Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on May 10th, 2008
I'm very late to the party here, but I've never been shy about jumping on a bandwagon (if I might so mix my metaphors), especially one as spectacularly kitted out as this one, so allow me to add my voice to the legion who are chanting the praises of Inside (French title: A l'intérieur). Directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, this brutally effective piece is yet further evidence that the creative vanguard of the horror film has shifted from Asia to French-speaking Europe.
In the wake of such merciless pieces as High Tension and the Belgian Calvaire comes this even more unforgiving film. Alysson Paradis has just lost her husband in a car accident that miraculously spared her unborn child. It's Christmas Eve, the Paris suburbs are ablaze with riots, and Paradis is going to be induced the following day. She returns home from her doctor's appointment, and is just settling down when the doorbell rings. A strange woman (Betty Blue's Béatrice Dalle) asks to come in to use the phone. When Paradis, justifiably nervous, turns her down, Dalle calls her by name and demands to be let in. And so the siege begins. Before long, Dalle has made her way into the house. Her goal: to slice open Paradis' belly and steal the child.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on May 7th, 2008
Wiimote not to be threatened, GTA IV threatening the Wii, and Nazi killing gets a birthday - Welcome to the column that will not be threatened a second time ahhhhh (and bring us a shrubbery!) known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 40&22. Yes I got the silly emerald raptor. I still have half of my reputation bar for Undercity to go before I become exalted. By every calculation, it is near impossible to be exalted with Undercity by level 40 unless you are of course Undead to begin with. Will I get it by Level 60? Sure. I actually liked the Silvermoon area quite a bit when I was questing there last week. So much, that if I make another character (won't be before one of my characters hit 60) it will be a Blood Elf Hunter. I promise I won't be a huntard either. I played a max level Ranger in Guild Wars and know my way with a bow and a filthy animal. As to where I will quest with my Troll Rogue now? Stranglethorn Vale or Feralas seems to be the popular choice. Naturally I will still try to find any and all quests that have Undercity rep but my concentration will be in this area.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on May 2nd, 2008
All right, I know this horse is so dead it’s glue, and I’m one of the killers, but after calling for a remake last week, I have to at least go on record with my extreme dread over some others coming down the pike.
My principle in this series has been to look at films that were botched the first time around, but nevertheless contained a germ of something that might actually blossom into a wonderful piece of work, given the right team. Meanwhile, there are some projects that sound wacky enough that they just might work, but don’t (hello, Neil LaBute’s Wicker Man). And then there are those that are doomed from the start.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 30th, 2008
Video Game Gameshows, Vegas is Fixed, and more GTA IV than you can shake a hairy hooker at - Welcome to the column that will get Grand Theft Auto IV as soon as we figure out how to pay for the gas and the case of Mountain Dew known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 39&21 in WoW Land. As you can tell from the numbers, I played the heck out of my rogue this weekend. I was questing hard in everywhere from Desolace to Hammerfall. Somewhere around 12k experience away from level 40 and finishing a few Hammerfall quests, I got burnt out. I have about 160 gold, 200 Blacksmithing, 223 in Mining, First Aid, and Cooking (which is really odd to have the same number in three professions). But I'm burnt out because I still only have 7k into my exalted rep for Undercity with 14k remaining. So I kinda quit, I went back to Undercity, took the orb to Silvermoon City and decided to explore another area. I will get 40 on the weekend, pretty much by default. But since I have not quested in that area at all, I figured it was worth a shot. I know I will be getting mostly Silvermoon/Blood Elf rep where I am, but I decided I want to take it easy for the week before resuming the struggle to 40. Next week, I'll have my mount (which unless a miracle takes place will be a raptor) and I will be happy because I won't have to walk around anymore. Somehow, I will still miss stealthing on foot into areas that are 10-15 levels above me. Good times, good times.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on April 25th, 2008
Two weeks ago, I proposed that, if remakes were inevitable, the subjects of said remakes might as well be worthy of that treatment. In other words, if the original is mediocre or worse to start with, no harm done. And maybe we’ll finally wind up with a good film. Granted, experience hasn’t given us much cause for optimism in this department, but hope springs eternal, even in the face of terrible odds, otherwise the human race would have committed collective suicide long ago.
