This year marks the 25th birthday of the iconic game Tetris. The puzzle game's addictive nature continues to proliferate to other forms of electronics and knock-off games after a quarter century. I have many memories of the original GameBoy and those falling monochromatic blocks set to that 8-bit Russian tune. Below I've got a short retrospective on Tetris' success after 25 years. If you want a deeper look into the making of Tetris, below is also an hour long BBC documentary on the gaming phenom.
Like many kids across America, I grew up with the obsessive hobby of collecting trading cards. It started out with Topp's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards (still had the rock solid sticks of gum back then), then Marvel Comics cards, and as I grew older I turned to basketball and football. I loved the anticipation of going to the ball card or comic book store to burn any allowance money I had on these plastic or foil wrapped treasures. The smell of printed comics, the feel of plastic coated cardboard, the obsessive drive to complete a set, and contemplating if I could afford any rare gems behind lighted glass counters are all fond memories to me. Even if you had the complete series of cards, the ones most sought after would be the 'chase' cards - holograms, transparent cards, jersey swatches, rookies, or autographed. This age-old pastime has evolved to some degree, as cards have become pricier and even more collectible. Here's a documentary short, called The Baseball Card Movie, that was shot in a ball card shop in Brooklyn that encapsulates the rush of trading card collecting.
The NCAA Tourney starts today, the biggest basketball event of the year. Below I've posted the '94 documentary Hoop Dreams, following 2 kids from inner city Chicago and their path to collegiate basketball in hopes of one day making it to the NBA. In my mind this is the best sports documentary I've seen. Although the film's almost 3 hours long, it's quite extensive.
It seems Star Wars obsession has reached its point to where a film is coming out about the downfall of George Lucas since the prequel trilogy came out. Nerd rants galore about childhoods ruined and a proliferating money-making machine continue to litter the internet since 1999. The documentary, The People vs. George Lucas, is set to release this year and is currently looking for fan interviews on the status of Star Wars and Lucas the last decade. I've been disappointed about it all but seriously, get over it! Change out of that robe and collapse your plastic lightsaber, there's other things to do in life.
I'm not sure how long this will be up, but SnagFilms has some legitimately free movies (mostly documentaries) up online. Posted here is the doc Confessions of a Superhero, which is a somewhat melancholy film about those who dress up and walk along Hollywood Blvd.
Update 3/26/09: Watch the whole thing below thanks to HULU
Update 10/19/08: If you're not quite sure what the film is, here's a trailer before you decide if you want to watch the whole thing:
I've mentioned this series before, but I recently finished the entire series as it exists right now at this moment. I'm talking about the amazing Up Series, a (as of right now) 7 film documentary series that follows a number of British children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and interviews them every 7 years to watch the progression of their life. The first film, Seven Up, was film in 1964. It's amazing to see the progression of someone as they age, how they change along with the times and fashions. You find yourself trying to predict how their lives will end up, does looking at a child at seven show much of what he or she will end up for the rest of their lives. Very fascinating, director Michael Apted has somehow been able to keep this project going for this long. Watching one soon after another can be a bit repetitive since much of past footage from previous films are rehashed in the more current ones to show the progression, but finishing one does have you wanting more. Here's the rundown of the films, Netflix them:
I don't want to show too much footage from the series, as it's quite rewarding to watch the progression of these peoples' lives. Here's a brief clip of the latest, 49 Up(2005).
A short insight from British child Paul, from 1964 in Seven Up:
This will be my last post on SIFF for this year. Once again, I had a great time with friends checking out films across some of Seattle's unique theaters. This post I'll be doing some ranking of the films seen this year AND last year. I'll take a brief look back on last years films. Also, a list of films I missed this year at the festival that I'm still interested in seeing.
SIFF '07 was my first film festival ever and boy was it a fun ol' time. Their "Find True Film" advertising campaign was great, with very humorous commercials. The official poster (seen left) embodies the city of Seattle, all the way down to the geoduck! I saw 6 films in '07. I'll rank what I saw. Click the title link to go to the official website and click the 'Netflix It' to see the Netflix profile so you can add it to your queue!
The King of Kong - The ultimate video game/underdog doc about a Redmond teacher taking on the world record for Donkey Kong is still one of my favorite films in last couple of years....even though the direction could have been a little more objective. The 'Fistful of Quarters' subtitle was added after the limited release, still don't think it's necessary. Q & A at The Egyptian was awesome, it's actually in the DVD extras. Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)
Monster Camp - Documentary on the Seattle chapter of LARPing group NERO (New England Role-Playing Organization). It introduces the layman to LARP as well as delving into the lives of some of the groups players. Very fun and entertaining film here, nothing incredibly profound here. It was great to see some of the players in the movie come dressed to viewing that I attended. This had a limited release this year, expect it to eventually come out on DVD. Netflix It!
Rocket Science - A very indie film about a high school boy with a stuttering problem who decides try out for the high school debate team. In my previous entry about the doc Resolved, I had mentioned this film. It was a witty coming of age film, I don't think there was anything really outstanding about it especially compared to the likes of a film like Juno. Director Jeremy Blitz also did the film Spellbound (spelling bee, not Hitchcock), so he must really like academic competitions. Netflix It!
Fido - Canadian comedy placed in an alternate fifties reality where a war broke out against humans and zombies. The humans won and the zombies have become domesticated pets. The premise of the film is great and the first half of the film builds up a lot of momentum, but I feel like it struggles to finish off with a solid plot and resolution. I'd say give it a view if zombies are your thing, you'll get a kick out of it! Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)
Eagle vs. Shark - A New Zealand comedy very much in the vein of Napoleon Dynamite: about hilariously socially awkward people. This was my introduction to half of The Flight of the Conchords, Jemaine Clement. This film is not all completely funny, it has some incredibly sad moments and some of the humor I felt guilty laughing about. This is a must for Conchords fans. Netflix It!
Noise - An Australian film about a cop with tinnitus who tries to hunt a killer who slaughters a number of people on a public train, not the recent film about noise pollution starring Tim Robbins. This film was quite slow, the only reason I saw this because the word tinnitus was floating in the description. It does play a part in the film, but not as prominently as it could have been. I'd pass on this film, but if you're interested in it you can watch it on DVD now. Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)
So this movie is about exactly what it states it's about: dust. This film was part of an 'Alternative Cinema' program for SIFF. I have not seen many, if any, European documentaries and I was hoping for a film that would provide an intricate view on the minute particles of dust - what they're made of, how they affect us, how much of the stuff we breath in, people's view on dust, etc. I kind of got bits and pieces of that. Like the subject and title of the doc, the director floats around certain aspects of dust but never goes too in depth on one subject. I almost felt as though he had a short attention span. I don't know any German, but the narration was incredibly monotone and very little humor was used throughout. I was under the impression from an excerpt/trailer for this film that there was an underlying humor about it, but it seemed so serious. Gripes aside, there were some interesting scenes including a researcher who collects and classifies clumps of dust. I'm quite bewildered at what the director wanted out of this film, if I wanted something more educational I'm sure the Discovery Channel could come up with something much more engaging and informative. I'd say pass on this film.
Ben is a high school student with Asperger syndrome. He is the picked on by classmates and can only find solace in playing an MMORPG called ArchLord. I didn't know this was actually a real game until recently. Although Ben struggles to interact with those around him, he is able to express himself through his online avatar. He eventually uses this escapism to try to break out of his oppressive life in the real world. Director Nic Balthazar shot this film based upon a novel he wrote which was based on an autistic boy who committed suicide after being bullied at school. The film does a good job of juxtaposing Ben's inner self to his outward self.
No, I didn't get nostalgic for The Brat Pack and saw The Breakfast Club - just deceiving advertisements. I have to admit that the main hook for me wanting to watch this film was not that it got high praise at Sundance, but that the movie follows the lives of 4 (I'm convinced the fifth guy makes cameos just so they have a Judd Nelson wannabe on the poster and he's the opposite of a rebel) high school seniors from Warsaw, IN. We the audience get to peer into the lives of 4 socially diverse teens throughout their senior year, from beginning to end - the relationships, thoughts on the future, college, etc. It's quite candid, without it feeling like another reality TV show. Like a good doc, you find yourself routing for certain people in the film. Since watching The Up Series (I'll blog about that another time), watching the lives of real people (not stage celebrity life) is quite engaging and you can relate to the ups and downs of life. I didn't find it in anyway shedding a negative light to middle America, although the audience I saw it with at the festival seemed to have a field day bashing the humdrum life of the Midwest. The film definitely reminded me of home and friends, although I didn't grow up in rural Indiana. During the Q&A after the film, director Nanette Burstein explained her process in picking the right high school to do the movie in. She wanted somewhere in middle America, a community where it was small enough that it had only one high school (decisions and events in the school would hold more precedence), and a school that would be willing to allow a crew to film the schools ins and outs for an entire school year. Once the school was picked, she started interviewing students of interest to put into the film. Definitely an entertaining and great film, Burstein was fortunate enough to catch some really candid footage from all the teens lives.
Now that I have your attention, it was yesterday and if you weren't at the Regal 16 in downtown Seattle you missed it. Like I had mentioned in a previous post, Fox Searchlight was having free showings of the documentary Young@Heart. Gary and I went to the free showing yesterday and I was surprised that it was so easy to get in: I showed the guy an e-mail confirmation and they let us in. The theater wasn't even packed for this film. I must say it was quite an enjoyable and endearing film. The documentary follows the Young@Heart chorus line that has been entertaining and touring for 25 years. We get to see the regular practices w/ the disciplinarian of a director Bob Cilman, stories of chorus members, and a little bit of singing. It's very encouraging to see those who are 70+ years old who are so lively and are dedicated to memorizing songs weekly despite their health. I can be a bit of a softy and this film definitely 'tugged at the heartstrings.' This film is a limited release, so if you can find it, see it.....or at least add it to your Netflix queue.
On a lighter note, the director of the film uses BBC-esque monologue voice overs throughout the film. It definitely reminded a little bit of "Living w/ Michael Jackson"
Based on a discussion with Gary concerning his current geriatrics class that started today (on his 27th birthday), he talked about a UK documentary about a geriatric music group known as The Zimmers. It was a good segue into a film that I'm interested in seeing and is opening around cities April 9th. The documentary is called Young@Heart, and follows a chorus line of senior citizens. For those of you in Seattle who are interested, you can actually catch a free screening of the film April 10, or 17th if you reserve seats online. Below is the trailer, and then a clip of them singing 'I Want to Be Sedated' by The Ramones:
This year marks the 25th birthday of the iconic game Tetris. The puzzle game's addictive nature continues to proliferate to other forms of electronics and knock-off games after a quarter century. I have many memories of the original GameBoy and those falling monochromatic blocks set to that 8-bit Russian tune. Below I've got a short retrospective on Tetris' success after 25 years. If you want a deeper look into the making of Tetris, below is also an hour long BBC documentary on the gaming phenom.
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