My Apprehensions Regarding DEATH RACE (2008)

In his 1973 book THE PRIMAL SCREEN, Andrew Sarris describes a "complication unique to cinema in the curiously uneasy relationship between critic and audience." A part of this uneasy relationship is that audiences want critics to like what they like, and critics want audiences to appreciate films that should be appreciated. This is why we see so many stories about the disconnect, particularly acute in the current era of film, that exists between audiences and critics. Many a successful film has been panned by the critics. But this relationship isn't the whole of what makes the interaction between the critic and the audience in film so complicated. There is an additional complication called the "Primal Screen." The Primal Screen is "that factor of childhood reverie which forms a barrier between what we think about movies and what we feel about them."

THE PRIMAL SCREEN's foreword is a discussion of how, and why, critics themselves are never fully able to extricate the Primal Screen from their viewing habits. Sure, they may adopt the language of criticism and art -- though that is certainly rarer today than it was for Sarris in the 70s -- but there is some part of their criticism that is either informed by, or in reaction to, their Primal Screen. One critic may get carried away with praise regarding a particular film and fawn unceasingly, my attempt to avoid such pandering is why my TROPIC THUNDER review has yet to be posted. Another critic may enjoy a film on a primal level, but "know" that the film isn't "good" and thus draft a diatribe against a film that is otherwise enjoyable. It is this tendency I believe leads to the current disconnect between critics and audiences. Critics too often seem to be saying, "I'm supposed to be above enjoying panem et circenses aren't I?" When, like the rest of us, they really do like spectacle.

I think that it is too rare that critics share their Primal Screen biases with audiences, and I want to do so before I review DEATH RACE which was released in theaters today. My review will be posted on Monday. Having shared my Primal Screen expectations with you now, I won't feel overly compelled to moderate them later. You will know them, and be able to read the DEATH RACE review with those perceptions in mind. So without further ado, here are my prejudices regarding the most recent DEATH RACE film -- a film I will see tomorrow evening.

"I wanted to tell you," he said, "to tell you -- I -- I am not a butcher!"

The girl looked at him for a long moment. Then she leaned down and whispered to him:

"Nor a Racer!"

Ib Melchior's story "The Racer," published in the October 1956 issue of Escapade, ends with those wonderfully ambiguous lines. At the beginning of the tale, Willie "The Bull" Connors is a confident driver who is willing to commit "Tragi-Accs" and who is ruthlessly in pursuit of the $100,000 prize for winning a cross country race where a combination of quick Time and accumulated Points (earned through causing casualties) is the way to win. Being an "anti-racer" is a crime, but when Willie is confronted by the young woman Muriel his world view begins to change. First Muriel calls Willie a butcher, and then she stands in the road holding a baby -- daring Willie to run her over for the valuable points. An act, that if performed, would have given Willie the world record for most points scored in a race.

Melchior's tale is sharp and straight to the point. In the end, the woman who gave our "hero" the heart to stop killing is the first to vilify him. It is an indictment of our love for violent spectator sports. There is not satire in Melchior's piece, only disdain for our bloodlust.

... and the most popular spectator sports of the latter half of the 20th Century were such mildly exciting pursuits as boxing and wrestling. Of course the spectators enjoyed seeing the combatants trying to maim each other, and there was always the chance of the hoped-for fatal accident.

Motor Racing, however, gave a much greater opportunity for the Tragic Accidents so exciting to the spectator. One of the most famed old speedways, Indianapolis, where many drivers and spectators alike ended in bloody Tragi-Accs, is today the nation's racing shrine.

With those words, Melchior makes it clear that our society has a propensity for bloodlust and that with motor racing we finally found our ultimate sport. Well, almost -- it only became perfect after making Tragi-Accs intentional. Melchior's critique of the bloodthirsty nature of motor sports fans was also displayed in the excellent John Frankenheimer film GRAND PRIX (1966) starring James Garner. One wonders what Melchior and Frankenheimer would think about today's safety obsessed racing -- especially Formula One, but it goes without saying that even with racing having been partially sanitized mixed martial arts fighting seems to hint that our lust for blood hasn't subsided in the past 50 years.

"The Racer" was the inspiration behind Roger Corman's New World Studios classic 1975 B-Movie DEATH RACE 2000, starring David Carradine (and Sylvester Stallone) and directed by Paul Bartel. The Robert Thom and Charles Griffith screenplay drips with satire regarding America's obsession with power. It is an indictment of political imperialism, of Bolshevik revolution, and of blood sport. America is a totalitarian state and the rebels who seek to return a more just America are torn between revolutionaries inspired by our Founding Fathers and those who look like they stepped of the set of BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. Bartel's direction perfectly captures the tone intended and his representations of the way sports media panders to celebrity are some of the most enjoyable parts of the film. Add to this the addition of B-movie starlets, and you get a magical combination. As Joe Bob Briggs put it, "This is the best cross-country road- race movie--and the most violent, and the funniest--despite the efforts of many crash-and-burn specialists to come up with a better one. It is also one of the most successful pictures ever produced by New World Pictures, Roger Corman's studio."

I worry that the current release of DEATH RACE doesn't get it. It has taken a story about sport, and society, that transform together -- becoming increasingly bloodthirsty -- and turned it into an adaptation of THE RUNNING MAN, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and THE FUGITIVE. Instead of professional athletes who are participating in a legitimate and well accepted form of entertainment, remember being an "anti-racer" was a crime in Melchior's tale, we now have the framed man wrongfully imprisoned and forced to participate in a race to the death. While it may contain some underlying criticism of the penal system, and to some extent our bloodlust, it seems to lack the completely scathing rebuke against all of society. The style of the film is more reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic imagery of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK that the advertising riddled paddocks one can see at any Formula One race.

My fear is that the directors and screenwriters spent too much time trying to remake the wheel in order to "bring it up to date," when they should have been looking at how the sport being criticized has evolved and used that as a jumping point. I seem to remember another movie in the recent past that made a similar mistake. It was called ROLLERBALL, and it not only paled in comparison to the original -- it never should have been made.

Facebook and D&D: Tiny Adventures

I know, I know. The reboot was supposed to center the focus of this blog entirely on films and some television, but I can't resist posting about this.

Last year Hasbro was entirely clueless about what to do regarding the Scrabulous application on Facebook. They should have purchased the application and used it as a way to promote Scrabble, with some minor ad support to pay for the server costs. Instead, they went to court and the process is still working itself out. It is my hope that the result will be to expand creator rights to include the "mechanics" of an individual game, since that will be a boon to small designers who have been ripped off by big companies in the past and who will be ripped off in the future. That's neither here nor there. Scrabulous had been online for years, worked great, was better than the non-existent product from EA games. Hasbro should have just ponied up some cash and bought out the Scrabulous creators.

Well, it seems like they might have learned one lesson from the ongoing Scrabulous saga. They have put up a D&D based application on Facebook entitled "Dungeons and Dragons: Tiny Adventures." The game isn't the greatest simulation of what it is like to play D&D, but it does give some ideas and the encounter descriptions are amusing. One of my favorites so far:

Christian Arthur Lindke saw a spiretop drake harassing a merchant.

Christian Arthur Lindke made an Attack Bonus check with a difficulty of 14 . . . and rolled 10

Not being able to kill the drake, Christian Arthur Lindke was forced to retreat. He tried to imagine that the merchant was a swindler, embezzler, or charlatan instead of feeling guilty about it.

I love how my half-elf Paladin tries to justify his own failure. It made me laugh out loud.

Here are a couple of glimpses of what the interface looks like.





As cool as D&D: Tiny Adventures is, it even includes a "help your friends" ability which will help friends finish there adventures more easily, it isn't without one major drawback. They don't have enough server space for the app. It keeps crashing due to the number of users. Aargh!

Hope and Terror: Denise Hamilton Hit My Literary Radar

"Genre fiction is addictive," so wrote Joyce Carol Oates in her introduction to Tales of H. P. Lovecraft (P.S.). This simple maxim explains why so many fans of SF and Fantasy have piles upon piles of books that they will never read. It also explains why I didn't know who Denise Hamilton was when I saw this blog entry on the excellent LA Observed this morning, and why the name seemed hauntingly familiar. Five books down on my "noir pile," just under The Dain Curse, lies a book with the simple title Los Angeles Noir (Akashic Noir) edited by -- you guessed it -- Denise Hamilton.

If not for that aforementioned blog entry, the name may never have become a highlighted name in my mind. Her introduction in LOS ANGELES NOIR -- as well as her story -- are quite good, but neither would have left me gasping for more by this local modern noir author. But the blog entry had me rushing over to my local independent bookstore, The Village Bookshop, in the hopes of picking up her latest novel The Last Embrace. And it wasn't because of the time travel restaurant tour the author went on with the blogger at EATING LA. Which isn't to say I wouldn't like to do such a tour, just that a restaurant tour isn't going to get me to buy a book...unless it's a restaurant tour book.

What struck me was the phrase, from the EATING LA post quoted in the Observed piece, "But she also incorporated a fascinating plotline about stop-motion animation, inspired by the work of Ray Harryhausen." I re-read that sentence no fewer than five times. I am a huge Harryhausen fan, as anyone who read my November 2005 post stocking-stuffers or this comment on stop motion animation knows. So hearing that a book, taking place in 1949, featured a plotline involving stop-motion animation instantly set my interest-o-meter over 9000. (It's posts like this Hamilton piece that make LA Observed the first place I look for news about Los Angeles.)

Denise Hamilton's most recent book, the one discussed in the blog entries, is THE LAST EMBRACE. The author's official website describes the book as follows:

Lily Kessler, a former stenographer and spy for the OSS, is asked by her late fiance's mother to find out what happened to his sister Kitty, an actress who has been missing from her Hollywood boarding house. Although the aspiring starlets at the house insist that Kitty is off somewhere furthering her career, the next day her body is found in a ravine below the Hollywood sign. Unimpressed with the local police, Lily investigates on her own. As she delves further into Kitty's life, she encounters fiercely competitive actors, gangsters, an eccentric special-effects genius, exotic denizens of Hollywood's nightclubs and a homicide detective who might distract her from her quest for justice.

By this description alone I would likely have eventually stumbled onto the novel. I like reading Noir stories about the city in which I live. I have made a trip to the Glendale train station merely see the depot from the film version of DOUBLE INDEMNITY. In my eight years in the Los Angeles area, I have come to love this most noir of cities -- okay...if you're a die hard Hammett fan it might be San Francisco, or Butte if you think all Hammett except RED HARVEST is trivial -- and I am constantly looking for more fiction that points me into the "shadows created by the Hollywood sign." Or to put it like Denise Hamilton did in her introduction to LOS ANGELES NOIR, "Writers like James Cain, Dorothy B. Hughes, Nathanael West, Chester Himes, and Raymond Chandler understood both the hope and the terror that Los Angeles inspires." I might even have picked the book up at some time during the next few months to place on the bottom of the pile of books I mentioned earlier. But after reading her website's description of the things that inspired the book, it's going right on top. I'll be reading it as soon as I finish NIGHTMARE TOWN. Reading the inspirations was like seeing a collage of many of my favorite obsessions.

1. Then one day while researching Hollywood's Golden Age, I ran across an L.A. Times story by Cecilia Rasmussen about Jean Spangler, a Hollywood starlet who vanished without a trace in October of 1949. (Who that loves LA stories doesn't like tales of vanished starlets?)
2. She'd partied in Palm Springs with two associates of LA gangster Mickey Cohen who also disappeared mysteriously that fall. (Gotta have that local mob connection)
3. It soon emerged that Jean had just filmed a movie with Kirk Douglas.(Star of ACE IN THE HOLE, a noir classic)
4. I had the great good fortune, around this time, to meet the legendary Ray Harryhausen. With his mentor Willis O'Brien, Harryhausen pioneered stop motion animation. Harryhausen was 86 and hale and hearty when I interviewed him at Dark Delicacies Bookstore in Burbank and learned what the special effects world was like in 1949, the year "Mighty Joe Young" came out.(I had to read this sentence twice...interviewing Harryhausen over food? How cool is that?)
5. Thanks to the generosity of Chiodo Brothers Productions, especially Stephen Chiodo, I also toured an animation studio and watched stop-motion in progress and was greatly impressed by the painstaking detail, dedication and artistry involved.(I would certainly do a happy dance if I were able to watch the animators of the stop motion animated sequence in ELF at work...oh and they are also working on the sequel to the amazing LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA entitled THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN.)

This perfect storm of interests made this a must read for me. I only hope the book can live up to the hype my sub-conscious has produced. The reviews of the book have been positive, though Booklist asks the absurd question "Ellroy meets women's fiction? Why not?" Has the reviewer at Booklist never heard of Leigh Brackett -- co-author of the screenplays to THE BIG SLEEP and RIO BRAVO and author of the screenplay to THE LONG GOODBYE, not to mention quite the pulp writer herself.

HOOT (2006): A Story About "Sense of Place" that Has No Place in My Heart

Nothing is more American than moving from place to place, wandering from city to city, and following the new job to the new state. America's history of movement into the "frontier" was the driving force behind Fredrick Jackson Turner's book about the American character. Americans, it can almost be said, are a people with no sense of permanency and no sense of "home." Almost, because though Americans seem to ever be seeking the greener valley just over the hill, they also create art that represents the longing for "place" central to the human condition.

The central conflict in HOOT is a young man's pursuit of permanency and his need to feel a sense of place. Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) is a boy who has attended 6 schools in the past 8 years as his father's job with the Department of Justice has required frequent moves. Just as the family gets settled in a new location, just as Roy feels at home, they move again -- most recently from Montana to Coconut Grove, Florida.

The film is adapted from Carl Hiaasen's novel of the same name (HOOT was Hiaasen's first venture into writing for younger readers). In all of Hiaasen's novels, the setting is as important as any of the quirky characters his readers encounter. The same goes for HOOT.

Upon arriving in Coconut Grove, Roy encounters the stereotypical bully Dana Matherson (Eric Philips) who mashes Roy's face against the school bus window on the trip to school. It is this action that introduces one of two interesting characters in the film, a homeless and barefoot environmentalist middle-schooler named Mullet Fingers. The character's origin is as implausible as his name. While Mullet's character concept is quirky enough to be memorable, Cody Linley's performance in the role leaves one wishing they could forget the character. Roy also meets a bully-bashing girl named Beatrice (Brie Larson) who, as it turns out, just happens to be Mullet Fingers' step-sister. Larson's performance is mixed. Early in the film, her acting seems forced, but as the character develops in the narrative Larson displays the ability to capture the changes. These three characters, leaving the bully aside, don't become "fast friends," but as the adventure unfolds they do become friends.

The film is filled with many quirky characters, from Muckle (Clark Gregg) the sinister Southeastern Regional Manager of Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House to Delinko (Luke Wilson) the absentminded law enforcement officer. Gregg's performance makes the error made all too often in "children's movies," it's way to over the top. Luke Wilson, on the other hand, is solid. Wilson could have resorted to a Barney Fife style performance, but he holds back and the audience is rewarded with a couple of laughs -- desperately needed laughs.

In addition to the human characters, there are owls and the owls are in trouble. And this brings us to the conflict that moves the narrative along. Muckle wants to build a brand new Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House on a lot that includes homes of a number of families of burrowing owls. Roy, Beatrice, and Mullet Fingers take it upon themselves to fight against Muckle's destruction of the owl burrows. Mullet Fingers' preferred method of undermining the construction project is a series of pranksteresque that are supposed to dissuade the corporation from building on the site and that is where fun is supposed to ensue. Sadly, Mullet Fingers methods are as illogical as they are unfunny.

First, our environmentalist hero places a gator in the construction site's port-o-potty. That's right, in the chemicals -- chemicals that I would think at least mildly harmful to a two-foot long gator. Mullet then uses Cotton Mouth Water Moccasins to scare away guard dogs, by letting the snakes loose on the construction site...where the owls live. I don't know if releasing snakes into a field full of potential food is a good idea either. Needless to say, Mullet's ideas don't have the desired effect and the destruction of the burrows is going to take place anyway. That is until Roy, using the legal system, discovers that the Pancake company has altered their environmental impact report and that their construction is illegal. This knowledge will provide him the opportunity to save the owls, if only he can stop Muckle's bulldozer in time.

Wil Shriner, who has a great deal of television directing experience on some very good sitcoms and dramadies, seems a little out of his depth in his adaptation of the story. Shriner seems, like the middle of this review, too caught up in the "fun" of the pranksteresque attempts of Mullet Fingers and looses site of the real conflict here. The real story is that the owls and Roy are subject to the same conflict, displacement. Roy sympathizes, as the audience should, with the owls not merely because of environmental reasons (the law is already on his side), but because they are going to be uprooted like he has been 6 times in the past 8 years. This is a story about place and the value place has in our lives. If Roy can save the owls' home, maybe -- just maybe -- he can finally find a home. In a couple of sequences, Michael Chapman (the DP) captures the beauty of Coconut Grove, but these images are lost in the director's focus on the protest rather than on the longing to belong.

It's sad. There's a great story there somewhere, but in focusing on the external conflict -- the secondary conflict -- Shriner misses the opportunity to give his actors a chance to give real performances rather than pantomimes. Instead, audiences are left with a fairly standard children's movie. It's safe, it's mildly amusing, but it doesn't delight.

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Cinerati Lexicon #1: Filmic Cultural Selectivity

In yesterday's discussion of the origin of the Cinerati blog, it was mentioned that the first post contained "an attack on filmic cultural selectivity" without describing what was meant by filmic cultural selectivity. One imagines that most readers can decipher the meaning of the phrase, it isn't to arcane, but one should never assume understanding. Additionally, one of my goals in rebooting the website was to share not merely my thoughts about modern films and the state of modern criticism, but to share my ideas and my personal terminology with the world in the hopes of creating meaningful dialog.

What do I mean by filmic cultural selectivity?

Filmic Cultural Selectivity

Filmic cultural selectivity, is a logical error which frequently occurs in the discussion of film where the reviewer selectively chooses high quality films from a particular culture and compares them to another culture to express the superiority of the chosen culture. Such selectivity only actually falls into the category of logical error when the critic, in mentioning the quality of one culture, intentionally and knowingly excludes the existence of any lower quality (or fun exploitation) films within the given culture.

Below are some examples, one specific and one imagined, of this error in criticism:

Example #1 (the specific example):

Thomas Hibbs piece discussed yesterday (Kurosawa Kills Bill. In the piece, Hibbs damns American films as "vulgar distortions of Japanese film culture." He then follows this assertion with a list of Akira Kurosawa films which he presents as possibly representative of Japanese film culture. Nowhere in the piece does he mention lesser works of Japanese cinema. Nor does he mention the influence of Western genre films on the work of Kurosawa. Certainly he mentions a Western influence, Shakespeare, but he leaves out Dashiell Hammett and the influence of Film Noir on Kurosawa. He elevates Kurosawa (deservedly), and Japanese cinema in general (less deservedly), to a "high art" status while attacking American cinema as vulgar. As my response points out, Japanese cinema runs the gamut of quality by the standard set forth by Hibbs.

Example #2 (a proposed example):

You and a friend, who happens to be a respected film critic, are discussing your favorite films. You make the "mistake" of mentioning a mainstream blockbuster film among your list of great films. Your friend responds and a dialog begins:

CRITIC FRIEND

That's such a typical American answer which demonstrates your lack of familiarity with Italian cinema, which are in every way superior to American films. Have you never seen LA STRADA or 8 1/2? The Italian directors have a much greater understanding of the human experience than American directors who have been corrupted by commercialism and who seek only to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Being ready for your friend's tendency to engage in filmic cultural selectivity, you are able to respond in a mocking tone.

YOU

That's so true. Sergio Corbucci's SUPER FUZZ truly captured the underlying conflict between the personal and professional of the modern law enforcement officer. And Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCUAST is a "well respected" representation of indigenous cultures.

You didn't even mention DIABOLIK or get into how anyone who defends the social commentary merits of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, while simultaneously excoriating HOSTEL, is not only practicing filmic cultural selectivity, they are also being highly inconsistent...unless they also defend Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES then their opinions are a little more complicated.

My point in saying that filmic cultural selectivity is a problem isn't to assert that American film is the best film making in the world. I am willing to listen to well-informed experts on other cultures films who advance the merits of that culture's films. The understanding of film only benefits from such a dialogue. I am merely asserting that one must acknowledge the bad with the good, it can only make your argument stronger if you are correct in your comparison. Had Hibbs mentioned BATTLE ROYALE, or any Chambara films, in his essay -- or had he mentioned RED HARVEST and THE GLASS KEY as inspirational to Kurosawa's YOJIMBO -- it might have actually made his argument stronger.

As for our imaginary film critic friend (and the one above is completely imaginary), I actually do like SUPER FUZZ...mostly for childhood nostalgia reasons. And while CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is not at all culturally sensitive to indigenous peoples, it has strong proponents both inside and outside the horror field. As for DIABOLIK, don't just watch the MSTK 3000 version. John Philip Law, my second favorite Sindbad, is quite entertaining in this film. Don't even get me started on how much I love cheesy Hercules movies.

Cinerati Reboot

In late December of 2003, I read an article at National Review Online (Kurosawa Kills Bill) discussing the relative lack of merit of the films Kill Bill vol. 1 and The Last Samurai. After reading the article, I realized that many film critics, including most conservative film critics, and I were having very different experiences when we watched movies in the theater.

It took me almost three months to draft a response that I thought was appropriate, and on March 16th 2004, the Cinerati blog had its first post published on the internet. The post was a direct response to Thomas Hibbs NRO piece, a defense of the films mentioned, an attack on filmic cultural selectivity, and my first foray back into criticism after leaving a roughly monthly shared film review column in the Sparks Daily Tribune titled Celluloid Say-So when I left for graduate school in 2000.

At the time, I had intended Cinerati to be a film discussion blog where friends of mine and I would share our thoughts on film and on the state of film criticism. It quickly became something else. The community of posters I had always desired quickly dwindled down to me, with an occasional post by another Cinerati member. And what was originally intended to be a site which focused primarily on films, ended up a site with far more commentary about games, comics, and more games. In short, Cinerati quickly grew away from its name and its purpose. This, combined with the fact that posting has been slow of late and some new encounters with film reviews, inspired me to reboot the site.

Gone will be mentions of roleplaying games, video games, comic books, etc. Those will be reserved for the Geekerati blog. From now on, this site will be devoted to discussion of movies and television. In particular, this site will engage with other critics of film and television. There are enough "review" sites on the internet, in fact there is a glut. Too much time is being spent evaluating the "narratives" of film and not enough is spent evaluating the "art" of films. What is needed is a site that examines what is being said about film and television and examines whether what is being said is meaningful.

Over the next few days, there will be a series of columns discussing the direction of the site, the types of columns that will be written, and examining what the proper roles of criticism are when it comes to film and television. Additionally, there will be discussions of the particular terminology, or turns of a phrase, that I will use from time to time.

In fact, my very next post will be a brief post highlighting what I mean when I say or write filmic cultural selectivity.

But first, let's have a look at that first post:

In the Shadow of Kurosawa

By Christian Johnson (now Christian Lindke)

I can still remember the first time I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show. There I was, a “virgin” watching rolls of toilet paper flying and getting wet from squirting water when I realized that I was sitting surrounded by an audience that didn’t “get it.” Here they were talking, mocking, and interacting with a film that was hilarious on its own merits. Somewhere in all the chaos I managed to watch a parody of some of my favorite classic Hollywood horror films. I had a similar, though drier, experience when I watched John Waters' Cecil B. Demented in a theater full of people who didn’t know who William Castle was.

I experienced the same frustration when I read Thomas Hibbs’ recent article regarding Quentin Tarantino’s most recent film Kill Bill vol. 1 and the Tom Cruise blockbuster The Last Samurai (Kurosawa Kills Bill). In particular, I took issue with his claim that “despite their critical acclaim and their purported desire to be faithful to Japanese sources, these films are but vulgar distortions of Japanese film culture, especially the work of Akira Kurosawa.” I was surprised by my reaction because I have more respect for Professor Hibbs than I do for most of the celebrated “cinerati” who, like me, enjoyed these two films. You see, I think that the Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture is on to something with regards to America’s elites having a disturbing affection for nihilism, the subject of his book Shows About Nothing. So my reaction did not originate from a disagreement about the merits of these films with regard to virtue or an expression of human excellence. To be fair, I don’t know what his opinions are regarding The Last Samurai as a film about virtue, but I have a fair idea regarding Kill Bill. My frustration stemmed from his accusation that these films were “distortions” of a genre “especially” the work of Akira Kurosawa.