Today’s proposal, then, concerns, Ghost Story. The 1981 adaptation of Peter Straub’s 1979 novel is, not to put too fine a point on it, an abomination. I heaped a great deal of scorn on The Sentinel’s head, and purely at the level of filmmaking, it is the more egregious offender of the two here. But as an adaptation, and as an exercise in missed potential, Ghost Story is the greater sinner. Both films squander impressive casts. But whereas The Sentinel lumped in seasoned trash performers with people who must have wandered onto the wrong set, Ghost Story gathers together legends of cinema (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Patricia Neal) to no good purpose. It what would prove to be a career-defining role, Alice Krige plays the menace. In the decades that would follow, she would turn in more than her share of horror femme fatales (Silent Hill being one of the most recent examples). And whatever else one might say about it (which is quite a bit), The Sentinel is at least reasonably faithful to its source material. This is, of course, one of its problems – a classic case of Garbage In, Garbage Out. But Ghost Story is guilty of something far worse.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 23rd, 2008
Modding in trouble, Game Making on the Cheap & Who exactly is buying Wii Games? - Welcome to the column that will not purchase a Wii game until they make a sequel to River City Ransom known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 37&20. I find it easy to update that particular number than sit here and tell you how I did in World of Warcraft. After getting the Priest to 20, I find myself focusing primarily on the Rogue for the duration of the week. I feel the push to 40 and I'm trying desperately to get Undercity Rep despite the fact I'm a Troll. Getting to Revered was easy enough (did all of the quests in the Silverpine Forest) and I'm back at Tarren Mill. Once I finish off the quests there though, I will be roughly 10k rep away from Exalted. I honestly have no clue of where to go next for Undercity rep. Online guides don't leave much clue either unless you want to collect cloth or do PVP. Origmaar rep is easy (where I'm also revered), Stranglethorn Vale or Hammerfall fills that gap easily for my level. But leave to me to want a stupid undead horse for my mount rather than a Raptor (Troll) or a Wolf (Origmaar). I never can be normal.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on April 18th, 2008
Kino has long been the go-to company for first-rate DVD editions of classic films, with a special emphasis on the silent era. Recently, they have released a box set that is something of a wet dream for fans of vintage, hard-to-find cinema: the German Expressionism Collection.
There are four films here, and the first is the most inevitable: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), which is where expressionism first arrives on film. I doubt readers of this column need an introduction to this tale of a mad hypnotist and the homicidal somnambulist under his spell, and anyone interested in this set will no doubt already own a copy of this film. This is a nice print, with two soundtracks (a new one, and a contemporary one). One of the extras on the disc is a 43-minute version of director Robert Wiene’s 1920 Genuine: The Tale of a Vampire. Though this is still a condensation, it is a huge step up from Image’s 1996 edition which offered only a 3-minute excerpt of that film.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 16th, 2008
Does Free Play Mmo's Work?, The Crue on Rockband, and Developing Gaming Skills? - Welcome to the column that developed many childhood skills like reading, riting, and rithemthic but not until they were fifteen known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 36 & 19. That's all I should have to post at this point. You know how I roll. My main, the Troll Rogue spent most of the week in Thousand Needles, mining until his little blue hands turned purple (or would that be black, I'm not sure). . He's well into Mithril now and a mining skill over 200. Blacksmithing is kinda steady, hitting the 190 range. The Dwarf Priest, well he received some what of a blow this weekend trying to help others in Dead Mines. Grouped with 4 others and I did a great job of healing up until the last boss, Edwin Van Cleef. I was aggrohealing all over the place it seemed and not able to get any good communication going (I blame myself as much as I blame others). So needless to say, we died...a lot. Three times until we got it right. Probably didn't help it was 1 in the morning either. I got jack from the instance except for the experience both numerical and practical. Hopefully, I can improve my skills in future endeavors.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on April 11th, 2008
And so the remakes continue apace. While we shudder at the prospect of butchered returns to Suspiria and the like, this weekend we can head on over to Prom Night and pretend it’s 1980, particularly since, by all reports, a not-very-good movie has been redone as an awful one. But it didn’t have to be this way, which is what motivates today’s musings. Let’s say I’m in a if-you-can’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em frame of mind. If the remakes are going to happen, the subjects of the remakes might as well deserve it. Prom Night is a case in point: it’s not like they were messing with a classic here. The Amityville Horror is another example. The original, though dear to my heart, is, if I’m being brutally honest, not exactly what one could call “good.” And yet the remake was even worse.
Go figure.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 9th, 2008
Finish GTA IV in 25 hours, Give Uwe Boll a million, and Unreal on 360? - Welcome to the column that realizes a number is just a number unless those numbers are 4 8 15 16 23 and 42 known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. More and more levels we go, where it stops? Nobod...err probably in the 50's to low 60's. The dwarf priest has moved up to 18 with some nifty gear while the troll rogue in World of Warcraft has hit level 35. My dwarf priest played through dead mines and received a very nice blue staff in the process. Tailoring and Enchanting are also maxed out until I hit level 20. The troll rogue is currently in the third leg of the Barbaric (Horde only) blacksmithing quest chain. A whole lot of iron is being mined wherever I can find it. However, I am up to mithril which is nice for all of those nodes that I had to pass up prior. Now, what exactly to do with the mithfril ore once I get it is in question for the time being (yes, I know I will eventually use it); but it is nice to see my professions expanding on my rogue again. Hopefully I hit 200 in mining and blacksmithing soon. I got to make a decent sword for myself one of these days.
