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thatheathen · 3 years

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Mamoru Oshii, Hideo Kojima Comment On The Matrix Resurrections Film (tumblr won’t let me link the site)

This shit is so embarrassing. I don’t understand how talented artists can’t see, or choose not to see, when bad movies are bad. I know that we’re all heavily inspired by the first Matrix film, but this new iteration was abysmal and by far this years worst films. Matrix Resurrections was so terrible it felt like a low budget indie parody and not the good kind of parody. The fight scenes had zero choreography to them. It all just felt like a silly hollow retread with gallons of fan service. I’m deeply disappointed and kinda offended honestly. The positive reviews are blowing my mind more than this amateur take on a Matrix sequel.

But I suppose Kojima felt very familiar with Resurrections’ silliness since MGS4 had tons of fan service and meta jokes, but at least Guns of the Patriots still managed to be something new to bookend the series with some memorable moments. Raiden and Vamp had one of best choreographed fight scenes in a video game that put most big budget films to shame. All it’s meta and forth wall breaking worked well within the game even if it felt too much at times. But compared to Resurrections, Kojima’s campiness isn’t so unbearable or seemingly forced into existence making his games more parody of itself than some serious work of art.

MGSV was probably Kojima’s weakest Metal Gear Solid game. It had terrible cinematography (all handheld & shaky cam), a very awkward plot and characters with the worst ending to a beloved series Kojima was tired of making. When Kojima took the helm it didn’t work out well especially with the Konami greed and drama resulting in abusive labor practices to where The Phantom Pain felt rushed and extremely unfinished. This all left a bitter taste in my mouth, but thankfully Kojima redeemed himself with Death Stranding, despite its awkwardness and strange plot direction, DS was a very unique and well crafted game with a real finished ending.

Lana Wachowski making Resurrections on her own was a mistake and should have either been left alone or be a completely different movie and it be less filled with meta jokes and take a more cyberpunk tone like the first two films (Revolutions to me was just a part 2 of Reloaded not so much a third entry). Resurrections could have been so much more than a boring save the girl movie with no real stakes and bland action sequences. I bet most people can now appreciate the other Matrix films. My favorite Matrix sequel isn’t the films per say; it’s The Animatrix and that was to me was a work of art.

So when Kojima and Oshii both state Wachowski “returned the Matrix back to its roots” baffles me. What do they mean? The constant flashbacks to the previous films? The rebuilding of the scenes from the first? And when Oshii states that the filming style hasn’t changed starts to really piss me off. Are they this stupid or are they lying? Did we watch the same movie? Resurrections had no cinematography to make it on par with any movie let alone be similar to the original Matrix. I just don’t understand this line of thinking and honestly just depresses me that the art of filmmaking isn’t what drives Kojima or Oshii creatively, they’re just EASILY entertained by anything Hollywood, constantly gushing at every blockbuster no matter how well crafted it is. As long as it has big famous expensive actors and explosions then it’s just as good as a Martin Scorsese film. Korean cinema be dammed.

You don’t need to be a smug cinephile to admit when a badly made movie is bad. It just means you’re not gonna start handing out Golden Globes to Marvel movies and straight to blu-ray dust collectors, or call a crappy rightwing political cartoon the next Mona Lisa. Then shit, why aren’t TikTok videos awarded anything? It’s art too no? Where’s the praise of random YouTube essays on mainstream media? Let’s start calling reality TV masterful art. Fuck Pyramids of Giza, give me Trump Tower. Anything that’s forged from our minds is art. My nightly dreams should start to be noticed as art. You can’t see them, but I can tell you it was a good dream experience greater than anything you dreamed.

Am I just too cynical?

#hideo kojima #the matrix resurrections #art

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smokeybrandreviews · 4 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Blyat

ne of the films i was looking forward to, like, years ago was The New Mutants. If you follow this blog, then you know I'm a massive fan of Magik, the teleporting mutant sister of Colossus and Hell-Lord of Limbo. In come canon, including the main 616 Marvel universe, Illyana Rasputin is even in line to be Sorcerer Supreme. The second Fox announced there would be a New Mutants flick, i knew my darling Darkchylde had to make an appearance and, much to my joy, she would, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy. Perfect f*cking casting, man. And then the film was relegated to oblivion for years. Whispers of a movie that should never be screened abounded and i was loosing hope it would ever be released. I lost interest after a while but, after he Disney merger, it got a release date! And then the Wuha happened. Eventually it was dumped into theater with absolutely no fanfare. Recently, there have been digital releases and the hard copy blu rays are coming out in a few days so i bit the bullet and decided to finally check it out.

The Great

Look, i told you before, the only reason i wanted to see this movie was because of Illyana and the fact they cast Anya Taylor-Joy was straight up perfect. This sh*t is tantamount to RDJ as Iron Man or Jackman as Logan. It was just that perfect. And, like those other actors i just mentioned, she embodies Magik as a character, even if her accent is a little iffy. Magik is easily the best thing about this film and, overall quality be damned, Anya’s portrayal is worth the price of admission.

The Good

The concept of a capeflick meets horror film was a stroke of genius to me. I thought, similarly to a Doctor Strange flick, that melding of genre could be incredibly interesting. There’s a lot of potential that can be tapped there. The fact that they opted to adapt the Demon Bear arc of the New Mutants story line lent itself to a horror narrative perfectly. I was glad this was the narrative they chose to bring to the big screen first.

The visual prowess of this film is unassailable. This thing looks much more expensive than the budget they were given. Magik’s soul armor, the ethereal visage of the Demon Bear, that hellish flair of Limbo, and even the Smiley Men are all rendered with aplomb. I really enjoyed the look of this film.

The escalation of Dani’s powers was portrayed pretty earnestly. The fact that Dani Moonstar can manifest the nightmares of those around her so, having that as an anchor to this films conflict was a stroke of genius. You can get some pretty incredible visuals when the narrative revolves around the nightmares of traumatized teenagers.

There is some solid direction in this thing. You can tell that there was a story to be told and

The representation in this cast, and the cast as a whole, is amazing. I absolutely adore it. Dani is native American and they cast Blu Hunt in the role, an actual Lakota. That was dope. Dani is also, canonically, lesbian. They didn’t even shy away from this, writing a relationship with the Scottish mutant, Wolfsbane, portrayed by Maisie Williams. I was actually really surprised they would even present that aspect of the character, which frustrates me even more that this thing didn’t get the necessary attention it should have. That level of representation continues with Henry Zaga as Sunspot, both of whom are Brazilian. Even Dr. Reyes is represented by a woman of color in Alice Braga. That sh*t is dope as f*ck. I also need to mention Charlie Heaton’s Cannonball. That southern accent was hilarious. Plus, as kind of a bonus, f*cking Marilyn Manson voices the Smiley Men. What??

I just really want to emphasize how much i adored the relationship between Dani and Rahne. That sh*t was f*cking beautiful!

That f*cking Demon Bear, tho!!

LOCKHEED!!!

The Bad

The pacing in this flick is borderline schizophrenic. You never feel like you have enough time with these characters or their development but, simultaneously, we spend way too long getting to the next scene. It’s weird to see in a proper, big budget, flick tied to a blockbuster franchise like the X-Men.

This film was edited by someone with tourettes. It feels like there is a whole ass second movie that can be constructed by what’s missing from this one. It’s coherent enough but there is definitely a cut of this film that has more exposition and far more fleshed out characters

The climax, while riveting and everything i wanted to see in a New Mutants film, seems rushed. This thing should have been a whole ass spectacle but they didn’t have the budget for it, which sucks, because this thing could have been one of the best X-Films if the studio actually believed in the damn thing.

The writing in this thing is pedestrian at best. People don’t talk like this, let alone teenagers. It’s weird hearing certain things come out of these character’s mouths, like it’s forced or rushed. I think the script could have used at least one ore rewrite to really focus these characters and make them feel like proper people and not just tropes in a movie.

The Verdict

This movie feels small, almost Shyamalan-esque, but with none of the genius and all of the limitations. Watching this makes me fell all of the disappointment i felt at the end of Glass. Just like the bookend to the Unbreakable trilogy, The New Mutants has lofty ideal and well of potential but it never reaches any of that. I mean, the premise is genius, the framing mechanism is brilliant and the cast is perfect. None of it comes together in a coherent package, though. It feels all over the place, like there is no direction or focus. I can see the forest through the trees but i don’t think anyone in charge of this production could see anything other than dollar signs and it really shows. New Mutants isn’t as bad as Dark Phoenix but i can tell that this version is a completely different movie than what was originally presented and i think that film might have be absolutely terrible. New Mutants feels like a first attempt, like a Phase One MCU film. It’s not Thor, for sure, but it ain’t Iron Man ether. It;s literally about as good as Incredible Hulk. Yeah, that’s a good comparison. They’re both entertaining movies with great ideas, solid cast, and decent performances but it’s nowhere near as good as the rest of the better films in their retrospective franchises. The New Mutants is worth a watch if you’re a fan of the X-Frachise but, if you wanted to pass on it, you wouldn’t be missing much.

#Smokey brand Movie Reviews #The New Mutants

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smokeybrand · 4 years

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Blyat

One of the films i was looking forward to, like, years ago was The New Mutants. If you follow this blog, then you know I'm a massive fan of Magik, the teleporting mutant sister of Colossus and Hell-Lord of Limbo. In come canon, including the main 616 Marvel universe, Illyana Rasputin is even in line to be Sorcerer Supreme. The second Fox announced there would be a New Mutants flick, i knew my darling Darkchylde had to make an appearance and, much to my joy, she would, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy. Perfect f*cking casting, man. And then the film was relegated to oblivion for years. Whispers of a movie that should never be screened abounded and i was loosing hope it would ever be released. I lost interest after a while but, after he Disney merger, it got a release date! And then the Wuha happened. Eventually it was dumped into theater with absolutely no fanfare. Recently, there have been digital releases and the hard copy blu rays are coming out in a few days so i bit the bullet and decided to finally check it out.

