Yeah, I still write stuff besides celebratory blogs based on video game anniversaries…
So I saw The Muppets (review soon), and to my most pleasant surprise one of the trailers included with the film was for The Secret World of Arrietty, the newest film from Studio Ghibli due for a February release in North America. It may not seem like it, but this is actually a pretty big deal for Studio Ghibli fans. Read more
Today marks the 21st anniversary of the original Japanese release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This, of course, also means its the 21st anniversary of Super Mario World’s Japanese release. And perhaps not so ironically, Donkey Kong Country was first released in the USA on this date in 1994 (it was released in America first), and Donkey Kong Country 2 was first released on this same day in Japan in 1995 (DKC2 was released in Japan first). Donkey Kong Country 3 missed out by a day (November 22nd, 1996 in America).
As far as I’m concerned, these, among the many other classics released on the SNES (such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Kart, Super Metroid, and so many others) make it the greatest video game console of all-time!
Happy birthday you purple and gray fun machine, you!
To further celebrate, here’s a video I made a few months back celebrating the system’s 20th anniversary in North America. It works very well here as well.
"Showtime."
Yesterday, November 5th, was the seven year anniversary of when The Incredibles was released in U.S. theaters. Many still argue it’s Pixar’s best, and hopefully with the recent announcement of Disney re-releasing a number of their films and those of Pixar, maybe we’ll be seeing Mr. Incredible back on the big screen (fingers crossed).
Happy birthday The Incredibles! May it not take another seven years to get a sequel.
Disney has released the official English-language trailer for The Secret World of Arrietty (known as The Borrower Arrietty in Japan), the latest Studio Ghibli film set for a February 2012 release in the United States. Strangely, Disney made a completely different English dub for its release in Britain a few months back…Don’t know the reason for two different English versions, but who cares! A new Studio Ghibli film is on the way.
The trailer can be seen here via Apple. Enjoy.
While I write a slew of video game reviews and top 5/10 lists, I figured I’d report this (admittedly old, by internet standards) bit of news.
Following the great success of the theatrical re-release of The Lion King last month, Disney has decided to re-release a number of other Disney and Pixar movies over the next couple of year, with added 3D visuals (for better or for worse). Read more
"Wolverine coaches the Iron Giant. You betta' recognize!"
Rock’em Sock’em Robots…I mean, Real Steal, tells a story in the near future, where robots take duke it out in boxing rings (controlled by humans, of course). But is Real Steel just a silly little novelty? Or is it the real deal (sorry)? Read more
CGI is everywhere these days. Largely at the expense of storytelling and character development. But despite the ludicrous abundance of unnecessary CG in movies these days (thanks a lot, Michael Bay) there are times when CG produces a character so believable, whether through their character development or their interactions with the live actors, that it actually enhances the movie. The following are my top five CG characters that, for one reason or another, are the most “believable” out there. Read more
Spirited Away was released in U.S. theaters nine years ago today.
I already wrote a blog on Spirited Away’s 10th anniversary (from its original Japanese release), which you can read here.
Seeing as I’m me, I could never pass up the opportunity to praise a second anniversary for Spirited Away in the same year (hooray for technicalities!).
I’ll surely write about Spirited Away many, many more times in the future, but for now, happy “other” birthday Spirited Away!
Marvel, a name synonymous with comic books has become just as synonymous with the silver screen in recent years (though considering the flagging quality of comic books, I might just say they’re more famous for their movies these days). The craze was set in motion in 2000, with the release of X-Men. It then went into hyperdrive with Spider-Man in 2002. By the time Iron Man was released in 2008, the super hero genre had become the standard for the modern day summer blockbuster.
Of course, just because these movies are big doesn’t always mean they’re good (The Punisher in particular, should stay far, far away from cinemas). But despite the large variety of forgettable and lackluster Marvel movies, every now and then a shining beacon of a super hero movie is launched from Marvel’s canon. And while everyone has their own favorites, the following is my personal top 10 movies based on Marvel comics. The cream of the comic book crop, if you will. Read more
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip!"
Winnie the Pooh is the fifty-first entry in Disney’s animated motion picture output (not counting Pixar and the like), and being a part of Disney’s primary animation canon, is something of the official sequel to the 1977 Disney classic, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (the other sequels were all made by Disney’s subsidiaries). But is Winnie’s sequel something special?