All the news that is news
CinemaSins already [pointed out all the things wrong with Simon’s favourite Christopher Nolan Film](https://awesomefriday.ca/2013/02/awesome-everything-wrong-with-inception/) so it’s only fitting they’d do one of mine.
It’s amazing how many little things you’ll let slide in a well executed film. There are holes you could drive a bus through in The Dark Knight however it was great and The Dark Knight Rises was not so much.
[Dave Trumbore writing for Collider](http://collider.com/ridley-scott-sci-fi-short-films/)
> Ridley Scott…only on Machinima! The longtime director of such sci-fi greats as Alien and Blade Runner will now set his sights on smaller fare with a series of web shorts. Scott, his commercials production company RSA and Machinima will team up to produce 12 short sci-fi films with the possibility of developing features from them. While Scott, now 75, is revisiting new visions of his earliest feature successes, he’ll stay out of the director’s chair for these shorts, sticking to executive producer status only.
Yes, this is slightly old news now, but it’s still worth spreading. Machinima has put out some great stuff lately (anyone who hasn’t seen _Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn_ needs to [take a time out and go watch it now](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbX5s9tyTEFboBuPReykPblf3XPitNexf) even if you’re not a fan of Halo itself) and Ridley Scott is, well, he’s Ridley Scott. Not only that but he’s got some pretty high calibre directorial talent working with him at RSA.
So basically, I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
As you may or may not know, I am a teacher and father of a two-year-old boy. This means that I spend the whole day essentially as other people’s property – either teaching the structure of a language contorted by the Normans, Celts, Vikings and Shakespeare, or running around saying things like “DON’T eat the jigsaw” or the classic “PLEASE STOP HITTING THE DOG WITH THE KIWI” (true story). As a result, my decades old gaming habit (addiction?) has taken a real battering. I realised that when I fell asleep, exhausted, in the middle of an intense virtual firefight, thumb still pushing my avatar into a wall as dreams took hold, my traditional gaming window had ceased to be viable.
This has lead to my backlog of unfinished titles growing to huge proportions, even necessitating the creation of an Evernote list just to keep on top of it. However, sometimes the Universe synchronises and I get the rarest of rare opportunities – a day off, in my apartment, with my son elsewhere and no work to be done. These cannot be squandered. So, today, I’m treating myself. The reading chair has been moved and has temporarily become the gaming chair, and in front of me I have *Halo 4* installing on my Xbox 360. I’m going to play the whole damn thing, from beginning to end, and update this article as I go.
I think this might be the last hurrah for the old 360. I started transitioning over to the PS3 early last year when my Live account ran out and I’ve barely used it in the last six months. I think later this week it’ll go on Craigslist while it’s got any kind of value before its successor emerges in April. How fitting, then, that *Halo 4* will be its swansong. I bought my first Xbox to play *Halo* and my first 360 for *Halo 3*, so this would be a fine send-off. I hope. The *Halo* fanboy in me is a little apprehensive, but there’s only one way to find out.
Here. We. Go!
9:43am – After the frustration of Heroic at Matt’s house, this is the first game I’m choosing to play on Normal. Hope it’s not too easy.
9:48am – Certainly is very shiny.
9:52am – Chief OF Duty. FFS. QTEs have *no* place in *Halo*.
10:10am – Nice prologue, but I hope Cortana doesn’t spend the next five hours telling me *exactly* what I need to do at all times. Tearing through Covenant with the BR and Magnum never gets old, though.
10:21am – “The whole ship was destroyed in the crash, but these Warthogs…they’re fine”.
10.35am – Either the Magnum is (still) ridiculously overpowered or the Covenant weapons feel incredibly weak. Either way, being forced to use a Storm Rifle is draining my fun and motivation already, which probably doesn’t bode well…
10:42am – The Forerunner architecture is beautiful, though. All tall and *Tron*-shiny. Becoming much more attracted to games with nice architecture, makes a big difference.