The Great

The Good

There is some solid direction in this thing. You can tell that there was a story to be told and

I just really want to emphasize how much i adored the relationship between Dani and Rahne. That sh*t was f*cking beautiful!

That f*cking Demon Bear, tho!!

LOCKHEED!!!

The Bad

The Verdict

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dccomicsnews · 4 years

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Directed by: Cathy Yan

Written by: Christina Hodson

Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor

Review by: Eric Joseph

Summary

Somewhat capitalizing on the success of 2016’s Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in an ensemble tale that kind of functions as a solo adventure all at the same time. The Clown Princess of Crime may share the screen with several other DC favorites, sure, but it still feels like it’s her movie in the end. Think of how Steve Rogers remained the central character in Captain America: Civil War amid guest stars galore, and you have somewhat of a decent parallel here – albeit with a much smaller cast, of course.

Unfortunately, Birds of Prey didn’t rake in the box office dough it should have, but we can only hope that more people discover it once the home video release hits shelves. In my view, this film turned out much better than I’d anticipated, so I’m going to tell you why it’s worth your time and money. Questionable marketing, costume choices, and an unnecessarily long title that should have been simplified to “Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey” in the first place were likely the biggest factors contributing to financial shortcomings, although there’s nothing we can do about any of those at this point.

Basically, the story follows Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya as they call come together while the villainous Black Mask and Victor Zsasz hunt the human MacGuffin that is Cassandra Cain. I won’t spoil why they’re pursuing said child in case you haven’t seen the picture for yourself, but that’s the gist of it.

Positives

The greatest positive to mention is that of the gal whose name is included in the title itself: Harley Quinn. Like I said, this is damn near a Harley solo film, although I can’t complain too much because Margot Robbie simply knocks it out of the park. It’s as if Suicide Squad were the appetizer and Birds of Prey is the main course. Her performance is spot-on, and I can tell she put a lot of effort and research into every onscreen decision she made while inhabiting the character’s skin. My guess is that she’d just begun reading the comics while filming Suicide Squad, and then read a lot more in the time since. I know for a fact that she’s become a fan of the source material, and it really shows.

In fact, I must say that the rest of the main cast did commendable jobs with the roles they landed – even if some of those portrayals were questionable. Well, any missteps when it came to characterization weren’t their fault, as actors just play with the scripts they’re given. We’ll pick up on that point when we get to the “negatives” part of this review, alright?

Actually, it could be argued that some gripes can be tolerated when the end product turns out so well. The narrative itself unfolds in nonlinear fashion, yet it comes across as quite smooth. It’s a far cry from the editing nightmare that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s theatrical cut, that’s for sure.

If anyone deserves a round of high fives, it’s 87eleven, the stunt team who choreographed the stellar action sequences. There’s a very good reason why the fight scenes are on par with John Wick films – and that’s because the same talented folks just mentioned worked on those. Here’s hoping they’re brought aboard for more DC projects in the future, particularly anything having to do with Batman.

K.K. Barrett and his production design crew also warrant a tip of the hat. I’m aware that they wanted their Gotham City to look different and more realistic, but it’s my belief they achieved something closer to the comics than anything lensed by Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder. Not meaning to knock what those guys did, but their Gothams simply looked like everyday major cities. Gotham City is a character unto itself, and that’s something I haven’t seen portrayed to the fullest extent outside of the Tim Burton-Joel Schumacher era and the Gotham TV series. But here, we’re transported to Black Mask’s nightclub, an eerie amusement park and otherworldly pier that look like they were plucked from Batman: The Animated Series, with daytime romps through the city forcing me to recall something like the Burnside borough from the comics.

And when it comes to supplemental content, WB sure didn’t skimp on that for the Blu-ray release. I recommend checking out “Birds Eye View Mode” for your second viewing of the feature presentation, as it is essentially a video commentary, behind-the-scenes tour, and pop-up video-style factoid dropper all rolled into one. Beyond that, there are featurettes that delve into production design, stunts, costuming and much more.

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Negatives

Okay, here’s where I have to get dead serious.

My first airing of grievances has to be directed at costuming. That particular department may have wanted to avoid skimpy spandex outfits and “onesies” as they put it, but not many characters in this movie are recognizable to readers of comics. Although most people flocking to theaters don’t actually read the books, the core audience will kickoff the snowball effect of advance poor word of mouth without fail, and that definitely happened well before opening weekend this past February.

Now, I’m not saying Mary Elizabeth Winstead had to run around in a singlet as if she were going for a swim, but they could’ve figured out some sort of tactical gear akin to the blueprint laid by comic book artists. If other movies in the genre can do it, why couldn’t this one? And when she finally does don the black and purple complemented by a white cross, it’s in a tracksuit-type whatever-it-is that looks like it was ordered online and arrived several sizes too big. You see, this is what grinds the gears of diehard fans. If their familiar getup is supposedly so impractical and unfavorable to women, then Harley Quinn and Black Canary wouldn’t be cosplayed ad infinitum worldwide, would they?

Now, I’m not going to do likewise for every other character – save for Harley, who couldn’t even wear her familiar red and black color scheme – but there’s a reason why I singled out Huntress: I’d been waiting years for her to come to the silver screen. Not only that, but both the Birds of Prey and Arrow TV series had already struck out when it came to her costume, so that’s why I had high hopes for this. And to be clear, I have no criticisms of Ms. Winstead herself; the casting department found the right actress. It’s just that they missed the mark with her gear.

As for poor characterization mentioned earlier, I can’t fathom how Black Mask and Cassandra Cain got so f—ed up. The former would be more aptly described as “Black Mascara” and the latter is not the disabled hero who once took up cape and cowl as Batgirl in the comics. I’d go as far to say they could’ve called her “Jimmy Olsen” and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Really, why mess up them both when every other major character in this production was pretty much nailed from a writing standpoint? But that’s Hollywood, baby, and they know better than you or I.

Verdict

In the case of Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the pros far outweigh the cons. Trust me when I say this film is a must-see for fans of Harley Quinn and DC Comics in general, so do yourself a favor and pick it up on whatever home video format you prefer. It’s insane, R-rated fun on the same level as Deadpool, so fingers remain crossed that this finds the larger audience it deserves.

Blu-ray Review: Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) Directed by: Cathy Yan Written by: Christina Hodson Starring: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor…

#Birds of Prey #Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

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brokehorrorfan · 5 years

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Blu-ray Review: Slaughter of the Innocents

Slaughter of the Innocents was released in 1993; one of several horror-tinged serial killer thrillers that arrived in the wake of The Silence of the Lambs. Writer-director James Glickenhaus (The Exterminator) went so far as to cast one of Lambs' supporting cast members in the lead role; Scott Glenn stars as FBI Special Agent Stephen Broderick. When his 12-year-old son, Jesse (Jesse Cameron-Glickenhaus), discovers new evidence in a serial killer's case file - on the eve of the convicted killer's execution, no less - Broderick leads the reopened investigation to capture the real perpetrator before he strikes again.

While half of the film is a standard police procedural, the other half is dedicated to Jesse, who helps solve the case. Able to outsmart the FBI and the killer alike, Jesse is a cyber genius. Broderick consults with his whiz-kid not only about technology but case details as well. Although unlikely Glickenhaus' intention, one might assume the character is on the autism spectrum today. While that is no laughing matter, the child’s excessive intelligence leads to some unintentionally humorous moments, exacerbated by the plot's reliance on futuristic yet dated technology.

The mystery angle played up in the first act - which includes a neo-Nazi red herring - is deflated as the killer is revealed to the viewer relatively early on. Zitto Kazann (Waterworld) is suitably creepy in his limited screen time as Mordecai Booth, whose killing and abduction of children and animals is motivated by the Bible. The plot culminates with a memorable climax, although it's undermined by a schmaltzy epilogue. Crisp cinematography by Mark Irwin's (Scream, The Fly), an effective score by Joe Renzetti (Child's Play, Poltergeist III), and realistic makeup effects by Gabriel Bartalos (Leprechaun, Frankenhooker) elevate the project.

This is a rare starring role for Glenn, who seems better suited as a character actor. Although decent enough, he overplays his hand at times. Cameron-Glickenhaus is the son of the director but reportedly had to audition like any other actor. His delivery isn't always natural, yet he's able to handle mouthfuls of deductive jargon. The cast also includes Darlanne Fluegel (Lock Up), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), Armin Shimerma (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Tim Colceri (Full Metal Jacket) in supporting roles, as well as a young Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) in a bit part.

Long out-of-print on DVD, Slaughter of the Innocents has been restored in high-definition for Synapse Films' new Blu-ray. Along with a crisp presentation of the film, it includes special features new and old. An audio commentary by Glickenhaus - originally recorded for the LaserDisc release but absent from the DVD - is included; the even-keeled filmmaker explains what's accurate when it comes to FBI procedures and executions versus where he took artistic liberties, and he provides insight into choices regarding camera positioning and movement.

The disc features new interviews with Bartalos, who tells how he drew inspiration from butcher shops to achieve the film's realistic gore, and Irwin, who discusses shooting on location in Ohio and Utah, including the big finale. Other extras include deleted and alternate scenes; a vintage electronic press kit with cast and crew input; archival interviews with Glickenhaus, Cameron-Glickenhaus, and Glenn (portions of which appear in the EPK); a brief interview with Glickenhaus and his son at the 1993 Dylan Dog Horror Fest in Italy; Cameron-Glickenhaus' screen test footage; and trailers and TV spots.

Like the majority of imitators hoping the capitalize on the success of The Silence of the Lambs, Slaughter of the Innocents lacks the rich source material, the A-list cast, and the high-concept script paired with smart direction to take a psychological hold over the viewer. Instead, Glickenhaus delivers a B-movie take on the serial killer craze with just enough pulpy absurdism to make it worthwhile.

