CRITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAIA!
(details)
Dead Space and Uncle Warren.
Unbeknownst to me, Warren Ellis worked as a writer on Dead Space, which is pretty darn cool, IMHO. Ellis has written some of my favorite comics of the past 10-15 years (Transmetropolitan, Planetary, The Authority, Nextwave – the list goes on and on), so I’m now even MORE stupidly excited about playing Dead Space (more than I have at shows, that is).
I actually think comics and video games would be well-served by developing a more harmonious relationship – somewhat similar to what Hollywood has come to enjoy over the past decade or so. Comics are a great place to work out new, interesting ideas in a format that doesn’t take multiple years, millions of dollars and a cast of hundreds to produce. They make a wonderful proving-ground for narrative concepts, off-the-wall visual innovation and general wackiness. Added bonus – our markets enjoy a nearly 100% overlap, helping to bootstrap new games based on comics with a pre-installed body of fans and supporters.
WAR on The Tonight Show
ALL HAIL THE LENOGOBLIN!!!
Watch it now, as I’m sure it’ll get yanked from youtube shortly.
Killer Apps.
In Evil Marketing-speak, a “Killer App” is something that convinces the Average Consumer to commit and buy a new piece of hardware. While it’s initial intended definition referred to software, as technology has become more and more pervasive, it’s been expanded over the years to include ANYTHING that shakes us out of our current disinterest and compels us to buy into something new. For example:
Aubrey got me a PS3 for my birthday earlier this year. I wanted one, primarily, because of this.
A Blu-ray director’s cut of one of the most under-rated films of all time.
Dark City isn’t just good, it’s ridiculously, mind-bogglingly good. If you liked The Matrix, this is the movie the Wachowski’s stole all of the good bits from. And part of the set, for that matter.
The theatrical release of Dark City was a flawed work, largely due to the meddling of The Studio. They forced director Alex Proyas to include a voice-over introduction to the film that – I kid you not – ruins nearly every surprise in the movie. For years now, fans have been loaning their DVDs to friends with strange instructions demanding that they mute their TVs for the first minute or so of the film. But no more – the hateful voice-over has been removed in this release (which is, in my view, worth the entire price of a PS3 and the Blu-ray disc).
I will now rally giants to my cause. Roger Ebert LOOOOOVES this movie – giving it not only a four star review upon release, but also adding a subsequent “Great Movies” review in 2005.
Roger has done commentary tracks for the DVD releases of two movies. One of them is Citizen Kane. The other is Dark City.
Some words from R-Dawg:
[From 1998]
“Dark City” by Alex Proyas is a great visionary achievement, a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like “Metropolis” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” If it is true, as the German director Werner Herzog believes, that we live in an age starved of new images, then “Dark City” is a film to nourish us. Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects–and imagination.
…
Is the film for teenage boys and comic book fans? Not at all, although that’s the marketing pitch. It’s for anyone who still has a sense of wonder and a feeling for great visual style. This film contains ideas and true poignance, a story that has been thought out and has surprises right to the end. It’s romantic and exhilarating. Watching it, I realized the last dozen films I’d seen were about people standing around, talking to one another. “Dark City” has been created and imagined as a new visual place for us to inhabit. It adds treasure to our notions of what can be imagined.
[From 2005]
In October, I went through “Dark City” a shot at a time for four days at the Hawaii Film festival, with moviegoers who were as curious as I was. We froze frames, we dissected special effects, we debated the meaning of the film, and our numbers even included a psychiatrist who told us of the original Daniel Schreber, a schizophrenic whose book on his condition influenced Freud and Jung.
Sometimes during the shot-by-shot analysis, we simply froze a frame and regarded it. Some of the street scenes echo paintings by Edward Hopper or Jack Vettriano. This is not only a beautiful film but a generous one, which supplies rich depth and imagination and many more details than are really necessary to tell the story. Small wonder that the name Bumstead appears, perhaps in honor of Henry Bumstead, one of the greatest Hollywood art directors. The world created by the Strangers seems borrowed from 1940s film noir; we see fedoras, cigarettes, neon signs, automats, older cars (and some newer ones — the world is not consistent). Proyas wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer and Lem Dobbs; the screenplays Dobbs wrote for “Kafka” and Goyer wrote for “Batman Begins” contain some of the same notes sounded here.
…
I believe more than ever that “Dark City” is one of the great modern films. It preceded “The Matrix” by a year (both films used a few of the same sets in Australia), and on a smaller budget, with special effects that owe as much to imagination as to technology, did what “The Matrix” wanted to do, earlier and with more feeling.
It’s true that this Director’s Cut is also available on Plain, Old DVD as well, but it never would have seen the light of day if not for Blu-Ray. Ebert recorded his SECOND commentary for the film three years ago, indicating that the new cut was ready then, but ignored by Evil Bastards for reasons known only to the dark and horrible demons that rule their hearts and minds. Thus, I loves me some Blu-Ray and – by extension – the PS3. I enjoyed MGS4, to be sure, but it was Dark City that compelled me to own the console.