10:50am – To be fair, if I were to design an AI avatar, I’d probably make it a shapely brunette in a sparkly spandex suit, too.
10:54am – Feels like an attempt at a Best Of up to now. Crashing onto alien land, hunting Elites through lush green hills, Warthog sliding, bridge cross…check, check, check.
11:02am – And then there was the time where an Elite hijacked my Banshee then flew it straight into a wall and didn’t move. Then another one followed suit. Definitely finding some differences with the enemy AI compared to the flawless previous games’ performance.
11:08am – I’ve always been a lover of the solid AA games, and quite miss how they’re not really made any more, but it’s always nice to see the result of when an AAA game has *all* the money thrown at it. Some great artists at 343 Industries, that’s for sure. I just hope the story matches the artistic beauty. As someone who’s deeply involved in writing and language, a well-told story is what elevates anything to greatness.
11:13am – So when an Elite bursts out and charges you, and he’s got an energy sword so it’s a guaranteed one-hit kill, and the weapon you’ve got is too weak to damage him, and there’s no way you could have survived so next time you just spam grenades where you know he’ll emerge – I’m not sure that qualifies as good game design. Hmm.
11:22am – It’s *so* pretty. Amazing that they were able to squeeze graphics like this out of such old hardware. Oh good, Cortana’s pressed some buttons and now all hell’s broken loose.
11:32am – As much as I love the dismantling reload animation of the Promethian weapons, they feel as punchy as a handful of wet spaghetti. Magnum back, please. Also, Matt, you’re totally right – all the species’ weapons are basically reskins of each other’s. Most disappointing fact, so far. Love the feel of imaginative weapons in something like, say, the criminally underrated *Bulletstorm*.
11:35am – Croissants and hazlenut Nutella time. Also plan on drinking so much tea that I start sweating caffeine. Brb.
11:46am – I would like to thank (blame?) my Swiss students for getting me on to Nutella. They eat it with butter, just to make sure that it’s not healthy in the slightest. So, sugared up, tea made, time for more!
11:55am – How to infuriate me in two easy stages: STEP 1) Design enemy AI that make targets run away and attack from long range; STEP 2) Force me to use the only weapon in any abundance, the Supressor, even though it’s *completely* useless at long range with near zero accuracy.
12:01pm – Oh good, and the Scattershot’s useless too. How wonderful.
12:16pm – Hey Matt, remember when we first played this on co-op and we got stuck on the bit where we had to destroy the power to the pylon and put the draining of fun down to the difficulty level? Nope.
12:25pm – Oh, good. Instead of changing difficulty level – because there is no fun in cheap death and weak weapons – I restarted the whole. Damn. Pylon. Mission. Remember that time I was going to play the latest instalment of one of my all-time favourite gaming franchises in one go?
Wait!
It remembers our previous co-op progress, so I can jump in to the next level! I’ll miss the unveiling of the Big Bad, but apparently I’ve seen that already. Obviously left a big impression.
12:31pm – O! D! S! T!
12:34pm – It’s uncanny how much the Mammoth rolling along the cliff edge echos the exact same tank sequence in the one of the *Gears Of War* games.
12:44pm – OK, finally. *Gorgeous* engine, fighting Covenant with a squad of Spartans and ODSTs, original weapons. Bungie’s *Halo* at its very best. Really underlines how weak an enemy the Promethians are, though. And I never want to have to use their weapons ever again, thanks.
12:50pm – Oh good, three more power sources I have to shut down. How very original.
12:51pm – Aaaand a Warthog just killed me by driving straight over me as I was lining up a shot. Obviously Master Chief isn’t *that* vital to the war effort. This is the exact same spot where I gave up on the campaign in co-op – let’s see if I make it through this time.
1:03pm – Now I’m fighting my way to the grav lift into a Covenant ship in the *exact* manner it happens in *Halo 3*…
1:12pm – “We literally *think* ourselves to death”. Literally, Cortana? Literally?