Slaughter of the Innocents is available now on Blu-ray via Synapse Films.

#slaughter of the innocents #scott glenn #kevin sorbo #armin shimerman #synapse films #aaron eckhart #james glickenhaus #review #dvd #article #gift #darlanne fluegel #tim colceri #the silence of the lambs #silence of the lambs

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vanilla-blessing · 6 years

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The Thousand Noble Musketeers Has The Worst Anime OP

So I was forced to watch Senjuushi (The Thousand Noble Musketeers) recently, a Japanese anime that has only been newsworthy for how terrible the animation is (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-08-29/fans-lament-the-thousand-noble-musketeers-anime-production-issues/.136070), which was picked up by Sentai’s vulture-like anime streaming service after the big boys took nearly everything else. The Thousand Noble Musketeers has garnered abysmal scores and reviews on every venue that has covered it, and has drawn memetic comparisons to the legendary DYNAMIC CHORD. I would bet money that barely anyone in the West was ever within the strike zone of this HIDIVE exclusive untranslated mobile game tie-in anime adaptation of an antique gun-themed male harem, but one thing stuck out to me about this season’s beautiful disaster. As a result of the most questionable production of the season, having outsourced its very first episode, TMS has developed what may be scientifically the least good “OP” (OPening theme song animation) ever made. Let’s break down everything I could identify that was awful in this OP because that sounds like fun. - qb

https://animethemes.moe/video/Senjuushi-OP1.webm

The OP antique memories begins with a sick guitar riff and literal slideshow of several named characters that you can buy in the mobile game probably. The faces are all awkward, in ¾ profile, and it looks kinda like the intro to a 80’s speed dating VHS. This gif ironically has the most frames in the entire OP. Chorpsaway immediately called it fake news.

Next, there’s another slideshow, this time of the presumably main Gun Boys, staring into the camera, then turning at right angles away from the camera, while holding the antique guns that they are anthropomorphic representations of. Their costumes are incredibly garish and at worst and dull at best. More shots introduce further characters, this time in groups, who also stare at the viewer impassively. This all looks like total dump because their faces are universally identical and nearly emotionless. Nothing meaningful is conveyed, except that some boys exist, somewhere.

At this point the faces can’t even stay on model and begin to drift. If you didn’t already feel uncanny from the mechanically limited, rigid movements and soul-crushing assembly line feeling you get from the overall aesthetic, this will probably do it. Wonky faces are apparently a recurring issue further down the line in The Thousand Noble Musketeers, with mouths reportedly flying off of heads seemingly of their own will. According to fans of the series, they’re hopeful that the eventual DVD and Blu Ray will be corrected to fix all of these fundamental production issues, citing 2014 anime about twin tail fetishists from a completely different studio, and assuming anyone will eventually buy this on home video.

A dizzying spiral of Gun Boys greets the viewer before a dazzling shot of the morning sun, leading into an equally dizzying inverse spiral of even more Gun Boys, before finally stopping at an enigmatic shot of some Gun Boys in gas masks. This is the only shot in the entire OP with a hint of intentional meaning, as they are lit with a foreboding, purple light, and stand on a bed of purple, dark rose thorns. I assume the gas masks are a sort of ambiguous commentary on war? From what I’ve seen of the show the collective multinational Gun Boys are fighting a vague oppressor that does not match any real country or axis, so this vaguely threatening aesthetic choice fits right in. Every other shot in the OP is of the sky or a color gradient, so these 5 seconds are the only part that even be generously stretched to mean something. At this point they ran out of their people budget, so some Bob Ross paintings of trees are all we have before the inevitable pan to the clear blue sky because every anime OP has to end with a pan to the blue sky.

Personally, my experience with The Thousand Noble Musketeers was constant drunken disbelief at what I was seeing and I would probably recommend it over anything else this season for a cheap laugh. The constantly awkward faces and nonsensical mobile game-derived story will at least hold your attention for 22 minutes. A few people had high expectations of the staff involved before the outsourced premiere aired, but for the most part, the devoted audience of this anime seem to be far more interested in the attractive voice actors than anything else. The core audience doesn’t seem to mind so the wonk animation probably isn’t hurting anyone. A BluRay release could improve The Thousand Noble Musketeers’ animation by a lot, but using the OP as a metric for the best they can do, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

- qb friend of a show (queuebae on twitter)

#senjuushi

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almasexya · 2 years

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So Nice They Made it Twice (Gappa, the Triphibian Monster, 1967)

Well, it’s certainly been awhile. To be honest, I bit off more than I could chew trying to make weekly monster movie posts, so now my upload schedule is going to be a nebulous “whenever I can, but always on a Monday because alliteration is fun.”

Anyway today we’re here to talk about Gappa, the Triphibian Monster, a neat little monster movie that, similarly to my last review from forever ago, was a Japanese monster movie not made by Toho or Daiei. Instead, Gappa was the product of Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest film studio, being released under the title “Giant Beast Gappa,” leaving the bizarre “Triphibian” appellation the work of some unknown English localizer.

Similarly to some of the other non-Toho offerings on this list, Gappa is actually fairly easy to come by, and has been released on DVD by several companies and even has a Blu Ray version as of 2020.

So with all that out of the way, what’s there to say about Gappa? Well, despite being more or less a remake of 1961′s Gorgo (A story about a big angry momma monster stomping through London to save its baby after the little tyke was stolen by generally unlikable humans), Gappa is a fairly solid kaiju movie, though there’s not really a lot that can be said to recommend it over most of the Godzilla films that came before it, I can safely say it’s better than Gamera, though less loopy.

The plot more or less writes itself, and as with a lot of kaiju movies of its vintage, starts with an expedition to the south seas, this time with an oddball mixture of university scientists and reporters. The trip is the brainchild of Playmate Magazine, a fictitious company clearly modeled after Playboy, though with no bunnies in sight (nowhere in the film is it actually explained what Playmate does, aside from the owner wanting to bring back hot natives and exotic plants for some kind of theme park).

The research team land on the mysterious Obelisk Island, which seems to play host to a perpetually-erupting volcano, along with the now obligatory band of natives played by Japanese actors in brownface, a sight I keep hoping I’ll never have to see again. The natives, which apparently have seen Japanese people before (and learned their language somehow) first see the new arrivals as a blessing that will soothe their god, Gappa, until the visitors start poking around in an underground cave and find a strange egg that hatches into a dopey-looking baby reptile.

Naturally, our intrepid heroes consider this an amazing find, which they spirit off to Japan despite the natives’ stringent objections. Before long, a screechy roar is heard coming from the cave and you guessed it, it’s giant monster time.

The big departure from Gorgo is a sort of “mine’s bigger” display from Nikkatsu, where instead of one monster, we get two - a big daddy Gappa with red eyes and a protruding horn, and a smaller mommy Gappa with less of a horn and more expressive eyes. The pair quickly stomp all over the island and the poor natives, before heading off to Japan to find their missing kid.

The Gappas are a real sight, a little smaller than Godzilla but with big beaked mouths, wings, and the ability to shoot what’s dubbed a “heat ray” that looks strikingly similar to a certain someone’s atomic breath. Apparently, the effects were handled by a former Toho employee, Akira Watanabe, and while Tsuburaya he isn’t, he’s no slouch either. The monster suits are quite distinct, with mouths that open and close and eyes that dart around, along with extendable wings for the flying scenes. The sets the Gappas get to stomp around in are also quite well-made, with a city set and an industrial area that honestly look better than anything Toho had been doing since King Ghidorah first showed up a few years back.

The Gappas really do make a hell of a mess, leaving a lot of burning, destroyed buildings in their wake and blasting planes out of the air. While the funniest shots, such as the very clearly above ground “underwater” scenes, really stick out, by and large the monster action is engaging, well shot, and prolific enough that it makes for you long for the days when Godzilla knocked over buildings and didn’t goof around on islands where the sets were cheaper... but we’ll get to that another time.

I wish I could also praise the writing, but there’s really not much to say. The monster action doesn’t really kick in until about 40 minutes have gone by, and the human cast just really doesn’t have much to do except traipse around the admittedly nice-looking island sets. The characters are all your stock tropes that the genre loves to trade in, with plenty of ambitious scientists, hard-nosed reporters, hand-wringing love interests, greedy businessman, and stoic military commanders to slide in and deliver what’s more or less expected, but no one really rises to the level of protagonist, and most of them just play hot potato with the idiot ball until they decide to give baby Gappa back to its parents to stop the whole mess.

Gappa is clearly a picture made for kids, similar to the vast majority of the Showa Gamera films and the later Godzilla entries, so plot was never going to be high on the film’s list. Instead, Gappa gets two (two!) different theme songs, one a catchy, bombastic little track about how great and awesome Gappa is, and another a more somber tune when the monsters reunite.

There are two different children in the movie, one a plucky native boy who constantly chides everyone within earshot about how Gappa is angry and needs to be left alone, until he switches gears to tell everyone to bring the baby back to its parents, and the other the precocious daughter of the Playmate owner, who convinces her greedy father to let the baby Gappa by telling him the baby misses its mother just like she does. The kids are the closest we get to point of view characters, since they’re the ones telling the rest of the cast to Stop Being Stupid, though the native boy has far more screen time, including a trip with a bunch of comically bad American actors on a US submarine.

Gappa is really only held up by its effects work, and it honestly feels like Nikkatsu intended to make a series out of its new monster, giving the best a theme song and an island home similar to Toho’s Mothra, but alas, Gappa never stomped out of its cave again, leaving it more of a curiosity than anything else.

