This blog is for all things related to geeks or that could relate to geeks. That means comics, video games, movies, music, sports, and anything else you can think of. Sports do not usually fall into those terms, but trust me, a guy who memorizes every statistic in the Baseball Almanac is a geek, just a different type. Also, as long as it is not defamitory, I thrive on difference of opinions and intelligent criticisms. So bring it on fellow geeks.
After days of images of Green Lantern Rings, Batarangs, and Webshooters dancing through my head, I've finally been able to remotely connect back to reality, dragging myself out of my NY ComicCon overload and managing to write something. The amazing events leading up to and during NY ComicCon included more previews for big movies and video games than I could count and I got exclusive interviews and demos on some of the hottest games and movies coming out in the next couple of months, and enough to keep me writing for a good long time.
My articles dealing with NY ComicCon will span the next few weeks and probably go in order of what is coming out first so there is less time for you to anticipate the gems galore I was able to get sneak peeks at. Keeping that in mind, my first article deals with a movie that is coming out on Friday, February 13th. No, it isn't the new Friday the 13th movie, although the horror genre does appeal to a special group of the geek community. No, I'm talking about my advanced screening of The International, the new action-thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts.
The basic premise is simple. Everyone uses banks to keep their cash safe and to basically earn free money by collecting interest as the money sits in the bank. Of course, the banks are government funded organizations and what most people forget is that the money is allowed to be used by the government to do whatever they deem is necessary for the good of their representatives. So what happens when that money starts being used by the bankers themselves for some very underhanded dealings? Not the Bush Administration, but close!
Clive Owen is an Interpol agent charged with tracking a bank in Luxemburg that allegedly is using investors' money to illegally buy and sell weapons. He teams up with Naomi Watts who works out of the New York City District Attorney's Office and has also been tracking this case since the New York branch is one of the top fronts for this bank. Action and drama ensue as the two seem to be the only ones who believe what the clues are telling them as they try to take down one of the most powerful banks in the world.
To be honest, I went into this not expecting much and walked away rather pleased. Not the smartest conspiracy action-thriller to ever come out, it did at least hold your attention for most of the movie and kept the twists and turns fresh and fun from the get-go. Naomi Watts' performance left something to be desired, but Clive Owen was solid as the Interpol agent whose career has revolved around this one case and would go through any means necessary to see justice delivered.
The ensemble cast around the two stars of the movie was great as well, from the assassin the bank hires, to the men at the top of the bank itself. They all seemed to fit in the movie perfectly, much like the clues Clive Owen finds as he tries to crack this career-long puzzle.Aside from Ms. Watts' lackluster performance, the only other negative aspect of this movie was that it seemed like everything came across as too simple, that everything fit too neatly and still not enough people in the movie supported Owen and Watts.
Positives, aside from the cast excluding Ms. Watts, include the overall flow of the movie. The pace was enough to keep you interested to the point that when it ends, you don't realize that 1 hour 58 minutes has passed. The plot does move at a very traditional pace though with everything slowly building to a climatic shootout followed by a neat winding down of the plot to its conclusion in the final 20 minutes.
With all the God-awful romantic detritus that is out there right now from Confessions of a Shopaholic to He's Just Not That in to You, it's nice to see someone come up with a semi-original plot with decent writing and action that holds your attention. If you're looking for a break from the Hollywood crap factory, for something a little bit smarter, then take a look at The International and you probably won't be disappointed.
Its efforts like this from Marvel that have almost made me "Hulk-out" on many an occasion. I will give them some credit; their timing is impeccable. A few months after the release of the solid Incredible Hulk remake with Edward Norton on DVD, days before the New York Comic Con, and only a couple of months before Wolverine: Origins hits theatres, Marvel Studios drops this little wannabe gem on us called Hulk VS.
"Versus who?" you ask. Well, who do you want to see fight the Hulk? This is after all the question that the folks at Marvel seemed to ask themselves since this effort is just a huge piece of fan fiction to drive the fan-boys into frenzied fits at comic-conventions.
Hulk VS. is a straight to DVD release that contains not one, but TWO "movies". I have to put those magical punctuations around the word "movies" with this because something that can be strung across a pair of Saturday morning cartoon episodes should not be considered an actual movie. To try to make this geek-gasm on a disc worth your money, Marvel paired two separate Hulk adventures onto this DVD and even then it times out to only 82 minutes.
