Round 2 of the Street Fighter IV Tournament at GameStop took place Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Gamestop in Huntsville, AL. Two winners were selected and once again, my friend Jerry Moore beat the competition.

The next stop is in Atlanta, GA for Round 3 (Regional Finals) on March 14, 2009.
GameStop
Chamblee Village
1841 Chamblee Tucker Road, Suite 3A
Chamblee, GA 30341
(770) 220-9903
Store #5856

If you don’t have Street Fighter IV yet, you can buy it from one of these merchants:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Newegg | Walmart | GameStop

I recently played Dokapon Kingdom for the PlayStation 2. This game is made by Atlus, a company well-known by RPG fans for games in the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series. You don’t need to have experience in playing RPG’s to enjoy this game though, because it takes a lot of it’s structure from Nintendo’s Mario Party games.

Using a spinner, players move along spaces in a large board game. Along the way, you can steal money or items from one another, fight and defend against attacking monsters, and liberate cities to collect taxes. The player with the highest net worth at the end of the game gets to marry the Princess and becomes the new King of Dokapon.

The graphics are very simple, but I never found them to be a distraction from the very fun gameplay. You start as one of three classes: warrior, mage or thief. There are many more unlockable classes and with experience your character will gain levels and become stronger. You can distribute growth points to become a stronger fighter or cast more effective spells for example.

Overall, I recommend this game to anyone who is interested in RPG’s in general because it’s good, goofy fun. It isn’t an action game, and a lot of the humor may fall flat on more casual audiences. This is a unique game that met and exceeded my expectations. 

(Dokapon Kingdom is available for the PS2 and the Wii).

Buy
Amazon | Newegg | Buy.com | Walmart

Click here to watch the game trailer

I pre-ordered my copy of Street FIghter 4 for Xbox 360 yesterday. At Gamestop, you have the option of purchasing just the game, or a deluxe edition that includes some added goodies. A soundtrack is included as well as a hint book and steel case. Last but not least is a figurine from the game. Series favorite, Ryu, is the figure available for PS3 owners and newcomer Crimson Viper is available for those with the Xbox 360 version. 

This game is also available for the PS3 and all pre-orders include a red headband like Ryu wears in the game. Trust me, I will be looking “extreme” on February 18th when I’m playing this game with my red headband on.

The official release date for Street Fighter IV is February 17, 2009.

Buy
Amazon | Amazon UK | Newegg | Walmart | GameStop

Directed by Troy Miller
Starring: David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, David Koechner

I’ve recently discovered this movie with a friend, but I remember hearing about it for the first time 5 years ago. It was a direct-to-dvd movie that I never took the time to watch. 

Run Ronnie Run is a white trash comedy, but before that deters you, let me say that it’s a clever movie. It pokes fun at several different groups of people but it also has a sense of respect for the material that movies like Joe Dirt don’t have. 

Ronnie Dobbs (Cross) is constantly getting into trouble in his hometown in Georgia. He has a girlfriend/wife with several kids that run around like miniature versions of their father. A producer from Hollywood spots Ronnie’s antics on national television. He then asks Ronnie to star in a reality TV show called Run Ronnie Run!, where every episode closes with him being arrested in a different city. 

The show is an instant hit and this changes his life completely. I’ll leave the rest of the story out of this review. The plot twists are predictable, but the movie really operates more as a spoof, lampooning shows like Cops and Survivor.

It’s a very funny movie and features cameos by Sarah Silverman, Brian Posehn, Patton Oswalt, Andy Richter, and Jack Black. This is one of my favorite performances from Jack Black, because it shows he can be funny in short, concentrated bursts. 

Run Ronnie Run, is definitely a comedy worth your time.

Buy:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Walmart

Rent:
Netflix

Back in March of this year I found a new favorite video game in Dynasty Warriors 6. This game gives you the feeling of being one of dozens of Chinese super warriors. That the game takes all of its history from the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, makes it all the more interesting to dive into. There are many characters to familiarize yourself with and it’s easy to get all of the names and alliances confused.

I’ve played countless hours on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 versions of Dynasty Warriors 6. The game is in the hack-n-slash genre where your character runs around and you basically hit one or two buttons for the majority of your moves. You take out opponents dozens at a time, which reminds me a lot of the fights in The Matrix Reloaded. 

Each battlefield boasts hundreds and even thousands of enemy troops, lieutenants and officers. While defeating an officer will yield control of their base, the goal of each level is different. There may be an enemy boss to take out, an escort-to-safety mission, or thwarting engineers who plot to set fire to your camp or in one instance, flood it.

Though it has been criticized for it’s lack of complexity, for me it recalls the fun and tedious nature of video games from an older generation. You can level up your character thereby boosting his/her stats, find stronger weapons and horses throughout battles or use skill points to unlock new abilities in character-specific skill trees. Even if the basic premise is simple, there are many different and fun combinations of killing (excuse me, knocking out) those endless waves of soldiers.

Two other versions of Dynasty Warriors 6 exist – one for PC and another for PlayStation 2. I highly recommend getting the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions because they are the best representation of this game and far more enjoyable.

