Excited About KARATE KID (2010)

I have always found the storyline of the first Karate Kid movie to be a little less than satisfying. Most people see a story about a kid who is moved to a new neighborhood, is harassed by bullies, and learns martial arts to confront those bullies. I don't. I see a movie about a "new kid" who lies to people about having martial arts prowess in order to be better liked, who has his lie revealed with accompanying public embarrassment, and who eventually learns martial arts and confronts those who revealed his lie.

Daniel-San's lie in the first act of the movie creates a moral dilemma which could have made for an interesting story. Many of us have been the new kid in an unfamiliar community where we have no friends. The desire to make friends provide powerful pressures that can lead us to make mistakes that we must later overcome. One of my favorite romantic comedies The Importance of Being Earnest uses lies in this very manner. It also deals with the consequences that these lies can have upon the tellers. Had the original Karate Kid dealt more with Daniel confronting his deception, and less time painting "Johnny" as a two-dimensional bully (an effect that gets shattered in the third act of the film anyway as the villain role is completely shifted to the sensei of Cobra Kai dojo), the film would have been much more satisfying.

The new version of the film, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, seems to avoid my criticism of the original by making the story more purely about the new kid vs. bullies narrative. At least, the recently released trailer makes it seem that this is the case. I think that this is a good choice, one can always enjoy a kid faces off the bully story, but I don't think it is the best choice.

One of the things that I liked about the recent film Fighting, starring Brian White and Channing Tatum, was the lack of "villain" in the roles of the fighters in the film. Yes Fighting had villains, but they weren't the combatants. The combatants had real reasons for wanting to fight each other, reasons rooted in very human motivations. Brian White's character, Evan Hailey, has every reason to despise Channing Tatum's character. By providing a sympathetic, but not overly so, antagonist, Fighting was a little bit better than your average "fight movie." Given that the story is in many ways a remake of Jean Claude Van Damme's Lionheart, it is all the more remarkable.

The new Karate Kid changes the setting and the martial arts style of the protagonist and it looks to be interesting. That is, if I can wrap my mind around the change of "Sand the Floor" to "Take of Your Coat."

Super Mario vs. Phoenix Wright -- Which is the better Queen video?

Both videos are pure awesome, but which is "awesomer?" You be the judge.



Super Mario video from GoNintendo.


Phoenix Wright video from Joystiq.

Green Ronin's Dragon Age RPG is Worth a Look

When Green Ronin announced they would be releasing a Dragon Age role playing game based on the BioWare computer and console game of the same name, I was initially skeptical about the endeavor. BioWare and Green Ronin are both held in high esteem by fans due to the consistent high quality of their products, but Dragon Age still seemed like less than a stellar idea by Green Ronin.

If there is one genre where the role playing game market is over saturated, it is in the Fantasy themed role playing game market. There isn't much room within the existing gaming marketplace for another Fantasy themed rpg, and the loyalty of consumers within the existing games' market share is pretty solid. Old school D&D players have games like Castles and Crusades and OSRIC. Mainstream Fantasy Gamers have the new Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder role playing games. Gamers who want things fast, furious, and fun have Savage Worlds and the excellent Hellfrost setting. Fantasy Flight Games introduced the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition game this year to seduce board and card gamers into the rpg hobby.

That brief list only scratches the surface of products available for the Fantasy fan. In fact, it leaves out a game that Green Ronin released this past March. Their Song of Fire and Ice game is a Fantasy RPG based on the popular series of novels by George R.R. Martin. I found it truly surprising that Green Ronin would attempt to release two Fantasy themed RPGs in the same year. It should be noted that these are full role playing games, each with their own mechanics, and not campaign settings for existing gaming properties. If these were setting books, I would be much less surprised than I am by the release of two complete role playing games within the same year. This struck me as potentially counter productive, and that dividing the game design resources at Green Ronin might affect the game quality.

This was all true before I purchased the pdf from RPGNOW and GM'd a session with my gaming group this past weekend. I read through the rule books last week and prepared myself to run my group through the adventure. As I did so, I was struck by how simple -- yet robust -- the Dragon Age RPG system is. The basic mechanics are easy to teach and learn. All actions, for which there is a possibility of failure, are decided by a simple mechanic. The player rolls three six sided die (one of a different color than the others) and adds them together. The player then adds this total to one of their statistics (for example: Communication) which have ratings of -2 to +4, if the statistic has an applicable focus the player adds 2 more to this total. This number is compared to a difficulty rating ranging from 7 (routine) to 21 (nigh impossible). If the total is equal to or greater than the number, the action succeeds. If the action is successful, then the player looks at the different colored die -- called the Dragon Die. The higher the total of that die, the more successful the action.

