list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Tron on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Tron/35952/default.aspx Title: Tron
Year: 1982
Director: Steven Lisberger
Plot: One of the earliest feature films to reflect the video-game craze of the 1980s, Disney's Tron stars Jeff Bridges as a computer programmer who becomes part of the very game that he's programming. Bridges' principal antagonist is his glory-grabbing boss David Warner, who likewise metamorphoses into a video-game character. The title character, a computer-generated superhero, is played by Bruce Boxleitner. Though antiquated by 1990s standards, Tron represented the last word in special effects back in 1982. Surprisingly, despite its long-range influence on the movie industry, the film was a box-office disappointment when first released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 40
Number of Lists: 48
Number of blog posts: 9
Number of discussion threads: 2
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:24:55 GMTTron1982Steven LisbergerOne of the earliest feature films to reflect the video-game craze of the 1980s, Disney's Tron stars <a href="/players/P_____3197/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jeff Bridges</a> as a computer programmer who becomes part of the very game that he's programming. Bridges' principal antagonist is his glory-grabbing boss <a href="/players/P____74733/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>David Warner</a>, who likewise metamorphoses into a video-game character. The title character, a computer-generated superhero, is played by <a href="/players/P_____7782/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bruce Boxleitner</a>. Though antiquated by 1990s standards, Tron represented the last word in special effects back in 1982. Surprisingly, despite its long-range influence on the movie industry, the film was a box-office disappointment when first released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide40Tag Target (>10)48923http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t61170nz19u.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Tron/35952/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_September_21_Video_Games/625/43973/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 9/22/2009 12:18:23 PM
Body: [quote user="leeroy711"] Well this seems like a fun enough topic. Let's talk about video game films. I'm not really talking about movies that are based on video games like Lara Croft or Resident Evil. I'm talking more about movies that are about video games. I got the idea this weekend while I was watching the really bad but still pretty enjoyable horror flick from good old 1994 called Brainscan with Eddie Furlong and Frank Langella. It was about this kid that gets some sort of virtual reality CD-ROM, goes into a trance when he's playing it and starts killing people.... Sounds great right?? Okay maybe not, but it did make me start thinking about this as a topic. I remember watching Tron countless times when I was younger and loving it. I haven't watched it in many years and I'm pretty sure the experience would be ruined if I tried to sit through it now. I've also been wanting to re-watch eXisntenZ lately. I thought it was pretty brilliant in a very Cronenberg sort of way the first time I saw it and I am actually hoping to get a bit more out of it the next time. I also wonder if that film will be really dated in another 10 or 20 years. And I don't think I could mention video game movies without talking about The King Of Kong. I think this is the greatest doc I've ever seen. It was excatly what a documentary should be, in that it's about something that is very small to most of us but a huge deal to all the people that are being profiled. Well, that's all I got for now.. Peace, Love and watch more effing movies. [/quote] I actually never saw TRON until just a few years ago! I didn't find it THAT fascinating, but I can imagine if I saw it as a kid when it came out I might have felt differently. David Warner is always a fantastic villian though! What do you think about the new TRON movie coming out? Have you seen the trailer? The video game movie from my youth is The Wizard for sure. It was definitely a product of it's time. Something about the characters and the settings. Actually it was pretty depressing if you really look at it! But the video game stuff was of course cool for a kid. The kid with the Power Glove was so hilarious! "I love the Power Glove. It's so bad!" And then of course there was the AMAZING moment when the unveiled SUPER MARIO BROTHERS 3! One of the most exciting video game moments ever. But then it was shattered by the absurdity that even though no one had ever seen the game before, the girl in the audience was yelling up all kinds of tips and clues about how the game works and secret passages and such. I've never seen eXisntenZ but that whole trapped in a video game alternate reality thing is a pretty popular premise for movies. Acutally a lot more for animation. The other huge Nintendo love of my youth was the TV show Captain N: The Game Master. A guy gets sucked into his Nintendo and lives in a big Nintendo world where all of the different popular Nintendo games come together in one big universe. These characters and storylines that have nothing to do with each other come together while this guy's video game controller and zapper still work. Really pretty silly, but pretty sweet to see which video game characters they might encounter each week. There are a lot of Animes where people get sucked into video games too I belive. I haven't seen any, so I can only remember two off the top of my head. Avalon by the director of The Ghost in the Shell films (actually now I'm reading about it, I'm not sure if this anime...). An anime series called .hack//SIGN. I KNOW there is a new movie coming out soon where prisoner's bodies can be controlled by gamers in a death match in a kind of real life video game. WHAT IS THIS MOVIE CALLED!?!? I swear I saw a trailer for it or heard about it or something. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Also, The King of Kong is one my very favorite movies to come out in years. But I heard a lot of people respond that Chasing Ghosts about the same scene of people is even better. Anyone seen that one? Oh yeah, and I heard Grandma's Boy is pretty funny too.
]]>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:18:23 GMTRisseladaWeekly Theme9/22/2009 12:18:23 PM[quote user="leeroy711"] Well this seems like a fun enough topic. Let's talk about video game films. I'm not really talking about movies that are based on video games like Lara Croft or Resident Evil. I'm talking more about movies that are about video games. I got the idea this weekend while I was watching the really bad but still pretty enjoyable horror flick from good old 1994 called Brainscan with Eddie Furlong and Frank Langella. It was about this kid that gets some sort of virtual reality CD-ROM, goes into a trance when he's playing it and starts killing people.... Sounds great right?? Okay maybe not, but it did make me start thinking about this as a topic. I remember watching Tron countless times when I was younger and loving it. I haven't watched it in many years and I'm pretty sure the experience would be ruined if I tried to sit through it now. I've also been wanting to re-watch eXisntenZ lately. I thought it was pretty brilliant in a very Cronenberg sort of way the first time I saw it and I am actually hoping to get a bit more out of it the next time. I also wonder if that film will be