Also, Teleport City’s first video game review, and Timur Bekmambetov gets more use out of that special effect of a car driving up a building he used in Daywatch.
| SEXY KILLER
As well as legendary martial arts epics, the brothers Shaw also produced comedies, thrillers, musicals, Peking operas, sci-fi and horror flicks. Slightly less well-known is the studio’s extensive back catalogues of more adult fare, of which 1976′s The Sexy Killer is a pretty characteristic example. From the title you probably already have a good idea of what the film is like, and when I reveal that in some territories the movie was released as The Drug Connection your mental picture should be further reinforced. Yes, it’s those old exploitation favourites: sex and drugs, so on that note, let’s rock & roll! |
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| MIRROR’S EDGE
There were three games in particular that initially made me decide I wanted to get a slightly more up to date game system: Resident Evil 5, Mass Effect, and Mirror’s Edge. Of the three, two were runaway hits; one is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. And one was a total flop that, despite boasting numerous flaws and poor financial performance, garnered a small but dedicated cult following. Guess which one I chose to review for our first video game article? |
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| BLACK LIGHTNING
I assume you’re familiar with Sam Raimi’s excellent 2002 adaptation of Spider-Man. But in case you’re not or just need reminding, here’s a quick recap of the plot. Peter Parker sees the girl of his dreams being wooed by a wealthy jock with a flash car. Deciding what he needs is a cool set of wheels, he uses his recently acquired spider powers to enter a wrestling contest for money, only to see through his inaction, his beloved Uncle Ben shot and killed. The 2009 Russian film Black Lightning (produced as all Russian movies apparently are by Night Watch’s Timur Bekmambetov) uses the same plot, but asks the one important question Spider-Man left dangling; ‘what about the car? What about the car??’ |
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#1 by The Rev. on March 10, 2011 - 7:09 pm
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I enjoyed your foray into video game reviewing. It was nicely done, as well thought-out as your movie pieces are. I hope to see a few more of these.
If you haven’t played it, I suggest seeking out Okami for the Wii. It was hard for me to put down the controller and stop playing that one, which led to some sore arms. It’s a real-time RPG (meaning no “turns” while player and enemies decide to attack/cast/etc.), so if you’re not into that you may want to pass, or rent it first to see if you can keep up with the sometimes-fast-paced action. However, the massive sweeping storyline rooted in Japanese myth, the huge world full of lands to explore and things to do, simply gorgeous art, delightful flashes of humor, oodles of wonderfully bizarre Japanese critters (some yokai in there) and bad-ass attacks (my favorite is drawing giant cherry bombs with God’s paintbrush) made it a winner in my household.
Well, that and the fact that you’re a gorgeous white wolf who levels up by restoring the natural world and feeding adorable animals. The first time I figured out what to do with a sack of seeds led to an embarrassing moment involving me bouncing on the couch and shouting, “I CAN FEED THE BIRDS!!” And then spending a large amount of time finding other animals to feed, to the negligence of actually advancing the storyline. Luckily, I eventually ran out of feed…
#2 by Ken Begg on April 3, 2011 - 10:44 am
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You know, Spider-Man did in fact have a custom dune buggie back in the ’70s that did indeed drive up walls. It was called–wait for it–the Spider-Mobile.