Little Big Planet

It’s funny how character and personality can help define a game in so many ways. For all that graphics and gameplay and content are banded about as key-words within games criticism, it is often those games that above and beyond all that, manage to convey a sense of uniqueness, or life beyond mere pixels, that stand out and garner attention. In recent times no better example of this can be found than Little Big Planet, Media Molecule’s much-hyped creation-based platformer which was so proudly touted and displayed by Sony at games conventions for the past few years. Now that the game has been released, to a positive but somewhat muted reception critically and sales-wise, and I have had the chance to put some time in with the game I feel it worth writing about in terms of not only its use of character and style but the place it could play in the years to come as an example of where much of the gaming industry could be heading. Charm-wise the game is a winner, the universe that has been constructed is wonderful and consistent, the whimsical nature of the story and the levels is balanced out, never becoming too twee or swifling. The choice of Stephen Fry was a masterstroke and lends the tutorials a wonderfully British sense of not only humour but construction as well. The makeshift nature of the game works in its favour, the way levels are built out of cardboard or wood and the way bosses and enemies are bolted together out of separately designed parts work as a constant reminder and as a sort of in-game tutorial to what is possible with the creative tools on offer. For much as Little Big Planet is a fun and enjoyable platform game in its own right, to only scratch the offline sections of the game is missing the game’s real point. What Little Big Planet wants to do is offer the gamer the same tools that the creators have, then encourage you to go out and build something yourself. A great deal of work has gone into making the level creator on offer as flexible as possible, whilst keeping it simple enough to use. Delving in for the first time is a bit overwhelming, and there has been a certain sacrifice to ease of use that comes with a depth of complexity but generally the range of tools on offer has been perfectly balanced to not be overwhelming, but also not limiting either in allowing you to create whatever you envision on the screen. All this takes time and dedication of course, and there will be choruses of gamers unwilling to put in this time, or who have no personal inclination to make use of the tools, however these people can still browse the hundreds and thousands of user created levels that already exist, allowing the game to continue on gaining new content day by day, with no effort from the publishers. As you would expect from such a vast pool of creative talent great things will emerge, and whilst it has taken a while the standard of levels now being found is very high, and it doesn’t take much searching to find new creative and enjoyable levels to play. What is most impressive really is the variety of game styles, the game does not limit you to mere platforming and so you get levels that are races, or time challenges, or merely passive rides where you bear witness to music or scenery. With the addition of the latest Metal Gear Solid themed update the element of shooting a paintgun has been added which has changed a lot of the possibilities for design once again. Overall Media Molecule have done what many doubted they could and delivered on what they said they would. As an overall package Little Big Planet stands as a great example of not only a game with a distinctive and unique voice and style (the game really would not work with a more generic and traditional sheen), but one that paves the way for gamer interaction within games. The community that can be built up and the support that is still to come in the future means that hopefully the game will remain fresh and relevant for a long time to come, and encourage other developers to think along the same lines, blurring the lines between the finished box on the shelf and the life a game can take on once it’s taken home and embraced by the consumers.

Speed Racer

The apathetic reaction the Wachowski brothers latest received on its release is, in hindsight, not surprising. Whilst it would be nice to think that innovation and individuality leads to success and acclaim, here is living proof that generally this is not the case. The great thing about the film industry though is that in a way this doesn’t matter, once a film has been deemed a failure it already exists. You can buy it, watch it and enjoy it if you so choose, and those involved, slightly bruised egos aside, will bounce back. Say what you will about the cookie cutter evil inherent in Hollywood but somewhere a studio forked up over $100m to let these guys bring their, lets face it, rather insane vision to the screen, based, of all things, from a relatively obscure kids cartoon. It was a risk and a gamble, and from a financial point of view it didn’t work out, still I have the feeling like many others than maybe in time people will look back fondly on the film.

Make no mistake this is no disaster, in fact it is a fast, fun and entertaining family film, maybe part of the problem is that people didn’t get that, or expect it. Coming off the back of the Matrix films and V for Vendetta the expectations could have been for the Wachowski’s to apply the same gritty and adult tone to Speed Racer, instead they went in the opposite direction. At a time where dark and gloom seem to be the prevailing factors in many of the big summer movies it was a bold step, quite literally, to fill Speed Racer with as much colour and lightness as they did. Visually the film is spectacular and its hyper kinetic style is maintained throughout not as a gimmick but as a way of establishing the world in which it takes place. This is not any kind of reality we can relate to, the world of Speed Racer is almost literally a cartoon brought to the life, and the unreality of it all can be jarring. We are so used to CGI being used in films to replicate reality, or when showing the fantastical, grounding that in a sense of believability. To the Wachowski’s credit they don’t even bother with that here, because that is not the point. Some of the techniques used in fact actually highlight this unreality, characters in the background and foreground remain in focus and the depth is squeezed from many of the scenes, aping the film’s cartoon roots.

