Game Of Thrones Blu Ray Review: Easily A Must Own.

FINALLY. All of you non HBO subscribers out there who are sick of hearing about how awesome Game of Thrones is, without the ability to watch it, it is the dawn of a new era. An era where Game of Thrones Season one is out on DVD and all is right with the world. If you haven't seen the show yet, you may want to hold your horses now, as spoilers in this review are fairly inevitable - but heed these very important words: go buy or rent this blu-ray immediately and watch every episode. Don't walk, run. Don't drive, speed. Don't glide, fly. Don't take a mule, take a horse. I don't even KNOW WHAT I'm SAYING, just go WATCH IT.

For those of you who watched season one and are on the fence about picking up this Blu-Ray set? Well you can keep on reading and then your fate shall reveal itself. After the jump.

The Packaging

While not something like a mini Castle Black or King's Landing, that usually gets saved for the complete box set, the packaging for season one isn't half bad. An emblazoned slip cover brings a regal sense to this five disc set. Open it up and remove it from another protective piece of packaging and main characters grace the inside covers. Each disc contains episodes and bonus features, and a booklet with house/family trees and a map of Westeros is included to keep things straight for you first timers. Or second timers. Or any timers. Things can get confusing. Nothing too grand, but still a nicer than your standard Blu-Ray packaging.

The Episodes

Each episode has 5 options - play, play with in episode guide, play with commentary, recap of previous episodes, and preview of current episode, if you can't stay awake for that next episode cause it's 4am, but you need a little morsel of what's to come.

The Show

Few, if any television programs, have ever been made on this kind of scale, at this intense level of consistent quality. Granted we've only had ten episodes so far, but with full support from author George R.R. Martin and a creative team as talented as it gets, there is little doubt in my mind that when all is said and done, Game of Thrones will be widely regarded as one of the best television shows of all time. It is perhaps the only television adaptation to ever be so faithful to the source material, it is practically word for word, and staying true to this material is weaved into the very fabric of the series' existence. It would not exist were it not 100% faithful. It would make no sense. For a lot of shows based on books, it's the premise and characters that matter, with borrowed plot lines here and there, case in point Gossip Girl, True Blood or The Vampire Diaries. But Game of Thrones takes more of a filmic approach to adaptation. You wouldn't put Lord of the Rings on the big screen and change what happens to the characters. That would be sacrilege. Same with Game of Thrones. So far the only changes from the book have been whatever would facilitate it's journey into a new medium, but that's it. It's truly something wonderful to be behold, for fans of the book and non fans alike. Rewatching the show is just as riveting as the first time around, as there was endless foreshadowing of certain events that went right over my head the first time around.

Audio Commentary

With a show like this, commentary is a must. There is just SO much to learn, about the sets, locations, the costumes, the actors, the weapons, storyboarding, similarities and differences to the book, the process, continuity errors, fixing those errors, addressing specific complaints, and so on. There are mild spoilers for the books, but just little things like, mentioning that a character is still around in book five. The commentary is not only filled with information about the technical aspects of the show, but hooks you back in emotionally by mentioning when a scene is the last time two characters might see each other, or the only time three characters ever have a scene together. Very disappointed there is no commentary for episode nine, probably the biggest negative in the entire box set.

There are seven commentaries in total,

*Winter is Coming. Executive producers/writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss - informative, production wise, especially about the differences between the original and reshot pilot.

*The Kingsroad. Lena Headey (Cersei), Mark Addy (Robert) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) - Hilarious. Be sure to count how many times Lena Heady calls various characters "shits", especially Joffrey.

*Lord Snow. Sophie Turner (Sansa), Maisie Williams (Arya) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) - Adorable. They sing along to the opening theme, and keep talking about how nice everyone is. I mean, amazing.

*Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things. Writer Bryan Cogman and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) - Where to get the writer's perspective on adapting specific scenes, introductions and relationships.

*A Golden Crown. Director Daniel Minahan, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) and Harry Lloyd (Viserys) - This is where to go for a lot of clever laughs and intelligent commentary and discussion, has a nice flow to it. Worth it just to hear them praising Maisie Williams.

*The Pointy End. Co-executive producer/author George R.R. Martin. Fantastic. This is where to go to hear most about the parallels to the books, and what didn't make the final cut deliberately, and what Martin wishes was still there.

*Fire and Blood. Benioff, Weiss and director Alan Taylor. A very comprehensive commentary track that goes into more technical aspects as well as discussing elements of the story and providing behind the scenes anecdotes. Also, keep your eyes peeled for George W. Bush's head on a pike.

Now, This is a given, but you know, worth saying. DO NOT watch the commentary if you haven't seen the show yet.  If you haven't seen the show, you can feel free to use the Inside Guide feature if you find yourself very confused.