This led me to ask two questions. First, are these films a “distortion of Japanese film culture?” Second, are these films “especially” referencing the work of Akira Kurosawa? I refuse to address any other of the statements made in Hibbs’ article because they provide a wonderful introduction to the works of an inspirational filmmaker -- he provides a valuable list of Kurosawa must sees, though he surprisingly leaves out High and Low. I also think that Hibbs was remiss in not mentioning Chushingura by Hiroshi Inagaki as another wonderful film about feudal Japan.

Kill Bill is exactly what it purports to be, a celebration of Japan’s b-movies in the Chambara genre (and to some extent the Wuxia and Kung Fu films of Hong Kong). While Akira Kurosawa’s films (among them Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ran) are great films about Samurai culture, they do not stand alone as the only films from Japan about the feudal era nor are they in the b-list of this genre. Tarantino’s film is closer in tone to the Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi films, but he adds the bloodiness of the films of Kinji Fukasaku whose recent film Battle Royale (based on the book of the same name) is a brutal combination of Lord of the Flies and the Survivor television show. One need only watch a few Sonny Chiba (who stars in Kill Bill and is referenced in True Romance) films to understand that Japan, like America, has an appetite for graphic violence. You cannot claim that a film is a vulgar distortion of a culture based on a case study, a more random sample is needed. I think that if Professor Hibbs takes a random sample of Japanese cinema post 1970, he will find more Hanzo the Blade than Throne of Blood.

Typical of Tarantino, any celebration requires examples of a genre’s influence on Western film. So we have a perverted “Charlie's Angels,” called the DiVAs, based on the Five Deadly Venoms by the Shaw Brothers. We have the exaggerated camera use similar to Sergio Leone used in the fight scene between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu (the snow covered ground of which directly references the final fight in Chushingura). Tarantino gives us the Tokyo of Black Rain and Godzilla visually reminiscent of the Los Angeles of Blade Runner. We hear the theme song to The Green Hornet, and Ironsides, and Uma Thurman dressed like Bruce Lee in Game of Death. Through his director’s eye the audience sees the way Western movies, largely b-movies, have influenced Japanese b-movies, which have in turn influenced Western b-movies. We are presented with a dialogue, not a distortion, between two arguably vulgar cultural representations of the action genre.

The Last Samurai is more difficult to defend from Professor Hibbs’ criticism. While the film is infinitely less vulgar than Kill Bill, Edward Zwick appears to be imitating rather than celebrating what he thinks a film about feudal Japan should look like. The palette is reminiscent of Ran as is the tragic nature of its Japanese protagonist. The Last Samurai isn’t a film about feudal Japan, rather it is a film about how an American reacts and views feudal Japan. The framing device makes it apparent that we are watching the memories of an American Civil War veteran struggling to understand Japanese culture. The director has the difficult task of combining genre and cultural messages. How do you balance the need to show both Western and Eastern concepts of military virtue? How do you do this through the eyes of a character who has forgotten Classical virtue and is a product of Machiavellian prudential virtue?

The conflicts for Cruise’s character prevent the director from fully utilizing the Japanese cultural setting and so he abbreviates it. There are moments in the film when Cruise’s character is given advice from the Book of Five Rings a classic samurai text. The advice given him to him regarding sword fighting mirror advice from the 2nd chapter of the Hagakure (published in 1716 at a time when Japan’s Samurai class had experienced 100 years of relative peace), “There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.” The Last Samurai converts the advice into a physical representation during one particular duel between Cruise and a number of ruffians. The camera’s eye captures a perfect combination of single-minded concentration and void.

In the end though, these arguments regarding the merits of Kill Bill and The Last Samurai as examples of Western art encountering Japanese art may be unconvincing to the viewer who might believe that these films represent how we have come to “prefer sorrow over pain, suffering over peace.” To that viewer I can only offer the following.

My first example is one of hope. It is the moment in The Last Samurai when Katsumoto tells Nathan Algren that one could do worse than to spend one’s life looking for the perfect blossom. In this moment, we are told that the pursuit of beauty is a better profession than the pursuit of war.

The second example is one of caution, for it shows that man’s love of pain and suffering over peace isn’t a new one. It is a quote from the 10th chapter of the Hagakure, “If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was heard by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.”

If the first moment is merely a pretentious effort to seem profound, maybe we truly have abandoned the pursuit of a summum bonum. I dread a world in which it is “not the natural sweetness of living but the terrors of death [that] make us cling to life.”

Fanboy Meets Hellboy

I am a fan of both Hellboy (comics, rpg, and films) and Chuck, so I really couldn't ask for more than this Hellboy II preview.

Okay, I could ask for more. I could ask that Chuck be reassigned the the BPRD. Like that will ever happen.

(via SF Signal I really have to ask those folks to be on my podcast some time.)

Sporadic Geek Update (7/7/08)

Inspired by Professor Nokes' "Morning Medieval Miscellany," I bring you the Sporadic Geek Update. Since the arrival of my lovely twin daughters, it has been next to impossible to post on this blog regularly. For that, I apologize. Between the all-consuming endeavor that is newborn fatherhood, researching a series of posts about film criticism (which I intend to begin this week), and hosting a weekly podcast, I have struggled to find time to write. I fully intend to find a way to better balance my time and provide you with my thoughts on popular culture on a regular basis.

Excuses having been given, let's check out today's Sporadic Geek Update:

• Gizmondo gives us a look at what the future of television might look like, if it is left up to AT&T.

I am always interested in what people think that the future of television will be. Will it be fully interactive? Will it be the internet? Will it be on-demand only? Or will there be a channel devoted entirely to pilots with the rest of television being demand only? Will it be subscription or ad based? Streaming? What role will the Xbox, and similar devices, play? What about cell phones? All of these are interesting questions and the Gizmondo article looks at a couple of the questions. Interestingly, AT&T seems to be downplaying the role the Xbox will play, in favor of their partnership with Apple and the iPhone. It makes sense that AT&T would downplay the white ueberbox, but I think that the future of television might look a little more like Xbox's plex than AT&T's U-verse.


• Speaking of the Plex, Xbox's new name for their Xbox Media Center, Gizmondo has a great piece highlighting some of the updates to the service.

I am a big fan of Xbox's Marketplace, and the ability of the Xbox to communicate with my Media Center powered PC, and updates like this demonstrate why. When Apple started promoting their Apple TV, I kept wondering what people were so excited about. It wasn't as if I couldn't do all that and more with my 360 and Media Center PC. If I own an iTunes show, I can watch it wirelessly on my TV, but I can also record TV programs, play video games, and play movies from other sources. Not everybody has a PC and an Xbox, and the combination is more expensive than Apple TV, but one doesn't need an Xbox to take advantage of Media Center. Having an Xbox just makes Media Center better. I actually can't wait for further integration of the two technologies. Currently, Microsoft has deals with a number of film studios and TV studios for content, but I'd like more of it to be available. For example, it was cool that I was able to watch the pilot of Middleman a week before the show came out, but I'd like more material like this on the box.


• Remember the Commodore 64? Me too. Ever think you could have a C64 LAN party? Me either. I was wrong. It appears that someone is geeky, and tech savvy, enough to do just that. Now if only I can find my C64 in storage and 12 of my close friends.



• The Chicago Tribune's RedEye has an online polling contest for "The Greatest Superhero of All-Time." Cast your vote if you'd like to see your favorite last beyond the first round of voting. I'd hate to see Wonder Woman lose to Spawn or The Shadow lose to The Thing, so go now and vote the same way I did. My votes below in bold.
  

