why video game movies suck? that possibly the movie isn't even being taken seriously by the people creating it? they just want the pay off and couldn't honestly give a shit about the actual franchise as a whole, or do film makers just suck now. or both.
Are there any personal favorites of animated adaptations of video games?
Please could you have a chat about Gravitation? And maybe peoples "mixed" reactions?
I was a bit disapointed though, because the combination "mad max - zombies - las vegas - dual wielding mila jojovich in a hot dust coat" could have made for a far better movie.
But still, it had me entertained. There also was something very video-gamey about the whole pacing of the movie. The combat scenes could have been taken straight from a 3rd person action game..
10-12 year olds, maybe?
Also, I think Cowzilla3 is right, games are their own medium, they simply do not lend themselves to film.
Motherfucker.
Could the Silent Hill movie have been good if only someone with half a goddamn brain wrote it instead? Will Silent Hill 2 be a homicide-inducing travesty? Seriously, what the fucking fuck is wrong with Roger Avery?
So, my question, can you foresee any of the current major genres going the way of the Adventure game?
Also, any genres you'd like to see silently disappear?
There's obviously a lot of exceptions to this where games would have enough story to make a great film on their own, but obviously these aren't the games that studios are targeting to make films about.
There's obviously a lot of exceptions to this where games would have enough story to make a great film on their own, but obviously these aren't the games that studios are targeting to make films about.
I wanted to hurt those motherfuckers so bad for that.
Oh, add Joystiq the movie to your list of cheesy ones.
High-five!
Also: Moar indie recommendations! I like what ye've offered so far :P
Resident Evil was coherent enough to pass as a good zombie flick but bore little resemblance to the game, does this make it a bad video game movie?
At what point during your childhood did you stop badgering your parents to take you to see Video Game movies?
Given the tie in release of games and films why do film buffs not have the same negative reaction towards video games based on movies? Movies based on books and video games both get almost universally panned by their respective fans, why no film-to-game critics from the cinema set?
Do you think more games should attempt the CGI method when going to movie form, or are we losing enough as it is trying to bring the interactive media into a non interactive setting.
I fear the only game that could ever really be translated into a decent movie would be PHOENIX WRIGHT. That movie would be hilarious.
Does Uwe Boll's headphones bother anyone else? I always see him with those stupid headphones around his neck. It bothers me.
Other than Resident Evil, I don't think I've seen many other video game movies.
I'm assuming that Jim is going to talk about how "when you make a movie out of a video game, you take something away: the interactivity. Oh ho ho tea and crumpets, you fucking cunts." Please don't talk about that too much because I think you all have discussed that already.
Wait, I've seen the Pokemon movies, which is kind of a video game movie, kind of. I guess it's more based off of the anime based on the game. I totally dug those movies when I was younger. I remember seeing the first one and bouncing up and down in my seat because I had to go to the bathroom but I didn't want to miss part of the movie. It was that kind of cheesy action that any 2nd grader would love. Two paper towels are more effective than one. Your mom is so fat that she jumped in the sky and got stuck.
I was thinking about that, but i don't think it can be made into a good movie at all unless they totally change the story and the mood of the film.
There are games like Shadow of the Colossus and HalfLife that have amazing storys, but there'd be to many changes made in its transition from game to movie. The silent protagonist is another issue for these games being made into films, as can you image gordon freeman or wander saying anything, let alone support a whole movies worth of dialogue??.
While gaming is a recognized creative medium do you think movies get taken more seriously by the general public, and do video game based films suffer because of it?
Do you have to be familiar with the game in order to enjoy the movie? Do you get more out of it than say the average person who does not play video games?
Silent protagonists can work well in shows.
Watch Afro Samurai.
I'd love to see a Half Life 2 movie with a silent Gordon.
I wanted to go see Doom just to yell out IDDQD and IDKFA...
I have no real questions for the podtoid today. Maybe you guys could help me decide what takeout to get this Friday; Chinese food or pizza?
I don't own it, but I feel like I should.
Yeah true they work in shows, but name any film that uses a silent protagonist successfully? There's no way that a HL film would work with a silent Gordon because firstly, Gordon Freeman isn't a mute, you just don;'t hear him speak, and secondly, the reason games use a silent protagonist is so the player is immersed into 'being' the character as much as possible.
Now that I think about it, maybe a HL movie would work, considering that Gordan actually spoke, and the writers of the film remained as faithfull to the game as possible without cheesing it up at all, but hey, what are the odds of that?
And if the game were one of a series, which characters or storylines would you like to see on the big screen?
Also, why doesn't Michael Bay quit jerking it to robot porn and give us a N.A.R.C. film? Oh wait, Bad Boys...
We’re all familiar with Jim’s argument that videogame-to-movie adaptations can’t work because the interactivity is lost in translation — and I agree with him. So do you guys ever see a great movie coming out of a video game — as in, is it even possible? Put another way, if Peter Jackson directs the Halo movie, could it be successful?