“I promise…I WILL NEVER DIE”
1:22pm – Always been a fan of sniping, but nothing breaks the immersion more than being given ten seconds to “RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD” if I dare to strafe an inch out of range. Still, this section is the first to feel like classic *Halo*, even if I did have to drop the difficulty down to Easy just to squeeze any fun out. I really think 343 messed up the difficulty levels, they don’t match the other games in the series at all.
1:34pm – I’m working on the theory that pizza makes everything better, if when it’s burnt to a crisp. Speed Bake indeed.
1:36pm – Brilliant game design #44: After going up a ramp, enemies rush you, and *directly* behind you is an insta-kill drop. GOOD WORK EVERYONE.
1:42pm – Aah, the Promethians are back. Pizza, why must you fail me now?
1:52pm – Just not a patch on the Covenant. Nowhere close. Inside somewhere now that looks *a lot* like *Halo*’s Library, and we all know how *that* turned out. (Spoiler: Not well)
1:58pm – Took ages for the light bridge to come out so I could try and find Cortana, was wondering up and down that walkway for ages. Bug? Maybe.
2:05pm – So the (albiet extremely impressive) CG exposition sequence has left me more confused than ever about the story. Master Chief is the result of the genetic seeds placed in humanity by an librarian who hid a weapon – The Composer duh duh DUUUHH – away from the Big Bad after humanity tried to kill everyone and everything. Right. What? Now Chief’s evolution has ben “accelerated” so I guess I’ve got laser eyes or something now.
2:14pm – Well, picked up Cortana, still no idea what’s going on, found a portal (very convenient, these portals) and now I’m suddenly back here. So I guess I’ll keep shooting things until something changes.
2:19pm – You know, *Halo 4*, the more you put me back in a UNSC squad, taking out Covenant in a Scorpion tank, the more I just want you to be *ODST 2*.
2:24pm – Yeah, good luck arresting Master Chief. Go for it.
2:26pm – True love.
2:32pm – And now I want a whole game flying a Pelican. Shivers!
2:36pm – BOOM
2:39pm – My ride. Seriously, 343, make this happen. An *X-Wing/Tie Fighter* style game set in the Halo universe? Day one.
2:48pm – And another callback to *Halo 3* with the defence of a slow-moving space gondola.
2:59pm – The perfect mid-weapon-change Pelican money shot.
3:04pm – Haha, as soon as Cortana said that we had to destroy some power attenuators, I knew there’d be three. Bingo!
3:05pm – Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the very worst of *Halo 4* – trapped in a metallic Forerunner structure, surrounded by the Annoying Dog Promethians, The Insect Bastard Promethians and the Flying Arsehole Promethians, having to destroy three of something before I can proceed. Sigh.
3:15pm – So I did the three things by jetpacking all over the place like a crazy person, just scraped through, heart pounding, then died on way to door objective and it put me back before the three things. FFS.
3:31pm. Yeah, take *that* three arbitrary things that need to be destroyed. Back to the Pelican.
3:34pm – Um…my Pelican keeps randomly blowing up on the way to the next waypoint. Maybe it’s a comment on the fragility and reality of the universe. Or maybe it’s a bug.
3:36pm – Uh, OK, it was an invisible ceiling. My mistake for thinking that I was piloting a spaceship that could fly upwards.
3:43pm – Wading through Covenant again, trying to get to the control terminal for the defence spires. Must be close to the end by now.
3:45pm – Big, wide open space and a Banshee. Recipe for Halo success!
3:50pm – Endgame.
3:53pm – Or not, as it seems. Last push to grab an artifact, which is actually The Composer, from the space base above…THE THIRD HALO RING DUH DUH DUUUUH! (Totally did not see that coming at all)
4:02pm – Oh man. Fighting Covenant in a space base alongside UNSC infantry and human scientists. If only the whole game had been like this.