#monster monday

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blackcloverstore · 3 years

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Review Black Clover Season 1 – Part 1

New Post has been published on https://blackclover.store/review-black-clover-season-1-part-1/

Review Black Clover Season 1 – Part 1

Remember that publishing takes place on the foundation of the organization with many successful anime series, not only in Japan but around the world. Anime like the trilogy of the 2000s: Naruto, Bleach and the movie still resonates One Piece, as well as the recent blockbuster My Hero Academia. Coming from the home of many beloved shonen anime hits means that Black Clover has many standards to meet. Viewers will be introduced to a world when magic and it is obvious that nearly everyone can use spells, nearly everyone. At the center of the story is Asta, a 15-year-old orphan who, along with his longtime rival Yuno, is left in a church orphanage where the two are forced to grow up together. Both strive to fulfill one dream: To become the sorcerer king. For Yuno, this is completely possible as he seems to be a genius when it comes to casting spells, however, it seems to be more difficult for Asta as up to this point, he has not shown any Any sign of magic. A chance still exists for Asta though, as he continues to train physically until the day he attends a special ceremony where potential young witches are selected to wield ancient spells. These ancient spells are known as the magic books. The day the two receive their own books is also when their journeys diverged to try to become the most powerful wizard, the sorcerer king. Black Clover introduces audiences to a new world and some interesting new characters in the first ten episodes, but the influence of the world construction is overshadowed because most of the ideas are similar to those of shonen anime. usually, common, normal. The plot generally has a good ending, after Asta’s first mission and he faces real danger, but it feels as familiar as the previous works. Asta, the center of the story, is a mediocre protagonist who strives to achieve his dreams with effort and determination despite difficulties, especially his weak social and magical abilities. This type of character is scattered across all genres, and even in an example I gave earlier, I feel like I’m drawing parallels between the series and Naruto. The big-mouthed, thorny-haired protagonist dreams of being the best of the respected and is driven through battles with an anxious friend. Even the introduction to the sorcerer king versus demons bears a resemblance to the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails that opened Naruto. His rival, Yuno, is the complete opposite, an adept magic user and, with an introverted personality, the complete opposite of Asta but we don’t see him much at this point. .

The series also features animated introductions to supporting characters as the episode progresses, notably members of the Black Bull Magic Knights such as the group’s leader, Yami Sukehiro, and Asta’s rival in the series Hey, Magna Swing. These powerful characters, and also the snobby royal character, Noelle Silva, are interesting but again are the kind of familiar characters that can be found in other anime series and aren’t different enough to stand out. turn on. The voice acting for the supporting cast is very good, with an appropriate blend of personalities. The English dub is well done, including big names like Chris Sabat, Colleen Clinkenbeard and Ian Sinclair. However, the voice acting for the main character seems to have problems. Unfortunately, Asta expressed her opinion through screams and shouts. Whenever faced with a threat or a challenge (which is often the case in stories of an insignificant man) Asta would often confront him by shouting, much to the annoyance of the other characters and the audience. when they decide to use headphones. I can imagine him being a character that hurts the ears of some and the fact that the character has to scream for most of the movie doesn’t make him any less likable. I feel that Dallas Reid’s voice acting as Asta in the English version has improved, still noisy, but not as annoying as mine. Yuno, on the other hand, is very patient, resulting in his voice acting being very discreet. The problem is that we don’t have an impression of who he is. In a flashback episode we get to see Yuno when he was younger and despite being quiet and shy, he showed more of his personality. In the present, he doesn’t talk much and the few words he says don’t convey much. And it doesn’t help at all when in this part his role becomes smaller as his and Asta’s paths grow farther and farther apart. Perhaps as he goes further his personality will open up more.

The characters and their stories introduced in this part are quite common in regular anime and unfortunately at this early stage the production department was not creative enough to make a difference, especially in the anime. period when so many anime series are being made. Although the film has an interesting point in dividing the levels, it has not been explored enough at this point. Nobles and commoners were divided according to various aspects, not only based on their social status but also on their ability to use magic. If this can be exploited in the journey of Asta and Noelle then it could help add depth to the film and create interesting interactions between the characters. For now, the movie is only showing the surface and the interesting part of the movie seems to be the levels of magic and controlling them rather than who should own the magic and why, which I hope will change as the series progresses. movie continues. Produced by Studio Pierrot (Bleach, Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul) the effects did not disappoint the audience. Yuki Tabata’s character design has conveyed well from the manga and is generally quite professional. One or two parts have a rather unimpressive effect. With a movie about magic, we don’t see enough effects. With just a few examples, the spells in this phase are not spectacular, or at least not powerful enough to do so, but we are just at the beginning, this can be changed. Future.

The opening and ending music is again very suitable for many action anime. The opening song is loud and vibrant to get us excited about the upcoming adventure, and the ending is softer and more mellow, calming us down. The music for the film was performed by Minako Seki, who was previously the composer for another fantasy anime series by Studio Pierrot, Kingdom. The movie’s songs aren’t bad, but unfortunately aren’t remarkable. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t emphasized enough in key scenes where music can be used to support the atmosphere and pressure of the film. Rather than when we first saw Asta’s abilities, the song Pentagram appeared for the first time, and I can’t remember much of this song until now. It’s a pity that anime like My Hero Academia really help bring to life the music of Yuki Hayashi, to make it shine and really accentuate the emotion of the scene, something that Black Clover was able to do well. more to attract investment from the audience. black clover – anime hot shounen hot The Blu-ray version has several specials for the ten episodes in this series. Includes episode 4 and episode 7 commentary as well as Black Clover: inside Studio J includes interviews with ADR director Cris George as well as various voice actors. The Clover Clips Special Edition offers an expanded version of the humorous scenes from the film that appear after the introduction at the end of the film. It also includes a short behind-the-scenes shot of the voice actors called “Inside the Episodes”. Overall, these specials are pretty good. The first part of Black Clover did a pretty good job of building the world and characters but overall it’s still too stereotypical, especially with today’s shonen series. The series has a lot of potential, promises to shine and continue to develop, especially when this is another long-running series that is expected to have at least 51 episodes. However, in the current situation where the number of anime movies worth paying attention to is increasing, failing to make a mark on your own can be dangerous. Black Clover has the ability to stand on par with previous anime, but now, with so many other movies, that doesn’t seem possible.

If you like Black Clover, visit Black Clover Official Merch to buy your favorite!!

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

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Scream Factory Announces Blu-Ray Release of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION

Big news for all you horror fiends looking to upgrade your film collections to the high definition variety. The ever popular Scream Factory has just announced that it will be giving the high definition makeover treatment to one of horrors most contested films… Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

Details on the extras included in the Collector’s Edition blu-ray are scarce at this time. One thing that is certain though, we’ll finally be getting a high defintion transfer of the theatrical version of the 1994horror film. Scream Factory has also said that they are attempting to secure the rights for the extended cut of the film as well.

Joel Robinson lends his artistic hand to Scream Factory once again to give us some gorgeous cover artwork. He previously illustrated original covers for In the Mouth of Madness and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, among many others for Scream Factory.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is either one of those films that you love or hate. It massively overhauled the canon storyline and essentially works as a remake of the original film for a more modern audience. Leatherface (this time played by Robert Jacks) and his psychotic cannibalistic family are STILL psychotic but, in this film, they are NOT cannibals. They are more like a truly bizarre collection of cult members with an unknown macabre agenda. As for Leatherface, we see an entirely new side of his personality in this movie.

The film was written and directed by Kim Henkel, who also just so happened to co-write the original with Tobe Hooper. It starred two unknown actors at the time that would go on to conquer Hollywood in the following years as true superstars. Those two unknowns were Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger.

The Scream Factory blu-ray release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is set to hit store shelves September 25th.

The post Scream Factory Announces Blu-Ray Release of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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lynchgirl90 · 7 years

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The #TwinPeaks Season 3 Blu-ray is a Wonderful Package for 2017’s Greatest Piece of Narrative Entertainment

David Lynch‘s stunning Twin Peaks season 3, also known as Twin Peaks: The Return, comes to Blu-ray as a must-have box set loaded with fascinating and revealing looks behind the production. Just as they did so many years ago, David Lynch and Mark Frost have created a TV event unlike any other before, and probably unlike anything that will ever come after it. Here, as one cohesive Blu-ray, we have the chance to watch the saga unfold from beginning to end, which might very well be the best way to experience the show. Our Twin Peaks season 3 Blu-ray review below pulls back the red curtain and journeys into the unknown. Join me?

The Owls Are Not What They Seem

The greatest piece of narrative entertainment from 2017 was not in movie theaters, but rather playing on Showtime over the course of one weird, wild summer. Defying the odds, premium cable channel Showtime parked a large amount of money on David Lynch’s doorstep and convinced him to come out of semi-retirement to resurrect his cult TV series Twin Peaks. The results were stunning.

Lynch, the brilliant, mad mind behind Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and more, hadn’t made a film since 2006’s Inland Empire, yet any fears that the iconic filmmaker might have grown rusty in his time off were quickly assuaged as the beginning of the new Twin Peaks unfolded. Lynch and Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost had pulled out all the stops to return audiences to a place both wonderful and strange, and we all got a lot more than we could’ve possibly bargained for.

The importance of the original Twin Peaks can not be overstated. TV as we know it today, everything we lump into the “Peak TV” category of high quality, cinematic television, can trace its roots back to what Lynch and Frost did with the original Twin Peaks. He brought the auteur theory and the avant-garde to mainstream primetime TV, and television has been paying tribute ever since. The original Peaks only lasted two seasons, but after its cancellation in 1991, the show took on a life of its own, its cult fandom growing to monolithic proportions. Lynch revisited the town with 1992’s prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which polarized audiences and took the mythology of the series into even stranger, near-indecipherable directions. Something curious happened after that: the show became even more popular, but the show that newer fans seemed to latch onto wasn’t actually the show that Lynch had created.