First, we see the not-so-jolly green giant take on the man who is "the best at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice". A pre-X-MEN Wolverine has been tasked by his Department H headmasters to locate and subdue a monster who is wreaking havoc in the Canadian countryside. Dept. H is a fictional spin on Canada's CSIS, by the way. Fictional, of course, because who expects Canada to have any REAL intelligence agency? After picking up the scent, Wolverine begins to track the Hulk across the Canadian Rockies.
The action quickly picks up as Wolverine finds a quivering Bruce Banner in the woods and he wants to know why there is a half-naked man in freezing temperatures out in the middle of nowhere. Wolverine's subsequent threats get under Banner's skin, transforming Banner into his worse half and the highlight of the "movie" ensues with a defining battle taking place with moments from all the Hulk vs. Wolverine battles that have happened over the past 30 years, again catering to the fan-boys. Before it can end, Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike, Deadpool, and Omega Red appear out of nowhere. We then see a montage of Wolverine's origin story, which is not explained so if you are unfamiliar with the character, you end up lost, confused, and frustrated because I thought the Hulk was supposed to be the main character here and we just had every major bad guy and moment from Wolverine's history thrown into a five minute montage. The story then continues in a Wolverine and Hulk TEAM-UP against the Weapon X rejects. After they are defeated, the Hulk and Wolverine go back to fighting each other, for no apparent reason, and the credits start to roll on a freeze frame a la Rocky vs. Apollo Creed like they were two friends sparring in some eternal duel.
This first DVD is a complete and utter disappointment. The things that made me furious as a comics fan far outweigh the handful of positives in this. When all the special features vignettes outlast the actual "movie" by almost 20 minutes each, you know you got off on the wrong foot.
The only positives were that the animation style kept in line with the popular Japanese style that many American animation studios have adapted in recent history (starting in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series and continuing through most major superhero cartoons up to this point) and living up to those standards, they tried to make it play like a comic story arc, and the introduction of Deadpool to animation.
The negatives include the horrible character development, the fact that the name of the title is Hulk vs. Wolverine and it ended up being Hulk and Wolverine vs. Weapon X, the horrible animation model for Sabertooth, who looked nearly the same size as Wolverine, the fact that the entire movie could have been done over the course of a Saturday morning special, and you just have a frustrating, disjointed viewing experience as if you were reading a comic story arc, but missed several issues. If you are a diehard comics fan then you will probably be able to sit through it because you already know the back stories and will recognize the many, many references the "movie" makes to the comics, but if you are a casual fan, this would not be for you. Add in a few typical behind the scenes vignettes and special commentary packages and the special edition part of this disc is not very special at all.
The second piece in this two part Hulk-fest sees Mr. "You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry" against the mighty Thor, the Norse God of Thunder in the aptly titled: Hulk vs. Thor. This second "movie" was a lot better than the first. With a narrated opening montage that explains all you need to know about Asgard (realm of the Norse gods) and the characters in play, the plot is revealed within the first five minutes and the rest is non-stop smashing. Loki, the Norse God of Mischief and Evil has separated Bruce Banner from the essence that is the Hulk and unleashed him on Asgard during its weakest hour.
Without Banner to keep the Hulk tethered to humanity, the Hulk rampages throughout Asgard, laying waste to all in his path and all that stands between Hulk and the complete destruction of Asgard is Thor. The Hulk, being the only thing that could compete with a god, handily smashes Thor. Loki is betrayed though by his minion, the nicely drawn Enchantress, who revives Thor because it seems she's got a crush on Mr. Goldilocks. She reveals what Loki has done and the rest of the movie is cut between Thor trying to reunite Banner with the Hulk and Hulk just laying waste to the rest of Asgard's army as he makes a beeline towards the temporarily incapacitated Odin (near omnipotent king of the gods) with Thor finally succeeding in the end.
This "movie" was much better in terms of establishing the plot and giving the heroes an objective. Still though, being only 45 minutes, again this could have been done over a pair of Saturday morning specials and we could have been done with it. Instead, Marvel wanted to show off the new blood special effects that they have for animation so they could get a PG-13 rating on a cartoon and therefore make it so they couldn't put it on network Saturday mornings and mass produce these ridiculously overpriced DVDs. Again, the special feature vignettes are just "How we produced 82 minutes of par animation and charged you $24.99 for it" and they last longer than the actual "movie".
I have to end on the note that I really hope they do better with future releases in the "VS." series Marvel is planning. On an individual basis, Hulk vs. Wolverine gets a 1 out of 5 and Hulk vs. Thor gets a 2 out of 5 to average it out to a whopping 1.5 out of 5. Unless you are a hardcore Marvel fan-boy, I would probably avoid these or rent them at most.