I was impressed by a couple of things in this system. I am very fond of the fact that the game uses a simple roll of three six sided dice. Most people, even non-gamers, have three of these lying around their house. Second, the mechanic is easy to remember, yet has enough depth that it is useful in structuring narrative results without being completely dependent on the sum of the total. A character needing a total of 11 on a check, who rolls 11 can still be extremely successful if their Dragon Die result is a 6. This means that quality successes come more frequently than they might otherwise come if a normal die distribution were used to determine "level of success."

Let's see an example of an action and include the probability of success.

Torvald the Hunter is tracking a wild boar through the forest. It hasn't rained in a few days, so the ground is neither more or less receptive of tracks than on a normal day. Torvald is about an hour behind the boar, so the Game Master decides that this is a Challenging activity -- so it has a target number of 13. Torvald is no more perceptive than the average person (his Perception is +1), but he is trained in the art of Tracking (and will add +2 to this roll). Taking the Target Number of 13 and subtracting Torvald's bonuses, we see that he will need a 10 or better to succeed on this action. Looking at the chart below, we can see that this gives him a 62.50% chance of success.



Torvald's player rolls his three dice and gets one 2, one 2, and a 6 on his Dragon Die. His roll totals 10. Adding his bonuses for statistic and focus his total is 13, which is enough for a success. Rolling a six on his Dragon Die means that this is a remarkable success and the GM rules that Torvald is able to predict the boar's movements and move ahead of it making the hunt easier. Had one of the two's been the Dragon Die and the six a regular die, Torvald would still be successful in following the beast but that success wouldn't be as great.

Quick, easy, and it feeds a narrative spirit. The entire game is based on this simple mechanic, and in knowing just this much you could jump into a game easily. You would even be able to navigate the slightly more complex combat system.

The combat system works like any other task, except you need to keep track of when you roll doubles. If any two of your dice have the same value, and you succeeded at the action, you are allowed to spend a number of "stunt points" equal to your Dragon Die on creating interesting combat effects. These effects range from making a second attack to tripping your foe. I am in love with this mechanic. One of the difficulties in any system is getting your players to explain their character's attacks in an exciting and narrative style. Some players are naturally resistant to doing anything other than rolling and stating damage, but this isn't the real cause of the difficulty. The difficulty typically stems from a player describing an exciting action (for example: "Torvald trips Estvan with his Boar Spear") only to have that action fail when the result of the action is rolled. Most systems require attempts at tripping etc. -- the narrative effects -- to be described before the attempt, like visualization exercises. If the action fails, this can create narrative disappointments and lead to players giving up on trying to describe combat excitingly. By shifting the declaration of narrative effects (with real bonuses rather than being mere descriptors), the stunt mechanic makes combats more exciting than many other game systems.

The elegant mechanic design is obviously aimed at bringing gamers over from one medium, Console/PC gaming, into the medium of table top role playing, and I think it is an excellent attempt. Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay are attempting to appeal to the same market, but they are doing so by using design techniques from Console/PC/Card Game media. D&D and WFRP3 use "exception based" game design hoping that by emulating the style of other games, they will appeal to those gamers. I think that it will work, but I think what Green Ronin is doing will work as well -- and I think it will work for recruiting gamers who would otherwise be intimidated by the massive amount of rules most RPGs require players to learn.

Green Ronin's Dragon Age RPG is a "Red Box" for a new generation of gamers. The old D&D Red Box introduced an entire generation of gamers to a new hobby by simplifying and explaining a difficult game. Something that isn't attempted often enough in the current market. Chris Pramas remembers what it was about the Red Box that enticed the 80s generation of gamers, and he has brought those elements to a new generation of gamers with Dragon Age Set 1. It's a great Basic Set.

Fading of the Cries -- Will it be spooky or silly?

Ever since I first watched Brad Dourif in Dune, he's been one of my favorite "villain" actors. He plays the villain in the upcoming film Fading of the Cries, but I cannot tell by the trailer if the film will be a wonderfully creepy del Toro-esque film or if it will be campy.

Thought?

Midnight Chronicles -- The Best D&D Movie to Date

In September of 2009, Fantasy Flight Games released the Midnight Chronicles DVD. Midnight Chronicles is a first in the role playing game universe. It is a serious Fantasy movie created by gamers for gamers and other fantasy fans.