4:13pm – The dog needs a wee, and my son will be here in 30 mins. Looks like this will need to be continued. Hope you enjoyed this with me, a few of the later levels were bordering on classic Halo. Hopefully will polish this off later, so keep your eyes peeled!
8:32pm – *Halo 4* playthrough part 2 is GO GO GO!
8:37pm – There’s no question about it, 343 are definitely referencing highlights in the series so far. Just making my way through a dark service tunnel, just like in the first *Halo*. Is this a good thing? It’s certainly very nice to see it so very shiny, and it does help to reignite those old *Halo* feelings.
8:49pm – Lots and lots and lots of dead Covs. Honestly, they could have made a ten hour game out of this and I would have been ecstatic.
8:59pm – Whoa! *Halo* Mech! Wait. *Halo* Mech???
9:05pm – To be fair, the Mech is exceedingly good at making Banshee rain. Impressive number of enemies in the fight without even a hint of slowdown, kind of what fans have been wanting in a *Halo* game for a long time.
9:09pm – Another stuck Banshee up against a wall. Maybe it’s a new trend.
9:14pm – Some nice *Raiders Of The Lost Ark* face-melting there! Didn’t *quite* manage to rescue those scientists. Sorry, scientists.
9:16pm – Aww. The interaction between Cotana and the Chief is actually quite touching. Her facial expressions are very subtle. Genuinely impressive. Now, back into space, after the Diadact!
9:18pm – So now it’s the run into the second Death Star from *Jedi* that’s the inspiration. Heading headlong into the Diadact’s ship in a Broadsword, the same space ship that was playable in *Halo Reach*. Still looking absolutely lovely, and I get the feeling this might be *Halo 4*’s version of the final Warthog chase.
9:24pm – I’m a sucker for a great spaceship-flying-into-something-big sequence (you can blame *Star Wars* for that), so this is doing *all* the right things for me at the moment.
9:39pm – Back inside, on foot, fighting the Promethians again. Would have quite liked the spaceship part as the finale, I think.
9:47pm – Gravity. Hammer. I’ve missed you, old friend.
9:53pm – The big weapon being powered up by the Big Bad, a closed door, and a selection of weapons. Last part, then.
10:19pm – Really really really the end now. The *Call Of Duty* crawl rears its ugly head again, unfortunately. At least the QTEs turned out to be just bookends.
10:27pm – Game over.
So, thirteen hours, three dog walks, one trip to playgym, two meals and four trips to the bathroom later, *Halo 4* is finished. Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you found my trip back into the *Halo* universe as much fun as wading through a crowd of Covenant in a Banshee. Tomorrow I’ll post my review and final collected thoughts on the whole thing, after a trip to Wikipedia to work out what was actually going on. Good night!
As Sony and Nintendo have found to their concern, mobile gaming has completely changed. Gone are the days where you needed a Game Boy, case, stack of tiny cartridges and pack of spare batteries – nowadays, our phones enable us to have a wealth of gaming experiences conveniently nestled in our pockets. With increasingly impressive hardware, the games being produced sometimes rival those of even the home consoles. However, there’s been some serious teething problems in this transition. Modern games, with their multiple inputs and tactile buttons, have struggled to find a home on a touchscreen. Simply put, virtual joypads and floating keys can never, ever give the same kind of feedback and control offered by a traditional joypad.
But, as with all maturing technology, games have started being designed not to just cope with the hardware, but to actually take advantage of it. The last two years have produced a number of games that truly show how relevant the iPhone is as a gaming device. So, in case you have a few hours to kill this weekend, here is my selection of ten absolutely essential iPhone games.
And yes, I’m aware of the existence of Androids and Blackberries and Windows Phones, but I don’t use them, so…there.
*Super Hexagon*
Let’s begin with the best. There’s probably not much more I could say about Terry Cavanagh’s psychedelic spinning puzzle game that [I haven’t said already](https://awesomefriday.ca/2012/12/simons-best-of-2012/), yet I still don’t feel that I’ve captured in words exactly how playing it makes me feel. Even now, I’ll become totally engrossed and be transported to some very Zen areas of my consciousness, yet stopping playing snaps the truth away like waking from a vivid dream. I’ll just summerise by insisting that my favourite game of 2012 – and maybe even all time – is a vital purchase that totally validates a tiny touchscreen device as a hardcore gaming platform. Buy it, now.
