Is there, in recorded human history, an example of an adjective that so despoils a noun as thoroughly as “educational video game?” No, there is...
Film
The End of the Tour
There are few cinematic genres trickier to navigate than biopics. How can any film, no matter how artfully crafted, capture a person’s whole life in...
Mr. Holmes
Longevity can be measured in many ways. The character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes first saw print in 1887, making him 128 years...
Video vault
1974: On the Road With The Beach Boys MFM Productions, 2011 Starring: Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, Blondie Chaplin, and Ricky Fataar...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Back to the Future” (Nintendo) Thirty years ago this summer, “Back to the Future” debuted in theaters. The massive hit led to two more films,...
In the moment
If you want to see Colony of Light, a collective of more than a dozen artists who gather once a year to create an ongoing...
Video Vault
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” 20th Century-Fox, 1964 Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Ellen Farner, Marc Michel Director: Jacques Demy The plot: It is the late...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“StarTropics” (Nintendo, 1990) When people ask me what my favorite video game is, I usually don’t hesitate: “Kid Icarus.” There you go. Easy as that....
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
In 2001, “Wet Hot American Summer” was the 252nd most successful movie of the year. “Corky Romano” bested it by 158 spots and $25 million...
Video Vault
“All That Jazz” Columbia Pictures and 20th Century-Fox, 1979 Starring: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, and Ann Reinking Directed by: Bob Fosse The plot:...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
Shadowgate (Kemco, 1989) There is nothing about “Shadowgate,” a decades-old first-person role playing game, that should work. Nothing. It was a port of a two-year...
Level up
The first video game Jon Dearborn of Barrington officially sold through his design studio, DinoMage Games, was “Gladiator.” Originally an early 1990s PC game, “Gladiator”...
Video Vault
“3 Women” 20th Century-Fox, 1977 Starring: Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule, Robert Fortier Directed by: Robert Altman The plot: Pinky (Spacek), an awkward mouse...
Eight-Bit Junkyard: plumbers and Pac-Men
With next week’s release of “Pixels” in theaters across the country, classic video games and their bright, blocky protagonists will be in the spotlight once...
The Wolfpack
When the six Angulo brothers step out of their Lower East Side apartment in Manhattan for a night out at the movies midway through the...
Video Vault
“Diary of a Country Priest” Brandon Films, 1951 Starring: Claude Laydu, Andre Guibert, Marie-Monique Arkell Director: Robert Bresson The plot: An awkward young priest (Laydu)...
Ex Machina
Ex Machina” is a total stealth bomb. It sneaks up on you, introducing a lot of familiar concepts about the potential impact of the development...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Super Mario Brothers 3” (Nintendo, 1988) “Frostbite” (Activision, 1983) “Ecco the Dolphin” (Sega, 1992) It’s summertime! School? Out. Temperatures? Rising. Swimmin’ hole? Still pretty cold...
Inside Out
One of the cardinal rules of storytelling is “Show, don’t tell.” The idea is that telling your audience a character is depressed is much less...
Video Vault
“Straw Dogs” ABC Pictures, 1971 Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, David Warner Directed by: Sam Peckinpah The plot: American college professor David Sumner (Hoffman) is...
Jurassic World
Few things are more excruciating than watching a half-wit attempt to act smart. It’d be bad enough if it was just Chris Pratt we were...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Excitebike” (Nintendo, 1985) “Super Hang-On” (Sega, 1987) They never tell you to beware the ides of June. But they should. Every year, like shiny metal...
Roar
1981, rated PG, 102 minutes Pop quiz, hotshot: Your family’s trapped in a plywood shack surrounded by 100 lions. When the lions get hungry,...
Video Vault: Don’t Look Now
“Don’t Look Now” British Lion Films, 1973 Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania Directed by: Nicolas Roeg The plot: After the accidental...
Eight-Bit Junkyard: Altered Beast
“Altered Beast” (Sega, 1988) I was a Roman centurion. I’m dead now. But death is no hurdle for the almighty Zeus. From the dark depths...