There have been Fantasy films created by gamers and for gamers in the past, but these were typically comedic affairs. Films like Dead Gentlemen's The Gamers substituted humor for production quality. It can be a winning formula, and certainly was for Dead Gentlemen, but it is also a formula that helps to maintain the stigma against films/television shows based on role playing game properties.

There have also been Fantasy films targeted at gamers, but made by non-gamers. Courtney Solomon's retched Dungeons and Dragons film left a bad taste in the mouth of the gaming community and "proved" to Hollywood that RPG franchises weren't worthy of translation into film/TV franchises.

Fantasy Flight Games' Midnight Chronicles is an attempt to reverse this bias, and an attempt to create an entertaining dark fantasy series. In order to achieve this goal, Fantasy Flight attempted the impossible. They attempted to make a Fantasy film with high production values on a shoe string independent film budget. The Midnight Chronicles film combines what are essentially the first two episodes of a spec pilot television series that would be based on the Midnight role playing game setting published by Fantasy Flight Games shortly after the release of the third edition of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game.



The Midnight setting takes the traditional Tolkien Fantasy outline where a Dark Lord's armies march against the world of men in order to subjugate the masses and adds an interesting what if to the equation. In the typical Tolkien tradition tale, a band of heroes join together to foil the Dark Lord's plan and save civilization from his rule. Midnight asked the question, "What if the heroes of a particular age decided to side with the Dark Lord rather than resist?" The answer is that the Dark Lord wins and the world becomes a much worse place to live. This is the world of Midnight, a world where it has been 100 years since the Shadow fell. The world is now ruled by the Dark Lord. It is a world without heroes and largely without hope.

When Fantasy Flight first began developing Midnight Chronicles, they had hoped to create a high quality and entertaining Fantasy film that would be picked up as a television series, or be successful enough on its own to warrant further investment by the company itself. I don't know where they stand with regard to the last two goals, but I can say that they succeeded in their initial goal.

Midnight Chronicles far exceeded my initial expectations. I had expected a film that looked amateurish, had poor writing, a distracting and sub-par score, and had terrible acting. At best, I expected a movie that looked as good as a quality film school project. Midnight Chronicles is markedly better than either of these expectations. The movie falls somewhere between the Syfy Original film and a Sam Raimi production like Legend of the Seeker in overall production quality. Midnight Chronicles is what I would classify as a "good pilot." This does mean that the "movie" ends in a less than satisfactory manner. Since this is two episodes of a continuing narrative, there is no real sense of closure at the end of the DVD. I sincerely hope that Fantasy Flight has enough success with this project to continue the tale.



The story, while not "original," contains enough narrative arcs to maintain viewer interest and to leave one wanting more when the film ends. The strongest storylines are those surrounding the Legate Mag Kiln (faithful servant of the Dark Lord Izrador) and Morrec (the Robin Hood-esque "hunter" whose raids are delaying the completion of a temple to Izrador). The story regarding the legend of a possible savior of the land was far less interesting.

The acting is mixed, but some of the performances are quite good. Charles Hubbell is excellent as the Legate Mag Kiln. Matthew Amendt is less satisfactory as Gaelan, the foretold champion of justice. The film's acting largely avoids the awful overacting that can accompany Fantasy acting. It doesn't entirely avoid the pitfall, but it does largely avoid it. The camera work and effects are good enough to sustain suspension of disbelief, sometimes they are event striking. The fight choreography is mixed, as is the costuming/makeup. The movie definitely shows some "fraying" around the edges, but it is good enough to watch on repeated occasions.

In comparison to other films in the RPG film genre, Midnight Chronicles is in a class of its own. It is significantly better than either Dungeons and Dragons movie, both of which had larger budgets.Midnight Chronicles is an exhibition of what relatively inexperienced people are capable of producing when they take their subject seriously. When one considers the scope of what Fantasy Flight was able to achieve, and on what budget, it is quite impressive. I highly recommend this film to any gamer, but I also think that non-gamer Fantasy fans will have a good time with the film as well. At $14.99, it's a bargain.

The Dresden Files [Hulu Recommendation Friday]

Watching the preview for THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, put me in the mood for watching the Dresden Files television show.

Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series is one of my literary addictions. I enjoy the way Butcher combines urban fantasy and noir detective fiction tropes in the books. Harry Dresden is a Wizard for Hire in a world that doesn't believe in magic, much to it's own peril.