[*Super Hexagon*, $2.99]( https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/super-hexagon/id549027629?mt=8)
*Solipskier*
The philosophical idea that we create the world around us – solipsism – is a great basis for a video game. *Solipskier*, by Mikengreg, places your tiny skier on an endless 2D chase and your job is to create the ground by dragging your finger up and down as the snow scrolls out behind you. Speed increases and jumps are all down to dips and curves, while removing your finger completely sends your avatar into points-friendly tricks and spins. It’s all incredibly compelling, thanks in no part to the amazing metal soundtrack that mournfully turns into Chopin when you eventually crash out. Add some beautiful use of colour to the streamlined design and you’ve got a winning timekiller.
[*Solipskier*, $0.99](https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/solipskier/id383281764?mt=8)
*ZooKeeper DX/ZooKeeper Battle*
One of the all-time great match-three puzzle games and the only one to ever challenge Nintendo’s classic *Tetris Attack/Puzzle League*. What makes *ZooKeeper* so special is the gorgeous design of the animals – whose blocky faces get grumpy when you don’t match enough of them – and the amazing sound effects, full of perfectly guaged blips and buzzes. The DS version was good enough, but the move to a capacative touchscreen makes the action even more intense. You’ve got two flavours to choose from – the original DX, and the multiplayer-focused Battle. However, be aware that the latter version suffers from in-app-purchase cooldown, so the former is better for extended play. Either way, it’s a gem of a game that, at some point, will make you shout “Monkey? Monkey? MONKEY!”
[*ZooKeeper DX*, $0.99](https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/zookeeper-dx/id433596395?mt=8), [*ZooKeeper Battle*, Free](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zookeeper-battle/id548270497?mt=8)
*Drop7*
True story – *Drop7* started life as a flash tie-in to the crime-solving TV show *Numbers*. As a result, maths is at the very heart of this game, but it also somehow manages to be both approachable and utterly, life-destroyingly compulsive. Easily the most addictive game on this list, *Drop 7*’s masterstroke is that there is no arbrotary time limit forcing quick decisions. Your balls drop (f’nar), each numbered 1-7, and you need to decide where they fall. Once the number in the line equals the number on a ball, it disappears, and it’s Game Over if they reach the top. Easy to understand, so very complex to master. This is basically the iPhone’s *Tetris* – or maybe even better – and is absolutely essential.
[*Drop7*, $2.99](https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/drop7-by-zynga/id425245634?mt=8)
*ZiGGURAT*
The modern gaming obsession with shooting has tried to make the transition to the iPhone with very limited success. Virtual joypads and buttons have done their best, but it’s proven impossible to create any kind of precise aiming or movement. The developers of *ZiGGURAT* took a different approach, removing all but the central idea of staying alive. Your Contra-like soldier stands firmly on Mankind’s final mountain, shooting at the invading alien robots who have already wiped everyone else out. As you swipe your finger across the bottom of the screen, his weapon powers up and rotates through 180 degrees, with the bullet released when you lift your finger is charged by holding down longer. There is a real inevitability to your death, but this just makes you fight even harder. A great example of simple arcade joys recreated by a swiping touch.
[*ZiGGURAT*, $0.99](http://itunes.apple.com/app/ziggurat/id498448797?mt=8)
*Canabalt/Jetpack Joyride*
Bit of a cheat here, but it’s difficult to talk about any Endless Runner without mentioning the one that arguably started it all. *Canabalt* is the perfect example of how design can take a single touch and wrap it into an exciting noir sci-fi epic, as compelling as many AAA console equivilents. Run, tap to jump, and try to last as long – and as far – as possible.