really dated in another 10 or 20 years. And I don't think I could mention video game movies without talking about The King Of Kong. I think this is the greatest doc I've ever seen. It was excatly what a documentary should be, in that it's about something that is very small to most of us but a huge deal to all the people that are being profiled. Well, that's all I got for now.. Peace, Love and watch more effing movies. [/quote] I actually never saw TRON until just a few years ago! I didn't find it THAT fascinating, but I can imagine if I saw it as a kid when it came out I might have felt differently. David Warner is always a fantastic villian though! What do you think about the new TRON movie coming out? Have you seen the trailer? The video game movie from my youth is The Wizard for sure. It was definitely a product of it's time. Something about the characters and the settings. Actually it was pretty depressing if you really look at it! But the video game stuff was of course cool for a kid. The kid with the Power Glove was so hilarious! "I love the Power Glove. It's so bad!" And then of course there was the AMAZING moment when the unveiled SUPER MARIO BROTHERS 3! One of the most exciting video game moments ever. But then it was shattered by the absurdity that even though no one had ever seen the game before, the girl in the audience was yelling up all kinds of tips and clues about how the game works and secret passages and such. I've never seen eXisntenZ but that whole trapped in a video game alternate reality thing is a pretty popular premise for movies. Acutally a lot more for animation. The other huge Nintendo love of my youth was the TV show Captain N: The Game Master. A guy gets sucked into his Nintendo and lives in a big Nintendo world where all of the different popular Nintendo games come together in one big universe. These characters and storylines that have nothing to do with each other come together while this guy's video game controller and zapper still work. Really pretty silly, but pretty sweet to see which video game characters they might encounter each week. There are a lot of Animes where people get sucked into video games too I belive. I haven't seen any, so I can only remember two off the top of my head. Avalon by the director of The Ghost in the Shell films (actually now I'm reading about it, I'm not sure if this anime...). An anime series called .hack//SIGN. I KNOW there is a new movie coming out soon where prisoner's bodies can be controlled by gamers in a death match in a kind of real life video game. WHAT IS THIS MOVIE CALLED!?!? I swear I saw a trailer for it or heard about it or something. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Also, The King of Kong is one my very favorite movies to come out in years. But I heard a lot of people respond that Chasing Ghosts about the same scene of people is even better. Anyone seen that one? Oh yeah, and I heard Grandma's Boy is pretty funny too. http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Weekly_Theme_for_September_21_Video_Games/625/43968/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 9/21/2009 7:03:23 PM
Body: Well this seems like a fun enough topic. Let's talk about video game films. I'm not really talking about movies that are based on video games like Lara Croft or Resident Evil. I'm talking more about movies that are about video games. I got the idea this weekend while I was watching the really bad but still pretty enjoyable horror flick from good old 1994 called Brainscan with Eddie Furlong and Frank Langella. It was about this kid that gets some sort of virtual reality CD-ROM, goes into a trance when he's playing it and starts killing people.... Sounds great right?? Okay maybe not, but it did make me start thinking about this as a topic. I remember watching Tron countless times when I was younger and loving it. I haven't watched it in many years and I'm pretty sure the experience would be ruined if I tried to sit through it now. I've also been wanting to re-watch eXisntenZ lately. I thought it was pretty brilliant in a very Cronenberg sort of way the first time I saw it and I am actually hoping to get a bit more out of it the next time. I also wonder if that film will be really dated in another 10 or 20 years. And I don't think I could mention video game movies without talking about The King Of Kong. I think this is the greatest doc I've ever seen. It was excatly what a documentary should be, in that it's about something that is very small to most of us but a huge deal to all the people that are being profiled. Well, that's all I got for now.. Peace, Love and watch more effing movies.
]]>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:03:23 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme9/21/2009 7:03:23 PMWell this seems like a fun enough topic. Let's talk about video game films. I'm not really talking about movies that are based on video games like Lara Croft or Resident Evil. I'm talking more about movies that are about video games. I got the idea this weekend while I was watching the really bad but still pretty enjoyable horror flick from good old 1994 called Brainscan with Eddie Furlong and Frank Langella. It was about this kid that gets some sort of virtual reality CD-ROM, goes into a trance when he's playing it and starts killing people.... Sounds great right?? Okay maybe not, but it did make me start thinking about this as a topic. I remember watching Tron countless times when I was younger and loving it. I haven't watched it in many years and I'm pretty sure the experience would be ruined if I tried to sit through it now. I've also been wanting to re-watch eXisntenZ lately. I thought it was pretty brilliant in a very Cronenberg sort of way the first time I saw it and I am actually hoping to get a bit more out of it the next time. I also wonder if that film will be really dated in another 10 or 20 years. And I don't think I could mention video game movies without talking about The King Of Kong. I think this is the greatest doc I've ever seen. It was excatly what a documentary should be, in that it's about something that is very small to most of us but a huge deal to all the people that are being profiled. Well, that's all I got for now.. Peace, Love and watch more effing movies. http://www.spout.com/groups/Natsukashi/Episode_XIX_Explorers/592/36102/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: usesoap
Post To: Natsukashi
Post Date: 10/9/2008 2:45:19 PM