The name of the game says it all. Halo Wars is a prequel in the canon of Halo, but some would consider it a look forward for the series in terms of its grand war-like scale. Halo Wars turns the Halo series on its head by taking it out of the 1st person shooter perspective and pulling the camera way back to a satellite view and turning it into a Real-Time Strategy game.
Now, initial reactions when this game was revealed were a chorus of moans and groans because, traditionally, it is impossible to have any good RTS on a console and people were afraid of what it would do to the Halo series. In terms of problems, many times in console RTS games it is hard to manage and find your resources, difficult to choose units and the glitches with troop movement are enough to make you throw your controller through the TV. I had a chance to play an early make of the game and it seems that most of these problems have been corrected.
Managing resources is a breeze because all the resources have been streamlined into one resource that is produced right next your base. Basically, the construction that manages your resources is a helipad and you are constantly getting supplies from your mother ship sent to your base of operations planet-side. Finding and managing resources, taken care of.
Choosing groups of troops and commanding them has also been streamlined. By pressing the A button, you can either choose unit by unit, or if you hold it, the cursor turns into a larger paintbrush type tool that will select troops highlighted by this large circular cursor. This method simplifies making groups of troops to the point that you'll be sending scouting parties, making flanking maneuvers, and leaving no man behind in barely any time at all.
The gameplay is smooth and crisp and the story has been reworked repeatedly to sit well with all those hardcore Halo fan-boys. I also have found something that might compete with the Gears of War Lancer Chainsaw Rifle fun-level; running over a platoon of Covenant ground troops with a squadron of Warthog vehicles. Their screams of fear and pain followed by a satisfying *squish* may be my new guilty gaming pleasure.
Also, for you die-hard Halo fans, wrap your heads around this. You enjoy controlling one Spartan in Master Chief. Think about controlling an entire platoon. Let the geek-gasms commence. (I know, there is still only one Master Chief, though)
This game could pave the way for the RTS genre to finally find a foothold on consoles. It solves the traditional problems that come with an RTS on a console and has the backing of the powerhouse Halo franchise. It's easy to just pick up and start playing and once you start playing, you don't want to stop. I had to have the controller forcible ripped from my hands once my time with the demo was up and I spent three days in a dark room going through painful Halo Wars withdrawal involving the sounds of muted screams of Covenant troops and flashes of images of Warthogs and dropships. And, of course, a Master Chief with a rotating head.
I soon won't be the only one addicted because Microsoft announced a couple of weeks ago at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that a downloadable demo for Halo Wars will be available on February 5, 2009, via XBOX Live. If you can't wait for the downloadable demo, then take a look at the video above where I had a chance to sit down with Graeme Devine, Lead Story Writer for Halo Wars, and take a look at some awesome actual gameplay and cinemas and hear from the source how the plot unfolds. Be sure to check back here when the game comes out for a full review, but early impressions have me saying that Halo Wars looks like one of the first must-haves of the year, and if you want a little more than a demo, look for it on store shelves March 3, 2009.
A sure fire way to sell comics is to hit readers with something they would not see coming. Even with the rumor mills swirling, most comic readers won't believe it until they see it. Well, the unthinkable has happened. Almost 70 years after his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, in issue #6 (of 7) of the Final Crisis series, Batman has been killed off by DC Comics. Supposedly, this was well in the works, but Warner Bros., a major stock holder in DC Comics and publisher of all Batman related movies and television programs, had nixed his demise due to the summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight, pulling in over $500 million dollars and proving Batman was at the peak of his popularity.
Written by a master of comic book controversy, Grant Morrison, the final pages of this issue would be the possible final pages of the Caped Crusader. Here is how Morrison's controversial vision unfolded. Gotham's Guardian, after having foiled every plot by Darkseid to manipulate the Dark Knight into helping Darkseid create an army of mindless soldiers with Batman's unique skill set, confronts Darkseid in his earthly stronghold. After exchanging words, the two stare each down in the style of a Wild West duel at high noon. Batman, going against every fiber of his character to never use a gun and to never kill, pulls out the weapon that murdered the New God, Orion. It was a gun that fires Radion bullets. Radion, of course, is the only substance that Darkseid and the other "New Gods" are weak against, much like Superman is weak against Kryptonite. In the battle between man and god, Batman's trigger finger was faster than Darkseid's Omega Beams (imagine Superman's heat vision multiplied by 1000). Batman's shot was pretty impressive for someone who never used a gun. Unfortunately, Darkseid also got his shot off and vaporized the Dark Knight. The issue ends with Superman carrying Batman's charred carcass from the stronghold.