In 2007, Syfy (then the SciFi Channel) aired twelve episodes of a series based on Butcher's books. The early shows, like the pilot below, were clumsy, but the show eventually found its voice and became quite entertaining.

A Late Christmas List for the Pop Culture Geek (2009)

I try to get out a post highlighting some great gift ideas for pop culture fans each year. This year posting was delayed by a number of different life events, but we still have a week of shopping left and most of the gift ideas I will be offering are either readily available or older classics.

Gift Idea #1: Amazon's Kindle 2

This device is a wonderful addition to any book lover's inventory. The Kindle Wireless Reading Device is lightweight, has a decent amount of memory, and Amazon has a lot of books available in digital format for the device. Additionally, sites like ManyBooks.net have a large catalog of public domain books available in Kindle format. Is your favorite geek an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan who has been trying to hunt down a version of The MuckerThe Outlaw of Torn? Look no further than ManyBooks.net. The Kindle also has a pretty well kept secret. It's also a nice little 3G internet browser, with no monthly fees, where you can surf and even tweet. The internet fuctionality isn't on the par with an iPhone, but it's pretty good and keeps getting better.

Gift Item #2: Stephen Jones Edited Anthologies

I have in mind here three excellent anthologies edited by Stephen Jones that are a wonderful addition to any fan of weird fiction's bookshelf. The first two are H.P.Lovecraft's Book of Horror and H.P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural: Classic Tales of the Macabre. The Book of Horror contains Lovecraft's seminal essay on Supernatural Literature and a selection of stories based on Lovecraft's recommendations. It is a great companion piece to any Lovecraft library and contains many of the stories that inspired Lovecraft himself. The Book of the Supernatural lacks the essay, but continues the exploration of tales that inspired Lovecraft. Between the two books, you have quite a wide sample of early weird fiction.

I would also recommend The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men, which was re-released this year in the hopes of riding on the wave of interest the upcoming WOLFMAN movie should generate. This anthology collects some excellent werewolf stories by authors like Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Hugh B. Cave, and Manly Wade Wellman.

Gift Idea #3: The Collected Captain Future

What's that poster you see on the wall of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment every week on "Big Bang Theory?" Who is this Captain Future: Wizard of Science guy, and what does he have to do with the joys of reading science fiction? Your favorite geek will be able to answer these questions and more after you buy him/her a copy of The Collected Captain Future Vol. 1 by Haffner Press. Captain Future was the creation of Edmund Hamilton who, along with Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, was a key member of Farnsworth Wright's talented pool of writers during the heyday of Weird Tales magazine. The Captain Future stories were eventually converted into an anime series by Toei. The only question your favorite geek will be asking after reading this wonderful collection is, "does that poster belong to Sheldon or Leonard?"

Gift Idea #4: My Little Cthulhu Dark Edition Vinyl Statue

Remember when Little People were bizarre looking utilitarian representations of what humans? Remember when Little People were just the right size to fit into your mouth and chew on? Remember when Little People cowered in fear of the "Dread God (Insert Your Name Here)? John Kovalic and the good folks at Dreamland Toyworks certainly do. The My Little Cthlhu "action figure" is a wonderful blend of Kovalic's elegant cartoon style, and the design of the older -- now changed -- Little People series of toys. Any geek who wants to being introducing his/her children to weird tales and the joys of "The Mythos" absolutely must own one of these wonderful figures.

Did I mention that Dreamland also makes "victims?"

Gift Idea #5: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Set

This November, Fantasy Flight Games released their much awaited, and much debated, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition game. The game is an interesting combination of mechanics drawn from narrative games, traditional roleplaying games, card games, and video games -- combined in a way to make the game easier to learn while maintaining a depth of play experience. If purchased at your "Friendly Local Game Store," the method I most recommend as FLGSs are what truly sustain the gaming hobby, the game comes in at a hefty $99.95 (you can buy it from Amazon at the above link for 37% less). The price seems costly at first, but like most role playing games Warhammer 3 has the potential to give quite a lot of entertainment bang for the entertainment dollar -- given the number of hours of play and the number of players supported by one box. The graphic design of the product is excellent, the rules mechanics are easy to learn but robust, it supports both narrative styles and "hack n slash" style games, and FFG has a lot of interesting support products in the pipeline.

On a side note, while the rules set was created specifically for the Warhammer "universe," I believe that the mechanics could be used for a wide variety of game settings. Translating the rules from one genre to another would be a bit of work, likely too much work for a GM to do in his/her spare time, but the underlying system would work wonderfully with a Superhero themed setting.