*Jetpack Joyride* is an evolution of this idea, adding unlockable weapons and tempting in-app-purchases with a crazy cartoon story of escape and revenge. Unfortunately, this new genre has also given rise to the Free-To-Play, money grabbing approach as much loved by big label publishers as it is hated by older gamers. So, as the clones roll out, direct your money to these two games that actually deserve it.
[*Canabalt*, $2.99](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/canabalt/id333180061?mt=8)
[*Jetpack Joyride*, Free](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/jetpack-joyride/id457446957?mt=8)
*Tiny Wings*
Gorgeous and dream-like, *Tiny Wings* gives you a cute flightless bird and enables you to help him soar. As the colourful hills and valleys roll by, you guide your bird with one simple press – hold to dive, release to speed up and off the edge of the land into the azure sky. Even the Game Over state is just bedtime for the bird, further adding to the cuteness. Expanded for free since launch with new modes and stages, *Tiny Wings* was one of the first examples of perfect design for the touchscreen. Go fly.
[*Tiny Wings*, $0.99](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tiny-wings/id417817520?mt=8)
*Letterpress*
There are a great many excellent word-based iOS games to choose from, from *Words With Friends* to the scrumptious *Spelltower*, but in the end *Letterpress* wins due to its secret weapon – it’s actually a ruthless emulation of aggressive landgrab. Two players have an identical grid of letters that can be chosen to create words of any length, the letters of which change hue to the player’s colour. Points can be gained from unclaimed letters, whereas coloured tiles can be used but yield no reward, leading to a tense game of cat-and-mouse as each player tries to secure more land. It’s vicious, exciting, and brings out the fascist dictator in all of us. Glorious.
[*Letterpress*, Free](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/letterpress-word-game/id526619424?mt=8)
*Plague Inc*
Who’d have known that a simple world map with some spreading red dots could be so engrossing? *Plague Inc* tasks you with the job of creating a bacteria/virus/brain worm, deciding where it will start, then manipulating it enough to spead it to seven billion people. And, once infected, adding disasterous symptoms to kill *everyone*. Although the idea of a game’s win state being the annaliation of mankind is a little disconcerting at first, you soon find yourself rooting for your little band of bugs and looming over preceedings like a Bond villian in his volcanic lair. Failure (*ooh, you only killed FIFTY MILLION PEOPLE*) leads to reorganisation of strategy and each game allows you to nudge closer to your deadly conclusion. A slow-burning strategy masterpiece.
[*Plague Inc*, $0.99](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/plague-inc./id525818839?mt=8)
*Ridiculous Fishing*
Well, there’s no confusion with this title. Tap once to drop your line, tilt to avoid fish on the way down, then tilt to catch as many as you can on the way up, before flinging them into the air and shooting them dead with a flurry of finger presses. Each game lasts about thirty seconds and awards you in-game money to spend on unlockable upgrades. You cannot pay real money, only earn it by *playing the game*. Remember how that works? Made jointly by the creators of *Super Crate Box* and *Spelltower*, the design shows a wealth of expertise and appreciation for how the iPhone is best used, including tilt controls that are *perfect*. Cool, stylish and utterly deranged, *Ridiculous Fishing* is an instant iPhone classic.
[*Ridiculous Fishing*, $2.99](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ridiculous-fishing-tale-redemption/id601831815?mt=8)
Hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Total cost of all these games listed – $16.91. We live in the future. Have a great weekend!
The folks over at CinemaSins have been putting out a steady stream of videos lately, but they are truly at their best when they recount the sins of truly terrible movies.
So here’s Battleship. Also, make sure you let the entire video finish.
[Ben Child Writing for The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/mar/07/disney-hand-drawn-animation)
> Speaking at an annual shareholder’s meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, chief executive Bob Iger revealed that none of the studio’s animation companies was working on 2D, hand-drawn material for the big screen. While Iger did not rule out returning in the future to the style which made the company famous, the long gestation period for Hollywood animated productions means a gap of several years before any new film might emerge.