Body: Title: Explorers (1985)Rated: PGDirected by: Joe DanteStarring: Ethan Hawke as Ben Crandall River Phoenix as Wolfgang Muller Jason Presson as Darren WoodsTagline: "You don't need a driver's license to reach the stars!" By: Bo from Last Blog on the Left Pre-screening memories: Ah, Explorers, I hardly remember ye. When a buddy mentioned the movie, I had to freeze in place a moment as synapses not fired in years began to reconnect and offer up flashes of spaceships and a young River Phoenix. And, then, more came. I remembered the spaceship, looking much like the riders’ car from a Tilt-a-Whirl at a local fair, and the thing that drew me to the movie in the first place: adventure. Ever a fan of the kids-on-their-own adventures like The Goonies (who are, indeed, good enough for me), and of the sci-fi flicks of my earlier years, such as Star Wars, this seemed like two great tastes that taste great together. So why has Explorers fallen off the pop culture radar while others achieved ubiquitous reverence? Who knows? Prior to viewing again, I thought perhaps it was too fluffy, the Spacecamp-like entertainment that is immediately engaging, but has no lasting value; the cinematic equivalent of the Milky Way bar. And those films have their place, the Saturday afternoon movies that you don’t feel guilty for falling asleep on, and no lingering urge to seek them out, to see what it is you missed while drooling on the arm of the couch. Explorers is the tale of three kids who start having dreams of circuit boards, which they actually build. Needless to say, it’s a fantasy. The circuit boards turn out to be a method of traveling to the stars via some sort of electric bubble. When they begin to receive strange messages while journeying in their makeshift spacecraft, they follow the signal into the stars and meet irritating aliens. This is a movie that is more heart than brain by a long shot. The spirit is so willing, too. The themes of the outcast kids banding together to do something unexpected and wonderful hits all the right notes. The first act of the movie hums along, introducing its characters well, and even treating the viewer to some post-Tron graphics that have managed to become quaint by today’s standards. The whole thing goes off the rails, though, once the trio makes it to the aliens’ ship. There are several too-long sequences that bog down the film as the kids investigate the strange alien vessel, but that’s nothing compared to the out-and-out trippiness of the aliens themselves. Apparently, they’ve had access to Earth television, which has, in fact, rotted their brains. They are schizophrenic and the scene overstays its welcome with a weird intergalactic talent show that’s about as entertaining as you remember every talent show you’ve ever seen. New memories I was happy to learn that I was correct on the Tilt-a-Whirl memory, but that was about the only solace I gained from this mess of a third act. There are hints of frivolity, such as the school named after Charles M. Jones (or good old Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame to you and me). There’s even a “Hey, wait, where’s the ground?!” Tunes-style joke here, but it feels so ridiculously out of place. And what about the somber kid, Darren, whose father is apparently occasionally abusive? What happened with him? Eh, I just wanted it to be over. There’s an hour’s worth of fun in Explorers, but the slop that ends the film makes it hard to suggest revisiting it. This is probably one better left in the memory banks, where time has erased the irritation. Listen to Bo's recollection of his re-entry into space with 'Explorers' here.
]]>Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:45:19 GMTusesoapNatsukashi10/9/2008 2:45:19 PMTitle: Explorers (1985)Rated: PGDirected by: Joe DanteStarring: Ethan Hawke as Ben Crandall River Phoenix as Wolfgang Muller Jason Presson as Darren WoodsTagline: "You don't need a driver's license to reach the stars!" By: Bo from Last Blog on the Left Pre-screening memories: Ah, Explorers, I hardly remember ye. When a buddy mentioned the movie, I had to freeze in place a moment as synapses not fired in years began to reconnect and offer up flashes of spaceships and a young River Phoenix. And, then, more came. I remembered the spaceship, looking much like the riders&rsquo; car from a Tilt-a-Whirl at a local fair, and the thing that drew me to the movie in the first place: adventure. Ever a fan of the kids-on-their-own adventures like The Goonies (who are, indeed, good enough for me), and of the sci-fi flicks of my earlier years, such as Star Wars, this seemed like two great tastes that taste great together. So why has Explorers fallen off the pop culture radar while others achieved ubiquitous reverence? Who knows? Prior to viewing again, I thought perhaps it was too fluffy, the Spacecamp-like entertainment that is immediately engaging, but has no lasting value; the cinematic equivalent of the Milky Way bar. And those films have their place, the Saturday afternoon movies that you don&rsquo;t feel guilty for falling asleep on, and no lingering urge to seek them out, to see what it is you missed while drooling on the arm of the couch. Explorers is the tale of three kids who start having dreams of circuit boards, which they actually build. Needless to say, it&rsquo;s a fantasy. The circuit boards turn out to be a method of traveling to the stars via some sort of electric bubble. When they begin to receive strange messages while journeying in their makeshift spacecraft, they follow the signal into the stars and meet irritating aliens. This is a movie that is more heart than brain by a long shot. The spirit is so willing, too. The themes of the outcast kids banding together to do something unexpected and wonderful hits all the right notes. The first act of the movie hums along, introducing its characters well, and even treating the viewer to some post-Tron graphics that have managed to become quaint by today&rsquo;s standards. The whole thing goes off the rails, though, once the trio makes it to the aliens&rsquo; ship. There are several too-long sequences that bog down the film as the kids investigate the strange alien vessel, but that&rsquo;s nothing compared to the out-and-out trippiness of the aliens themselves. Apparently, they&rsquo;ve had access to Earth television, which has, in fact, rotted their brains. They are schizophrenic and the scene overstays its welcome with a weird intergalactic talent show that&rsquo;s about as entertaining as you remember every talent show you&rsquo;ve ever seen. New memories I was happy to learn that I was correct on the Tilt-a-Whirl memory, but that was about the only solace I gained from this mess of a third act. There are hints of frivolity, such as the school named after Charles M. Jones (or good old Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame to you and me). There&rsquo;s even a &ldquo;Hey, wait, where&rsquo;s the ground?!&rdquo; Tunes-style joke here, but it feels so ridiculously out of place. And what about the somber kid, Darren, whose father is apparently occasionally abusive? What happened with him? Eh, I just wanted it to be over. There&rsquo;s an hour&rsquo;s worth of fun in Explorers, but the slop that ends the film makes it hard to suggest revisiting it. This is probably one better left in the memory banks, where time has erased the irritation. Listen to Bo's recollection of his re-entry into space with 'Explorers' here. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/8/27/34465.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/27/2008 4:01:05 PM