A meme-ification of Twin Peaks had set in, fueled by the Tumblr generation fond of sharing out of context screen grabs and quick gifs that may look amazing but don’t even come close to capturing the aura of what Lynch was going for. So when Lynch and Frost announced that “That gum you like is going to come back in style,” there was an uneasiness with how modern TV viewers would react to whatever it was they were about to witness. We live in the age of the live-tweet, where audiences have trouble putting their phone down to entirely focus on their entertainment, and are instead prone to firing off an instant reaction with the hopes of raking up a few “likes.” This is not the ideal type of viewing experience for something created by Lynch, and if audiences thought they were going to be in for instant gratification with the new Twin Peaks, they were setting themselves up for failure.

The same foul fate would befall the aforementioned Tumblr generation, who apparently wanted nothing deeper than endless shots of cherry pie, black coffee, and Audrey Horne’s saddle shoes. Anyone who dares to cruise the Twin Peakshashtag on Tumblr while the new series was airing likely found themselves in a world of woe, with Tumblr users bemoaning that the new Twin Peaks was denying them their dream of Special Agent Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne finally falling into each other’s arms at the Double R Diner while Shelly Johnson serves them up a slice of pie. In short, what they wanted was fan service. And fan service is not what David Lynch traffics in. I doubt the term even exists in his vocabulary.

Instead, Lynch provided viewers with one of the most audacious 18 hours ever committed to television. A daring, mind-warping journey back to the town of Twin Peaks and beyond. He blew a big, black hole into the very mythology of the show, and created something stranger than anyone viewing the original series would’ve imagined.

I Am Dead Yet I Live

The original Twin Peaks began as a procedural drama, then blossomed into something nearly unclassifiable. After local teen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) is found murdered, FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) arrives in town to investigate. Cooper gets to know the town, and the townsfolk, as he tries to crack the Palmer case.

And then things get weird.

Twin Peaks made what many consider to be a huge mistake by wrapping up the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer rather quickly, and then becoming stranger and stranger until it found itself canceled. The problem: the series ended on one major cliffhanger, with Cooper trapped in The Black Lodge, an eerie, extra-dimensional location populated with backward-talking people, billowing red curtains, and flashes of lighting. Meanwhile, an evil Cooper doppelgänger, connected to the malevolent force known as BOB, took the real Cooper’s place back in the real world.

There was never any real chance that Lynch and Frost would quickly sew up this dangling thread, however. Instead, when Twin Peaks returned to Showtime, it expanded the mythology of the series and took viewers on a long journey that was all part of Cooper’s return to the real world. But Cooper isn’t the real focus of Twin Peaks. Laura Palmer is. For Lynch, Laura Palmer is a representation of horribly wronged innocence. Fire Walk With Me revealed the traumatic events leading up to Laura’s death, and Lynch’s focus seems to be on the cosmic injustice of it all. The cruel blindness of fate. Laura Palmer is a force of something pure and good in the universe, and no matter how hard Cooper might try, he can never really save her. But perhaps that’s not what’s important. Perhaps what’s important is that he’ll keep trying.

Twin Peaks season 3 has Cooper escape the Black Lodge by taking the place of hapless, corrupt Las Vegas dwelling insurance salesman Dougie Jones (also played by MacLachlan). In reality, Dougie is a “tulpa” – a being created from the selected thoughts of different individuals. Tibetan mythology describe tulpas as “extra bodies that were created from one person’s mind in order to travel to spiritual realms.”

Rather than have Cooper escape the Black Lodge and come back to the real world acting like his old self, Lynch and Frost have the agent stuck in a childlike state, as if all the years stuck in an alternate dimension has blasted away a part of his consciousness. Then, in the most delightfully devious twist of all, Lynch proceeds to keep Cooper in this state through nearly the entire series. There are triggers that we keep expecting will snap Cooper out of his Dougie state: coffee, pie, etc. But Lynch isn’t interested in an easy way out. Instead, he engrosses us into the life of Dougie Jones, as the traumatized Cooper adapts to his new reality with Dougie’s wife Janey-E (Naomi Watts) and son Sonny Jim (Pierce Gagnon).

You could practically hear the groans of certain viewers as Lynch refused to break Cooper out of the Jones family mold, yet this material provides us with some of the most incredible moments of the revival series, and gives Kyle MacLachlan a chance to shine, playing up both the comic relief elements of Dougie Jones (see: Dougie in a casino yelling “Hello-oooooo!” at slot machines) mixed with more heartbreaking scenes (see: Dougie watching Sonny Jim with a look of profound sadness on his face).

Twin Peaks sets up a horde of new characters, almost all of which become memorable almost instantaneously – a feat few other shows can pull off. There’s the Mitchum Brothers (Jim Belushi and Robert Knepper), who are both trying to murder Dougie Jones before growing fond of him on the basis of a dream. There are two assassins (Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Roth), who spend most of their time in a van shooting the breeze when they’re not shooting people. And most important of all, there’s Diane (Laura Dern), Cooper’s old flame who teams up with FBI Director Gordon Cole (Lynch) and company to find out what happened to the real Cooper. Dern, with her various wigs, foul mouth, chain smoking and multi-colored manicure, steals every scene she appears in.

But what of Twin Peaks, the town that started it all? Lynch brings us back to the town, and gives us a glimpse into the lives of old favorites: Shelly (Mädchen Amick), Bobby (Dana Ashbrook), Big Ed (Everett McGill), Norma (Peggy Lipton), Andy (Harry Goaz), Lucy (Kimmy Robertson), Hawk (Michael Horse), Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), and more, but the new season isn’t so much interested in closing out their stories as it is showing the effects of the passage of time. That’s not to say there aren’t narrative conclusions. In one of the new season’s most satisfying moments, Big Ed and Norma finally seal the deal on their romance after years apart. Lynch stages this in a lovely way, with Norma’s hands coming from just off frame onto Big Ed’s shoulders, while Big Ed closes his eyes in contentment.

These lovely moments are contrasted with stark, disturbing horror. In the opening episode alone, a nameless, shapeless monster escapes a containment unit and lays waste to a pair of lovers in a scene drenched in blood and confusion. And at the center of the series as a whole is the terrifying notion that evil, in all its forms, will almost always come out ahead. After nearly 18 hours, Cooper manages to alter time and save Laura Palmer from her teenage demise. Yet the aftershocks of this change are not ideal – the world as Cooper (and by extension, the audience) knows it has been altered forever. The final few seconds of the series find Cooper and Laura in a state of limbo, with Cooper absently wondering “What year is this?” before Laura, looking up at the house that once held such trauma and abuse for her in another life, emits a piercing, blood-chilling scream that seems to be echoing across time and space itself (note: if there was an award for Best Scream, Sheryl Lee would be the clear winner).

What are we to make of this cryptic, haunting conclusion? The beauty of Twin Peaks is that Lynch and Frost aren’t interested in providing us with clear answers. One of the quotes from the revival series states, “We are like the dreamer who dreams and lives inside the dream.” This is as clear a Twin Peaks mission statement as we’ll ever receive. The series as a whole is a dream that the audience is living inside, and like dreams, the narrative is open to endless interpretation. And best of all, no interpretation can really be considered incorrect. You can take away a million different morals from Twin Peaks as a whole, but I think a strong case can be made for the unsettling message that evil – in all its forms – will frequently come out ahead. The important thing is for committed, determined people like Dale Cooper to continue to try to stop it anyway. Cooper may not always succeed, but we can take some sort of cold comfort in the fact that he’ll try anyway.

Phenomenon

The Blu-ray special feature Phenomenon is broken into three distinct parts: Creation, Life After Death and Renaissance. As a whole, this feature is a fun but mostly boilerplate look at the series as a whole. It’s quick and to the point, and was likely originally cut to serve as more of a commercial for the revival series than a truly in-depth look at Twin Peaks. Creation looks at the show’s origins, from its time on ABC to the fan reaction, including the popular “watching parties” that had audiences coming together to experience each weekly episode as a group. Life After Death examines the growing cult fandom that sprung up after the show had been canceled. Fan magazines and conventions gave Twin Peaks whole new life and kept the series alive for an entire new generation born after the first show had long been canceled. Renaissance is a crash-course in bringing the show back to life on Showtime. Again, there’s no real insight here or depth. Lynch and frost pop-up for quick soundbites, but anyone hoping for the creators to delve into the process of bringing Twin Peaks back from the dead need look elsewhere.

Behind the Red Curtain and I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun

Richard Beymer, who plays Twin Peaks character Ben Horne, shot these two mini-documentaries that appear in the Blu-ray special features. There’s no narrative thread to these two features. Instead, they provide a raw, uncensored look at Lynch and company on the Black Lodge set, setting up shots. These two features provide us with what will become a running theme of the behind-the-scenes footage provided on the Blu-ray: shot after shot of Lynch at work.

If you ever wanted to sit back and watch David Lynch direct, the features provided here are a gold mine. They also provide an amusing, even charming look at how normal it all is. Lynch deals with such strange, dark, violent material that it can be easy to think of him as a dark, brooding weirdo, but the footage here shows him as an affable, laid-back fellow who knows exactly what he wants from a scene and how to get it. These slice-of-life moments give us an opportunity to see Lynch help Kyle MacLachlan tie a necktie, or give Sherilyn Fenn a cigarette as he talks with her about her character. Speaking of cigarettes, get ready to see a lot of them. Lynch is constantly smoking in these behind-the-scenes moments, an American Spirit cigarette always perched in his mouth or resting between his fingers. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself longing for a smoke after watching all of this.

The only downside to this, and other behind-the-scenes features is that some of the magic of the show is lost. We’re peeling back the red curtain here, and seeing how the sausage is made. The otherworldly nature of Twin Peaks drops away as we see numerous crew members making everything come together. In one amusing moment, we see Lynch and company watching a clip from the original Twin Peaks on YouTube so they can match a shot up to a new scene

In A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks

Filmmaker Charles DeLauzirika put together this on-location feature that goes behind the scenes. Not much of the material here is very comprehensive, but it does provide a fly-on-the-wall look at the production, including actors discussing how strange it was to step back into roles they hadn’t played in more than two decades. The best moments come when we get to watch Lynch direct – almost always through a megaphone. If you’re looking for a bit more, however, this isn’t the feature for you. Instead, you should move quickly to IMPRESSIONS: A Journey Behind the Scenes of Twin Peaks.

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IMPRESSIONS: A Journey Behind the Scenes of Twin Peaks

Without question, the best features on the new Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series Blu-ray release are the series of behind-the-scenes films bundled together as IMPRESSIONS: A Journey Behind the Scenes of Twin Peaks. Longtime Lynch documentarian and friend Jason S. shot these 10 revealing, fascinating films (each runs about 30 minutes), covering almost the entire filming schedule of the new series.

Once again, we have Lynch constantly smoking his American Spirit cigarettes, but these features are much more in-depth than Behind the Red Curtain and I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun. We get to watch as Lynch and his crew come up with character names on the fly, and cracking up when he thinks up silly-sounding names. This feature also reveals how hands-on Lynch is: at one point, we see him sculpting one of the show’s props himself – a spout made of styrofoam that will eventually serve as the giant teapot-like contraption that took the place of the dearly departed David Bowie.

Again, the best moments are those when we get to watch Lynch direct, like a sequence where he chats with Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern in a motel room set. Lynch has nicknames for all his actors, and it’s charming to listen to him refer to Dern as “Tidbit” and MacLachlan as “Kale.” Later, he has to talk Dern into letting makeup artists cover her face in bread dough. After the scene is complete, Dern gets payback by applying the same dough to Lynch’s face. It’s a charming, funny glimpse into the carefree, friendly atmosphere prevalent on Lynch’s sets. “I wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for David,” MacLachlan said once. “He pretty much brought me up in the film world and spoiled me; we’ve all spoken about how the set is, he creates the environment and the joyfulness and the creativity. I’ve been spoiled forever working with David.” The footage here is proof positive of that statement.

Still, there are moments where Lynch can lose his temper. In one sequence, not filmed on set but rather in a meeting with his crew, Lynch gets frustrated when he’s told that they’ll only be able to film in one location for two days. The filmmaker grows apoplectic at this time constraint, shouting, “Why do I only have two fucking days?” and complaining that given the chance, he could spend “weeks” on certain sets “dreaming up new ideas.”

The only negative thing I’ll say about this feature: the footage is (sporadically) narrated by Josef Maria Schäfers, in what I presume is an attempt to mock (or perhaps pay loving tribute to) the existential narration that filmmaker Werner Herzog usually gives his documentaries. The narration here is unnecessary and distracting and grows truly tiresome after a while.

Goodbye, Margaret

Other features on the Blu-ray include a series of David Lynch produced promos for the series. Lynch managed to avoid having to cut a proper trailer for the Showtime revival, and instead put together these abstract clips that teased the tone without giving anything away. Also included is a behind-the-scenes photo gallery, a series of alternating versions of the Rancho Rosa production logo that started each episode, and the full San Diego Comic-Con 2017 Twin Peaks Panel, which you can watch in full above.

As a whole, the Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series Blu-ray is a must-own for any David Lynch or Twin Peaks fan. There’s a wealth of material here beyond the series itself, but best of all is the opportunity to watch the episodes back-to-back, and watch as the create an elaborate, hypnotic saga the likes of which we’ll never see again.

Full list of special features:

BLU-RAY AND DVD:

IMPRESSIONS: A Journey Behind the Scenes of Twin Peaks

Phenomenon

Rancho Rosa Logos (2:25)

San Diego Comic-Con 2017 Twin Peaks Panel (61:26)

David Lynch Produced Promos

The Man with the Grey Elevated Hair (29:40)

Tell it Martin (29:08)

Two Blue Balls (24:14)

The Number of Completion (29:17)

Bad Binoculars (28:08)

See You on the Other Side Dear Friend (30:00)

Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers (26:44)

A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth (26:49)

The Polish Accountant (28:05)

A Pot of Boiling Oil (38:32)

Part 1: Creation (4:40)

Part 2: Life After Death (4:50)

Part 3: Renaissance (4:50)

Behind-the-scenes Photo Gallery

Piano (1:02)

Donut (:32)

Woods (:32)

People (:32)

Places (:32)

Albert (1:02)

In – cinema (1:32)

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE:

A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks (27:09)

Behind the Red Curtain (29:17)

I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun (28:11)

Link (TP)

#Twin Peaks #David Lynch #Mark Frost #Kyle MacLachlan #SlashFilm #bluray

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scramdleb-blog · 7 years

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Watching Dagashi Kashi feels nostalgic

Viewing Dagashi Kashi feels nostalgic. It’s nostalgic inside sense that gives you feel like slightly kid again. Remember when you’ve walked to a candy store and picked your favorite desserts? It’s that version of familiar feeling. Dagashi Kashi evokes a certain amount of childhood memories to look at walked into some sort of candy store for when. And believe people, this show loves to do a whole lot of funny things in connection with candy.

The series follows the episodic activities of Kokonotsu Shikada. His encounter using Hotaru Shidare countries him in reviews that drops him in the world of dagashi. How come? It’s because Hotaru is component of a famous friends and family owned sweet corporation. She wants Kokonotsu’s father to become listed on and he only agrees relating to the condition that Kokonotsu usually requires over his own personal shop. Thus, we got Hotaru together with her ever daring tactics to obtain Kokonotsu for choosing the shop.

First thing to get taken care of: A good component to the show is based heavily on humourous. It sells humourous through advertising in the dagashi. Hotaru is essentially the mascot person as she attempts to appeal that wonderfulness of dagashi. With simple explanations, effective lectures, or significant dialogues, Hotaru is usually pretty good with convincing. Plus, my spouse the look (or “it” factor) distribute her product. The best way this show is determined up is that every episode has Hotaru trying ways of win Kokonotsu and others over using her convincing. Her personality is quite eccentric and exceedingly dramatic whenever the idea involves candy. An example is when your lady gets a mouth ulcer nevertheless desperately wants to help taste candy like within a ritualistic manner. In the show, Hotaru also shows an infinite knowledge about sweet. The way your lady tries to convince others is quite overdramatic including possessing others to enjoy strange Games and activities. So with retrospect, this is the species of show with little focus on plot but even more on selling it's premise.

With a little Character cast, the show gives a respectable amount of screen time for the majority them. Kokonotsu (or as a number his friends telephone him “Coconuts”), could very well be the most normal in the main cast. He or she is friendly, casual, and frequently tries to allow others although stays oblivious to confident Characters’ feeling available him. This comes with Saya, a girl that's obvious affections with regard to him. Through their interactions with Hotaru, it looks like if he’s produced an affection that titular Character. Meanwhile, there’s Saya’s sibling Tou, who actually is aware of his sister’s grind on Kokonotsu. The only real person that doesn’t certainly know is Kokonotsu themself. And finally, people got Kokonotsu’s mother, You Shikada. Not like his son, You’s personality seems more akin to Hotaru with their hyperactive energy. The complete show focuses with these Characters along with the world of sweet. When you possess a diverse range Character cast this way, it makes you wonder that the show can generate around itself. Well-known answer is as a result of Character chemistry. Every episode may consentrate on candy just about all puts a amount of emphasis on Character connectors. Kokonotsu learns considerably from Hotaru, Saya grows nearer to Kokonotsu throughout that show, and Hotaru also develops an agreeable relationship with Saya. The show provides the Character relationships within a comedic style rather then dramatic. In many other words, don’t expect real love angles to cultivate as this series is related to much regarding green romance Story. Just the thing Hotaru has in mind is very much candy while Kokonotsu remains dense for a neutron star approximately Saya. The family associations (Kokonotsu/You and Saya/Tou) feels pretty typical and nothing using extraordinary; the type in all probability between real life relations. But in elixir, the show is usually down-right more on the comedic Story.

Nevertheless, there’s some controversy with the fact that series is quoted. For whatever purpose, certain content is omitted in the Manga about Hotaru together with replaced by Saya. The show started out with overemphasis with Hotaru’s presence , in later episodes usually also expose Saya an abundance of screen time. This seems controversial precisely as it derives from the faithfulness in the adaptation and additionally gives Hotaru a smaller amount relevance. Because let’s end up honest here, who here originally arrived at the series to look at for Saya? Hotaru is a main poster person. In the interim, the comedy in the show is a mixed bag from time to time. It never really changes despite just about every episode involving several scenarios, Games, and whatever tactic Hotaru attempts to convince some others about candy. This also carries a negative of Characterization since background Storytelling (with maybe there exception of Saya) is basically absent. In elixir, the show is usually more of simply popcorn fun to help pass time from time to time.

Studio feel helms that adaptation and thankfully provides adequate quality for that Characters, backgrounds, together with overall presentation. There are a countryside feel as being the entire show do not ever really ventures too much away from that candy store. Nevertheless, the most noticeable the main series is Character pattern. Or rather I would say, one identity. Hotaru Shidare. My spouse exotic looking big eyes with ripple-pattern enjoy rings in the woman's iris. Combine that with a certain amount of lilac hair also, you got quite a specialized looking girl. Saya’s eyes in contrast looks rather very simple and she clothing more casually as compared to Hotaru. Oh and the show likes to exploit Hotaru’s appearance so expect a certain amount of fan service; mostly subtle and satire by way of the comedic parodies.

Soundtrack and music goes in hand for the exhibit. The OP song evolves in the first three assaults until we find a good glimpse in the style. While I can’t claim the music is incredibly impressive, it does fit quite nicely for the exhibit – being easy going and dramatic with time when it ought to be. However, the voice mannerism is usually what really sells your handmade jewelry with Hotaru just as before being the legend. Her over-eccentric voice joined with personality is challenging to ignore to remain quite honest. Equally, You is additionally ever energetic enough to stay the spotlight each time his son is very much indifferent about their life.