In Episode Guide

Aside from audio commentary, the blu ray offers an In-Episode Guide, which follows the action and provides you with helpful hints regarding characters, lands and histories, letting you know who is in every scene and where they are, plus gives you the option of hearing one of 24 legends of Westeros told by the characters themselves, also watchable in the Complete Guide (see below) to help fill in some of the gaps. Even for someone who has seen all of season one and read the book, being able to get real time details on where you are and who you are watching at any given time was very cool. At any time you can exit into the Complete Guide and get even more in depth. If you are wondering, yes you can have the guide on while you listen to commentary, you just have to turn it on after the episode is already playing.

Recaps

You have the option of watching the "previously on Game of Thrones" recaps, which if you aren't watching every one in a row, is pretty helpful, as it reminds you of the specifics you need to know going into each episode, though I know some people consider this a spoiler.

Extras

Complete Guide to Westeros (Disc 1, over an hour)

FAVORITE ALERT: As I touched on earlier, at any time during the In Episode Guide, you can exit into the Complete Guide, which features all of the information on characters and maps that shows up in episode, but with a bit more detail, especially when it comes to the extensive maps that lay out and explain the land, plus thorough and engaging accounts of the houses and histories. The characters themselves are the ones recounting these stories with fantastic voiceover set to beautiful lightly animated sketches or art resembling a story book or stained glass. Pretty much the greatest thing ever. Helps you to understand any reference that has come up or will come up. Here, we also different perspectives on things like the Night's Watch, when the Targaryens overtook Westeros, and the Mad Kind Aeyrs. Seeing the history of just how Robert took the throne and getting a real sense of the scene for how Ned's father and brother were killed by the Mad King and witnessed by Jamie Lannister and the whole court, made my heart break thinking of Ned's own fate that would come years later, after surviving through Aerys demanding his head. FUCKING JOFFREY. The first person accounts, Mark Addy and Harry Lloyd in particular, do a stellar job with their memories of the rebellion. Plus, with the sketches, we get an idea of what they looked like when they were younger, which is kind of fun. You really get a sense of why everyone feels the way they do about everyone else.  This guide is so brilliantly stuffed with information, it'll make you feel like an expert by the time you are finished and have you completely prepped for the second season.

Character Profiles (Disc 1, 30:42)

Profiles on 15 characters that feature footage and interviews with each actor talking about their characters and how they feel about everyone else. The profiles play in alphabetical order: Arya, Bran, Catelyn, Cersei, Daenerys, Jamie, Jon Snow, Khal Drogo (the most amusing one since his normal accent is so pedestrian), Ned, Littlefinger, Robb, Robert Baratheon, Sansa, Tyrion, Viserys. Definitely worth watching all the way through.

Anatomy of an Episode: A Golden Crown (Disc 3, about 61)

One of the best features of the entire Blu-Ray and one I hope is added for every episode for season two. This reminded me a lot of Maximum Movie Mode, an extra I loved on the Harry Potter blu rays. It's essentially commentary with visual aids, picture in picture style, and getting to see every person talking allows a host of folks to speak about what's on screen, because it's not up to us to try and discern their voices from one another. This allows us to find out about specific fights, sets, special effects, and more, from almost every member of the production staff. My favorite bit of information was learning how four departments came together to make the golden crown sequence work.

Making Game of Thrones (Disc 5, 30:02)

A behind the scenes featurette with footage allegedly unavailable anywhere else - on set interviews with cast, crew, and Martin himself, plus tons of behind the scenes footage. We learn how the creators got involved (their love of the source material is so so evident), and about casting, locations (they scouted 14 countries!), score, production design, set decoration, art direction, construction managing, why the different kingdoms look the way they do and how they look the way they do, special effects, costumes, animal wrangling, fight direction, stunt coordination, prop managing, and more, talking to every member of the crew involved in any of that. Here we also learn that the composer is pretty hot. Plus, PUPPIES!

From the Book to the Screen (Disc 5, 5:14)

Interviews with Martin, Benioff and Weiss on adapting the books. Mostly an overlap with the longer Making Of featurette, but definitely goes into a tiny bit more depth on this specific subject for the last two minutes. I love how included Martin was in this entire process.

Creating The Show Open (Disc 5, 5:07)

Reasons behind the Emmy winning opening credit design with concept art and details on creation and development. Interviews with Benioff and Weiss, plus Hameed Shaukat, the producer of the credits, Rob Feng, the art director, Chris Sanchez, the lead designer, and Angus Wall, the creative director who conceived of the whole idea.

Creating the Dothraki Language (Disc 5, 5:27)

Some of this reuses footage from the featurette, but not as much as the Book to Screen bit. This section goes way more into the specifics of how the language was created. The man who came up with it was David J. Peterson from the Language Creation Society, based on the information about the Dothraki in the books. Fascinating what was taken into consideration while developing this language. Every translation had the spelling, plus the phonetic pronunciation and an mp3 of Peterson speaking it. Also a look at how speaking the language worked for the actors and were aided by the on set dialogue coach. This section rules.

The Night's Watch (Disc 5, 8:07)

More on the Night's Watch, the wall, the Wildlings, the Whitewalkers, and what lies north of the wall, from Martin, Weiss, Benioff, and the actors playing the men who have taken the black. Any extra featuring Martin talking about his creation is awesome in my book, and this definitely qualifies. Emphasizes one of the coolest things about the Night's Watch that I didn't realize - it's really the only place in Westeros where hard work can get you to rise in the ranks - doesn't matter where you came from, only what you do once you're there.

Hidden Dragon Eggs (Disc ??, ?:??)

So there are hidden dragon eggs spread across the 5 discs that offer more exclusive content, but HBO warned that they require skill, and I couldn't find any :(

This is one of those rare occasions where I would recommend buying this right now, no matter what. If you've seen the show and read the book, getting to hear the commentaries (especially George R.R. Martin's) and a look into the filmic aspects of the experience and how they adapted the books will be a dream. If you haven't read the books, it's worth it not only for that, but for the complete histories, that will help provide background and context. If you haven't watched the show, stop reading this immediately, go buy it, and watch the whole series in one day, and then enjoy all of the extras. You have till April 1st to be caught up! I wouldn't even wait for the box set of the complete series as people often do, because the extras are too good and informative to ignore before season two begins. Fantastic box set, clearly everyone involved with Game of Thrones cares about it to their very cores.

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Super 8 Blu Ray Review

Crossposted on and commissioned by Film.com

Movie

Oh Super 8, when I think what you might have been … although I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this movie and appreciated the sentiment behind it, ultimately I don’t believe the film accomplished what director JJ Abrams and executive producer Steven Spielberg set out to do. Consequently, it’s a bit of a failure. As much as I love the cast of kids and their moments together, none of the emotional payoffs with the adult characters are earned, and in the third act, when all begins to reveal itself, logic goes straight out the window. Super 8 is a pale imitation of the movies it was inspired by, filled with unmet potential. The idea initially came from Spielberg and Abrams talking about making a movie about kids making movies — *that* part of Super 8 works. Combining it with Abrams other idea of a train crashing while transporting something from Area 51 is where the film falls flat on its face. Super 8 feels like two movies thrown together because it is. Yes, E.T. was developed this way as well, but the difference is, in E.T. it worked. In Super 8, the marriage is clunky and undermines an otherwise lovely story. I’d definitely say the film is worth seeing, in case it speaks more to you than it did to me, and especially because of this impressive group of preteens, all of whom I hope go on to long and fulfilled careers; I just personally found it to be a mild disappointment.

Extras
Audio Commentary with JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, and Larry Fong
Analysis of certain moments, instances of where Spielberg was more or less of a tangible influence, anecdotes, memories, the usual. This is where you can actually hear about cinematographer Larry Fong shooting in anamorphic, the sound effects, which sequences were shot on a sound stage versus on location, motivations behind the actors (as far as Abrams knew them to be), how they worked around puberty, and more. Plus, Fong does one of his famous magic tricks during the commentary, and the gang collectively composes emails to Steven Spielberg. Even though we can’t see either, it’s still fun to know they’re going on. One of my favorite fun facts is that because they got the actors for such little time, anytime you see a reverse shot of one of the kids, it’s a stand-in. Overall, the commentary is thorough and engaging and well worth the listen if you have the urge to learn more about the film.

The Dream Behind Super 8 (1080p, 16:28)
Shot stylistically, almost as if this were a short documentary rather than a standard featurette, this piece takes a look at where the idea for Super 8 came from, and features extensive footage of Abrams on set interacting with his cast and crew. We learn the history of JJ Abrams and frequent collaborators Burk, Fong, and Matt Reeves, and see clips of their childhood Super 8 films. Also elaborated on is the relationship between Abrams and Spielberg over the past 20 years and how they came up with the idea for Super 8 together. My favorite bits are a shot of Abrams’ face while Elle Fanning nails the emotional scene wherein Alice talks about her dad, and his speech to the crew upon wrapping, where he offers “Let me know when I can do anything for you because you’ve done so much for me.” I know secondhand at least what a good guy Abrams is, and it’s neat to see him living up to that reputation on set.

FAVORITE FEATURE ALERT
The Search for New Faces (1080p, 17:46)
A look at the six leads of Super 8, from the audition process to wrap, featuring audition tapes of and interviews with the collection of young actors, thoughts from the casting directors, and footage of the kids engaged in behind-the-scenes antics, Abrams directing them, and best of all, the final day of shooting where an emotional Elle Fanning says goodbye and thanks to the crew for all their hard work. Watching the actors hug Abrams, knowing their journey together had come to an end, actually brought tears to my eyes. Favorite moments include learning that Abrams called each kid personally to offer them the part, a funny on-set moment where lead Joel Courtney doesn’t know how to use a rotary phone and Abrams teaches him, and when the cast reminisces about Riley Griffith’s contagious laugh. Since the kids are easily the best part of the movie, this featurette is my favorite, no question.

More after the jump

Meet Joel Courtney (1080p, 14:35)
A profile of Joel Courtney and his life before and during the shoot. This featurette is framed around a long interview with Courtney about his journey, from auditioning to getting the role, to his on-set experience, to how he suspects he will feel when they wrap. We also follow a typical day for Courtney, as he shows off his trailer, gets into makeup, goes to the on-set classroom, makes a visit to craft services (and teaches us how to make the perfect hot chocolate), and more.

Rediscovering Steel Town (1080p, 18:24)
A look at the town of Weirton — how they found it, why they chose it, how it was dressed to go back in time, and the benefits of shooting there. Featuring interviews with production designer Martin Whist, executive producer Guy Riedel, and — coolest of all — production assistant Josh Foglio, who is from Weirton. We are also treated to a history of the town from citizens who live there, complete with old photos and statistics.

The Visitor Lives (1080p, 12:22)
The sole featurette on the alien, which is partly why I enjoy these extras so much. My least favorite part of the film isn’t all they talk about, in fact it’s barely what they talk about! Yaaay! Featuring interviews with visual effects supervisor extraordinaire Dennis Muren (did you know he is the only VFX artist with a star on the walk of fame?), other VFX supervisors Russell Earl and Kim Lebreri, creature designer Neville Page, and animation supervisor Paul Kavanagh. This takes a look at the creature itself, from concept to actualization. Motion tests, rejected art, pre-vis, early animation, CG movement tests, and footage of Bruce Greenwood doing the motion capture as the creature make up the bulk of the piece. Since I couldn’t stand the alien or anything about the alien, this was naturally my least favorite supplement.

Scoring Super 8 (1080p, 5:29)
A look at Michael Giacchino and the scoring process, featuring footage of the orchestra recording the score, clips of Giacchino’s childhood Super 8 films, Giachhino on John Williams’ influence, and more. Would have been nice to go a little bit more in-depth, but I know your average Blu-ray buyer may not be as obsessed with Michael Giacchino as I am.

Do You Believe in Magic? (1080p, 4:29)
A look at Larry Fong’s close-up magic. Yup. The DP is a magician. Literally. “The best magic trick person in the world” according to Griffiths. These tricks are insanely impressive. Even having them on camera, I could see no way to figure them out. In one instance, Fong even does a trick for Tom Cruise, who was visiting the set, and blows his mind. Best DP for a movie starring six kids ever.

The 8mm Revolution (1080p, 8:15)
Spielberg, Abrams, Fong, Muren, Giacchino, and more talking about their history of making 8mm and Super 8 films and what it taught them. Also features interviews with experts on the camera and film stock itself; Norwood Cheek, who created Flicker, a place for people to show their 8mm films; and Paul Korver, EP/Principal of Cinelicious; plus a history of Super 8/8mm and technical specifics and footage of the kids’ reactions to handling the Super 8 camera.

Deconstructing the Train Crash (1080p): 
An interactive grid map of the train crash scene with three main sections, pre production, production, and post-production. The origin is the script, the destination is the clip itself, and the tracks connecting the two explain the entire process through visual aids.

Pre-pro has four “trains” — “Pre-vis,” “Visual Effects Tools,” “Location,” and “Storyboard” — with images, behind-the-scenes clips, storyboards, and interviews making up the “cars” in each.

Production has “Train Set Construction, Filming – Moments Before the Crash” and “Filming – Train Depot is Destroyed,” with script excerpts, production stills, footage, and images of the train models, behind-the-scenes clips, and  production dailies making up the cars.

Post-production has a sole “Visual Effects” train with cars featuring interviews and clips of the visual effects progression.

Kind of a strange setup, and a little overly complicated just to get to one pre-vis image at a time. Plus, considering how long it takes to get to each clip, I can’t help but wonder if there could have been a better way to compile this information. Ultimately, it seemed like too much to do to yield not enough of a satisfying result. But if you care a lot about the train crash for any reason, this is where you’ll find extremely in-depth information.

Deleted Scenes (1080p, 12:47)
“Inside the 7-Eleven,” “Joe Writes New Pages,” “Joe Gives Charles New Pages,” “Jack Searches the Gas Station,” “Inside the Car Dealership,” “Joe Gets in Trouble,” “Lucy Goes Missing,” “Dry Brush Technique,” “Army Navy Store,” “Joe Watches Home Movies,” “Saying Goodnight,” “Cubes Shake the Red Trucks,” “Jack Finds Joe’s Backpack,” and “Joe and Cary Discover the Coffins.”

Every scene is pretty short and the information provided in each is more or less inconsequential, but that doesn’t make watching them any less fun for fans of the movie. Or, if you’re like me, a fan of just the kids, it’s a chance to see them work more. “Dry Brush Technique” and “Army Navy Store,” which feature further interactions between Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney, are my particular favorites.

I have some minor complaints about the special features, including why the Super 8 films Fong, Burk, and Abrams made in their youth aren’t on here in their entirely, and why watching The Case on its own isn’t an option. I wish the featurettes would have gone a little bit more in-depth, covering every other aspect of production, but not every movie can haveLord of the Rings-esque extras, and the commentary more than makes up for what’s lacking otherwise. As strange a choice as the Train Crash special feature is, it still provides valuable information for anyone who cares. Overall, not gonna lie: the special features are better than the movie. I definitely had more fun watching them make the film than I did watching the film itself. Which is why, even if you weren’t a huge fan of the film but enjoyed multiple aspects within it, these special features are a fine way to spend a couple hours.

Movie: B-
Extras: A-
Buy, Rent, or Skip? Rent

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Kinect Disneyland Adventures: A Magically Addictive Exercise In Wasted Potential

Crossposted on Gaming Blend

Because apparently, there's no such thing as muscle fatigue, someone decided to create the very first open world game for Kinect. Fittingly, since the last time I was at Disneyland I lost the ability to feel my feet, this game is Kinect: Disneyland Adventures.

The premise - you're at Disneyland! And that's about it. During your day at Disneyland, you can experience up to 20 attractions, talk to over 40 characters, go on over 100 different "adventures" assigned to you by the various characters in 8 different lands, take photos of landmarks, hidden mickeys and characters, and interact with just about every item in the park. Completing every adventure, earning every pin for doing well on attractions, getting every autograph, and casting a spell on all 2000+ magical items will take you well over 50 hours. Is it worth the time and money? Let's take a closer look.

After creating your child avatar, which, much to my chagrin, is only allowed to have brown eyes, the game begins. The first thirty minutes to an hour of Disneyland Adventures is dedicated to teaching you how to control the game and understand the essential structure of gameplay through interactions with the main six Disney characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy.

So how do you function in an open world kinect game? Move your left or right arm forward to move, hold your arm out all the way to the side to turn, wave to interact with characters and attractions (the quicker and more childlike the wave, the better), and once you master opening your item inventory, which involves holding your right hand up at a 45 degree angle until the menu opens, then selecting the item you need (I promise, it's nowhere near as easy as it sounds), you use your left hand exclusively to walk and your right to control various items. Wave it to cast a spell with your magic wand, hold your hand over a target with your blaster to shoot, hold your arm straight out to take a picture, and so on. As the game progresses, items in your inventory will include those, along with a fishing rod for catching random fish (I still haven't found one), baton for conducting musical groups across the park including the singing statues at the Haunted Mansion and any jazz band hanging around New Orleans Square and more. This beginning section also clues you in on the gameplay structure of meeting characters, receiving tasks, accomplishing these tasks, then reporting back to the character.

Once you learn the basics, you can go off and do whatever you want. This virtual map of Disneyland is an exact recreation of the Anaheim park, to a frightening degree. The attention to detail is astounding. I kept having moments of "I bought a corn dog at that stand!" "I sat on that rock for 20 minutes when I was exhausted!" "I threw a coin at that waterfall!" and so on. One of my favorite things about the park has always been how the trash cans are themed to each land, and the same holds true here. You could lose hours and hours just taking in the accuracy of everything around you. And that's *before* you're gifted a magic want by Cinderella. Once you have the wand, count on spending triple the time wandering around the park. You'll be able cast a spell on anything you see that sparkles. And there are A LOT of things that sparkle in Disneyland, you guys.

Each of the 8 lands has over 30 sets of magical items, and each set has 3 to 35 magical items within. So, aiming low, let's say that's an average of 10 items per set, that would mean a minimum of 300 items per land which means there are 2400 MAGICAL ITEMS TO CAST SPELLS ON IN THIS GAME. NOT including the 8 or so landmarks to take photos of in each land, the 30 something hidden mickeys to find in each land, the couple of blaster mini-games in each land land and so on. For a completionist who has major OCD when it comes to video games, the constant messages that I've completed "2 of 20" or "8 or 36" over and over and over, almost drove me out of my mind and kept interrupting me as I made my way to talk to characters or play attractions. This makes it great for irresponsible parents who need to keep their kids occupied for long periods of time and horrible for OCD ridden game reviewers. In that way that you need to open every drawer in Bioshock, you will need to cast a spell on every single godforsaken magical item in Kinect: Disneyland Adventures.


If you forget about using the items in your inventory to earn both in-game and out-of-game achievements, Disneyland Adventures boils down to meeting characters and going on attractions.