Body: Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service, has turned into a powerful tool in the hands of not only consumers but marketers of all stripes as well. Comcast, Paramount Pictures and a handful of others have all latched on to it as a way to communicate with customers, acting not only as a distribution platform but a conversation hub and customer service hub as well. Some of the biggest names in the social media marketing world are spending serious time brainstorming how to use Twitter for marketing, debating its usefulness and otherwise hashing out a series of best practices for utilizing the service. Media outlets have also turned to Twitter for many of the same reasons. TV Guide, Fox News and even Spout have a presence there to, again, promote their content and, in some cases, even engage in a back-and-forth with readers. But did you know that Darth Vader is twittering? How about Cobra Commander? In one of the most widely-discussed instances of fictional characters with Twitter accounts, the staff of Sterling Cooper - the ad agency in the hit AMC series Mad Men - have all been posting 140 charcter status updates. Initially thought to be an official effort by the cable channel, it was later found that no, these were fan efforts that almost fell victim from what was later construed as “miscommunication“, but which at first apparently looked like a take-down notice filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. With all these movie and TV characters expressing themselves, we thought it would be fun to see who our followers on Twitter thought should make their thoughts known in 140-characters or less. Here’s what we got back. Characters played by Val Kilmer appeared twice in the feedback. @treobenny put in his vote for Doc Holiday from Tombstone and Ryan Budke nominated Gay Perry from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. @sabine24 put forth a bunch of names, including Frank N. Furter, Stanley Kowalski and Jack Sparrow. The Big Lebowski’s The Dude got the nod from @povertyjetset and @champura went deep into the well to bring out Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood. @tigershungry went even further for Pistachio Disguisey, Dana Carvey’s character from 2002’s Master of Disguise. Finally, @ryananderson will be taken out back and horse-whipped for suggesting Jar Jar Binks. In addition to this worthy list of nominations, here’s who we’d like to see on Twitter: The Guru Pitka (The Love Guru): Yes, the movie might have bombed and forced Mike Myers back into re-evaluating Austin Powers 4, but the pithy Pitka’s bumper-sticker life lessons are made for the format. Carl Dehham (King Kong): “Rough day. Locals speak of something we think translates to ‘big angry monkey.’ But filming continues. Ann seems wary, tho.” Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Animal Crackers): Come on. I’m a little ashamed of everyone - and myself - that a Groucho Marx character wasn’t among the first ones I thought of. I’m going with Spaulding simply because I think he gets off some better one-liners than my other choice, Duck Soup’s Rufus T. Firefly. Wolverine (X-Men): “Stabbed guy with claws. Had beer.” (repeat time and time again.) Gypsy (Mystery Science Theater 3000): The robot in charge of the Satellite of Love’s operations would be the ideal candidate to report on how Joel, Crow and Servo are holding up, as well as throw the occassional “@drforrester: You suck.” Master Control Program (Tron): Every post would conclude with “end of line.” Plus, he could brag about how easy it is to crack into Windows servers. Isaac Davis (Manhattan): Imagine the possibilities of Woody Allen’s character obsessing over the minutia of his relationships as well as sending missive after missive about his love of New York City and Ingmar Bergman film to all his followers. (Side note: Mariel Hemingway’s character Tracy would, on the other hand, have a Tumblr blog.) Peter Gibbons (Office Space): Maybe it’s a cop-out to think of Gibbons venting on his frustrations with his boss on Twitter (likely under a pseudonym to protect his shaky job) but it would still be pretty funny. Matt Hooper (Jaws): “Got call from some hick sheriff with what’s probably just an over-active imagination. At least he’s paying for the trip.” Chris Kelvin (Solaris): Just because every other post would be “Did I just see my dead wife? WTF!!!”" So who do you think would make a good presence on Twitter? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:01:05 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/27/2008 4:01:05 PMTwitter, the popular micro-blogging service, has turned into a powerful tool in the hands of not only consumers but marketers of all stripes as well. Comcast, Paramount Pictures and a handful of others have all latched on to it as a way to communicate with customers, acting not only as a distribution platform but a conversation hub and customer service hub as well. Some of the biggest names in the social media marketing world are spending serious time brainstorming how to use Twitter for marketing, debating its usefulness and otherwise hashing out a series of best practices for utilizing the service. Media outlets have also turned to Twitter for many of the same reasons. TV Guide, Fox News and even Spout have a presence there to, again, promote their content and, in some cases, even engage in a back-and-forth with readers. But did you know that Darth Vader is twittering? How about Cobra Commander? In one of the most widely-discussed instances of fictional characters with Twitter accounts, the staff of Sterling Cooper - the ad agency in the hit AMC series Mad Men - have all been posting 140 charcter status updates. Initially thought to be an official effort by the cable channel, it was later found that no, these were fan efforts that almost fell victim from what was later construed as “miscommunication“, but which at first apparently looked like a take-down notice filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. With all these movie and TV characters expressing themselves, we thought it would be fun to see who our followers on Twitter thought should make their thoughts known in 140-characters or less. Here’s what we got back. Characters played by Val Kilmer appeared twice in the feedback. @treobenny put in his vote for Doc Holiday from Tombstone and Ryan Budke nominated Gay Perry from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. @sabine24 put forth a bunch of names, including Frank N. Furter, Stanley Kowalski and Jack Sparrow. The Big Lebowski’s The Dude got the nod from @povertyjetset and @champura went deep into the well to bring out Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood. @tigershungry went even further for Pistachio Disguisey, Dana Carvey’s character from 2002’s Master of Disguise. Finally, @ryananderson will be taken out back and horse-whipped for suggesting Jar Jar Binks. In addition to this worthy list of nominations, here’s who we’d like to see on Twitter: The Guru Pitka (The Love Guru): Yes, the movie might have bombed and forced Mike Myers back into re-evaluating Austin Powers 4, but the pithy Pitka’s bumper-sticker life lessons are made for the format. Carl Dehham (King Kong): “Rough day. Locals speak of something we think translates to ‘big angry monkey.’ But filming continues. Ann seems wary, tho.” Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Animal Crackers): Come on. I’m a little ashamed of everyone - and myself - that a Groucho Marx character wasn’t among the first ones I thought of. I’m going with Spaulding simply because I think he gets off some better one-liners than my other choice, Duck Soup’s Rufus T. Firefly. Wolverine (X-Men): “Stabbed guy with claws. Had beer.” (repeat time and time again.) Gypsy (Mystery Science Theater 3000): The robot in charge of the Satellite of Love’s operations would be the ideal candidate to report on how Joel, Crow and Servo are holding up, as well as throw the occassional “@drforrester: You suck.” Master Control Program (Tron): Every post would conclude with “end of line.” Plus, he could brag about how easy it is to crack into Windows servers. Isaac Davis (Manhattan): Imagine the possibilities of Woody Allen’s character obsessing over the minutia of his relationships as well as sending missive after missive about his love of New York City and Ingmar Bergman film to all his followers. (Side note: Mariel Hemingway’s character Tracy would, on the other hand, have a Tumblr blog.) Peter Gibbons (Office Space): Maybe it’s a cop-out to think of Gibbons venting on his frustrations with his boss on Twitter (likely under a pseudonym to protect his shaky job) but it would still be pretty funny. Matt Hooper (Jaws): “Got call from some hick sheriff with what’s probably just an over-active imagination. At least he’s paying for the trip.” Chris Kelvin (Solaris): Just because every other post would be “Did I just see my dead wife? WTF!!!”" So who do you think would make a good presence on Twitter? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/7/17/32662.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 7/17/2008 11:00:49 AM