> “To my knowledge we’re not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now,” said Iger. “There is a fair amount of activity going on in hand-drawn animation but it’s largely for television at this point. We’re not necessarily ruling out the possibility [of] a feature but there isn’t any in development at the company at the moment.”
> The news will upset fans of traditional hand-drawn animation, who had been cheered by the revival of the form under John Lasseter, the Pixar boss who also became Disney Animation’s chief creative officer in 2006. Lasseter told a London audience for a 2009 screening of Bolt (a CGI animation) that he had re-hired many of the animators who were ditched by the previous regime because of the emergence of computer-generated technology in the 1990s.
The sad fact is that their last couple of hand drawn animated films haven’t found audiences. The Frog Princess made nearly 300$ Million to be sure, however it’s the exception. Remember that Winnie the Pooh movie they put out a couple years back? Yeah, neither do I. Most of the rest of 3D animated films have pulled in 300$ as a minimum.
However, [Paperman](https://awesomefriday.ca/2013/02/watch-disney-animated-short-paperman/) was produced by people drawing with computers, so while pencil may not hit paper again any time soon let’s hope at least that stylii hit screens (because that movie was gorgeous).
Knights of Badassdom has had a hell of a go. I first heard about it a couple years back and then nothing. Then a trailer dropped, and then nothing again. Now it seems that one of the production companies CEO has hijacked the project, and that as a result it might not even make it to theatres the way that the director/writer/etc intended. WTF.
The site created by one of the original investors in protest appears to be down but yu can get all the pertinent details from [Badass Digest](http://badassdigest.com/2013/03/04/the-not-so-badass-state-of-the-knights-of-badassdom):
> Two years ago the trailer for Knights of Badassdom, a LARPing comedy directed by Wrong Turn 2 helmer Joe Lynch, killed at Comic Con. The premise is delightful: a group of nerdy LARPers (including Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage, Community’s Danny Pudi and Serenity’s Summer Glau) come upon a real Lovecraftian horror that threatens the world, and they must defeat it. The trailer was simply great.
> And then… nothing.
> Knights of Badassdom just sort of sat around for years. The story behind its delay is ugly and kind of stupid – the production company behind the film, IndieVest, seems to have been run into the ground through terrible and possibly fraudulent business practices, and the owner of that company has stolen the film from Lynch and made his own 70 minute cut.
Disconcerting to say the least. I’m really hoping this all gets resolved because this movie looks kind of amazing. Check the red band trailer here:
[Mike Fleming Jr. Writing for Deadline](http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/jon-stewart-daily-show-hiatus-john-oliver-hosting-rosewater/):
> EXCLUSIVE: Jon Stewart will take a 12-week summer hiatus from hosting Comedy Central‘s The Daily Show to make his feature directing debut. Stewart has written the script for and will direct Rosewater, an adaptation of the book Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity And Survival. Published in 2011 by Random House, the book is Maziar Bahari’s harrowing ordeal of leaving London in June 2009 to cover Iran’s presidential elections. With a pregnant fiance left behind, the BBC journalist expected to be away for a week. Instead, he spent the next 118 days in Iran’s most notorious prison being brutally interrogated by a man he knew only by one thing: he smelled of Rosewater.
I, along with everyone else in the world, normally associate Stewart with comedy. I can see this film having funny moments, but this is not a comedy. However, given his intelligence, wit and timing, I sincerely hope this turns out really well.
[The Hollywood Reporter](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harrison-ford-signs-anchorman-2-425885):
> Before dusting off the Millennium Falcon for a Star Wars sequel, Harrison Ford will sharpen his comedic chops for a role in Paramount’s Anchorman 2.
OUR EDITOR RECOMMENDS
> Ford will play a legendary newscaster a la Tom Brokaw in the Adam McKay-helmed comedy, which begins shooting this month in Atlanta
I’m still on the fence about Anchorman 2, but there’s no way this is anything other good news. If they play it right Ford could steal the entire movie.