Meeting characters is simple, you wave to begin an interaction, then say autograph for an autograph (they will tell you to put your hands out to get one - don't do it, go with the stellar voice command system, save yourself the headache), bow to dance, high five to high five, hug yourself to hug, and put your arm out to take a picture. Although it should be noted that you can only get an autograph and picture if you have earned enough money through picking up coins in the park and completing attractions to go to a store and buy autograph books and photo albums. You heard right - the game encourages you to buy things from the stores at Disneyland! Sure, it's all part of the proper Disneyland experience, I suppose, but I haven't purchased anything but water from Disneyland for as long as I've understood that Disney eats money, and that's been longer than you might think. Better yet, you can only buy photo albums for each land in a store in each land, and you can't unlock the store until you go on an attraction. So it's impossible to just go from character to character, collecting everything you need. You MUST make money, go to the store, and play the attraction mini-games. You also need to have the brain capacity to understand this. I'm looking at you, tiny children. Who are clearly reading this right now.

The characters also give you a series of "adventures' which reminded me of the missions in Fable 3, where in order to make a friend or gain a lover, you had to waste time running around grabbing items and delivering messages. It felt pointless in Fable 3 and feels pointless here. And yet I COULDN'T STOP. To become a Lost Boy for Peter Pan, you have to play through Peter Pan's Flight, then gather his shadows around Fantasyland, then buy and wear a Lost Boy costume. Stich sends you to find him five hamburgers, and then to find a picture he lost of Lilo. Cinderella has you find sewing items, and then gives you the general mission of finding spools of thread around the park. Aladdin needs you to impress the genie with your magic. Some character named Duffy Bear I've never heard of before needs you to find stuffed Duffy Bears, but because he doesn't speak, you don't know that until you accidentally stumble upon 1 of 10 Duffy Bears. These go on and on and on. 


More after the jump. Yes, there is more.

Ready for some more math? There are over 40 characters. Each character has at least 2 missions, which when accomplished, gets you a shiny new pin. Each mission involves finding at least three things. that's a minimum of 5 items to gather/tasks to accomplish per character, which is BAM! Another 200 things to do right there. Someone shoot me. At least there is a glowing trail that guides you to exactly where these things are, depending on the adventure you select in your Adventure Journal. If left to your own devices to discover all 200 of these things on top of already being left to your own devices to find the 2400 magical items? No. The tantrums I am imagining kids throwing because of this game are too forceful already.

The final element of the game is going on the attractions. Each attraction here features 2-4 mini-games that take place in the same universe as the ride. So instead of just sitting and watching Jungle Cruise unfold around you, you are shooting water onto elephants and hippos from your ship. Instead of watching the Haunted Mansion simply occur in your presence, you are running through the famous haunted house and all of the familiar imagery, shining flashlights on ghosts and grabbing coins. A few of the attractions are a bit closer to the ride itself - Matterhorn has a bobsledding level, and Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters obviously involves shooting, but for the most part the attractions take you inside the world, and try to make the ride a reality. Oddly enough, there are a couple of rides you can just sit on, like the Dumbo ride and Carousel in Fantasyland and the rockets in Tomorrowland. It's a first person perspective, just going around and around, staring straight ahead. It lasts about 45 seconds, then the game asks if you want to ride it again. Spoiler alert: your answer will always be no.

The attractions are hands down the worst part of the game. The designs of all of the environments are top notch, particularly Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage and Haunted Mansion, and all of them capture the essence of the rides in some way. In every attraction, there are secret mickeys you're supposed to grab, and depending on the number of those you secure, plus how well you do in reaching the mini-game's goals, you are rated 1-5 stars. Your score per mini game is averaged out to an overall rating, which determines whether you get a bronze, silver or gold pin as your reward.

This would be fine if the games involved actual skills in any way that you could develop, so you could eventually get all of the rewards. But - and this where the game ultimately fails - the use of the Kinect technology is SO vastly underdeveloped, there is no way to even know what you are doing in most of these games, let alone figure out how to excel at them. While the idea is fantastic, numerous mini-games that use every form of movement-based gaming there is, the potential is simply never met, to an endlessly frustrating degree.

To make sure it wasn't just me, I recruited a group of people who are universally awesome at video games to try the game out for themselves and give me their opinion. Luckily, at least that part is easy, the game caters to players jumping in and out at any time. But across the board, everyone hated playing the attractions. Once in a blue moon, you find a snowball throwing mini-game (Matterhorn) or a crocodile swatting element to a mini-game (Pirates), but for the most part, the games are heavy on moving through space, while not having a good enough grasp on the technology to read your movements correctly. We were all constantly running into asteroids and walls and boulders, no matter what we did.

This imprecision permeates throughout Disneyland Adventures. As I mentioned earlier, opening up the inventory menu is bizarrely difficult, and don't even bother trying to get an autograph the physical way. The game almost never recognized my hands out of in front of me (oddly in a "please sir, can I have some more?" sort of fashion) and switching back and forth between magic wand and camera in a futile attempt to complete every mission in a certain area proved so impossible to accomplish with ease, I had to give up.

Clearly this game is intended for children. There are disembodied voices all over the park positing suggestions, there is no way to die, the guidebook offers tips like "Kindly do not feed the mermaids", it's a recreation of Disneyland for goodness sakes, but if I were a child playing this, I would want to break it. If I were a parent watching a child play this, I would have to use every ounce of will power within me to not intervene and help out or break it myself. If it's impossible for a 25 year old to be good at any part of the game, how would a 10 year old be good at it? And why did Karen, the tour guide, who you can speak to whenever you see her and learn fun facts about the park, repeat the story about how there used to be an "intimate apparel" store on Main Street three different times in three totally different locations?

There is so much to this game, it's almost too much. Nay, it's definitely too much. What human, of any age, has time for this?! While the game isn't bad per se, save the awful use of the technology that could have easily been fixed by several more months of work, it's fifty hours of nothingness. 50 hours of a fake version of a place that's already pretty damn fake. And to what end??? Accomplish all 8 billion missions and get a free pass to Disneyland? I've never felt that way about a video game before, but with Disneyland Adventures, I can't help but think "why?" Why go to the trouble of recreating Disneyland and make most of the game unplayable? Just to get us all riled up and nostalgic and force us to make our way to Anaheim as soon as possible? Why not just save everyone the annoyance and tired limbs and make using a controller an option?! For your elongated commercial to work, people have to actually want to keep playing, don't they?!

To be fair, there are some parts I enjoyed. The Disney Princess Fantasy Faire, where songs from some Disney movies play as you match the dancing of the princesses, is super fun despite being utterly imprecise, and each character you meet throughout the park feels authentic, down to their dialogue, reactions, movements, and especially the voice acting. Get close enough to a ride in the park and hear the same music that plays when you're standing in that exact area. And while you can't go on every ride, you can at least see them and often, the lines filled with people leading to them. For the moments where you aren't frustrated, it does make you feel like a kid again, and that's never something to sneeze at.

I feel like I could continue talking about this game for 1000 more words, but I'll spare you. There are lots of nice touches and for a Disney fan, it could definitely be worth a rent, just to see how accurate the park rendering is, but giving this to a child almost feels….wrong. Would you want your kid dedicating 50 hours to pretending to be at Disneyland? Being encouraged to hug strange people in giant character suits and buy 20 autograph books? It's one thing to be older and feel nostalgic about your own time at Disneyland as you play, but to try this game at an impressionable age, perhaps even before going to Disneyland to begin with, diluting the magic of seeing the park for the first time? I just don't know. That being said, I still haven't been on virtual Splash Mountain, I still haven't talked to all the characters, and Donald and Mickey are in a close race for major of Toon Town, so I'd be lying if I said I'd never pick it up again, even as a guilty pleasure. Though I would never replay a level, I would still like to try the attractions I haven't done yet, at least to see the environment design.

There's so much unmet potential in this game, I wonder if I'd be more forgiving to the overall message of a Disneyland Park video game, had the gameplay taken proper advantage of the Kinect technology and helped create something truly special. Unfortunately, we'll never know, but in any event, I would recommend at least taking this strange meeting of the awful and wonderful for a test spin. Cause at the end of the day, dancing to Almost There with Princess Tiana, virtual or not, was pretty damn cool. And I can't deny that ultimately, that kind of moment is why a kid would want to play this title.

Players: 1-2
Platform(s): Xbox 360
Developer: Frontier Developments Ltd.
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
ESRB: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)
Rating: 6/10

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Blu Ray Review: Griff The Invisible

 

The Movie
An instant favorite of mine in the everyday superhero sub-genre, Griff The Invisible is the story of a mild mannered, oft-bullied office worker who leads a secret life as a vigilante superhero. His existence is thrown through a loop when he meets his brother's not-girlfriend Melody, a loner scientist with fantastical interests & aspirations of her own, including figuring out how to walk through walls. The connection between the two presents itself after Melody reveals her multiverse theories to a stumped Tim and fascinated Griff during an unexpected visit. The romance that unfolds is sweetly off-beat and combats any predilection towards the twee with a unique sense of humor, strong chemistry and genuine portrayals of of these innocently unhinged people. We root for their impossible dreams to come true and most importantly, root for them to pursue these dreams together.

With a seamless blending of fantasy and reality, clever knack for storytelling, pitch-perfect casting and soundtrack, and unique take on what is now a somewhat tired subgenre, Leon Ford shines in his directorial debut. The Blu-Ray, giving 16mm the 1080p treatment, looks fantastic, maintaining the gritty nature of the 16mm film without sacrificing clarity. If you’re a fan of Kwanten’s work as Jason Stackhouse on True Blood, this is an easy recommendation, but I believe this indie romance has an appeal that reaches far beyond the fan base of its lead. Maeve Dermody almost steals the show and it’s baffling that this unearthly beauty with such a precise and honest talent hasn’t yet been discovered on this side of the world. Patrick Brammall, as Griff’s obnoxious but caring brother who displays slightly more socially acceptance oddities in his personality, shows a great handle of comedic timing, obvious especially after watching the extras and hearing his contribution to the commentary.