Body: Every week or so you’ll hear about a video game being adapted for the big screen, especially with the gaming industry raking it in hand over fist these days. In the past year alone studios have touted the announcements of deals for game-based movies like World of Warcraft, Halo, and Metal Gear Solid. But what about the movies that already seem like video games? There are a fair share of flicks that feature everything from gimmicky camera styles to plotlines that seem like they were ripped right out of the latest console bestseller and plunked into multiplexes. Check out the list below and watch these video game movies that aren’t video game movies. 1. Elephant (2003): This Gus Van Sant film was inspired by the Columbine school shooters, who were in turn supposedly inspired by video games Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. The movie is made up of extremely long tracking shots, filmed just behind the character the story is currently following. By design, this makes the film look like a thirdperson game like Grand Theft Auto, except without all the hookers and drug-running. 2. Starship Troopers (1999): Invading aliens that look like bugs sounds like the plot of Ender’s Game, but the movie looks a whole lot like Halo. Grunt marines blowing things apart with shotguns, massive orbital ships that don’t do much else except explode in space and drop mission-important debris all over the place, and one badass soldier who survives through everything. Like Halo, this is also about to become a trilogy as Caspar Van Diem reprises his leading role. 3. Lady in the Lake (1947): Chalk this one up as a massive failure in cinematic innovation. Lady in the Lake was filmed entirely from the first person point of view of the main character, and you’d only occasionally see his hand lighting a cigarette, opening a door, etc. Before the Doom generation there was this Philip Marlowe vehicle with Robert Montgomery in the lead role, and it pretty much plunged off of a cliff while on fire. 4. Clash of the Titans (1981): Before games like Everquest and World of Warcraft sent dozens of digital denizens off on endless quests in search of trinkets, this was the roleplaying genre in movie form. Perseus had to head out in search of several magic items like a sword and a shield before he could could fight the Gods and let the end credits begin. They’re remaking this movie with a 2010 release date, and it had damn better well have Bubo the mechanical owl in it. 5. TRON (1982): While there have been other movies about video games, like Joysticks, The Wizard and The Last Starfighter, Tron was the first movie that was actually about the development of games, and featured a game designer getting zapped into the artificial world he’d helped create. It featured cutting-edge CGI graphics, and is still considered the pinnacle of gaming + movies. This movie also ushered in the TRON coin-op arcade game, which chewed millions of quarters from the pockets of kids eager to get digitized. Bonus Level: Movies with video game scenes in them, even though they aren’t video game movies. National Lampoon’s Vacation: Genre mixing video games as Russ tries to eat the Family Truckster with Pac-Man while Audrey zaps him with a spider. Poor Clark can’t even get a break when simply planning vacations. If you can name the home computer system that the Griswold’s used, then you’re either a high-level nerd, a Vacation-o-phile, or just living in the 80s. The Beach: Leonardo DiCaprio goes slightly nuts and hallucinates that he’s in a video game while waiting in the jungle in this Danny Boyle-directed movie. Too bad it wasn’t as good as the book, which actually didn’t even feature this video game scene. When the little one-off scene you film to show how crazy your main character is becoming end up being better than the entire movie, you’re in trouble. Crank: The opening credits for Crank tell the story of the movie in 8-bit graphics, along with cheesy techno music. Chev’s vitals have to stay about a certain level, or else he buys it. They’ll be reprising this in the credits for Crank 2, if you can stand to ride it all over again. Think about packing a tranquilizer. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:00:49 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com7/17/2008 11:00:49 AMEvery week or so you’ll hear about a video game being adapted for the big screen, especially with the gaming industry raking it in hand over fist these days. In the past year alone studios have touted the announcements of deals for game-based movies like World of Warcraft, Halo, and Metal Gear Solid. But what about the movies that already seem like video games? There are a fair share of flicks that feature everything from gimmicky camera styles to plotlines that seem like they were ripped right out of the latest console bestseller and plunked into multiplexes. Check out the list below and watch these video game movies that aren’t video game movies. 1. Elephant (2003): This Gus Van Sant film was inspired by the Columbine school shooters, who were in turn supposedly inspired by video games Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. The movie is made up of extremely long tracking shots, filmed just behind the character the story is currently following. By design, this makes the film look like a thirdperson game like Grand Theft Auto, except without all the hookers and drug-running. 2. Starship Troopers (1999): Invading aliens that look like bugs sounds like the plot of Ender’s Game, but the movie looks a whole lot like Halo. Grunt marines blowing things apart with shotguns, massive orbital ships that don’t do much else except explode in space and drop mission-important debris all over the place, and one badass soldier who survives through everything. Like Halo, this is also about to become a trilogy as Caspar Van Diem reprises his leading role. 3. Lady in the Lake (1947): Chalk this one up as a massive failure in cinematic innovation. Lady in the Lake was filmed entirely from the first person point of view of the main character, and you’d only occasionally see his hand lighting a cigarette, opening a door, etc. Before the Doom generation there was this Philip Marlowe vehicle with Robert Montgomery in the lead role, and it pretty much plunged off of a cliff while on fire. 4. Clash of the Titans (1981): Before games like Everquest and World of Warcraft sent dozens of digital denizens off on endless quests in search of trinkets, this was the roleplaying genre in movie form. Perseus had to head out in search of several magic items like a sword and a shield before he could could fight the Gods and let the end credits begin. They’re remaking this movie with a 2010 release date, and it had damn better well have Bubo the mechanical owl in it. 5. TRON (1982): While there have been other movies about video games, like Joysticks, The Wizard and The Last Starfighter, Tron was the first movie that was actually about the development of games, and featured a game designer getting zapped into the artificial world he’d helped create. It featured cutting-edge CGI graphics, and is still considered the pinnacle of gaming + movies. This