Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman

Santiago is a young DJ in the wrong place at the wrong time when he overhears crime boss Che Longana put a $300 million peso hit on the Machine Gun Woman (Fernanda Urrejola), a spurned ex-girlfriend-assassin of the mob kingpen.  To save his skin he swears he knows the girl and can bring her in, but how?  An excellent mix of story and video game tracks his progress as he finds and wins over the Machine Gun Woman.

This film lacks the raw physical action of Ernesto Diaz Espinosa's previous works; during the Q&A the director said that Fernanda had only two days of training (one for hand-to-hand combat, one for guns) prior to shooting, so a lot more of the action is carried by swagger and gunfire than physical activity.  That said, I still appreciate Espinosa's flavor as he puts a video game spin on his latest creation.

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman
2012, 75 minutes, directed by Ernesto Diaz Espinosa

The Game

Michael Douglas stars as wealthy financier Nicholas Van Orton, given the ultimate birthday gift: a real-life mystery game starring him.  How far does the game go, or is it a game at all?

I kept trying to predict the ending, and kept getting it wrong.  But still I'm not sure I'm happy with how it turned out.

The Game
1997, 129 minutes, directed by David Fincher

Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope

I don't usually see documentaries, especially at Fantastic Fest, but as I've probably mentioned before I like Morgan Spurlock.  As it turns out, though, there's very little Morgan Spurlock in this film, as he really steps back and lets the small set of real-life characters he's chosen to follow tell their own stories of Comic Con.

2011, 88 minutes, directed by Morgan Spurlock

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I'm astounded that somewhere out there is a studio executive willing to fund a movie this awesome.  Never taking itself seriously, the film dives into the quest to overcome our pasts and live for the moment by literally making it a quest, with coin and skillups and bonus lives.  I really liked this film.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
2010, 112 minutes, directed by Edgar Wright

I'd hoped to see this in the theater last year.  I even talked my wife into going with me - a rare occurrence given her dislike of cinema.  Then she came up with the great excuse of needing emergency back surgery. =P  (She's recovering fine, thanks.)  So Netflix it is.  This would have been even better in a theater full of fans laughing along.

TRON: Legacy

Is it everything I imagined?  No, of course not.  This is someone else's vision of the Tron universe, not mine.  That's to be expected.  What I'm not happy about is the conclusion.  I wanted something definitive, making this the best possible two films in the series.  If it takes 20 years to make another sequel, so be it.  Instead Disney left open the possibility for a quick sequel, something in innately detest.

TRON: Legacy
2010, 127 minutes, directed by Joseph Kosinski

Now I see why Olivia Wilde left House.  Trivia fact: I've named my priest Tron in any computer RPG for the last 20 years; it was also the name of my first prominent GURPS character in high school.

Gamer

I'm not sure I approve of all the casting choices, but as a violent action film it hits all its marks.

Gamer
2009, 95 minutes, directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Second Skin

Walking in, I wasn't really sure if this was to be a complement or detriment to one of my chosen hobbies. I was very, very disappointed. The documentary focuses on a few small aspects of online gaming - the potential for addiction and effects on health and relationships. They make a cursory effort to show the other side, but even then they use a series of stereotypical "gamer" couples to make a weak counter point, before going back to the theme they want to ram at their audience: game companies are drug dealers, and those on the games are geeks, unable to hold a job, maintain a relationship, or take care of their health. Only the scant few minutes devoted to the benefits for the severely disabled game the games any credit. Where's the couple who lead normal lives, have great jobs, travel, attend movie festivals, built themselves a house, and, oh yeah, play World of Warcraft? The only person that comes close in the film is being shown as "breaking the habit" to get on with his life.

I know there are people who are prone to addiction, but that's true for many, many hobbies, most of which never receive such continuous bad press. The worst part to me is that, while I know there is a darker side, I also know that these games can be played in a healthy, normal manner, just like any other hobby. The general public seeing this film will only have the stereotypes imprinted on them again. For this, I recommend no one ever watch this again.

Second Skin
2008, 95 minutes, directed by Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza