PIXELS the movie...seriously?

[Emperor Megas]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CYMC5b8KLE

Seriously?

I didn't notice it posted anywhere here, and I know how Internet time works, so am I the last here to see the trailer for this horrible looking film?

[Greg2600]

Was discussed last year. I think the concept is kind of funny in a goofy/quirky way, but the combination of Adam Sandler and Kevin James is totally unbearable.

http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/sh...hlight=Sandler

[Emperor Megas]

Urgh, this looks just god awful. I don't even mean in an intentional way, either.

[retroguy]

Yeah, I saw the trailer this morning and...it looks bad. Despite my personal loathing for Adam Sandler (sorry, but he's just not funny and he's kind of a jerk), I'll probably see it anyway but go into it with the same mindset as when I saw Battleship. I knew going in Battleship would be awful and it was, but it's the kind of awesome badness you just have to see to believe and I often tell people it's one of the greatest bad movies of all time. I expect no less here.

[kai123]

It would be a cool concept if I didn't already see this on Futurama. I know it was mentioned in the other thread but I feel like this will be a terrible version of something I have already seen. I won't watch it just because I haven't enjoyed a Adam Sandler movie in a long time.

[Tanooki]

Yeah, I saw the trailer this morning and...it looks bad. Despite my personal loathing for Adam Sandler (sorry, but he's just not funny and he's kind of a jerk), I'll probably see it anyway but go into it with the same mindset as when I saw Battleship. I knew going in Battleship would be awful and it was, but it's the kind of awesome badness you just have to see to believe and I often tell people it's one of the greatest bad movies of all time. I expect no less here.

I looked upon Battleship as many would have also looked upon any Godzilla movie for the decades. You know it's crap. You know it's completely out there. You know the effects or lack thereof are a driving part of the entertainment value because you go in knowing all these things and derive pleasure from the dude in the rubber monster suit, or how a retired battleship could take down advanced aliens and their tech. It's not keeping expectations low, you go in it expecting to enjoy it for the mindless fun it is and has been panned for.

[Niku-Sama]

Futurama episode with the scary door much?

[FieryReign]

Do people still think Adam Sandler is funny? He wore out his welcome years ago. And hey look, his buddy Kevin James is in it too. Another comedian who gets laughs because he's fat...

I have to admit, I did chuckle when I seen that cgi Pacman plowing through the streets in the trailer.

[celerystalker]

I always want to like something like this, but it so often just sucks that it gets hard to get enthused. I think for me there's just a frustration with people who aren't truly fans of games trying to make money off of their popularity or use them to enhance an image. It's like when a celebrity gets interviewed and name drops Madden or Call of Duty or Galaga to seem like they're in tune with the video game crowd. I don't want to be so pessimistic, but Sandler and James... so, what's Rob Schneider's role? Conversely, I really liked the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim, which left many of its references subtle for fans instead of seeming like one big, "Remember this one? How about this one?" which always reeks of a combination of insecurity and pandering. In Scott Pilgrim, they didn't care if you were aware of games like Clash at Demonhead or Crash 'n the Boys. They were there for fans to enjoy the call out, but the story wasn't built around the viewer getting the joke or reference. This movie just screams, "Hey, remember Pac-Man? We've got Donkey Kong, too! Hey, get this... there are invaders... from space? Get it? Space Invaders? Yeah, we remember the most well-known arcade games too! Stay tuned, because I bet we can work in Ms. Pac-Man too! Who will save us? I bet it would take some kind of masterful chief of sorts..."

[Tanooki]

Do people still think Adam Sandler is funny? He wore out his welcome years ago. And hey look, his buddy Kevin James is in it too. Another comedian who gets laughs because he's fat...

I have to admit, I did chuckle when I seen that cgi Pacman plowing through the streets in the trailer.

Sandler gets credit for one small bit alone very recently. A part 2 to the happy gilmore bob barker beat down. A short done for Comedy Central for their night of comedians.

4min~ long, just enjoy it -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b54pmFhzfDg

[Jorpho]

Clearly someone saw Wreck-It Ralph – or rather, the amount of money Wreck-It Ralph pulled in – and decided they could not leave well enough alone. I thought Wreck-It Ralph seemed like it was based off a concept that would have seemed way cool on the playground twenty-five years ago; much the same can be said here.

Did you see the original short? It's actually pretty cool.

[retroguy]

Well, Wreck It Ralph was a reworking of an earlier idea they had called Reboot Ralph and apparently it had been pitched to Disney several times going back to the eighties before they finally said yes. So there ya go.

[Tanooki]

Hah wow I remember that pixels short from awhile back and it was pretty entertaining. I'm not sure what to think about this movie though. Probably end up like the Wizard, terrible, not so terrible to kids and super fanboys, and ultimately a nice running advertisement for various characters.

[celerystalker]

I really like the Wizard. Aside from its errors and obvious product placement, I really feel like the kid who played Jimmy nailed his part as a traumatized child. It made my wife cry. Christian Slater was decent there as well... it's not some perfect achievement, but there's a nice little story there with some solid performances. Normally I'd just admit that I fall into the nostalgic fanboy camp, but the reactions of other people I've shown it to as adults indicate to me that it's more than that.

I'd never seen that short before. Interesting.

[retroguy]

I agree. The Wizard's no masterpiece, but I see it as a perfectly good story with decent performances and the blatant product placement was likely an unavoidable byproduct given the plot. They could have easily done the same movie with the same story without shilling the Power Glove or the tip line, but Nintendo probably offered the studio a boatload of money to promote those things and in Hollywood more than anywhere else, money talks.

[Tanooki]

Eh the Wizard is fine, it's just not good or great. Ate it up as a kid I did.


I just saw a TV spot run for this movie. The father of Pac-Man is in the clip, they warn him not to approach pac-man, but he says that's my boy I gave birth to him. He's like son, please, calm down trying to reach out -- and Pac-Man bites his forearm/hand and it goes pixely. He runs off upset going 'kill him.'

[Nz17]

The father of Pac-Man is in the clip

And it actually is the real Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man. You can see a photo of him from 2010 here in this Wired article for comparison.

[Tanooki]

Oh I knew it was, I've seen him enough times, younger version though which I thought was an awesome touch.

[Bughuntertf]

The concept seems neat but the execution looks poor and I'm sure that there were a few things I was supposed to laugh at but I didn't find them funny. At the very best we'll get an average, maybe slightly above mediocre movie, at the worst, we'll get something absolutely terrible. At least the actors seem good - and you can't really go wrong with Peter Dinklage - so there's that. Even with Adam Sandler whom I've never heard of until now and not hearing good things about anyways. I'll probably see it anyway but I wouldn't go in expecting excellence.

[Jorpho]

What came to mind watching the trailer was actually the Super Mario Bros. movie, which I finally saw for the first time just a little while ago. (The Nostalgia Critic was doing a live riffing.) I have the impression of a mishmash of creative ideas halfheartedly thrown together and suffering from a desperate lack of proper planning – and probably a general ignorance of the source material on the part of most of the people involved.

Even with Adam Sandler whom I've never heard of until now

Wait, what? Really? How? He is prolific and his movies are generally acknowledged as terrible. Are you young, or do you not follow movies much or something?