movie also ushered in the TRON coin-op arcade game, which chewed millions of quarters from the pockets of kids eager to get digitized. Bonus Level: Movies with video game scenes in them, even though they aren’t video game movies. National Lampoon’s Vacation: Genre mixing video games as Russ tries to eat the Family Truckster with Pac-Man while Audrey zaps him with a spider. Poor Clark can’t even get a break when simply planning vacations. If you can name the home computer system that the Griswold’s used, then you’re either a high-level nerd, a Vacation-o-phile, or just living in the 80s. The Beach: Leonardo DiCaprio goes slightly nuts and hallucinates that he’s in a video game while waiting in the jungle in this Danny Boyle-directed movie. Too bad it wasn’t as good as the book, which actually didn’t even feature this video game scene. When the little one-off scene you film to show how crazy your main character is becoming end up being better than the entire movie, you’re in trouble. Crank: The opening credits for Crank tell the story of the movie in 8-bit graphics, along with cheesy techno music. Chev’s vitals have to stay about a certain level, or else he buys it. They’ll be reprising this in the credits for Crank 2, if you can stand to ride it all over again. Think about packing a tranquilizer. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/13/29060.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/13/2008 10:14:31 PM
Body: I didn't actuly expect Tron to be a good movie, but I did think that it could be a fun movie in a cheesy 80's sense. Unfortanley, the movie is cheesy, it's not cheesy enough to be funny, and the film takes itself way too seriously to be much fun. Sure, it looks cool, but the complete banalality plot, dialouge and characters make the movie completley uninteresting after the novelty wears off. The film was the second of the Disney studio's attempt to cash in on the late 70's/early 80's sci-fi craze (The Black Hole was the first). I also have a sneaking suspicion that they were also trying to come up with a new Disney World attraction and decided to test the waters with a movie. In fact, while watchign the film, I thought it might have worked better as an IMAX film or some kind of big formulist art movie instead of its standard action plot. If you havn't seen the movie, pause for a second and think of what the plot is. You're right! An evil business tycoon (David Warner) has stolen the video games written by Kevin (Jeff Bridges) and made millions off of them. While investigating, Kevin ends up being trapped inside tycoon's big computer where is captured by what are apparently security protocol files and forced to play track and field events, such as frisbee and lacross. He escapes and-you know what happens. Although character development isn't supposed to be the point in a movie like this, it's so non-existant in Tron that it's almost like a Bresson film, without the ideas of course. There are some heavy handed religious metaphors- (the prorgrammers are suppost to be God) that are also pointless. The whole film is so cold and detached that it's rather dull. What really works about the film are the formal elements- the movie does indeed look cool. Everything set inside the computer except the actors and the frisbees (I mean "memory disks") is early CGI, with a very intersting color scheme. The sound design and the synthizer score by Wendy Carlos are also very strong. I think that this might have been really cool cineamtic experince if there was no story, maybe just no dialouge- an early 80's meditation on technology and humanity, a la Laurie Anderson. The near tragedity of this film is that Steven Lisbereger created images that had never seen before by human eyes and wasted them on a standard action plot and says absolutley nothing with it. Unfortanley, Lisberger was to talented to have completey failed and have made what we really, really wanted to see- a cheesy 80's movie with lots of bad laughs either. Tron (1982)
]]>Wed, 14 May 2008 02:14:31 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/13/2008 10:14:31 PMI didn't actuly expect Tron to be a good movie, but I did think that it could be a fun movie in a cheesy 80's sense. Unfortanley, the movie is cheesy, it's not cheesy enough to be funny, and the film takes itself way too seriously to be much fun. Sure, it looks cool, but the complete banalality plot, dialouge and characters make the movie completley uninteresting after the novelty wears off. The film was the second of the Disney studio's attempt to cash in on the late 70's/early 80's sci-fi craze (The Black Hole was the first). I also have a sneaking suspicion that they were also trying to come up with a new Disney World attraction and decided to test the waters with a movie. In fact, while watchign the film, I thought it might have worked better as an IMAX film or some kind of big formulist art movie instead of its standard action plot. If you havn't seen the movie, pause for a second and think of what the plot is. You're right! An evil business tycoon (David Warner) has stolen the video games written by Kevin (Jeff Bridges) and made millions off of them. While investigating, Kevin ends up being trapped inside tycoon's big computer where is captured by what are apparently security protocol files and forced to play track and field events, such as frisbee and lacross. He escapes and-you know what happens. Although character development isn't supposed to be the point in a movie like this, it's so non-existant in Tron that it's almost like a Bresson film, without the ideas of course. There are some heavy handed religious metaphors- (the prorgrammers are suppost to be God) that are also pointless. The whole film is so cold and detached that it's rather dull. What really works about the film are the formal elements- the movie does indeed look cool. Everything set inside the computer except the actors and the frisbees (I mean "memory disks") is early CGI, with a very intersting color scheme. The sound design and the synthizer score by Wendy Carlos are also very strong. I think that this might have been really cool cineamtic experince if there was no story, maybe just no dialouge- an early 80's meditation on technology and humanity, a la Laurie Anderson. The near tragedity of this film is that Steven Lisbereger created images that had never seen before by human eyes and wasted them on a standard action plot and says absolutley nothing with it. Unfortanley, Lisberger was to talented to have completey failed and have made what we really, really wanted to see- a cheesy 80's movie with lots of bad laughs either. Tron (1982) http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/4/23/27708.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 4/23/2008 3:01:32 PM
Body: People are starting to say smart things about Speed Racer, sight unseen. The film has been screened for journalists who attended junkets, but those journalists have so far stuck to stuck to the studio’s review embargo––all of the really interesting stuff is being written by bloggers who are basing their critiques solely on promo materials like stills, trailers, and now clips. It’s these seven new clips posted by Colider.com that prompted iO9’s Annalee Newitz to start spouting sci-fi philosophy. “In this scene, where Speed and his pals race through a geometrically-impossible “ice mountain,” it’s clear we’re inside an artificial world where humans and machines have become interchangeable,” she writes. “Watching Speed and his car is like seeing the movie Tron from the point of view of one of the programs.” Tron references are always sexy. You can watch the clips at either Colider or iO9, but they don’t seem to be easily embeddable. Colider’s are crisp and HD sparkly; it looks like Newitz’ crack Gawker Media tech team scraped the clips in order to re-post them on their own site, but I kind of prefer the lower resolution. Especially with that ice cave clip, the pixelation causes the image to blur into a wild four-dimensional abstract expressionist canvas. It made my eyes cross, but in a good way. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:01:32 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog4/23/2008 3:01:32 PM People are starting to say smart things about Speed Racer, sight unseen. The film has been screened for journalists who attended junkets, but those journalists have so far stuck to stuck to the studio’s review embargo––all of the really interesting stuff is being written by bloggers who are basing their critiques solely on promo materials like stills, trailers, and now clips. It’s these seven new clips posted by Colider.com that prompted iO9’s Annalee Newitz to start spouting sci-fi philosophy. “In this scene, where Speed and his pals race through a geometrically-impossible “ice mountain,” it’s clear we’re inside an artificial world where humans and machines have become interchangeable,” she writes. “Watching Speed and his car is like seeing the movie Tron from the point of view of one of the programs.” Tron references are always sexy. You can watch the clips at either Colider or iO9, but they don’t seem to be easily embeddable. Colider’s are crisp and HD sparkly; it looks like Newitz’ crack Gawker Media tech team scraped the clips in order to re-post them on their own site, but I kind of prefer the lower resolution. Especially with that ice cave clip, the pixelation causes the image to blur into a wild four-dimensional abstract expressionist canvas. It made my eyes cross, but in a good way. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/4/23/27706.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 4/23/2008 3:01:23 PM
Body: People are starting to say smart things about Speed Racer, sight unseen. The film has been screened for journalists who attended junkets, but those journalists have so far stuck to stuck to the studio’s review embargo––all of the really interesting stuff is being written by bloggers who are basing their critiques solely on promo materials like stills, trailers, and now clips. It’s these seven new clips posted by Colider.com that prompted iO9’s Annalee Newitz to start spouting sci-fi philosophy. “In this scene, where Speed and his pals race through a geometrically-impossible “ice mountain,” it’s clear we’re inside an artificial world where humans and machines have become interchangeable,” she writes. “Watching Speed and his car is like seeing the movie Tron from the point of view of one of the programs.” Tron references are always sexy. You can watch the clips at either Colider or iO9, but they don’t seem to be easily embeddable. Colider’s are crisp and HD sparkly; it looks like Newitz’ crack Gawker Media tech team scraped the clips in order to re-post them on their own site, but I kind of prefer the lower resolution. Especially with that ice cave clip, the pixelation causes the image to blur into a wild four-dimensional abstract expressionist canvas. It made my eyes cross, but in a good way. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:01:23 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com4/23/2008 3:01:23 PM People are starting to say smart things about Speed Racer, sight unseen. The film has been screened for journalists who attended junkets, but those journalists have so far stuck to stuck to the studio’s review embargo––all of the really interesting stuff is being written by bloggers who are basing their critiques solely on promo materials like stills, trailers, and now clips. It’s these seven new clips posted by Colider.com that prompted iO9’s Annalee Newitz to start spouting sci-fi philosophy. “In this scene, where Speed and his pals race through a geometrically-impossible “ice mountain,” it’s clear we’re inside an artificial world where humans and machines have become interchangeable,” she writes. “Watching Speed and his car is like seeing the movie Tron from the point of view of one of the programs.” Tron references are always sexy. You can watch the clips at either Colider or iO9, but they don’t seem to be easily embeddable. Colider’s are crisp and HD sparkly; it looks like Newitz’ crack Gawker Media tech team scraped the clips in order to re-post them on their own site, but I kind of prefer the lower resolution. Especially with that ice cave clip, the pixelation causes the image to blur into a wild four-dimensional abstract expressionist canvas. It made my eyes cross, but in a good way. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/djp72/archive/2007/9/8/19536.aspx Post By: djp72
Post To: djp72 Blog
Post Date: 9/8/2007 9:18:41 PM
Body: i remember seeing this as kid when it first came out at the movies. more than the story, the design and the feel of the movie blew my mind and woke me up to the possibility of imagination...
]]>Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:18:41 GMTdjp72djp72 Blog9/8/2007 9:18:41 PMi remember seeing this as kid when it first came out at the movies. more than the story, the design and the feel of the movie blew my mind and woke me up to the possibility of imagination... http://www.spout.com/blogs/risselada/archive/2007/9/7/19472.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Risselada Blog
Post Date: 9/7/2007 2:22:00 PM
Body: TronI remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer asks if anyone has seen the movie Tron. Everyone denies it except for Wiggum (who actually denies it twice and then confirms it and then retracts again. Oh believe me, it's funny). I'd seen short clips of the movie, but never watched the whole thing.My friend Noah was wild about it though, and when I was visiting him on my vacation last Spring he had me and my other friend Adam watch it. Ok, yeah the effects look pretty horrible by today's standards. Although it does still look totally different from anything anyone would conceive of today probably. I actually kind of like it for it's effects.But the rest of the story is really bad. Really goofy. I'm sure many disagree. But maybe as The Simpsons seems to think, not that many people have seen it anyways. Or they are too embarrassed to admit it.Rating: 6/10
]]>Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:22:00 GMTRisseladaRisselada Blog9/7/2007 2:22:00 PMTronI remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer asks if anyone has seen the movie Tron. Everyone denies it except for Wiggum (who actually denies it twice and then confirms it and then retracts again. Oh believe me, it&#39;s funny). I&#39;d seen short clips of the movie, but never watched the whole thing.My friend Noah was wild about it though, and when I was visiting him on my vacation last Spring he had me and my other friend Adam watch it. Ok, yeah the effects look pretty horrible by today&#39;s standards. Although it does still look totally different from anything anyone would conceive of today probably. I actually kind of like it for it&#39;s effects.But the rest of the story is really bad. Really goofy. I&#39;m sure many disagree. But maybe as The Simpsons seems to think, not that many people have seen it anyways. Or they are too embarrassed to admit it.Rating: 6/10 http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
Number of films tagged: 12478