If there is anything that has been consistent with these major death/re-launch events is that they provide a temporary boost in sales before a sharp decline sets in as people usually respond unfavorable to the replacements to these heroic icons. There are three major ones from "The Big 2" that stick out in my mind as failures.
The first two were in 1993 when Superman died and Batman had his back broken by Bane and was replaced by Jean Paul Valley, better known as Azrael. The public outcry for Superman to return was immediate and led to one of the worst story arcs in his history as DC struggled to find a way to bring him back. When Batman was replaced, and DC worked to correct it, it at least led to some of the more memorable story arcs in his recent history with the Knightfall and KnightsEnd arcs where it detailed his rehab to come back and wrest the title of Batman back from Azrael who had gone mad with power.
The third is the very recent re-launch of Spider-Man where he sold his marriage with Mary Jane to Mephisto (the devil) to save Aunt May's life. This was one of the worst implemented re-launches in comic history and Spidey's sales have suffered greatly because of it. With a horribly written four issue story arc called One More Day, Marvel rewrote over 20 years and 250 issues worth of continuity. How do you think the conversation between Marvel executives go when this decision came down? I think it would go something along the lines of a Guinness beer commercial.
Marvel Exec. 1: How do we re-launch Spider-Man and save Aunt May?
Marvel Exec. 2: This is a tough one. We need something that will do the character justice and stay true to him while making sure our readers understand why we made our decision to do this.
Marvel Exec. 1: Let's just have him sell his marriage to Mephisto and we'll go from there.
Marvel Exec. 2: Brilliant!
Marvel Exec. 1: Brilliant!
Everything I knew about Spider-Man, that I had learned over my 23 years, was gone in a matter of four weeks. Since the re-launch, Marvel has been reduced to using gimmicks like Spider-Man meeting President-Elect Obama to try and push sales and save one of their most beloved heroes.
A major issue DC has, is now that Batman has passed on, how do they keep Batman, Detective Comics, and all other Batman related series going without the main character, or at least until they decide to bring Batman back. They have already announced the I AM BATMAN story arc beginning in March that will encompass all existing titles as Robin, Nightwing, Damian (Batman's illegitimate son with Talia Al' Guhl), the newly resurrected Jason Todd (card carrying member with the revolving door of death), Alfred, Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and everyone else who might have any claim to the cowl duke it out to see who will inherit the mantra of the Dark Knight. My money is on the current Robin, Tim Drake. He has the best detective skills of all the candidates and was closest to the dearly departed.
Another dilemma that could (and should) arise is that once DC realizes the error of their ways, how do they bring back someone they had vaporized? In the very same issue, Superman was in the future (read the rest of Final Crisis to understand why) and as he was about to return back to the present, Brainiac 8 of the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st century, revealed to Superman a device called the Miracle Machine. This device was created in the 29th century by the Guardians of the Universe, the same guardians who created the Central Power Battery for the Green Lantern Corps. With the experience of creating devices powered by one's will, the Guardians created this device that was so powerful, that the simplest thought entered into the Miracle Machine, could be made into reality. Of course, such a powerful device is kept under constant watch by the Legion of Superheroes and only a select few even know of its existence. Here is your obvious fix to bring Batman back once DC sees their sales plummet. Send Superman to the future (since he seems to be there every year or two anyways), grab the machine, think Batman back into existence, and the problem is solved. I know it is ridiculous, but these are the kind of things that fit right into revolving door of death in comics.
The landscape of comics is always changing, but this might be the straw that breaks a lot of backs. This ranks up there with some of the worst storyline moves ever made in comics history and I am sure I am not the only one that is shaking their head in disbelief. I would not be surprised to see some of the worst backlash in comic history from this. Batman is at an all-time popularity high with the comics, movies, video games, merchandise, and anything else you can stick a Batman emblem on in the public domain, and DC has just sent their cash cow to the hamburger factory for no apparent reason. Keep looking here as this situation continues to unfold in the coming months. -Ray Carsillo
It was a beautiful night at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, this year's site for the 2008 Spike TV Video Game Awards. The 6th annual awards show proved to be the biggest and best one yet with such stars as Neil Patrick Harris, Eliza Dushku, and Kiefer Sutherland on hand, Weezer, 50 Cent, LL Cool J, and the All-American Rejects performing, and hosted by the larger-than-life Jack Black (some of whom you can see in the video of my exploits on the red carpet before the actual show).