By plenty of time this show is passed, I feel enjoy eating candy. Virtually no, it’s not since Hotaru convinced me but that show itself just has too much fun to never jump into the idea. At the exact same time, the Character cast will there ever be to sell it's comedy whether the idea works or not necessarily. As with any sort of comedic series, the humor really ought to be exciting and Dagashi Kashi Blu-ray gained that right inside palm of it's hands.

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/want-gaming-bang-buck-turtle-beach-stealth-600-delivers/

Want more gaming bang for your buck? Turtle Beach Stealth 600 delivers

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of TURTLE BEACH® For way too long, I've only used the cheap headsets that come with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One consoles thinking they must rank as high as those expensive ones on the market. Hey, why would Sony or Microsoft send along an inferior product accessory to go with their superior gaming consoles, right? It's like how they only give you one wireless controller. No, they're not trying to make you feel like a total loser who has no friends to play with, they want you to keep adding to their coffers by buying more from them. After having enough of those headsets fall apart, I knew there had to be a better alternative. Our team here at Movie TV Tech Geeks aren't hard on stuff either, so it only lets you know how low quality they are. Thankfully, the fine folks at Turtle Beach sent over their Ear Force Stealth 600 surround sound gaming headset to test on the new Xbox One X. Yup, we got a sweet review console already, and we have put this Turtle to the test. To be fair, we even tested it up against some very high priced headsets since judging such a superior product against the headsets that come with the consoles would be like testing a Tesla against a Smart Car. Right off the bat, I hate having so many wires that come with being a hardcore tech geek. The setup in our gaming media center has a 4K 75" LG OLED TV, 3D 7.1 Channel sound system, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and now an Xbox One X so you can picture how many yards of cords we have snaking everywhere. That drives me crazy so having a new tech toy that is one-hundred percent wireless is like taking a bite out of a tiramisu cake or freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Pure heaven! Most 'wireless' console headsets still make you plug them into a controller, a USB port or directly into the console. Not this time though. The Stealth 600 lives up to its name and is a true wireless over the ear headset that is really comfortable. The only time you'll ever need to connect a cable is when you charge the battery. That's it! Next big question, of course, would be about how long the battery life is. Well, Turtle Beach says 15 hours of game time, but we put it through our test, and it lasted just around 18 hours of solid gameplay. Nice when it lasts longer than what the company claims. So how is the sound quality? Excellent. This is the first headset that sounds amazing and also feels really comfortable. For those of you that get into intense long gaming sessions, you know how important comfort it, and even after a five-hour long gamefest aka Overwatch match, I could have kept going on. No pinching feeling or headaches from discomfort. The headset adjusts to every aspect of your head (no two are made alike) and fit everyone's heads here at MTTG. The ear cups have a rounder shape and aren't the usual 90-degree angle most headsets have. This makes for a much more comfortable feel and experience. The extra plush foam padding really feels good and rather than having that leather padding that always winds up ripping or tearing; Turtle Beach uses a soft mesh fabric on the earcups and padding. I know this is a little gross, but we all know that ears do sweat and this mesh seems to help keep that at bay. If you wear glasses, the Stealth 600 has you covered as the padding in the ear cups is plushy soft so none of that pressure on your frames. The left side of the headset is where you can flip out the microphone for those team talk sessions, and it automatically turns on and off as you snap it into position at the side of your mouth. It mutes when you pull it up which is such a nice change from the tiny toggles on the usual headsets. Trust me, once you try the Stealth 600 for this, you'll never want to go back to the others. There are two wheel adjusters on the back of the left ear cup that takes care of the main volume and chat above a larger power button that allows you to to try out specialized audio profiles like "Superhuman Hearing" which lets you hear environmental sounds like a car door shutting behind you or even leaves rustling in the wind. Things are definitely much louder in this mode, but it will make you super alert in games like Fortnite or Halo. You'll have plenty of fun adjusting and boosting the bass, treble, and vocals even in surround sound mode. I tested it without trying any of the settings, and the sound quality was surprisingly crisp and oh so clear. Many times people will wear their headset with one cup slightly off the hear because their voice is so loud, but with the Stealth 600 mic monitoring, you can hear your own voice, but it won't be so muffled or too loud with both cups sitting comfortably over your ears. Being able to hear yourself also helps to keep you from being the annoying gamer who blows out everyone's ears screaming and not realizing it. Everyone else I used it with came in perfectly clear. I was a little doubtful of how you could get surround sound from only two speakers, but I could tell when audio was coming from in front of me and behind me making it feel like there were five speakers doing the job. Watching Blu-ray movies is a pleasure too as you can hear every crunch of a car over leaves or twigs without bothering anyone else in the room who isn't interested in what you're watching. I can't wait to try the PS4 Pro version with the PSVR games as I can only imagine how much more horrifying some of them will be with this amazing sound. Unlike the PS4 version, which requires you to plug a USB dongle into the console, the Xbox One version has just an extra button on the left ear cup so you can sync it with the built-in wireless protocol. It synced perfectly and even when I walked around; it didn't fall out. So, if you like a lot bang for your buck, the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 has it plus so much more. It easily blows away some of the really expensive headsets out there, and this one is just $100, so I will be adding this to our electronics gift guide. It is a must holiday want for every gamer or anyone who just wants great sound when they're playing games. Our friends at Turtle Beach are letting us give away one set of these amazing Ear Force Stealth 600 wireless headsets to one of you lucky readers. You'll be able to choose if you want the Green one (pictured throughout this article) to use on your Xbox One (or upcoming Xbox One X) or the Blue set which you can use on your PS4 console. TO ENTER: Just RT the tweet below, and you're all good to go. We make it so easy for you all! You've got until Nov 10, 2017 to get busy RT'ing! We'll contact the winner via Twitter so make sure you're following us so we can DM you! https://twitter.com/movietvtechgeek/status/926528786836918273 If you can't wait to get your hands on one, just visit Turtle Beach to check them out.

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#Featured #Gaming #PS4 #Stealth 600 #Turtle Beach #wireless headsets #Xbox One

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welshbluesman · 6 years

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The Role of the Film Critc

An essay written this week by Shannon Plumb, wife of The Light Between Oceans director Derek Cianfrance has called into question the role of film critics. According to Ms Plumb the critical reaction to the film cost it millions of dollars at the box office. Furthermore she claimed, 'The critics are not a voice for the people, yet they can affect the reputation and success of the movie.' At the same time, much has been said about the critically derided Suicide Squad, a film that, despite a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 26% has grossed over $700 million at the international box office. 22,303 people signed a petition calling for the closure of Rotten Tomatoes claiming 'There's A Disconnect Between Critics And Audiences. You may enjoy a movie regardless what the critics say about it we must get the people to know that the criticism not the measure of the quality of movies, it's just the opinions of the critics.'

This criticism is coming from both ends of the filmmaking spectrum – the mega blockbusters and the smaller budgeted films.

So, in the 21st century, a time of social media and fan sites like film89.co.uk, do we really need film critics? Should the professional critic be replaced by the likes of, well, us?

Film critics have been around for almost as long as film and some have been very powerful indeed. In the 1920s and 30s the biggest name in criticism was probably Louella Parsons who, it is claimed, had 20 million readers around the world. Her word was final and many filmmakers feared her more than any other critic. In the late 30s a rivalry developed between Parsons and Hedda Hopper, a woman it is said could swipe away careers with a stroke of a pen. Indeed, she was instrumental in ruining the careers of suspected communists like Darlton Trumbo (she is played by Helen Mirren in the 2015 movie Trumbo) and Charlie Chaplin, who lost his American Visa whilst on a trip to Europe.

•Louella Parsons (Left) Hedda Hopper (Right)

Film criticism can be split into two distinct schools, firstly there's the reviewers, those who just give their opinion on a film. Primarily they are there to judge the entertainment value of movies. Secondly, there are those who approach film as an art form to be appreciated as more than just entertainment. This second group were also around from the very beginnings of film history, an example being the writing of Sergei Eisenstein and other Russians who judged the film based on form, an artistic way of getting their political message across.

But I have always found that, when these two schools merge the results are more interesting. Take the work of Cahiers Du Cinema, a group of French writers led by Andre Bazin, who revolutionarised film criticism in the 50s, 60s and beyond. Basically, they approached film as an art form as well as entertainment, finding artistic quality in the films of directors previously ignored by 'serious' critics. They championed, amongst others, the works of John Ford, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, recognising that the films of these directors had multiple, and sometime very personal, themes throughout their otherwise studio controlled movies. This was the birth of the La Politique des Auteurs (The Auteur Theory).

•Andre Bazin

A lot of today's film criticism is based this approach and the survival of many classic movies and the rise of niche distribution companies like Criterion, Arrow, Masters of Cinema etc, are because of this approach..

But this is not supposed to be a history of film criticism and I only mention these developments to illustrate the importance of critics.

Firstly, they have elevated films to that of an art form whilst also appreciating them as entertainment.

Secondly, there are a lot of films out there which are, for lack of a better word, rubbish. A film critic's job is to see these films, so we don't have to. This is the reason consensus sites like Rotten Tomatoes have grown in popularity as they offer an overview of a film's appeal. Although as we have seen this is not always the case.

Third: By elevating filmmaking to that of art they have ensured the continuing production of a wide range of films. Film is now an accepted art form and so, sometimes, production decisions are not made by accountants based on the potential box office but on their potential artistic merits.