Buy Dynasty Warriors 6:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Newegg | Walmart

I’ve always been a big fan of the Friday the 13th films. They kept me awake many nights during my childhood. Every time a Friday the 13th marathon came around, I would stay up and watch as many of them as I could.

While the series has been in a creative lull since the 1990’s, I suppose studio executives think it’s time to relaunch the franchise. Michael Bay, who produced this remake, was also the producer of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake from a few years ago. It was relatively good.

I hope the film is somewhat faithful to the series. Already there are some different ideas going on. Jason Voorhees is not even in the original film as his mother is the one killing teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake. Also, the iconic hockey mask didn’t appear until the third film. Instead of being the lumbering silent and calm killer, he looks more maniacal and aggressive in this remake.

This remake has me excited, even if it takes some artistic license with my favorite slasher.

Check out the trailer below.

Pop Skull
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Starring: Hannah Hughes, Lane Hughes and Maggie Henry

Daniel suffers from many problems. He’s going through a gut-wrenching breakup from his ex-girlfriend. There are unresolved spirits in his house that haunt him continually. His friends seem generally clueless, and he has an addiction to over-the-counter drugs, all of which cause him to hallucinate wildly.

Pop Skull was the movie that I anticipated the most during Sidewalk Film Festival 2008. The premise sounded like a good setup for nightmarish horror – some truly surreal terror. Unfortunately, the director mixed all of these ingredients into a self-described “psychedelic horror” movie. 

What does that mean? Well, there are many, many strobing light and film-loop effects, film juxtaposition, strange noises throughout, shaky camera and sudden jolts, lack of any coherent plot and the feeling that you might just suffer a hangover from viewing Pop Skull. It’s not creepy, profound or unnerving – just dull and repetitive. 

I’ve been a fan of Wingard’s work in short film for several years now, especially The Little One and The Girlfriend. Pop Skull is his second feature-length film and it feels like 10 minutes of material stretched to 86 minutes. This is one of the best ideas with poorest executions in recent memory. Several times in the latter half of the movie I was praying for one of the many fades-to-black to be the one that signified the end of the film. 

That being said, Adam Wingard is a truly gifted director with a unique vision for the horror genre. While I don’t recommend Pop Skull, I do think that he is a talented director. Check out his short films.

Let The Right One In
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Käre Heddebrant, Lina Leandersson and Per Ragnar

This is an interesting film from Sweden. It transforms the concepts of what a vampire is and can be into a seemingly harmless girl named Eli. She and Oskar, her new friend are both only twelve years old. 

When she moves into the apartment beside his, they become each other’s only friends, meeting in the park at night. Oskar is unaware of what Eli is and what she is capable of. 

Every night, Eli’s father goes on the prowl, searching for food for his daughter. These scenes are interspersed with the young Oskar and Eli getting acquainted and eventually falling in love.

Let the Right One In blends the traditional elements of a classic vampire tale with the innocence of friendship and young love. There are several violent scenes and some that will pull you closer to these two brilliant characters.

I highly recommend watching Let The Right One In when it becomes available. It was my favorite film of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival this year.

Buy:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Walmart

Rent:
Netflix

Watch the trailer for Let the Right One In.

Medicine For Melancholy
Writer/Director: Barry Jenkins
Cast: Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins

Micah and Joanne meet via a drunken one-night stand at a party. After the awkward morning after, Micah decides to pursue Joanne, in whom he is now genuinely interested. She has a boyfriend though, and puts her defenses up whenever he makes a move. 

Medicine for Melancholy makes for a good, if not spectacular romantic movie. The setup is believable and the acting is decent, when not good. The movie has a great soundtrack that meshes well with each scene whether somber or lively. There is no clear resolution to their situation in the end, other than a sense of the immediate within each other.

One problem with the film however, is the introduction of inner-city politics. The racial and socioeconomic issues are at best tacked-on to give the movie “an edge”. Clearly though, it weakens the strengths that this movie has as it slides from inspired to mediocre.

I recommend seeing Medicine for Melancholy for the light-hearted and the turmoiled conversations between these two new lovers.

This weekend I’ll be attending the tenth annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. Held in downtown Birmingham, AL, Sidewalk showcases the talents of local and international directors alike. 

With a focus on independent features and documentaries, attendees are treated to great films that you’ll only see in this type of environment. Student films and Sidewalk Scramble shorts fill in the gaps between the larger features. Filmmakers are often present and mingle with the crowds, share ideas and network with each other during one of the Sidewalk Parties.

This will be my fourth trip to Sidewalk since 2004. Each time I leave with a different perspective and new ideas on what constitutes good cinema. I’m excited that this year, some films from other larger festivals are making their way to Sidewalk. I see many of the same people each time I go and there’s a strong sense of a film community among us. 

I’ll be taking notes while I’m there Saturday and Sunday, and report back on Monday with some photos.If you’re interested in going, you can attend the opening film tonight Adventures of Power, or pop in Saturday or Sunday. 

Information on movies, ticket prices and directions to the festival can be found at: http://www.sidewalkfest.com/