Number of people who tagged: 338

Number of times used: 1480

]]>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:28:29 GMT124783381480Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/comedy/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomedy
Number of films tagged: 1087

Number of people who tagged: 253

Number of times used: 1342

]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT10872531342Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/revenge/MemberTagFilms.aspxrevenge
Number of films tagged: 5189

Number of people who tagged: 145

Number of times used: 489

]]>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:41 GMT5189145489Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/80s/MemberTagFilms.aspx80s
Number of films tagged: 87

Number of people who tagged: 90

Number of times used: 162

]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:50:41 GMT8790162Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/escape/MemberTagFilms.aspxescape
Number of films tagged: 2868

Number of people who tagged: 76

Number of times used: 279

]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:51:44 GMT286876279Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/genius/MemberTagFilms.aspxgenius
Number of films tagged: 227

Number of people who tagged: 56

Number of times used: 96

]]>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:26:43 GMT2275696Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/journey/MemberTagFilms.aspxjourney
Number of films tagged: 1175

Number of people who tagged: 50

Number of times used: 124

]]>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:02:52 GMT117550124Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/corruption/MemberTagFilms.aspxcorruption
Number of films tagged: 1236

Number of people who tagged: 47

Number of times used: 108

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT123647108Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/competition/MemberTagFilms.aspxcompetition
Number of films tagged: 1282

Number of people who tagged: 42

Number of times used: 95

]]>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:49:19 GMT12824295Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/power/MemberTagFilms.aspxpower
Number of films tagged: 606

Number of people who tagged: 39

Number of times used: 104

]]>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:43:55 GMT60639104Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/business/MemberTagFilms.aspxbusiness
Number of films tagged: 1747

Number of people who tagged: 27

Number of times used: 70

]]>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:05:14 GMT17472770Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/futuristic/MemberTagFilms.aspxfuturistic
Number of films tagged: 20

Number of people who tagged: 27

Number of times used: 36

]]>Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:17:32 GMT202736Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/technology/MemberTagFilms.aspxtechnology
Number of films tagged: 688

Number of people who tagged: 23

Number of times used: 54

]]>Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:02:23 GMT6882354Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/trapped/MemberTagFilms.aspxtrapped
Number of films tagged: 436

Number of people who tagged: 22

Number of times used: 41

]]>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:53:35 GMT4362241Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/reality/MemberTagFilms.aspxreality
Number of films tagged: 612

Number of people who tagged: 20

Number of times used: 33

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT6122033Tag