Welcome to Hell ~ pop culture reviews by Glenn Walker
Glenn Walker is a writer with too much time on his hands, or depending on the day, not enough time on his hands. He loves, hates and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture. Given that, he has to vomit up his voluminous opinions on it here... Welcome to Hell...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Bad Names, Bad Games
There's quite a controversy going on in the UK over a new Wii game called Wii Fit.
Apparently in measuring a child's BMI (Body Mass Index) it called that child "fat." Never mind that the game is not for kids, nor designed with kids in mind, the poor girl has apparently suffered severe emotional damage from the inanimate game machine because of it.
I'm left wondering however how the parents will react if another child ever hurls an insult at their daughter. Will they sue? Demand reparations? Ask that the guilty child have a warning tattooed to his or her forehead, or worse yet, be taken out of society?
Capricorn One ~ This 1978 film by writer/director Peter Hyams was influenced by wild rumors and urban legends that the US moon landing was faked. In Capricorn One, a Mars landing is faked, but when a glitch in the actual splashdown of the unmanned capsule makes it impossible for the astronauts to have survived – the real guys on Earth are infinitely expendable. Hilarity ensues.
Excellent excellent performances by Elliot Gould who plays an unorthodox reporter on the trail of the cover-up and James Brolin as one of the astronauts. Others among this chiefly 1970s cast do wonderful jobs including Karen Black and Brenda Vaccaro, and even a pre-murder O.J. Simpson. Hal Holbrook even proves that he’s been Oscar-worthy decades before the Academy ever decided he was. Capricorn One also features one of Jerry Goldsmith’s better early scores.
Other than the dated 1970s trappings and cast, this is a very current film, and I wonder why in this political environment it hasn’t been optioned for a remake. This was much better than I remember it, and highly recommend it.
Live television is a wonderful thing. Whether it's Andy Kaufman acting like a spoiled child on "Fridays," Janet Jackson flashing a boob at the Super Bowl, or Bud Dwyer taking his own life at a press conference - shit happens. Two nights ago, longtime New York newscaster had her own 'event.'
Here's her 'error,' and the apology that came a bit later.
My question is what exactly was she reacting to?
Bet they won't be doing those news teasers live any more, huh?
Speed Racer ~ Forget the Matrix films, and even forget Bound, this –at least so far- is the crowning achievement of the Wachowski brothers.
Folks have said that it’s too bright, too busy and too fast to watch and that it causes headaches, but my advice is to get used to it. But if memory serves, those are the same complaints made to Toni Basil about her "Mickey" music video waaay back in 1982, and so she toned it down. Now, not only are fast cuts commonplace but that particular video is considered extremely tame. Media will change, and the audiences will get acclimated. With Speed Racer, the Wachowskis have come very close to creating a completely new style of film. Twenty years from now, they will be praised as visionaries. I would bet on it. This is an experience rather than a film.
Speed Raceris busy, and I’m sure multiple viewings will be required to catch every nuance. For this reason I predict its box office as well as DVD rentals and sales will be huge. There are superior performances from Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci and Rain, and especially all the cars, real CGI or green screen. If I were pressed to find something wrong with the flick I would say at times the Wachowskis make the same mistake NBC made with "Knight Rider." When in doubt, always remember, the car is the star.
Speed Racer is an incredible film. As a kid who grew up watching the original "Speed Racer" cartoon, and then, like all my friends, replaying out what I’d seen with my Hot Wheels and Matchboxes, this is a dream come true. See it, see it twice, and as they say in lacrosse – you’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge.
The simple truth of the matter is that no matter how huge the hype and anticipation for any comic book movie is, it will invariably tank and/or suck. Yeah, some comic fans will love it but for the most part, they will tear it apart piece by piece. That's just the way it goes. There's something about the comic book enthusiast that is kissing kin with the obsessive/compulsive. Continuity and source material are prime objectives when bringing a superhero to the big screen.
And then comes Iron Man...
If anyone had told me, and they did, people whose opinions I trust, that Iron Man was the one of, if not the, best superhero movies ever made - I just would have flat out laughed. These things always go awry. Those idiots in Hollywood will mess something up - the history, the character, the costume, something - it always happens. But it doesn't happen here.
The story is near perfect and Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as Tony Stark is dead on, as well as being possibly one of the best of his career. The special effects are beautiful, and the movie is not only accessible to the mainstream audience but contains enough Easter eggs to keep the fanboys giggling with glee for months.
See it, see it now, and see it on the big screen. This is one of those movies that must be seen on the big screen. And a heads up for all the comic book fans out there - wait through the four and half minutes of credits for the last scene or you'll kick yourselves. Hard.
Free Comic Book Day this year is on May 3rd, this coming Saturday, so don't forget to swing by your local comics shop for your free goodies. For more details, click here. To find your local comic book shop, click here. And if you're in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, the place to be is All Things Fun!.
Yesterday RockStar Games' "Grand Theft Auto IV" was released, and is estimated to make almost six million dollars by the end of this week - far more than any theatrical film in history. Above is IGN's top-rated review of the game as well as several minutes of scenes.
But as I said, it's that time again. It's time for the typical media sandblast by 'journalists' who will do no research, be purposefully judgmental, and show how truly unprofessional they are. It's also time for dozens of parents groups to protest and whine and bitch even though they haven't played a videogame since "Space Invaders" and will never ever even take a look at the "GTA IV" game.
These same people can't seem to understand that the game is not for kids, was not designed for kids and was never intended for kids. The game is rated, per the law, M for Mature - that means 'not for kids' for all the brain-dead folks out there.
Just because you don't like it, or can't understand it, doesn't mean other folks can't have fun and enjoy it. Go back to your Atari 2600 and play "Pong," hopefully it won't offend too much.
The new season of "South Park," or what passes for a new season - whenever creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone cobble up enough new material for about six episodes, needs Cliff's Notes in my opinion, or at least footnotes of some kind.
I've found that this new season has been very heavy on obscure pop culture references, so obscure that when I talk with friends about them they don't know what I'm talking about. It's pretty sad when my usually intelligent friends come off like Beavis and Butthead, "Heh heh, he said butt."
Parker and Stone have been going pretty deep this season with episodes that reference - and sometimes only in subtext - Anne Frank, Chris Crocker, Tay Zonday, Samwell, Heavy Metal, drug abuse, urban legends, paparazzi, genetics and the WGA strike. It's too bad this new 'season' is over. I just hope the next is just as good, and deep.
Throughout April Philadelphia is host to the, duh, Philadelphia Film Festival. As always the event is spotlighted (and continues to be throughout the month, check them out) by many terrific new films and features. One of the best this year, in my opinion at least, was the presentation of the 1920 silent version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Prince Music Theater. Now if seeing this classic on the big screen wasn't enough, it was scored live by local band, Golden Ball. This was a unique experience as this is how it was done back in the day -with an organ or piano granted, but still - this was still way cool. It took a few minutes to get used to Golden Ball as unfortunately the band was too loud for the room, but once we were settled in, and used to the groove, everything was cool. And John Barrymore's performance was as terrific now as it was nearly ninety years ago. A terrific evening all around.
"Retro Sentry" - my comic book review of the Mighty Avengers #10, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, is now online at Avengers Forever.
Iron Man, Doctor Doom and the Sentry are blown back to the 1980s in a time travel accident, can they work together enough to get back home or will they just destroy one another? – but as usual, it’s never as good as it sounds - check out my review here:
