Tsk, tsk, tsk…
Blog Archives
James Bond Movie Collection & Unboxing – 1′Offs
The name’s McCrary. Montez McCrary. The PractitioNERD. Today I showcase my James Bond 007 movies, as well as perform an unboxing of more DVDs to complete my 007 collection. Also, “Never Say Never Again” doesn’t REALLY count, and I explain why.
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A “Y”House, Hand Phones, Indie Game Movie & The Art of Wrestling – The PractitioNERD, Episode 11
This week, this house is brought to you by the letter “Y,” you can soon talk to the hand (literally), behind the scenes on indie game development, and how to be a pro wrestling art snob.
…also, THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK!! Read the rest of this entry
Indie Game: The Movie; a Movie of Indie Games…Get it?
Sure, we gamers enjoy the triple-A, million dollars games that big-name, big-time developers and publishers with large employee numbers churn out to us in retail stores every year. However, how about the games that aren’t big budget titles, made by a small team of people (if not just one person), and don’t get the same mainstream attention? Here’s a secret: some of those independently-developed video games are just as fun (if not MORE fun) than their big-budget counterparts. For the real stories behind some the most recently acclaimed games of this type, look no further than the documentary, Indie Game: The Movie. Read the rest of this entry
“My Architect,” Nathaniel Kahn profiles his father, architect Louis Kahn
I remember when I first saw My Architect: A Son’s Journey, the 2003 documentary film about American architect Louis I. Kahn. The College of Architecture at Texas A&M has sponsoring a viewing of the film at Rudder Auditorium on-campus in 2004, and it was the first architecture-related film I can recall watching, and I really enjoyed it. Kahn led an extraordinary career as an architect when he died bankrupt and alone due to a heart attack in a Penn Station bathroom in 1974. When Kahn died, he had been deemed by many as the greatest living American architect. However, his body remained unidentified for two whole days and he was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. His son, Nathaniel Kahn, was 11-years-old then, and this personal documentary he made serves as a record of his quest to finally put the pieces of his father’s compartmentalized life together. Read the rest of this entry
Explore Gotham City’s Architectural Grandeur in 3D!
At midnight tonight, the last chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman film series, “The Dark Knight Rises”, premieres in movie theaters everywhere…AND I CAN’T WAIT!!! Anyway, up until then (and very likely to continue after the first release) we have been exposed to a multitude of advertisements, trailers, promotions, water-cooler talk, and online discussions about the film, the characters, the trailers, interviews, and practically anything that has to do with the movie. The idea of the film tie-ins is nothing new (novelizations, video games, web games, etc.) and usually doesn’t offer much new content to better contextualize or expands the film’s narrative; that’s really up to the FILM itself. Nokia is getting involved in the film tie-in game with these new 3D maps of Gotham City from Nokia, so now you can appreciate the architecture and urban planning of the great metropolis that is under constant surveillance of the Dark Knight himself (if you haven’t played “Batman: Arkham City”, or even its prequel “Batman: Arkham Asylum”; if that’s the case, GET ON THAT NOW). Read the rest of this entry
Carmen Sandiego steals Pro Wrestling Art from a Martian Bus Station – The PractitioNERD, Episode 2
This week on “The PractitioNERD Show,” I discuss:
the Carmen Sandiego movie adaptation [http://goo.gl/DX2SZ],
a Spanish bus station that could be a martian spaceship [http://goo.gl/nNBPg],
the U.S. Army becomes the literal “Android Army” [http://goo.gl/faajF],
my love for Retro City Rampage [http://goo.gl/ucFIV], and
why Pro Wrestling art show be in the Louvre [http://goo.gl/jjRYc] Read the rest of this entry
Carmen Sandiego is going to Hollywood; may steal the iconic sign again…
Classic adventure game icon Carmen Sandiego is prime and ready to steal the bright lights of Hollywood (you know, like how she stole the sign back in 1985). Walden Media is in the process of adapting the classic educational series to the big screen, with Jennifer Lopez producing and possibly starring (please don’t, please don’t). The movie’s script is being written by Darren Lemke, who wrote the films Shrek Forever After and the upcoming Jack the Giant Killer. Based on those films, it is likely that the Carmen Sandiego project may in fact be a family-friendly flick and not some run-of-the-mill dark, edgy reinterpretation of the titular master thief (please look up the word “titular” before complaining). Read the rest of this entry
The Architecture of “Metropolis (1927)”
The classic 1927 silent, black-and-white film Metropolis, from German director Fritz Lang, showcases a look decades ahead where futuristic urban dystopia cities are designed and built in vertical layers (rather than horizontally) based upon reflecting the varied social statuses in society. The film’s plot involves a futuristic city that is sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, and the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their social class differences. The architecture of Metropolis could pretty easily be seen and recognized in several major cities across the world today, and shows influences from a number of architectural styles, including (but not limited to): Futurist, Art Deco, and Gothic.
Fan-Made “Tetris” Movie Trailer. Better than “Battleship”? Likely.
Okay class, raise your hands if you thought adapting the classic board game Battleship into a full-length motion picture was a great idea? Come on, Hasbro; at least Transformers had a STORY. At least if Battleship got the opportunity to become a film, what about other intellectual properties with no story? You know, I’ve recently given Tetris a little bit of love, so what about that?
Above is a fan-made trailer for a fictional live-action Tetris movie, made by Warialasky. The trailer sticks with the main essence of its gameplay, which is just about falling blocks and the ability to rotate and shift their direction. Interesting, because I thought an easy (and obvious) story to attempt to attach to giving Tetris ANY type of storyline would be to insinuate that an attack of the falling blocks are a ploy by remnants of the old USSR, aiming for complete and utter world domination.
“The Great Gatsby” Coming in December; Don “Dick Whitman” Draper Would Be Proud
The 7th recognized film translation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2012 (INNNNN THREEEEEE-DDDDDDDDD; why?). The Great Gatsby is an American romantic drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann (director of William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge), and will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway (the original novel’s narrator). Check out the trailer after the break.
NYC’s “Chinatown Fair” Arcade Has Some Quarters Left…
I know it looks like it's closing, but they're probably not!
Filmmaker Kurt Vincent was shooting some videos around the location of the now-defunct Chinatown Fair arcade this past week for his movie about the downfall of said mainstay video arcade in New York City (called “Arcade: The Last Night of Chinatown Fair”), when he stumbled-upon something interesting…
It Turns Out That Piranhas Are Pretty Chatty Creatures…
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| Man, quit being such a chatterbox. SHUT UP!!! |
I believe that it has become common knowledge that piranhas (a.k.a, the Hannibal Lecter of fish) are nasty and vicious little creatures, but a group of scientists have published in the Journal of Experimental Biology that piranhas (in particular the “red-bellied” type) are able to talk and communicate with each other. As a matter of fact, they use three sounds, and each one means a particular and distinct thing.
Piranhas use one sound that is described as a bark used while scaring off and intimidating rivals, a second one resembles a drum-like beat used while they are chasing each other, and the remaining sound resembles a croak used while they attack one another. In the case of the latter two sounds, those usually occur when the fish are fighting each other for sustenance. It turns out that the fish produce the sounds by vibrating their swim bladders at a rate of 150 times per second. According to Eric Parmentier, the leading research scientist on the study representing the University of Liege, Belgium, he states that “eventually, if we understand the behaviour that’s associated with the sounds, we might be able to listen to the sea and explain to fishermen: ‘Now’s not the best time to start fishing’.”
So I raise a “Thank you” toast to Science for making that “Piranha 3D” movie make more sense now.
However, I still refuse to watch it again or buy it, though…
[Thanks to the BBC and The Journal of Experimental Biology]
It’s Cowboys versus Aliens!!!! Kinda….
They’re even battling it out at my local Hobby Lobby. This whole thing has gotten out of control….
…..I gotta get around to watching that movie, though…