  No. 1 Superman vs. No. 8 Mr. Fantastic
  No. 4 Capt. America vs. No. 5 Capt. Marvel
  No. 3 The Thing vs. No. 6 The Shadow
  No. 2 Wonder Woman vs. No. 7 Spawn
  
  No. 1 Batman vs. No. 8 The Spirit
  No. 4 Thor vs. No. 5 Buffy The Vamp. Slayer
  No. 3 Silver Surfer vs. No. 6 Popeye
  No. 2 The Flash vs. No. 7 Flash Gordon
  
  No. 1 Spider-Man vs. No. 8 Phoenix
  No. 4 Black Panther vs. No. 5 Punisher
  No. 3 Green Lantern vs. No. 6 Green Arrow
  No. 2 Iron Man vs. No. 7 Elektra
  
  No. 1 Wolverine vs. No. 8 Sub-Mariner
  No. 4 Hellboy vs. No. 5 Daredevil
  No. 3 Hulk vs. No. 6 Aquaman
  No. 2 Catwoman vs. No. 7 Kitty Pryde

  
  
  I found it hard to decide in a couple of the pairings. Both The Flash (Jay Garrick) and Flash Gordon are two of my favorite heroes. I voted Flash Gordon in the end since the poll seemed to be implying the Barry Allen or Wally West Flash. I like them both, but I love Flash Gordon. The Green Lantern/Green Arrow battle was also a tough one for me. They are two of my all-time favorite characters. But when forced to choose between the two, I go with Hal Jordan by a nose. Two of the categories featured heartbreaking results to date (at least heartbreaking for me). Spawn is beating Wonder Woman...WTH?! (That's a polite version of WT_) And Black Panther is getting shellacked by the Punisher. For me, there is no contest. Black Panther is much cooler than that psychopathic anti-hero. Notice I wrote anti-hero? The Punisher is a freakin' Spider-Man villain!
  
  
• When are Americans going to wake up and realize, like the Japanese already know, how awesome the PSP is?

My favorite PSP discussion moment comes from when my wife and I were watching INSIDE MAN in the theater. There's a scene where Clive Owen approaches a kid playing a Grand Theft Auto rip off on his PSP. Spike Lee uses it as an opportunity to comment on how video games are negatively affecting culture.

When the scene first started, I thought Spike was going to have the kid using his PSP's wireless capability to communicate what was happening inside the bank with Denzel Washington's character. You see...the PSP could have done exactly that. It's an amazingly powerful wireless device. While I still held this illusion, I was impressed with Spike (more than normal) and was about to praise the tech-geekdom of the movie. Sadly, my bubble was burst when the scene was used for social commentary instead of narrative tension--imagine the kid shifting quickly to the violent video game to hide the fact that he's telling the cops what's going on--in all too typical Hollywood fashion.

Some Film Trailers of Interest

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed SEMI-PRO with KUNG FU SOCCER? Me either, but someone did. I give you...KUNG FU DUNK. No...really.

The bizarre must, naturally, be followed by the brutal. I seem to remember Jet Li saying that he had made his last "Kung Fu Epic." I know, I know, I know. There is a difference between the style of film as represented in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA and the historical film like HERO. I am just saying that apparently historical epics don't count. That, and that I can't wait to see THE WARLORDS.

Speaking of Jet Li. I am eagerly awaiting the August 1st release of the new MUMMY film. Why? Let's see. Mummies, Martial Arts, Terra Cotta Warriors, Magic, Dragons, Pulp, and a Multi-Headed Fire Breathing Dragon...what's not to like? It's even directed by the guy who brought us DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY. Did I mention Michele Yeoh? No? Well, she's in it too.

You can see a better version of the MUMMY preview at http://papajohns.com/mummy3/.

Xbox Live will soon begin delisting certain titles.

Microsoft has apparently decided that it hates making easy money from its Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace. They will soon be delisting titles (that means removing them from purchase-ability) that have a "metacritic" score below 65%. Essentially, this is the equivalent of movie theaters deciding that they will not screen films with a Rotten Tomatoes score of less than 65%, but with less talented reviewers.

The metacritic rating is only one of the factors that Microsoft will be considering when it measures whether to keep or drop a title, but I want to fully make my straw man attack against them before I add the other factors.

Frankly, on the face this seems ridiculous. Metacritic may be a good review aggregation site, but let's face it reviewers are often very much out of touch with what people enjoy. They are especially out of touch with what I enjoy. Let's have a look at some successful films and how their metacritic scores line up.

If SEX AND THE CITY were a video game, it would be delisted. That 53 Metacritic score isn't even close.

National Treasure 2? 48% and it only made $239 million.

Does Microsoft realize that 48% means "mixed or average reviews?" They probably do. In fact, they probably notice that the ratings for video games seem ridiculously forgiving. It's as if people are judging games with 100s of hours of content upon a couple of hours of play time, or just on how "cool" they think the idea is. This explains the 65% as a measure of critical quality for games, especially given that it wouldn't work so well with movies. But let's hope it isn't the only criteria since there are over 45 XBox Live Arcade games with Metacritic scores below 65.

Let's see how many of them I own and enjoy...

Time pilot... ummm... classic.
Arkadian Warriors... I bought this game due to an add on the XBLA site. It's fun.
Rocketmen... Disappointing? Sure, but it's a fun Robotron style game.
Battlestar Galatica...Crap. Total Crap.
Battlezone...Not updated enough for some, but still fun to play.
Tempest... ummm... classic.
Tron... ummm... classic. 1337 gamers must not like the old school.
Cyber Ball...Plain old fashioned fun.

Now for the real comment. Thankfully this 65% only applies to games that have less than a 6 percent or lower trial conversion rate. Meaning that if the sales numbers are more than 6% of the number of trial downloads the metacritic rating doesn't apply. That means if we as consumers are easily entertained, lowest common denominator boobs, other people will be able to share our misery.

See how that 6% conversion rate changes things? That's why I left it out of my initial comments. It makes Microsoft reasonable, and we can't have that...can we?

I have now officially changed my name!

For all of those out there who knew me as Christian Arthur Johnson, that person is no more. As of 10am this morning, I stand before you as Christian Arthur Lindke.

Years ago, Jody and I decided that I would take her name rather than she take mine -- only to discover the lack of equal protection regarding ease of name change for husbands. The expense of the process was a cause for delay, but the birth of our daughters made that excuse trivial. So 9 weeks ago, I filed a civil claim to change my name and today my petition was granted.

I'd like to thank Jo Benincasa, an attorney friend of mine, for walking me through the steps of the process.

Flash Gordon and Highlander to See Big Screen

It seems that Hollywood is hell bent on destroying my childhood and teen years.

First, they made a campy version of STARSKY AND HUTCH which, like the Tom Hanks DRAGNET, was entertaining but made a mockery of something that was at times pretty dark. Okay, that applies more to DRAGNET than S&H, but the Michael Mann episodes of STARSKY AND HUTCH hold up very well and are good neo-noir.

Then they made the new FLASH GORDON and BIONIC WOMAN television series, which are unarguably awful. FLASH is so bad that watching it must surely be classified as the punishment that Satan gives Judas when his jaw is getting a little tired.

Then I found out that Seth Rogan was going to play Brit Reid in the new GREEN HORNET movie. Ummm...the Green Hornet is viewed by the public as a CRIMINAL and scares the crap out of people, that makes a good Seth Rogan comedy?! I'll still go see it because it stars Stephen Chow, but I know I'll hate it.

Why can't Hollywood do these things without irony? Oh, that's right because if you do a movie, like SPEED RACER, without irony you aren't "cool."

Which brings me to the latest news. Apparently, FLASH GORDON is returning to the big screen and they're remaking HIGHLANDER. I would have hopes that the FLASH GORDON might learn from the lessons of the TV show and go retro, but as it is produced by one of the producers of the aforementioned GREEN HORNET I have my doubts. Sure he also produced the new I AM LEGEND, and the director is going to be the guy who directed SAHARA -- and I am one of the 10 people who liked SAHARA -- but anyone who makes GREEN HORNET a Seth Rogan comedy is suspect. Personally, I'd cast Vince Vaughn and play it straight

Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Announces Origin Awards Nominees (Part Two)

Today we continue our coverage of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Origin Award nominees. Yesterday we covered the miniature and book related nominees, but today we get to focus on my favorite group of nominees...the games themselves.

ROLEPLAYING GAME

This year's list of Roleplaying game nominees is one that should give fans of the hobby a great deal of hope for the future. While the folks at Boing Boing may lament the new GSL and believe that it is the end of the roleplaying game industry and the beginning of the end of civilization, they are wrong.

All the OGL did, and still does by the way, is allow other people to make money on the backs of other people's hard work. The GSL will still allow that, it will just require that your derivative work be attached to a newer "operating system." This is not to say that a great deal of OGL products weren't creative and worthy products, they were (the Iron Kingdoms or Paizo's Pathfinder come to mind), just that they were derivative. Even the True 20 RPG, one of the most innovative adaptations of the d20 system ever created, is still an innovative adaptation. It should be noted that most of the independent gaming press is "closed."