Yet despite all this the characters are very much grounded as recognisable people. In fact it is the characters and story that ultimately make the film work; this is not a hollow exercise in eye-candy but a film with a message and heart. The Racer family as shown in the film have a real bond, and all the actors involved help you care about them. Sure the races are exciting and brilliantly staged, but it would be for nothing if you were not invested in the people taking part. The film paints in broad strokes with the good characters and the bad, but its message about corruption greed and power and some of the twists the story takes along the way help elevate it about other so-called children’s fare. This is a film far too good to be simply dismissed as such and it is a shame many people did. That is not to say it doesn’t have childish elements, Spritle and his pet monkey offer much of the so-called comic relief in the film but thankfully they amuse rather than irritate and such scenes are kept to a minimum.

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John Goodman and Susan Sarandon lend the film its heart and manage to play the emotional scenes with real gravitas, whilst also having a lot of fun at the broader nature of some of the rest of the film. In fact the tone is very well held throughout, never overly silly and throw-away yet never too mawkish and sentimental. As I said the emotional moments in the film feel earned, because of the way everything is set up and the ending is pitch perfect, culminating the story and the underlying themes whilst also being an exhilarating sequence in its own right.

Speed Racer isn’t for everyone, the cartoony style and broad tone of the film may put many people off, but for those who can relate to their inner child and who remember what it is to be sucked into a crazy world, and for those looking for something visually and technically unique and impressive I would highly recommend checking it out.

Role Models

Paul Rudd has quietly been making a name for himself in recent years in comedy circles, through appearances in a variety of Judd Apatow related films be from Anchorman to Knocked Up. Yet in all these films he manages to be funny and yet offer up real heart as well, there’s something very earnest and down to earth about him and his dry persona and it is something that finally takes centre stage in Role Models. In fact Rudd had a large hand in the writing (or re-writing) of the film and so it’s no stretch to say its ultimate success is largely down to him. On the surface Role Models is a film that really shouldn’t be that great, the man-child persona’s and life-lesson themes are worn thin and rather unoriginal. Rudd and Sean William-Scott, who also impresses in what could have been a one-dimensional role, play a couple of friends who are stuck working for an energy drinks company, their gig consists of traversing local schools and encouraging kids to stay off drugs. Wheeler (William-Scott) is happy with the set up, but Rudd’s Danny is becoming increasingly frustrated and unhappy, when his girlfriend breaks up with him he loses it and the results earn the pair 150 hours of community service, in the form on mentoring kids for a local charity. Yet through this premise the film manages to make you care for these guys and the kids they are assigned to, Rudd is paired with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a bespectacled teenager obsessed with a local fantasy role-playing community where people dress up for battles weekly. Scott on the other hand is landed with Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson), a smart alec 8 year old with bags of attitude and a foul mouth. The great trick the film manages to pull is to tell a familiar story but maintain the integrity of the characters. There are no quick fixes or impassioned speeches and the flaws of the characters are never overlooked. For the longest time the pair are just trying to make it through their court-appointed duty and their bickering and selfishness play well against the wariness of the kids. It is a delicate balance to keep the characters likeable but believable, a lot of this has to come down on the actors as well and here again Rudd should get great credit, his Danny could be a very unsympathetic character, he is morose and sarcastic and yet Rudd lends him a longing and sadness underneath it all which balances this out well. The result of all this is that the climax of the film feels earned and as such is a fantastically amusing and also moving sequence which manages to bring all the threads of the film together without feeling like it is forced. On top of all this of course the film as a whole is very funny, Rudd and Scott have great chemistry and play off each other well whilst the kids are both great, natural and authentic with none of the maudlin sweetness which can overpower many children’s roles in similar films. The film is also unafraid to be rude, and manages to evoke the aforementioned Apatow films in mixing the vulgar with the sweet to great effect. Overall this film was a very pleasant surprise, usually January is the dumping ground for either Oscar hopefuls or the rubbish the studio’s want to release with as little fanfare as possible but Role Models bucks the trends and sets the early pace for the year. A feel good film that is also laugh out loud funny and never forced this is a film well worth making time for.

Spring Cleaning

Well it’s not Spring yet but the new year brings out the organiser in me, and nowhere more prominently that on my PC. Admittedly as it wasn’t too long ago I got my current machine so it’s not exactly in bad shape, but I thought for today’s post I would share some links and ideas for giving your computer a sprucing up, or just for cool apps, links and programs that I have found useful in the past when customising my own desktop.

Lifehacker The source of many of these discoveries, Lifehacker is a blog devoted to this subject with a wealth of useful little ideas, tricks and links. Well worth checking out to keep up to date with the latest tech.

deviantART Where else to start customisation than with the desktop itself, choosing the right background is always tricky for me, partly now because Deviant Art has such an extensive and wide ranging collection of amazing images in all categories. The site has lots of other pictures as well, for desktop backgrounds follow Customisation > Wallpaper

FileHippo The go-to source for the latest versions of software and applications. FileHippo is constantly updated and a fantastic source for checking your programs are up to date and even to get downloads of the latest Beta’s as well if you want a go at some up-coming programs. You can now download an Update Checker which will automatically scan your system and let you know which programs have updates available. All the programs listed below can be downloaded from here; I’ve linked to make it easier as well.

AVG The best free anti-virus I’ve used and never had any issues with, a lot smaller and less invasive than something like Norton which you would have to pay for.

CCleaner An excellent little program which helps delete unwanted and unused files that can often clutter up your computer. Also lets you select the programs to load up on start-up and even fiddle with your registry if you’re feeling brave.

Google Desktop A great customisable way of being able to keep track of a lot of things from a neat sidebar on your desktop. You can download loads of apps from it, so can have a radio, keep up to date with your RSS feeds from websites, show calenders and clocks and even keep mini to-do lists.

Firefox / Chrome / Opera There are now three viable alternatives to Internet Explorer, all are less prone to virus attacks and such. I use Firefox as it’s quick, easy and again customisable with loads of free add-ins and themes you can download.

Skype Want a way of calling someone for free? Skype works as a voice and video system, just get a webcam, a friend with the same and go crazy!

Joe’s Goals A very useful website, especially for the new year allowing you to easily track your progress on goals you set yourself.

I’m sure there’s plenty more of these and chances are you’ve heard of a few of these already but hopefully this has given you some ideas to get the most from your computer!

The heart of style

Bah, work and rush and excuses and hand cramp. It’s a conspiracy I tell you, to disrupt my newly energised, three post old posting schedule. For the record I would like to stick to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday habit of posts, not all of them lengthy (depending on aforementioned distractions) but routine is important and something I’m notoriously bad at. The subject of this post was brought about by two unrelated but thematically and creatively similar films that got me thinking about how realism is perceived within cinema. Rushmore and Son of Rambow are both comedies of sorts, they are also both slightly offbeat and, though I’m hesitant to use the word, quirky. But both in a way that doesn’t draw particular attention to it, or do it for attention grabbing reasons, as in both cases the style perfectly fits the story and the world in which they are set. So back to realism, I think there’s a material realism that many films employ, and an emotional realism which is a lot harder to pin down and trickier to achieve. Both these films are excellent cases in point for the latter, neither from a stylistic point of view are set in ‘the real world’, now you could argue no films ever are for arguments sake lets talk about it in terms of recognisable reality. Not that they are set in fantastical lands, but exaggerated versions of the recognisable. Rushmore is set in a fictional private school in America, and Son of Rambow in 1980’s Britain, but it’s the way these worlds are constructed that lends them their own reality. Rushmore is a school seemingly perfectly created for Jason Schwartzman’s Max Fischer,a student who seemingly excels at everything except study. The way Wes Anderson presents Max’s world is in perfect keeping with his character, detailed, strange and unpredictable. The opening montage of Max’s extra-curricular activities (which features him as captain or founder of nearly every club) is hilarious but also tells us a lot about Max’s character. The thematic use of plays is clever as well, from the ham versions of popular movies Max writes and produces at the school to the stage curtains which introduce each act of the film. It presents the film as artificial, and yet emotional reality of the film remains intact and strong. Similarly Rambow features frequent and affectionate references to British styles and fashions of the 80’s, and manages to evoke an era perfectly without recreating it through concrete housing estates and gloomy urban sprawl. As it deals with the lives of two schoolboys who bond whilst trying to make their own version of Rambo First Blood, it has a child’s view of the world as well with occasional flights into dream sequences and over the top violence. But the artificial nature and construction of these films does not make them distant or unfamiliar, instead, through the characters and story they both manage to be immensely touching and moving by remaining true to their inherent humanity. This is where many films with much more focus and emphasis on historical accuracy or realism in terms of visuals or story fall short, because if the characters don’t ring true or act believably then the audience is taken out of the story. I may not believe the worlds of Rushmore and Rambow, but I believe the people. It is the same way that animation can tell amazingly human and compelling stories whilst also presenting foreign and visually arresting new worlds. Pixar managed to make me feel more for a small box of a robot this year than many other fully populated films did, and this comes down to this ‘reality’ not in a visual sense, but in a behavioural way, a way that speaks to all of us in our shared experience. After thinking about this I think that when it comes to reality and believability within films it has to come down to the characters, the films have to earn their moments and there is nothing more wonderful to watch than a film get it just right. When making Jaws Steven Spielberg came up with the films now famous ending, whereby Brody would shoot the oxygen tank in the shark’s mouth causing it to explode. The author of the book however at the time was against it, he felt that the audience would never buy it as it seemed so ridiculous and over the top, Spielberg reasoned however that if he didn’t have the audience by that point in the film he never would. True enough the sequence made it into the film and elated cheers from audiences upon its release. But if that moment hadn’t been earned, if the characters had been lazy and tired it never would have worked. The same can be said of Rushmore and Son of Rambow, if either had included lazy characters or poorly contrived decisions they would have come off as indulgent and unbelievable. As it is they remind two potent reminders of how, regardless of the packaging, the best films simply show us something about us as individually, and together.