•Jared Leto as the Joker

Finally, their role is essential to film promotion. Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman are two excellent examples of when critics and cinema audiences don't see eye to eye and have gone on to make huge profits regardless, so how can I make this claim? Simply because these mega-budgeted films do not always need critics. The marketing budget for a typical blockbuster can sometimes run into hundreds of millions of dollars. They will get their message out despite what the critics say. This doesn't always work. John Carter and Tomorrowland are two examples of films whose marketing departments couldn't sell. This year God's Of Egypt also failed drastically (the director Alex Proyas called critics 'diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass' to which Mark Kermode countered – 'I am indeed a vulture and your film's roadkill!')

However, not all films have marketing budgets this size. Many films are lucky to have a whole production budget of a few million dollars and can't compete with the big studios. This is the importance of film criticism.

Smaller films have several other ways to get their film to the masses. There are film festivals like Toronto, Venice and Cannes; there are magazines which focus on arthouse and world cinema (for example Sight And Sound) and then there is alternative release methods like same day VOD/cinema releases. However, the glue to all these are the critics.

The people who write about film festivals are the critics, they publish their reviews on the internet and in magazines and it is this word of mouth, started not by 'the people' as Shannon Plumb said, but by critics, that the films need.

This is the method The Light Between Oceans was using. When the critics like something then a film can go from obscurity to success. Take Son of Saul. It released at Cannes to great acclaim, it created a buzz which carried it to Oscar glory (Best Film in a foreign language) and box office success. It cost around one and half million Euros and grossed around 6 million. It is also guaranteed some success on DVD/Blu-ray and VOD/Streaming.

•Son of Saul

More than ever, however, these methods rely on positive reviews to get the ball rolling. This may be why The Light Between Oceans wasn't as successful as had been hoped. This is the downside to this strategy.

One thing to note however. The reviews for The Light Between Oceans were under embargo yet they were released early. Embargoes are an important part of the strategy these days and has nothing to do with the quality of the film. They ensure that all the critics, all the news, is dominated by the film at the time it needs them most – on its release. They used to have a bad reputation but now they are commonly used. The question is – would an embargo for a blockbuster have been broken? Probably not as the production company would have retaliated. In this case the film was a minor release on a studio’s (Dreamworks) slate so the repercussions would have been negligible.

In my opinion Critics have an essential role. They do represent the people because the vast majority of them are honest film fans. Their tastes may differ from ours because they see so many films and after a while they grow tired of the same ole same old. The vast majority of them got into the job because they love films and they continue to do so because they continue to love films. As a lover of world cinema, of arthouse cinema and cinema history I truly appreciate their role. I don't always agree with them but then I rarely agree with anyone when it comes to movies.

I'm just really glad they do what they do.

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jmsebastian · 8 years

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Demonstrating Confidence

One of the trends that’s started to come back in a big way is the video game demo. Once the CD era of console gaming really took off, demos of upcoming games started to become a bit of a genre unto themselves. Since the physical medium of the compact disc made large storage capacity both easy and fairly inexpensive to reproduce at high volumes, developers and publishers saw a golden opportunity to get players excited for games still in development. What better way to get hyped on a title by your favorite publisher than to sit down and play the next big thing for an action packed thirty minutes?

For consoles, CDs were the necessary piece of the technological puzzle to make demos a viable option. Outside of the data storage and relative ease of printing, discs were also cheaper to package. They weighed considerably less than the plastic housing and circuit board that comprised cartridges. Plus, they were flat. The physical dimensions of the disc made them perfect for wrapping in plastic and taping to a magazine cover, making purchasing one of the several publications that shipped with one more enticing. Their robustness of the platform also made for a reliable product. So long as the disc wasn’t significantly bent, there was little worry that they would be damaged after packaging.

It was common practice for multiple game demos to be placed onto a single disc, meaning players could get a taste of a wide range of genres and developers in one go. Alongside demos were often promo videos or behind the scenes type interviews geared toward making the games presented look as appealing as possible. They were pretty effective. So effective, in fact, that demos had the power to sell copies of games that might not have had much of an audience without them. Capcom used a bonus demo disc of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis to push sales of its new sister survival horror series, Dino Crisis. They even doubled down on this strategy by including a demo of Dino Crisis with copies of Resident Evil 3 (the games were released just two months apart in 1999).

The convenience and efficiency of demos was already well known among PC gamers. Shareware, the practice of giving away a chunk of a game for free with an option to pay for registration of the full release, had built up many of the early giants of the industry, such as id Software. This method was well suited to smaller developers who couldn’t afford to spend a lot of money on traditional marketing. Instead they relied on the quality of their game and the praise of that quality being spread by word of mouth. The theory was that the game would essentially be good enough to sell itself. If players could get a little taste of the experience, they’d be so hooked they’d have no choice but to cough up the dough to keep their high going.

What the console demos and shareware culture of the 1990s shared was confidence: confidence in the games that were being made, and confidence that players were going to like, and thus, buy those games once they’d had the chance to play. This confidence, of course, didn’t come from nowhere. Gaming was becoming a larger and larger business. Likewise, technology was changing the very foundation of what made games appealing. Where before players were excited by the idea of being able to play games at home like they had in the arcade previous, as the medium matured, so did the players. Creating exciting new games meant pushing boundaries, showing players things they’d never seen before, aiming for a more complete representation of what the imagined game was. New graphical displaying techniques and modeling methods meant that the virtual space could more accurately depict our own. Game makers had a lot to be confident about as they promised to deliver on these lofty ideals.

That confidence, naturally, turned into complacency. Once players could no longer be wowed by how many polygons a computer or console could render on screen, and once the characters made up of those polygons crept toward the uncanny valley, many game developers kind of lost sight of what had gotten them to such great heights in the first place. The promise of “the next big thing” was still being lofted up to maintain interest, but it was no longer being delivered on. As games failed to be innovative simply by being pretty and 3D, the response to bold claims about new experiences became less enthusiastic, more skeptical.

In that climate, game demos started to fall away. They never disappeared completely, of course, but they weren’t the standard marketing method anymore. In their place stood TV (and online video ads), press conferences, video game industry events, a more traditional media circus. Companies didn’t need to ship out tens or hundreds of thousands of demos to regular consumer players, or include them with other retail releases. Instead, companies could just have some journalists play a very tailored and guided segment of a build at a private event, or show off some footage that may or may not actually represent the game during a press conference. Companies wanted more control over what information was available, and the removal of demos was a way to curb bad word of mouth. For those of us who relied on the demo to help slightly bolster our game libraries, and used them to shape our buying decisions, having demos disappear felt like game developers lost connection with players and no longer considered them when making their games.

It has been a genuine surprise and delight to see demos on consoles returning with such gusto. Part of that return is driven by another leap in technology. Like PCs before them, consoles now live largely on the internet. Where CDs were a relatively cheap way to create more game copies for less money than had been the industry standard previously, delivering games digitally lowered those costs even more significantly. This shift relied heavily on the speed of internet increasing for the average consumer. It’s all well and good to have your Playstation 4 hooked up to the internet, but if your download speed is in the single megabytes a second, downloading a four gig demo sure is going to take a while, nevermind a full Blu-ray capacity game.

With the technological hurdles largely being stepped over, an attitude change was likewise needed to return to the demo model of the ‘90s and early 2000s Why is it that Dragon Quest: Builders, Nier: Automata, Resident Evil 7¸ Gravity Rush 2, and Nioh all had exciting, impactful demos? P.T. certainly seems to have had something to do with it. Despite being a demo for a game that never materialized, P.T. struck a chord with players. It had a lot going for it. Hideo Kojima, one of the most auteurist game developers, pairing with acclaimed film director Guillermo Del Toro, was enough to get people talking on its own. That talk would have amounted to little had the demo itself been unspectacular, but the creative team delivered in a big way. It felt new despite being a first person horror exploration game, not exactly a genre lacking in titles. It felt exciting, partly because it portrayed a beloved game series in a way players hadn’t seen before, but also simply because the production quality and attention to detail spoke to its ambitions. It was confident.

Kojima and Del Toro have had incredible careers in their respective industries. Though P.T. was a bit of a meeting in the middle for the two creators, it was obvious that they felt good about what they were doing. They knew what they wanted to make and excited to let players get a taste for themselves. The eventual fallout with Konami may have doomed the game, ultimately, but it did manage to drum up a ton of coverage and a lot of player interest. P.T. proved that the demo was still a valuable piece of marketing. The name, an abbreviation of Playable Trailer, obscured its ties to the storied Silent Hill series, providing some evidence that an interactive teaser like P.T. could carry weight and marketability all on its own. Given the success of that demo, it’s no surprise that Capcom ripped the page right out of Kojima’s book with the demo for Resident Evil 7 that took the form of the first person horror adventure.

That confidence, the one that had helped foster interest and sell mega hits like Final Fantasy VII, has started to make its way back to more developers and studios, especially those in Japan. Square Enix knew it was making a great game when it released the demo for Dragon Quest: Builders, just like Platinum Games knew it was making a great game when it put out the demo for Nier: Automata. Even with the Resident Evil 7 example, Capcom is showing some swagger, whether justified or not. That confidence is at odds with simultaneous trends of game developers refusing to put out release copies of games for fear of bad reviews eating into their sales. At a time where video game sales are good, yet many developers are still struggling to stay open, the existence of demos has the larger impact of showing players and the industry at large that these developers are proud of what they are working on.

(Capcom was a little less subtle with their teaser than Kojima.)

That counts for a lot. Perhaps some of the innovation is still missing in games (though virtual reality might be the remedy for that lull), and maybe the foundation shaking switch from 2D to 3D can never be replicated, but there’s something different about some of the companies making games right now. They don’t seem so afraid to be making them. They know that if they focus on quality, that if they try to do something a bit different, and if they let players actually get a chance to try it out, people will want to play them. Hopefully that strategy pays off and that confidence will be rewarded so that developers can go on to make the next game.

#video games #hideo kojima #p.t. silent hill #nier automata #resident evil #capcom #konami

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