Video Games On The Big Screen

It came up in my previous post, so I figured I’d take a few minutes to go over the crappy video game based movies, and take a second to mention the only good one – although my verdict may not be the same as everyone else.

The Good:

Mortal Kombat

The Bad:

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Alone In The Dark, BloodRayne, BloodRayne II, Doom, Wing Commander, House Of The Dead, Double Dragon

The Ugly:

Street Fighter (the last movie Raúl Juliá did – not counting the made for TV movie, Down Came a Blackbird) , Super Mario Bros.

Undecided:

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life, In The Name Of The King, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Silent Hill

There’s more, but these are the only ones that come to mind.  And there will be plenty more to place in the Crap-O-Meter.

I didn’t add any of the Final Fantasy movies, since The Spirits Within has nothing to do with any of the games, while Advent Children, Last Order and Legend Of The Crystals are sequels or prequels to what went on in their respective games.

Now, the anime/cartoon adaptations may fare better.  I haven’t put them here – I don’t think they should be compared side by side with their live action cousins.  That said, the Final Fantasy movies might be better off being in an anime/cartoon/CG list instead.

Signs Of The Apocalypse: Board Games At The Movies

Apparently, Universal Studios has a deal with Hasbro to bring some of its properties to the big screen.  Monopoly, Magic: The Gathering, Candy Land, Clue, Ouija, Battleship and Stretch Armstrong have been mentioned.

We’ve had Clue before and a Ouija Board has been involved in more than one movie.  Magic: The Gathering could end up being a CG fest of fantasy.  Might as well get Uwe Boll on board for that one.

But Monopoly?  Candy Land?  Stretch Armstrong?

BATTLESHIP?!?

What’s next?  Pictionary?  Operation?  Hungry Hungry Hippos?  Connect Four?  Rubik’s Cube?  Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots?

Oh wait, that last one was Transformers, wasn’t it?  And yes, I do know there was a Rubik’s Cube cartoon on Saturday during the 80’s (Rubik, the Amazing Cube) - I remember watching it a couple times.

Recent Discoveries: Volume 1

Ah, the internet.  Great for so many things.

If wasn’t for the internet, there would be a lot of bands I would probably miss out on and several albums that I wouldn’t have even bothered with.  Finding new bands to listen to is a great thing, but it also makes it harder and harder to choose what I eventually get when I do make a purchase.  As it is, I don’t get to buy new albums as much as I used to (or would like to), but that won’t always be the case.

So, here’s some of the additions to my listening, thanks to Blabbermouth, Last.fm and Myspace.

Milking The Franchise: Guitar Hero

It should come as no surprise that there’s more Guitar Hero on the way.  There are at least four new Guitar Hero games (or maybe add-ons) coming our way.

The next one?  Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.  You get to follow the band’s career from its start to the present day.  However, I’m guessing that the game will probably skip past the years they were without Brad Whitford or Joe Perry.

Just wait, Guitar Hero: KISS has got to be coming soon, too…

Grammy Thoughts

I haven’t watched for a number of years, but for some reason, I decided to watch the Grammies.

Some thoughts about the evening after the jump.

2008 Metal Releases I’m Looking Forward To

This could be one hell of a year for music.  Last year brought us quite a bit of great metal, but this year could outdo it.

Updated: June 15

Signs Of The Apocalypse: Will Ferrell

Watching TV last night, I saw a commercial for the latest sports related movie with Will Ferrell, Semi-Pro.

That makes four sports movies in four years.  So far.

Kicking And Screaming (2005)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Blades Of Glory (2007)
Semi-Pro (2008)

What’s next?  Oh, right.  The adaptation of Land Of The Lost.  Which will be his second, unless you also count Bewitched, which wasn’t exactly a remake.

Ayreon – 01011001

Ayreon - 01011001

The seventh Ayreon album by Dutch musician Arjen Lucassen came out at the end of January, and I couldn’t be happier.