For any of us with secret fantasies, whether they are walking through walls, saving the day or something even closer to the plane of reality we are familiar with, Griff The Invisible is meant for us. It’s a love letter to our potential and finding someone to reach it with, no matter how difficult life becomes or how much the outside world may fight against us.

Special Features

Commentary with writer/director Leon Ford, producer Nicole O’Donohue, and actor Patrick Brammall
This is where the meat of the Blu-Ray really lies if you want to learn about the shoot. We learn where the idea came from, how Kwanten got involved, insights into the music choices, including Lenka and Lykke Li, shooting locations, set dressing, which scenes were used to audition the actors, actor Toby Schmitz’s hair, how certain effects were achieved, and more. One of my favorite bis of information, since the special features left me craving a look at the technical aspects and design of the shoot, was learning about “Hero Mode”, the shorthand for all departments noting the moments when Griff becomes the superhero version of himself, with blue and yellow lights, wide, comic book-like camera lens, Ryan in the suit, and more. Brammall keeps the commentary light and littered with jokes between the anecdotes, and technical dissection.



Featurette (4:08)
Begins with the trailer then jumping to a standard featurette, featuring Kwanten talking about his connection to Griff (with an endearing confession), the leads on acting together, info on the suit and how the story was formed, and more. Short but sweet.

Anatomy of a Scene  Opening Sequence (3:16),  All-In-One Shot (2:16), Anyhoo (2:00)
Dissection of three different scenes, from storyboard to final cut, with some behind the scenes footage thrown in, including the director figuring out how to tackle one scene on location and a couple shots from the rehearsal process. Opening Sequence is very much about the action, a complicated sequence. All In One is particularly super cool, cause I wondered about they shot it myself while watching (so much simpler than I assumed it would be!). I won’t get into details so as not to spoil the moment, but you’ll see when you get there. Anyhoo is more about the actors and moments, showing on set footage, and Ford watching the monitor, and an ADR session with Patrick Brammall.

Appear Calm: Diary of a First Time Director Pre-Production (1:25), The Shoot (3:11), and Post Production (2:42)
A short self-made piece documenting Ford's first time making a feature film. Divided into three sections, pre-production, the shoot and post, it's mostly comprised of his thoughts, recorded with a webcam, paired with behind the scenes footage. Pre-Production is about a minute long, just a quick bit about beginning the rehearsal and read through process. The Shoot picks up after the first day, where we see a genuine reaction from Ford, impressed with the work of the actors across the board, and picks up again the Sunday before the final week. In Post Production, we see shots of the editing room and gain insight into the tedious process. We see him deal with needing to cut the film down, screening to producers, then holding screenings, finishing the final sound mix, getting picture lock, figuring out how to compromise and his journey to utter exhaustion.

While this feature doesn’t go particularly in depth or anything, but it’s still nice to hear tidbits about the shoot and hear from the man behind it all. Things get blurry the further you get from them, so it’s nice to have interviews filmed with only himself in the room, done *at* the time. I like some authenticity in my Blu-Ray extras.

Rain Stops Play (1:16)
During a pause in shooting while it was raining, Brammall and Ford jump into a improvised comedy bit that is genuinely hilarious. Or maybe it’s just cause Brammall's accent reminds me of New Zealander Rhys Darby that I think he's so funny, but this featurette was enough to make me research whether Brammall is well known comedian or anything, so well done Patrick Brammall!

Patrick’s Set Tour (1:24)

Patrick Brammall takes us on a brief but humorous tour of the set.

Deleted Scenes (7:36)
Here we see another clip showing Tim’s mild idiocy (and complete lack of connection to Melody), more of Griff’s scheming, Melody being awkward, many elongated scenes, including one in the office, one of Melody with her parents, and one of Griff with her parents and a sweet scene between Griff and Melody, getting to know each other, which was perhaps the only one that I wondered about being cut.

Music Video: Don’t Give Yourself Away by the Shadow Bureau
Oddly, one of my least favorite songs of all the music used in the film, which is overall incredibly strong, but it gets to be the official music video for some reason. The lyrics have a relevant and nice message, so I guess I see it, but of all he songs I was dying to hear in their entirety, this one was at the bottom of the list.

Overall, the features are fun, but I would have liked a lot more behind the scenes info, especially on the acting process and design elements. The film is so stylistic and specific, I would have loved to learn more about the way it was shot and put together. Commentary is definitely the place to go to for even a taste of this information, but sadly won't illuminate anything as far as acting is concerned, as the two leads do not participate.

Film: B+
Extras: B
Buy, Rent or Skip? Buy. It's a wonderful little movie that I can't help but think could use our support. I'm giving two copies, so if you're interested in winning the film, just head here and enter the contest.

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