The show kicked off with a bang with Jack Black coming out and doing what seemed like an endless tribute skit to all of us video game geeks, while at the same time poking fun at us as he sang about reading and healthy relationships being our mortal enemies as we progress onto video game heaven. Healthy relationships maybe, but reading the subtitles in cut-scenes is integral to the plot of any video game.
Aside from all the celebrities, and awesome musical performances, the thing a lot of us geeks were most anticipating were the reveals of new game trailers, giving many of us hope that 2009 would be even bigger and better than 2008. Trailers for God of War III, Mafia 2, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, Dante's Inferno, Fight Night Round 4, Uncharted 2, and the highly anticipated Brutal Legend were just a few of the many reveals that had fans salivating over the new year. Only time will tell whether these games end up walking away with some awards next year since trailers are always supposed to look good. It doesn't mean the game actually will be good (except God of War III; I have total faith in that dominating).
We are still in 2008, though, even if for only a short while longer, and the night revolved around the best of what this year had to offer. Some games were clearly head and shoulders above their competition, while others were tougher to call, and then there were some that I flat-out disagreed with. Just like other awards shows, whether it is music, movies, or whatever, some of the nominees get a huge gust of positive hype in their sails and it propels them to the trophy when they are not worthy of the title. In my opinion, this was the case on several occasions for this awards show, as well.
"So just who walked away with what?" you may ask. Well, the video game community gathered, as many developers waited nervously to see how their years of hard work would be received by the expert panel, and here are how some of the biggest awards panned out:
Best Team Sports Game is pretty dull when it comes to nominees. You're always going to have nominees from the five biggest sports (yes, soccer is included due to its worldwide appeal). This year was no different. Madden 09, NBA 2K9, NHL 09, and FIFA 09 were the nominees. Madden is always a favorite due to its mass appeal, but there were rumors that it would fall short this year because most hardcore Madden gamers had a lot of complaints about it compared to previous years. NBA 2K9 was almost a pity nominee just so that EA Sports did not sweep the nominees. This left FIFA and the NHL, two of the least popular sports in the U.S.A. and more popular sports worldwide with a chance at the trophy. To my pleasant surprise, NHL 09 arose victorious and I agreed on every level. It was easily the most accurate sports simulation of the year, with new features like "Be a Pro" mode to compliment the thorough "Dynasty" mode, this was the right choice for Best Sports Game.
Best Shooter was another category that I thought the panel nailed right on the head. The nominees were Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead, Resistance 2, and Far Cry 2. I knew this was going to Gears of War 2 the instance I beat that game because I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there is no more satisfying feeling than sneaking up behind someone and slicing them to ribbons with the Lancer Chainsaw Rifle. Plain and simple. The others games did not even come close in my mind. Resistance 2 seemed like they had tried to copy as many things from Gears as possible and had taken away the heart that Resistance 1had. Left 4 Dead was nice, but it was just another carbon copy of all zombie shooters that have come out since Resident Evil 4. Far Cry 2 did not even register on my radar it paled so much in comparison to Gears of War 2. In what seemed like the year of sequel, Gears of War 2 was a sequel that went above and beyond the first in ways you could only hope for and was very deserving of the Best Shooter trophy. Gears of War 2 also walked away with Best XBOX360 Game, giving it two awards in the five categories it was nominated in.
One of the categories that made me grind my teeth in frustration was Best Wii Game. I thought the system was very well represented with the nominees. Boom Blox, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, No More Heroes, and Wii Fit were great selections because it showed the range of the Nintendo Wii. The fact that the award went to Boom Blox though shows that most people do not give the Wii the respect it deserves. Yes, you do not think of the Wii for hardcore gamers, but when you have Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was also robbed of Best Fighter by another overrated game in Soul Caliber 4, that is another in the long list of dominate franchises Nintendo has and had an amazing story mode to go with the combat, you just have to shake your head when the trophy falls to something like Boom Blox. Even if No More Heroes had won, you could agree with it. No More Heroes comes from the insane mind of Suda 51 and the anime graphics style that it was created with, the over the top combat, and the fact that the hero had the greatest weapon ever created as his main tool, a lightsaber, made this guilty pleasure more than worthy. Instead, the award went to Jenga on steroids. Have we not learned that everything Steven Spielberg has made in the past 10 years or so is absolute garbage? Yes, Boom Blox is a fun multi-player game, especially for kids 10 and under, but in terms of showing what the system could do, or being revolutionary, this game was ridiculously overrated. The people who voted for this probably also loved Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Curse you Steven Spielberg, why do people still love you for things you did 20 years ago and fail to look at the crap you have been force-feeding us for the past 10? I also just realized that Steven Speilberg and Brett Favre must be related somehow.