So, seriously, go watch this movie.
And speaking of things that make you support things you never thought possible, I am now, apparently, a Jets fan:
August is busy.
Before I get started:
Our launch date has been announced!!!
SEPTEMBER 18th, 2008
Mark you calendars, cats and kittens.
Moving on…
As we run up to launch, well be traveling all over the world shaking hands and kissing babies and generally whipping you all into a WAR-crazed frenzy.
Jeff and Paul will be at Gen Con next week (not sure which days, specifically).
Jeff, Paul and I – along with Justin, Kate and a cast of other superstars – will be at the Games Convention in Leipzig the week after next. If you want to see the new, unbearably awesome cinematic, get on a plane and come see us there!
Jeff, Paul and I will be home for TWO WHOLE DAYS after Games Convention before heading to PAX. Im really excited about this show because its THE big-deal fan event for our industry at this point and its basically the last major US event before we launch the game. I expect nothing short of total insanity from everyone who comes to see us.
So yeah. Busy, busy, busy. Then launch. Then VERY BUSY.
Movies I’ve seen recently.
The Dark Knight – Awesome beyond words. Nolan and crew should walk away from the franchise and let it stand as a shining, perfect work so delicate and precise that it cannot be properly built upon. Either that, or wait 25 years and make The Dark Knight Returns with the same cast.
Pineapple Express – I saw an advanced screening of this last week. It’s pretty funny. If you liked Hot Fuzz, you’ll like it, since it’s basically the same core gag (’80s/’90s “Point Break”-style action placed in a hipster/ironic modern comedy) with extra pot jokes. Seth Rogen plays… well… the same character he plays in every movie, which isn’t necessarily bad. James Franco, on the other hand, totally steals the show. He’s so funny at times that I ALMOST felt like forgiving him for his involvement in Spider-man 3. Almost.
Hancock – Credit where credit is due, the trailer spoils very little for this one. I expected it to be godawful and, instead, it was only somewhat cheesy. It had some great bits, including one that any fans of comic book/action films will probably appreciate – namely, a super-hero being held accountable for the untold millions of dollars of damage done to a city during the course of your run of the mill act of super-heroism. Related note: Nancy Grace is usually one of the worst people on the planet, but her cameo in the film is priceless and refreshingly self-aware.
Wanted – What a terrible, terrible movie. And I should have known better than to watch it. I hated the comics it’s based on. I hate nearly everything Angelina Jolie has ever done (her one pass: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow). I hate bullet-cam. As near as I can tell, the dude who made Night Watch (which is good) and Day Watch (which is not so good, but features an evil yo-yo) watched Fight Club and decided to make an absolutely horrible version of it for himself. Based on a terrible comic book. Starring horrible people. And Morgan Freeman who, I have to assume, lost a series of bets resulting in his appearing in movies like this one and The Bucket List. Did I mention the Magical Loom of Fate? It has one of those too. There is no reason to see this movie.
Conclusion:
See The Dark Knight, no matter what. See Pineapple Express or Hancock if you’re in the mood for something light and relatively fun. Stab anyone who tries to take you to Wanted in the face with a pencil and run away – that person is trying to hurt you.
Arming the Crown.
A bunch of us are going shooting tonight after work. We’re bringing a load of Brits with us (sadly, Barnett’s across the pond, so he’ll miss out). I predict hilarity from the lot of them.
Currently, the stated goals from a few of us are:
Kate Flack – Not to squeal when firing.
Justin Webb – To hit a target.
Me – To not make a fool of myself in front of the Yurpians.
I’ll… um… let you know how that all works out.
Also, if you don’t hear from me in the next few days, this was an ambush where the Brits were just quietly waiting to get their hands on some guns and then re-establish the Colonies.
Curse you, “Shark Week”!
Why… WHY must you taunt me so, Discovery Channel’s annual “Shark Week” programming?
It’s 2:00 AM.
You have to let me go to bed.
You were right last night – the two hour all-shark Mythbusters special WAS, in fact, quite awesome – and well worth staying up ungodly late to watch. But I cannot, in good conscience, stay up until 4:00 AM AGAIN tonight. No matter how many hours of terrifying footage of Great White sharks breaching out of the water whilst devouring innocent (but probably delicious) seals you put in front of me, I must sleep!
I think Aubrey needs to hide the remotes until next week or else I may be in serious trouble. I’m worried I’ll hit some sort of crazy”Shark Week” rock-bottom soon, where I’m just laying on the floor in my living room, drooling and awkwardly trying to throw myself out of “tonic immobility”.
Bad juju, indeed.
I’m just messin’ with ya “Shark Week”. You’re super-cool. I’ll see you again tomorrow night (bring seals).