My year in film: 2008

I think it’s only natural for our horizons to become broader as we get older, partly down to familiarity I guess and partly down to a greater understanding and willingness to try something new. Musically this has been something I’ve witnessed before and I think 2008 was the year it really happened for me with film. Now I’ve always been a big fan of films and watched as much and as many films as I could, but last year I really felt like I stepped out of what I had always watched and liked to catch up on some history, seek out more esoteric and lesser known works and to get to grips with film more as a medium as well as entertainment. Not that I’ve suddenly come over all avant-garde where I won’t even consider a film unless it’s 3 hours long with subtitles and set in 1936 Paris with extended shots of clouds and trees, but I think the range of what I have seen and enjoyed has greatly improved. A large contributor to this change has been the existence of a certain film-rental company from whom I receive regular films through the post. The ease of adding films to my list and the random nature of what I get sent I have really enjoyed, and the depth of the library has helped me start to plug the great gaps on film knowledge that I have regarding films dated earlier than 1980. In fact my previous aversion to older films, born I presume of a relish of the new and an unfamiliarity with cinema history, along with a stubbornly held belief that such films were old fashioned or boring, is slowly dissipating. One of the advantages however to being averse to older films for so long means that I now have a wealth of significant films to dive into and discover. In the last few months alone I have seen for the first time films such as Apocalypse Now, Duck Soup, The Apartment, and Vertigo which is just the start. However I’m not completely recanting my modernistic leanings, and have of course watched and enjoyed many more up to date films as well, though from a slightly wider spectrum than in the past. So if I talk about the year in film to me it is not just about the films released in 2008 but those I have seen and experienced for the first time in the last 12 months. A year in which I was floored by the manic genius of the Marx Brothers, in which the greatest love story I witnessed was between two machines hundreds of years in the future, where for once the highest grossing film of the year was also one of the best, where I finally understood at least some of why the Coen brothers are so highly regarded and where I still had time to enjoy the low-brow but puppet filled hilarity of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (well OK not puppet filled, per-se but certainly more puppet filled than any other film I saw this year.) Oh and lastly an honourable mention to the worst film I saw this year which was undoubtedly The Happening, as a fan of M Night it is a shame to see how far he has fallen, it really was a painful experience. And whilst it would be unfair not be mention the horrible performances in the film as well I will simply attribute them to a director who rather lost the plot, thus exonerating the lovely Zooey Deschanel from any criticism, as it should be. So there will be no top [insert number here] list from me this year, but I will leave with a list of the films I appreciated, enjoyed and that affected me the most in the last 12 months and the hope that this voyage of discovery I find myself on (one filled with awful cliché’s apparently…) continues throughout 2009 and that I am able to at least share some of what I find in this very space. So I hope you’re having a fantastic new year and I’ll be back real soon. Not a best of list for 2008 but a list of films I liked a lot in no particular order: (catchy title, huh?) The Assassination of Jesse James Wall-E Cloverfield There Will be Blood Brazil Duck Soup Gone Baby Gone The Dark Knight Apocalypse Now The Apartment Rushmore Crimes and Misdemeanours Before Sunrise Lars and the Real Girl Into the Wild