Another category that made me just shake my head with frustration was Best Studio. This award goes to the game studio that went above and beyond its competition for 2008. The nominees were Media Molecule for Little Big Planet (on the PS3), Rockstar North for Grand Theft Auto 4 (on the PS3 and XBOX360), Harmonix for Rock Band 2 (on the Wii, XBOX360, and PS3), and Bethesda Game Studios for Fallout 3 (on the PS3 and XBOX360). Media Molecule walked away with this, and no offense to Media Molecule, but Little Big Planet is another game that Sony sank so much money into its advertising that, I guess, people were hypnotized by the simplest game I've ever played. Little Big Planet is a cute game, but again, this is a game better suited for gamers under the age of 10 that just had a revved up Create a Level mode. For the work and time that went into GTA 4 and considering the high level of product that was produced, there was no way Rockstar should not have come away with this. Especially since GTA 4 was named OVERALL GAME OF THE YEAR. GTA 4 is one of those rare occurrences when a game with so much hype and press actually lives up to it when it comes out. It is a travesty that Little Big Planet and Media Molecule got as much as it did for such an overhyped game. Little Big Planet also won Best PS3 Game over Metal Gear Solid 4 and GTA 4. I just have trouble understanding how a game that wins Overall Game of the Year, like GTA 4, does not come away with more awards. Were they trying to just "share the love"? At least GTA 4's getting Overall Game of the Year I agreed with.
So that was a taste of the 2008 Spike TV Video Game Awards. Check out the VGA page here http://www.spike.com/event/vga to see some of those amazing trailers I mentioned and to get the list of winners from all 25 categories. I want to give a special thanks to Geoff Keighley, Aileen Budow, David Schwarz, and the rest of the great people at Spike TV for extending me the invite and for accommodating me on the red carpet. It was easily the highlight of my year as a gamer and a journalist and it meant a lot to me to be there. Also, special congratulations to Will Wright for winning the Video Game Lifetime Achievement Award for creating Spore and The Sims series.
This was a great way to honor everything that happened this year in gaming and here is to a great 2009. See you in the New Year, folks.
Cadillac Records chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists. It's a feverish tale of race, sex, violence, and rock 'n' roll in Chicago of the 1950s and 60s as it follows the exciting, but turbulent, lives of some of America's great musical legends.
The story centers around how the blues became popular and would pave the way for what would be rock 'n' roll and opens up on Chicago of 1947 where an ambitious young Polish immigrant bar owner, Leonard Chess (Academy Award Winner, Adrian Brody), hires a talented, but undisciplined, blues combo led by guitarist Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright) and harmonica player Little Walter (Columbus Short).
Chess arranges a recording session for Waters and when his early recordings start rocketing up the R and B charts, Chess Records is born. As time goes on, Chess treats his musicians like family, buying each one a brand new Cadillac when they record their first hit (hence the name of the movie), but the line between professional and personal matters becomes blurred on many an occasion.
Finally, in 1955, one of Chess's artists crosses over into mainstream America, a skinny guy from St. Louis with a funny "duck walk" named Chuck Berry (Mos Def). Berry's catchy, country-tinged tunes mark the birth of rock 'n' roll. When Berry is arrested at the height of his career, however, Chess has to find someone else to bridge the cross over gap.
Enter Etta James (Beyonce Knowles), an emotionally scarred young woman whose vulnerability tempts Chess's loyalty and concern in unexpected ways.
As rock 'n' roll grows more popular, the Chess artists find that booze, women, and the high life have taken their toll and as tragedy looms, Leonard Chess leaves the music business finally in the late 60s. The blues and rock 'n' roll would live on though, having forever changed the landscape of American music.
Now that you know what you'll be getting yourself into for 1 hour and 48 minutes, let me tell you why you should see this movie.
This story accurately chronicles the roots of one of the strongest aspects of our culture: the music. It tells a story that has needed telling for a long time, since most people do not know the details about the origin of our modern music and the suffering that many people went through to refine some of these great sounds.
This movie gives you the highs and the lows that you would expect from any good drama and they're woven beautifully in-between some classic songs that will have your foot tapping in the theatre.
Along with great music, you get great acting from this movie. Nearly all songs played in the movie were played by the actors themselves, there was no lip synching going on here. And since most characters were forced onto an emotional roller coaster, you really got to see the range of many of these actors.
"It was daunting. You wanted to have the fresh, green Walter to going to where he went really dark. That's why it was a challenge, but that's why I wanted to do it. It was going to challenge me and Hollywood's perception of me," said Columbus Short at the NYC premiere when asked why he took the role considering the range of Walter's life he was portraying in the film.
The struggles for many of these artists was not just making a living through music, but also trying to be accepted in the segregated America of the 1950s and 60s and the trials that came with that. Not only trying to find acceptance within their own communities, but with white America was a struggle on many different levels.
"When you see him singing, you see him alive and well and the performance side is who these man really are, but you have to survive and you're surviving segregation and heavy racism and it was a poor time. The blues is what helped them get through it. If they weren't singing, they'd be in the fields picking cotton in the hot baking sun. That was their everyday life. And that's what this film does on multiple layers. It gives you the music, the time, the good feeling you get from that music because sometimes they would be drinking and it would come out as happy music and sometimes it would be deeply painful and you would hear the pain in it. This music influenced Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Who, and in the end these men have to come back and pay homage and half the riffs you hear in this film, you do a double take and go 'oh my god, that is where that came from?' and some of them didn't even try to hide it when they took it, they just took it," commented Eamonn Walker, who plays Howlin' Wolf in the film, on the struggles the Chess Records artists went through.
There was a lot of stir around this movie as well not only for the touchy subject matter this movie deals with, but also because Hollywood loves making a stink whenever someone gains or loses weight for a role. Beyonce had to put on 20 pounds to play the legendary Etta James and I promise you she still looks amazing in the movie and, of course, she had no problem pulling off the singing. The real question would come with having to play such a troubled character on screen. I can tell you, she made it seem like it was second nature.
"I had to think about things that really meant something to me. I had to think of things that were painful and emotional and it was difficult because I would go home with swollen eyes and a big attitude every night, but it definitely paid off," said Beyonce about her inspiration.
The only problem with this movie I had was that there were so many different characters that I felt you never followed one long enough to really develop the relationship you need to have as a viewer to care about the characters. Most of these people wore their hearts on their sleeves, but you never really see where they get the shirt from.
Now, in the movie's defense, to chronicle the 20 year history of one of the most influential music companies in history, you would expect to see a lot of different characters and shifting personalities. To remedy the lack of being able to develop the characters then, they should have stressed the greatest character of all, the company itself. To have some of the most influential musicians of the 20th century all congregate at one point or another under this one roof is remarkable and not nearly emphasized enough in this movie for my liking and because there never is a single character fleshed out to the point that you feel strongly for them, the movie leaves a little something more to be desired when all is said and done.
However, when the credits are rolling, this is a solid movie. It portrays everyone involved with the dignity and class they deserve while still remaining true to the story that was Chess Records and the birth of rock 'n' roll during one of the ugliest times in American history. Everyone involved gives amazing performances and the music makes you want to run out and buy the soundtrack immediately. Anyone who has heard any rock 'n' roll from the past 40 years should see this movie, especially if they do not know where it all started. Look for Cadillac Records in theatres nationwide on Friday, December 5th. Cadillac Records gets: 4 out of 5.
Most felt that the Mortal Kombat series had suffered one of their own fatalities; they thought the previous installment in the series would mark a possible end to one of the most successful fighting franchises of all time. The genii at Midway would need something big, some twist, to rejuvenate the series and keep it fresh.
Enter one of the most enduring pop-culture franchises ever created, DC Comics. With the likes of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and many others, you had instantly recognizable names, faces, places, and powers that had just recently been rejuvenated themselves through blockbuster box office returns and are in the midst of one of the largest comic story arcs ever where evil is supposed to win in the Final Crisis.
So, what happens when two beloved pop-culture dynamos come together? They FIGHT! I present to you ladies and gentlemen: Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
If you are going to get one fighting game this holiday season, this is the one. From a storyline that actually makes sense, to brand new features like "Testing Your Might" in the middle of a battle, and mid-air and special "Klose Kombat" fighting sequences and the series has successfully been renewed.
In terms of the combat, the old Mortal Kombat system has returned along with a few new twists. There are now expert moves, moves that, if timed correctly, are automatically done twice and done more powerfully the second time. However, so small is the window to pull off these moves that even the better experts will have difficulty performing them every time. Mix this with the potential for some old school 10 hit combos, the new mid-air and up-close fighting systems, and some revamped fatalities (and brutalities for the DC Heroes since they cannot kill) and the gameplay is on par with the best of the series.
The addition of DC's greatest heroes and villains adds depth to the game by allowing you to play a deep story mode from both points of view (and you have to if you want to unlock both of the game's hidden characters). You play through the story mode and get a chance to try almost every character to see their strengths and weaknesses. (I am still a dominating force with Sub-Zero.)
The big change to the story mode from previous games is that, even though it worked for a short while, there is no more third person action adventure. The story plays out for you in-between character-specific fights. For example, when Batman meets Scorpion and the two have words with each other, there is no third-person take on this. We go to an old school, best of three rounds, Kombat scenario. I personally enjoyed the third-person adventuring, but this was the only possible way to pull off a story mode in this game considering how many great characters are available to you. And, of course, the story mode leaves it open-ended enough so there is a possibility for a second MK vs. DCU.
Those are the game's positives, but there are a few negatives. One of the big negatives is there are no level specific fatalities like in previous games. In the last installment of the Mortal Kombat series, you could knock your opponent into a lava pit or a giant meat grinder by hitting them up against certain walls or boundaries. Even in the old school games, with the right mashing of buttons at the end of a battle, you could knock your opponent into a spike pit or acid bath. These have all been removed.
Another issue I had was the lack of unlockables. The Krypt has been removed and the only things you can unlock, aside from story and arcade endings, are two bonus characters added to the twenty you start out with. I liked the Krypt, even if it was nearly impossible to get everything in it, because I enjoyed looking at extra movies and concept art and getting alternative costumes. You're telling me you couldn't give me black suit Superman from when he came back after being killed by Doomsday? How about an old-school blue Batman suit? The Joker in his Hawaiian vacation outfit is always hysterical. A lack of unlockables is a sore point with me and it damages this game's replay value.
Even with a couple negatives, this was a great game. The spectacle of my favorite DC Heroes and Villains kicking butt was great. Add in the return of some of my favorites from the Mortal Kombat universe and then mixing in some old school, button mashing and I was one happy gamer from this. If there is one fighting game you are going to get this holiday season (because you should have gotten Super Smash Bros. Brawl back when it came out) this is the one.
If you want more information on this game, take a look at my Youtube slideshow/radio interview with Lead Designer Brian LeBaron.
Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.
Graphics: 9.0: Blood and guts galore are always the visual gem that a Mortal Kombat game provides and this one does not disappoint. A nice detail was how good Sub-Zero's Ice Ball/Superman's Ice Breath looked when the opponent was frozen solid. A point was removed because some of the interactive environment looked a little blocky and faded from the screen too quickly. Aside from that, this is a beautiful looking game. Audio: 10.0: The voice acting was crisp and the SFX were all solid. The voice script was a little over the top, but its comic book characters fighting Mortal Kombat characters, I think I would have been more disappointed if it wasn't over the top. This game delivers a great sounding experience.
Plot/Plot Development: 8.5: It was actually a plausible plot for these respective universes to somehow meet. Written by comic book veterans Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, the story kept in tune with both the Mortal Kombat and the DCU story lines. The time period was set happening sometime after the second Mortal Kombat game and before the Identity Crisis of the DCU and it fit well with the original plot. Some things were a stretch for both universes though and a few of the pop culture references were funny, but unnecessary.
Gameplay: 9.0: Like every Mortal Kombat before it, this was easy to pick up, but difficult to master. Some of the combos are simply impossible to complete and there were a couple of glitches if you liked to use Scorpion's, Sub-Zero's, Batman's, or Raiden's teleportation moves a lot. Still, this game was mostly smooth and not very frustrating.
Replay Value: 7.5: The lack of unlockables and extra characters keeps you from coming back to the single player story and arcade modes very often. The multiplayer and online features are solid, but won't keep you coming back unless you need a constant dose of bloody, brutal fighting.
Overall (not an average): 8.5: This game is a great new entry into both Mortal Kombat's and DCU's respective mythos. The game gets a little repetitive after a while, but that's the same for every fighting game. New in-battle Kombat systems, old-school characters, a revamped story mode, and old-school Mortal Kombat brutality makes this a must have if you are a fighting fan and/or a DC Universe fan. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is out now for XBOX360 and PS3.
After days of images of Green Lantern Rings, Batarangs, and Webshooters dancing through my head, I've finally been able to remotely connect back to reality, dragging myself out of my NY ComicCon overload and managing to write something. The amazing events leading up to and during NY ComicCon included more previews for big movies and video games than I could count and I got exclusive interviews and demos on some of the hottest games and movies coming out in the next couple of months, and enough to keep me writing for a good long time.
Most felt that the Mortal Kombat series had suffered one of their own fatalities; they thought the previous installment in the series would mark a possible end to one of the most successful fighting franchises of all time. The genii at Midway would need something big, some twist, to rejuvenate the series and keep it fresh.