I’ve you’ve been paying attention to us you know that I am a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film The Master. Here’s a chance to watch about 20 minutes of delete scenes from said film.
Enjoy.
[Deadline reporting](http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/halle-berry-to-return-as-storm-in-bryan-singers-x-men/):
> Deadline has confirmed the actress will reprise her role as Storm in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past.
Granted, they don’t have any other details, but I personally hope they have as many of the actors back as possible so they can merge all the timelines and maybe set out on continuity and go from there.
What, it could happen.
Kees van Dijkhuizen jr is the guy behind such amazing zupercuts as the “[[the films of]](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDCB50778268B1250) series –in which the tone and style of a director is explored in each video– and the [[cinema]](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL570A2BCEC0545299) series –in which the years worth of movies are cut together in retrospect.
Now his attentions are turned to Bond, and this might be my favourite of his work to date.
Amazing, right? van Dijkhulzen is rather adept at picking his clips to capture the essence of a film/series/etc, and he’s done pretty masterfully here.
Here’s his write up:
> When it comes to cultural icons, James Bond is one of the biggest and most influential. These past 50 years we’ve been able to experience 007s finest adventures on the big screen, including last year with the excellent SKYFALL which shattered box office records. This piece, set to Adele’s ‘Skyfall’, revisits Bond’s adventures, from Dr. No to Skyfall, taking you through the various eras of the Bond legacy. Get those Martinis ready!
> This is in no way a full retrospective of the Bond films, the only way to truly live 007’s adventures is by seeing them yourself. And what better way to do that than with the Bond 50 Collection on Blu-ray! Each film has been restored to its former glory with pristine picture quality. They really outdid themselves with the 4K restoration process and so every frame of footage used in this video is straight from the source, maintaining the best possible quality from edit to upload.
Good news everyone! Check out this tweet from Mark Millar:
Just off the phone with Fox and some excellent news – Matthew Vaughn is producing Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot!
— Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar) February 22, 2013
Matthew Vaughn is probably currently known as the guy who directed _X-Men: First Class_ and _Kick-Ass_ and _Layer Cake_, but he also produced all of Guy Ritchies early/good stuff (_Snatch_, _Lock Stock_, etc).
Josh Trank proved he can do superheroes with _Chronicle_, and with a solid producer behind him with a history in the genre? There’s no reason not to be pretty damn excited.
Cinema Sins put out another in their series of “everything wrong with” video here, this time on one of Simon’s favouritesL Inception.
As someone who liked inception I gotta say that at while some of this is a stretch, some of it is pretty spot on.
Bungie has finally drawn back the curtain on their first project since they left *Halo* behind them and sold their souls to Activision. *Destiny* seems to be an FPS MMO hybrid – a persistant sandbox galaxy that requires a mandatory internet connection. There won’t be subscription fees and they’ve been quick to pull away from the MMO connection, but the structure of the combat certainly sounds more like this genre than any other:
“Players love MMOs and open world games more for the emergent gameplay than the gameplay crafted by their designers. They remember the things that happened because players got together and did stuff, whether it be some dramatic boss fight at the end of an hour-long raid or the exploration of a cave discovered off the beaten track. Story lead Joe Staten expects Destiny will work in a similar way, with players building their “personal legend”.
It’s all a little vague still, with no gameplay or even screenshots to speak of. However, Bungie has certainly demonstrated in the past that they are able to single-handedly redefine online multiplayer, so they have the benefit of the doubt at this point.
Also, the concept art is *stunning*:
Check it out at Eurogamer’s comprehensive write-up [here](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-17-destiny-bungie-unveils-its-shared-world-shooter).
*UPDATE:*
[The official *Destiny* website](http://www.destinythegame.com/) has released an [introductory video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EwOUi4JDC4o) with a few snippits of gameplay and, more importantly, a sample of the new score by Marty O’Donnell. More excited now.
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