, which I did enjoy). However, I wanted to talk about something recently that caught my attention around the web, as well as in the latest issue of Game Informer.California has decided that it the government is somehow the best means mediate what younger audiences should be seeing and playing in video games. A new law is being proposed that several other states will uphold should it go through that violent video games are not to be sold to minors. Now, to begin with, what's the problem with taking the parents aside and saying "Hey, how about you do some parenting?"; and it's doubly bad news for those who are working with their kids, actually paying attention to what they are playing. This law supposes that the retailer carrying said game is to be fined a heinous amount, likening video games to alcohol and tobacco, should a violent game be sold to a minor. What constitutes a violent video game? Well, it's up to each state to decide.
So what that leads retailers to decide to do is to not stock problematic games and it leads the bigger developers (keep in mind Bioware, one of the greatest video game storytellers ever, which usually only publishes Mature rated games is now under EA) to pretty much not fund what they can't sell en mass. It's a slap in the face that they have gotten the Supreme Court to even listen as this is a complete breach of the first amendment and a slandering of good art. It's an act that will lead to a point where there truly is no stopping point for censorship. The floodgates will open. Even Stan Lee is taking a stand.
So please, whether you're a casual gamer or an avid fan, take a stand. Let's stop it here.
, based on Robert E. Howard's pulp creation stars James Purefoy as the titular damned soul is a great ride even if somewhat forgettable. Solomon Kane is a mercenary who has killed many men, having sold his soul to the devil for his prowess on the battlefield. Presently Solomon is a man of peace, afraid of bearing arms, lest the reaper come to collect. Joining up with a caravan (led by Pete Postlethwaite and Alice Krige in good but throwaway roles) that is destined for tragedy, Solomon is spurned back into a life of violence but for the first time he has a purpose.
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, which felt like it pick and chose what Milius liked best from the Conan mythos and came up with his own backstory for Conan, Solomon Kane feels like the character leaped directly from the pages of Howard's tales onto the screen. This is the film Marcus Nispel should have been watching and taking notes while filming his Conan reboot. It's a great little film that I hope to revisit when Nispel's impending disaster comes along.
, albeit a much different comic, trying to adapt one of the medium's most celebrated volumes to the screen with very tepid results. Sometimes directors and studios miss the point, sometimes the work is either too colossal to fit into a film or really doesn't lend itself to the format. 
is one of those comics that you would think upon reading would never work in a live-action format. That fact was not lost on Edgar Wright, who rose up to the task of directing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Instead of straining against his genius comic source, he dives into it, with phenomenal results.
yet, don't bother with my, nor anyone else's review. Just go see it. Even if you don't enjoy the entire film or don't buy into it, there is at least one minute of this film worth everyone's time. My silly little review will be here when you get back. Now then...
(and I've always avoided the infamous sequel, The Second Arrival). It felt right to start off my science fiction weekend with something that wasn't intensely cerebral but still interesting. Add to that a mid-90's Charlie Sheen (when I still had fun with his pre-Two and a Half Men antics) and a comfortable slow burning plot and you have a recipe for a fun hour and half plus.
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), The Arrival thinks it's smarter than it actually is, but it's so much damn fun, I'll forgive him for it. He has some fun camera techniques and is willing to let his actors breathe (especially Sheen, who is alternate parts tense and unintentionally hilarious) which gets some good results. His films (sans the atrocious looking 
which I still have not watched) are always great B movie guilty pleasures and this one is no exception. The effects are pretty decent for the time and the score is appropriately ham-fisted and blaring. And you gotta love assassins who use bathtubs and scorpions to kill people.
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, wasn't a film I was exactly looking forward to. I was prepared to write it off to hype, but as I sat down to watch the movie with my wife I can say I really wasn't prepared for the places this film went. This is the kind of romantic comedy I enjoy the most, with real characters and real emotions, topped off with a believable story.
is a strange oddity of a film, one that I wish really had enough steam for its entire runtime. The plot follows two men who live together, one trying to push his own way through society while letting everyone walk on him (Dave); the other an agoraphobic who suffers from panic attacks (Andrew). Through strings of bad luck worthy of any classic black comedy, they both end up trapped in their home, needing an exit from their problems and it seems like it's not going to happen. Lo and behold, after a tear gas attack from the police, Andrew and Dave wake up to discover that there is literally nothing outside their house.
) portray the two neurotics exploring their new world with a fantastic sense of wonder and fear. The sequences with the recurring nightmares of the two murdering each other are morbidly hilarious and a little unnerving at the same time. Unfortunately, shortly after the film really goes off the rails, seemingly just pull some gags and show off the effects. I'd lightly recommend it for a fun time, but don't expect too much from it. I appreciate Natali for trying something different, but I much prefer his earlier output and look forward to Splice as a return to form.
on VHS (I know, awful movie, but it got me on the road). Over the years, it evolved into a love of Toho's films in general (an entire discussion for another day) and their competitors, such as Daiei, producer of the Gamera films. However, nobody does it better than Toho and on this Father's Day (where I get to go lax on my duties and waste time on things like irrelevant top 10 posts) I'm gonna hail to the King of the Monsters once again.
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, but I prefer its predecesor. For one, it's an epic smackdown between Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and Ghidorah. Astro Monster just removes Mothra and adds Devo aliens. For two, Ghidorah's "alien prophet in a human body" plot intrigues me in a way few Godzilla films have. Sadly, it's not that well handled, but at least the acting's good, Inoshiro Honda is on the top of his directing game and Eiji Tsuburaya's effects are fantastic.
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was a decent film, it just suffered from some really random choices, such as a near five minute song break in the climactic monster fight, which awoke King Seesar, who we don't have enough time or space to talk about how much I hate. Terror... removes Seesar, gives us a huge freaking dinosaur named Titanosaurus and pits them both against Godzilla. Also, gone is Jun Fukuda, who is probably my least favorite Godzilla director and in his place, the master Inoshiro Honda returns to direct his last Godzilla film. The battles are epic and well done and the plot is actually pretty good, for about the tenth alien invasion film in the series at this point.
)/Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira Tokyo Esu O Esu (
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