Meanwhile in the world of game designs not dependent on other people's work, some game companies have created some remarkable game systems of their own and attached them to some great settings. For years we've seen high quality narrative design, but this year's nominees are showing us that design creativity is not a thing of the past.

Grimm
Published by Fantasy Flight Games
Written by Robert Vaughn and Christian T. Petersen

Ever since 2003 when I first caught a glimpse of Fantasy Flight's d20 mini-campaign book for Grimm, I have wanted to see Fantasy Flight Games develop this great concept into its own roleplaying game with its own task resolution system. The initial book had promise and style, but the integration of the d20 system with the dark -- yet playful -- tone of a game where children adventure "in a world of twisted fairy tales" never quite meshed.

I waited four years until I was rewarded with last year's non-d20 GRIMM RPG. Gone is the d20 system and in is the Linear d6 system. This new system is easy to learn and allows those that are skilled at a particular task to succeed more often than they fail. Sure, there is still room for failure at tasks that should be routine or success at tasks that should be impossible, but those cases are rarer in the Linear d6 system than they are in many other games. This lack of wildly disparate results allows for the darker side of this game to shine. If a task needs to be done in order for the children to escape, but no one has sufficient skill in that area the tension of the scene is escalated and that is the root of horror.

My only quibble is that at $39.95 the book isn't full color. Given that the 1983 DMG for AD&D cost the equivalent of $31.93 in inflation adjusted dollars, this isn't too big a deal, but I would have liked to see more of the fairy tale artwork in color.

The Savage World of Solomon Kane
Published by Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group Written by Paul "Wiggy" Wade-Williams (with Shane Lacy Hensley)

I have long been on the Savage Worlds bandwagon. If you want a quick and easy, yet surprisingly adaptable, game system you can do a lot worse that the Savage Worlds roleplaying game. The original Savage Worlds rpg was inspired by pulps, Flash Gordon serials, pirate movies, and westerns and the games focus was on fast, furious, and fun action. Savage Worlds succeeded in general at this task. With The Savage World of Solomon Kane, Shane Lace Hensley and Paul "Wiggy" Wade-Williams take that general success and apply it to the particular. The result is one of the finest licensed roleplaying games ever written.

Wade-Williams writing is clear and concise, the artwork is of sufficient quality to capture the tone, and the fast, furious, and fun Savage Worlds rules set works as a perfect skeleton to run adventures in the world of Robert Howard's dark Puritan Kane. If you are a fan of Howard, or a fan of good rpgs, you can't go wrong with this game.

CthulhuTech
Published by Mongoose Publishing
Written by Matthew Grau and Fraser McKay

This game combines four things that any real geek loves: HP Lovecraft, Mecha, Modern Horror, and roleplaying games. CTHULHUTECH takes high concept to the next level and it pays off. Like the other games in this category, this game uses a "closed" system. As the designer puts it, "Framewerk, the proprietary system upon which CthulhuTech is built, is not only simple and intuitive, it is cinematic, exciting, and puts destiny back in the hands of the player. Its easy to grasp nature makes the game straightforward to learn and quick to start. Its clever dice mechanics make even the simplest of task resolutions exciting." At $49.95, you might balk at the price, but this is a strong entry in the field.

Battlestar Galactica
Published by Margaret Weis Productions
Written by Jamie Chambers

Jamie Chambers applies the Cortex system he developed for the SERENITY roleplaying game to Margaret Weis Productions second licensed television show roleplaying game and it works equally well. The system focuses on quick and easy resolution in an attempt to simulate the subject matter. The rules are very good, but as with any licensed product one must ask how well they apply to the material and how well researched is the material in the game. In both cases, the answer is quite well. Jamie Chambers is one of the hardest working people in the industry and it shows in this game. I can't wait for MWP to release their SUPERNATURAL roleplaying game and I will certainly be purchasing the forthcoming Cortex rulebook.

Faery's Tale Deluxe
Published by Green Ronin Publishing
Written by Patrick Sweeney, Sandy Antunes, Christina Stiles, and Robin D. Laws

FAERY'S TALE DELUXE attempts the very difficult. It attempts to be a roleplaying game that can be taught to children 6 and older while still appealing to the core (older) roleplaying audience. I think that it succeeds. Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall's artwork is reminiscent of Arthur Rackham's work providing the book with a real sense of wonder, but allowing it to be (as Barrie would put it) "innocent and terrible." The fairy's that the players of the game control are good at heart, but if their magic is put to evil purposes there are consequences which can be terrible. The game system is easy to learn and simulates its source material well. It's not a "universal" system by any means, but it is a good simulation of fairy interaction. The game, and supporting adventure products, is high quality and inexpensive.

Aces & Eights
Published by Kenzer & Co.
Written by Jolly R. Blackburn, Brian Jelke, Steve Johansson, Dave Kenzer, Jennifer Kenzer and Mark Plemmons

Have you ever wanted to play a really robust simulation of a showdown at High Noon? Have you ever wanted to use a plastic overlay to determine just what part of the varmint you just shot with your Colt Peacemaker was pierced by your bullet? Have you ever wanted to play in a detailed "Old West that Never Was?" If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then ACES AND EIGHTS might just be written for you. This is a game which has rules tailor made for its source material. Blackburn and crew put their nose to the grindstone and created a worthy successor to BOOT HILL.

MY PICK: All of these are worth your money, but there's something about GRIMM that keeps me coming.

Next Week, I'll hit the remainder of the nominees.

Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Announces Origin Awards Nominees (Part One)

Last week the Game Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) announced their annual list of Origins Award Nominees. The Origins Awards are the most prestigious award in the Adventure Gaming hobby and the winners are determined by the members of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, a committee of GAMA. This year's list contains a wide variety of nominees, covering many genres within the gaming hobby.

Below is the list of nominees followed by my own commentary regarding the individual products:

The first category this year is MINIATURE OR MINIATURES LINE. As one might guess, miniatures can be an important component of the adventure gaming hobby. There are those who prefer to play "merely in the minds of the players," and that works very well for many games. But as someone who has gamed for over 25 years, there are times -- surprising as it may seem to say -- when using miniatures can add a wonderful narrative component to an evening's play. A picture can be worth a thousand words after all.

MINIATURE OR MINIATURES LINE

Having limited talents in the painting of figures, and even less time to develop an talents I do have, my unpainted miniatures purchases have always been limited. Add to that the creation of the D&D Miniatures pre-painted line and my purchase of unpainted miniatures has completely died off. This being the case, I'll leave opinions of which line/individual miniature deserves this year's award up to you the reader. Following each nominee I am providing a representative image provided by the manufacturer of the line/individual miniature. Some of these are particularly nice.

Skarrd Raze #2
by Dark Age Games


George R.R. Martin Masterworks - Premium Miniature Line
by Dark Sword Miniatures, Inc.




Titanius Fury
by Dragonfire Laser Crafts Inc.

Apparently this is a typo at the GAMA site. According to the Dragonfire site, it should be Titania's Fury. If this is indeed the product in question, it gets my vote hands down as a useful and innovative product.



Bronzeback Titan, HORDES: Evolution Miniatures Line
by Privateer Press



Dark Heaven Legends Fantasy Miniatures
by Reaper Miniatures

You really need to click on the link above to get a sense of the entire Dark Heaven line produced by Reaper Miniatures. It is the last of the old school lines of RPG miniatures and is a very good, and very deep, product line. Below is a sample of one of the figures in the line.

Following the MINIATURE or MINIATURES LINE award comes the award for best MINIATURES RULES. It should be noted that this award is central to the adventure gaming hobby. Were it not for H.G. Wells' book Little Wars or for Gary Gygax and Jeff Perrin's CHAINMAIL, the adventure gaming hobby would not exist as it does today.

MINIATURES RULES

Classic Battletech
Published by Catalyst Game Labs
Created by Jordan Weisman
Edited by Michelle Lyons, Diane Piron-Gelman

In an era of click based miniature games and collectible card games, it is heartwarming to see that one of the great miniature games of the past continues to perform strongly and receive the recognition it is due. Classic Battletech is one of the few games that truly deserves to have the word "classic" attached to it. The latest version of the rules updates battlemech construction to ensure more balanced encounters and has been well supported by the fine folks at Catalyst Game Labs.


Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, Second Edition
Published by Ad Astra Games
Created by Ken Burnside and Thomas Pope

While my friends might believe that I own every game actually in print, I don't own a copy of this space combat miniatures simulation. The game is inspired by Baen Books' Honor Harrington military SF fiction series. When it comes to ship to ship space combat games, I tend to stick with SILENT DEATH and BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC or RENEGADE LEGION. When it comes to fun and games, I tend to avoid those that require the use of 3D vector space. I'm chicken. I admit it.


Forces of WARMACHINE: Pirates of the Broken Coast
Published by Privateer Press
Created by Brian Snoddy and Matt Wilson

Pirates, Steam Powered Magical Robots, and a coherent rules set...what's not to love. Privateer Press' WARMACHINE line is a great product line that rivals Rackham for the quality of sculpts. Unlike Rackham's games, one doesn't have to read awkwardly translated French to learn the rules. This is a great addition to a great game. Privateer Press is an exciting gaming company. From their first module for 3rd edition D&D to their card games, they strive for quality.

AT-43
Published by Rackham
Created by Arnaud Cuidet, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Nicolas Raoult, and Jerome Rigal

Having been a WARHAMMER 40K player for over 15 years, it would have taken something pretty special to get me to pack up my Eldar and Space Marines in favor of another game system. AT-43 is that system. As a Rackham game, it has simply some of the best sculpting I have ever seen in the gaming industry. Rackham miniatures are beautiful, and AT-43's are pre-painted. Add to this a good list of affordable terrain features that can be used in other games as well, and I didn't mind having to read poorly translated French in order to learn how to play this game. This is a fun game with beautiful components and an interesting backstory which, like many games coming out of Europe today, has some salient things to say about modern international politics.

Song of Blades and Heroes
Published by Andrea Sfiligoi
Created by Andrea Sfiligoi

It's quite the honor for a "independent" game to be nominated for an Origin award. I haven't play tested this game, but at $15 with an Origin nomination this game is on my short list of games to buy and try.

MY PICK: AT-43 -- It's a great addition to the French invasion in adventure gaming. If only I could find a copy of Asmodee Games' C.O.P.S. roleplaying game. I'd be a happy man.

There's more to adventure gaming than the games. Many gaming companies publish non-fiction and fiction books in support of their product lines, the hobby, or topics related to the hobby. TSR was the first company to publish media tie-in fiction with their roleplaying game, but many have followed and some companies publish non-media tie-in fiction as well.

PUBLICATION, FICTION

Astounding Hero Tales
Published by Hero Games
Edited by James Lowder

While related to Hero Games' PULP HERO sourcebook in theme, this anthology of pulp fiction is a worthy addition to any pulp fans bookshelf. Edited by James Lowder this anthology includes stories by Hugh B. Cave and Lester Dent in addition to pulp tales written by veterans of the game industry. Cinerati's companion podcast Geekerati had an interview with editor James Lowder last year where discussion of this book came up.



Dragons of the Highlord Skies
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

The line of books that established that rpg media tie-in books could be profitable continues with this bestselling novel. With this book, readers learn what happened "between the lines" of the original trilogy.


Frontier Cthulhu
Published by Chaosium
Edited by William Jones

In BLACK STRANGER, Robert E. Howard spun a yarn simulating what might have happened if Conan had lived among the native Americans. The Picts of that tale were closer to the Sioux than the historic Picts. With the Frontier Cthulhu anthology, Chaosium Games gives us 14 tales of what might have happened as people explored American frontiers.

The Orc King
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by R.A. Salvatore

Who says archetypal pulp adventurers are dead? In THE ORC KING, R.A. Salvatore shares with us the continuing saga of one of the most popular characters in fantasy fiction Drizzt Do'Urden. Where Elric was the anti-Conan, Drizzt is in many ways the anti-Elric.


The Time Curse
Published by Margaret Weis Productions
Written by James M. Ward

Last year saw a return of the Endless Quest/Choose Your Own Adventure style books of my childhood and Margaret Weis Productions were at the forefront of that wave. James Ward's THE TIME CURSE is a fun jaunt and a good representation of the genre. And while the book is still available, it is sad to see that the Weis Productions website is downplaying the Paths of Doom line of books.

MY PICK: ASTOUNDING HERO TALES, but you should really pick up THE TIME CURSE as well. It's only $4.50, and it's fun.

Last year was a big year in non-fiction publication for the adventure gaming hobby. Some great books came out last year, and the list of nominees shows that strength.

PUBLICATION, NON-FICTION

40 Years of Gen Con
Published by Atlas Games
Written by Robin D. Laws

Long gone are the days when Gen Con, the largest gaming convention in America, was held in Milwaukee, WI. I attended the con the final year it was held in that fine city and I had a great time. In this volume, edited by Robin D. Laws, several gaming luminaries -- including the now deceased creator of the D&D game Gary Gygax -- share their thoughts on the first 40 years of this conventions history. Given that the company who currently hosts the con is having some legal troubles with Lucas, let's hope that this doesn't become the definitive complete history of the con.

Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Game
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Shelly Mazzanoble

This book, by Shelly Mazzanoble, was aimed at informing women about roleplaying games in general and D&D in particular. Shelly succeeds masterfully at this task. And though she has received some minor criticism from some members of the the "He Man Women Hater's Club," she has also managed to write what might be the best introduction to the D&D game published to date...regardless of sex. While it's true that male readers will have to tolerate side comments about Sex in the City and trips to the mall, it is also true that Shelly has captured the essence of what makes this hobby so much fun for me.

Shelly was recently a guest on the Geekerati Podcast.




Grand History of the Realms
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Brian R. James and Ed Greenwood

While the Forgotten Realms isn't the first world setting for a roleplaying game, it is one of the best selling...if not the best selling. This non-fiction -- and rules free -- book is a must have for any long time fan of the Realms, whether in its game of fiction form. This book gives a good overview of the history of the Realms and gives some glimpses at what the future holds in store as well.

Hobby Games: The 100 Best
Published by Green Ronin
Edited by James Lowder

In HOBBY GAMES: THE 100 BEST, James Lowder brings together 100 essays written by the cream of the crop of the gaming industry to write about their favorite hobby game. Over the years there have been too few books about the gaming hobby, but books of this quality fill quite the gap in quantity. Most of the 100 essays in this book are insightful and well written. In fact, I'll bet you that if you buy this book you will buy no fewer than 5 new games based on the stories/recommendations herein. You might even spend a month on Ebay looking for a good copy of an out of print game. Lord knows I did. James Lowder discussed this book in detail during our podcast interview last year.



No Quarter Magazine
Published by Privateer Press
Nathan Letsinger, editor-in-chief
Eric Cagle, editor
Josh Manderville, art director

NO QUARTER seems to have taken this year's slot as "token gaming magazine" in this category after the death of the physical DRAGON magazine this past year. It will be interesting to see if next year's awards include Wolfgang Baur's KOBOLD QUARTERLY or the online editions of the DUNGEON and DRAGON magazines.

MY PICK: It's a tough toss up between Shelly Mazzanoble's book and the James Lowder Collection, but I'm going to have to cast my vote for CONFESSIONS. If you want a copy, let me know and I'll mail you one (only applies to the first few requests).

Tomorrow, I'll cover part two of this list...The actual games.

One Month?! Holy Cow!

It's hard to believe that it has been one month since the last post, but it has. I have no one to blame but myself...well myself and my lovely twin daughters who have been squeezing the lifeblood out of me, in a surprisingly pleasant manner.

I promise that tomorrow this blog will return to its regular scheduled programming, which -- in the upcoming days/weeks -- will include:

1) A series of articles discussing Film Critics and Film Criticism: Did the Internet Kill Critics/Criticism?
2) A series of reviews of books discussing roleplaying games. These reviews will take a keen look at some of the various primers that have been written over the years.
3) Some random nonsense and possibly a film review, or dissection of a review I don't like. A review of a review, how post-modern is that?

Anyway, I promise good things ahead now that I am getting more reasonable amounts of rest.

Video (games) Haven't Killed the Mo-oo-vie Star...or the TV Star, or Table Top Gaming, or...

Today's Gamasutra has an excellent interview with game developer Peter Molyneux which accurately describes the impact the gaming industry has had on other media, particularly film The verdict? You have to read between the lines, because Molyneux is talking more about gaming's success than its effects on other media directly, is that gaming is a large marketplace, but hasn't taken the place of other media when it comes to entertainment.

I'm as fond of anyone when it comes to telling screenwriters and other entertainment creators that gaming has effected the box office and tv ratings, though likely less than internet piracy in my opinion. In fact, I have a "conversation tape" I like to repeat mantra-esque to demonstrate how big gaming has become. "Do you ever wonder why NBC Universal feels like they are in such a position of power when they negotiate? It's because they have the equivalent of a $140 million blockbuster every month with World of Warcraft." Gaming matters, but those who see "doom and gloom" on the horizon for other media are also missing the point. Have a look at some of Peter's comments:

PM: I would say, to a great extent, we in the development community have really let this industry down. Because I wouldn't say there were exponentially more people playing computer games today than there were when Game Developers Conference first started. Fifteen years ago? Twenty years ago? It's been quite a while.

When it seems to me that the number of people that use computer games as entertainment isn't getting exponentially bigger. Although the market is getting bigger, and we're selling eight million units.

But I've been really thinking about, I remember back in the early eighties... when Clive Sinclair in England released the Sinclair Spectrum. And he famously said, "Every home in Britain will have one of these, and people won't watch television anymore, they will play computer games." That was a dream that was put forth in the seventies, when this thing had 1K of RAM -- and for a little while, we all believed that.

Now, there seems to be this big barrier that exists. And I was actually just in the shops, down here -- I'd forgotten to bring a shirt -- and I was talking to the bloke who's selling me a shirt, and he said: "Aw, I don't play computer games. Because I'm not good enough. I can't get my head round this thing. [Molyneux holds up an Xbox 360 controller.] Every time I do it, I hit my head against a wall." Now that's a huge failure. That's our failure. For not being really, truly as big as movies. Because we're not. Because we only sell -- what do we sell? Eight million?

What is amazing about Molyneux's comments isn't that he's correct that gaming is "not really, truly as big as movies." It's that he's wrong. Look at the figure he uses regarding the number of units sold, eight million. Let that number sink in for a minute. He plans on selling eight million copies of FABLE 2, and he doesn't see himself as big as the film industry. Apparently, he doesn't realize that a movie with eight million viewers has approximately an $80 million box office (likely more since I don't really know where I can see a movie for only $10.00). When you add that video games cost four times as much as films, and the fact that most gamers are likely also movie goers, it would be fair to assume that gaming has already had its impact on film going. And what is that result? According to Variety, "All in all, the 2007 box office was up 5% over 2006, while admissions were up 1%. So far this year, the B.O. is running 9% ahead of the same frame in 2007, fueled by the continued success of "Legend" and "Alvin" along with a solid crop of 2008 films, including "Juno," the highest-performing specialty pic in six years."

That's right "admissions were up 1%." Never forget that all the doom and gloom regarding theater attendance during the past few years has been in comparison to a year that had a record high box office.

So with video games having already become as successful as films, eight million units is like $80 million B.O. (except that it's actually $320 million in sales, $160 for the game maker), the number of people watching films in theaters has increased. The same can be seen in the board game industry as well. While individual sales of some board games have decreased, we are in a boom of available games. The largest problem with the board game market is how fragmented it's become, there are too many publishers publishing too many titles. Take a visit to Board Game Geek and look only at the games released in 2007, compare those to 1997. The same even applies to role playing games.

Chirp, Chirp...Waaaah! The Twins Have Arrived.

You may be noticing it's been a little quiet around here lately. Maybe you were overwhelmed by the sound of chirping crickets. Maybe you were wondering if the Cinerati blog had gone the way of the dinosaur.

Fear not noble readers.

While it is true that there has been a disturbance in the Force, it is a positive one. I, Christian Johnson, your humble host here at Cinerati am now the proud father of lovely twin girls. My daughters, Mystery Lindke and History Lindke, were born on March 24th at 10:45 and 10:46 respectively. Mystery was born hale and hearty, but History had a little trouble catching her breath and had to spend a few days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Everything is fine, she was suffering from a common respiratory complication, but it did make for a few hectic days shuffling around and trying to make sure my family was doing alright.

Hence, no posting. The girls are more beautiful than I ever imagined they could be, especially since everyone says they look like me, and I am overjoyed to have them home. They are so adorable, I don't even mind the lack of sleep...but you can ask me about that again in two months or so.

I have to admit that I am pretty excited about the March 24th birthdate as now I can sing a special birthday song to my little girls every year. I'm sure they'll be sick of it in their teens, but as all SINGIN' IN THE RAIN fans know March 24th is Don's lucky day. These girls will be lucky if everyday doesn't start, "Good Mornin', Good Mornin' We've talked the whole night through. Good Mornin'. Good Mornin' to you."

This seems like an opportune time to make another announcement as well. You may have noticed that the little girls have their mother's last name. As of May 23rd, I will too. Jody and I have talked for years about me taking her name, but it was the arrival of the twins that made us finally pony up the cash to pay for the court costs.

I will be sending emails to friends with pictures of my little minions later this week. Since posting things on "teh interwebs" is not at all private, I won't be posting any pictures to the site. So those of you who want pictures, mention it in the comments section and make sure you include an email address.

Watchmen Costumes Revealed and Other Random Geekery

Over at WatchmenComicMovie.com they have pictures of the cast of THE WATCHMEN movie in costume. The images were posted on the WB site at 11:55 PM last night, that's a easter egg for all you fans out there, and are quickly spreading through the internet.

I wish I were more excited about this production. Zack Snyder is directing, which bodes well. But this is still THE WATCHMEN we are talking about. It's the book that comic snobs use to praise themselves for being fans of an "art form." Here's a sample of dialog with one of these bozos:

ME: "Hey fellow comic fan, what books are you currently reading?"
COMIC SNOB: "Warren Ellis' new book, that new thing by Neil Gaiman, something edgy by Garth Ennis, the latest Grant Morrison, a bunch of indies, and I just picked up the ABSOLUTE WATCHMEN."
ME: "That's cool. How is the new Grant Morrison book, I find him to be hit or miss. ANIMAL MAN was great, but his JUSTICE LEAGUE left me flat -- as did his DOOM PATROL. He just seems to have no feel for straight books, or how to do camp without it being parody."
COMIC SNOB: "WTF?! How dare you question the great Grant Morrison. Next thing you'll be trashing on WATCHMEN, which is indisputably the best piece of writing in the latter 20th century and one of the best works of political philosophy to date."
ME: "I thought it was okay, but I think that Steve Ditko would take issue with the fact that Moore made Mr.A/The Question into an insane person. I still prefer the old Charlton tales that Moore based the Watchmen characters on. As for the political philosophy...you're kidding right? I mean taking a stereotypical 60s doomsday clock vs. the aliens story isn't exactly deep analysis, and his twisting of Objectivism is laughable."
COMIC SNOB: "You obviously don't know what you are talking about. You can keep your Keith Giffen written JUSTICE LEAGUE, I'll read literature."

WATCHMEN is the cool book to like and the sentiments that many of the snobs who like it have result in things like JT LeRoy and other manipulators of the "cool." The comic book literati, and the real literati who like WATCHMEN, are just too much for me. There's some rebellious part of my soul that wants to tell these pretentious boobs, who likely prefer Lichtenstein to Russ Heath, where they can stick their "graphic novel." I'll just open my long box, pull out the 12 issues and read the comic book.

As a comic book, WATCHMEN is great. As a "piece of literature," I'll stick to Chesterton and Faulkner. As a work of "political philosophy," I'll stick to Hegel, Marx, Strauss, Plato, and Rand.

All that said, I really do like WATCHMEN. I even actually believe it is of artistic and literary merit. I think it is genuinely great...though that ending is a little to John W. Campbell formulaic. As long as things like AVENGERS FOREVER, or better yet INVINCIBLE, are being overlooked in favor of something ideologically trapped in the Cold War cynicism of the 80s, I'll keep my own pretentious rejection of pretense.

It's the same reason I like Michael Chabon, but don't like most of his fans. They seem to want to be hip by liking "the best," but they lack the genuine desire for fun of a "real" fan.

I sincerely hope, and think, that WATCHMEN will be a good comic book movie. Peter Cannon -- Thunderbolt's costume, I mean Ozymandias's, looks great, but why is the OWL so thin?

My credo? "Down with Graphic Novels! Up with Comic Books!"