This. This is all I want out of video games. The feeling of happiness with this trailer is overwhelming.
Clever girl.
Lego Jurassic World releases this June.
This. This is all I want out of video games. The feeling of happiness with this trailer is overwhelming.
Clever girl.
Lego Jurassic World releases this June.
Here are the quick hits today in the world of movies, TV, games, cd rates, ammunition sales, whatever catches our fancy.
Annie
Here is the trailer for Annie starring Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz and Rose Byrne. Be warned: once you watch it, you can’t unwatch it. Personally I am waiting on the remake of Pootie Tang with Robert Downey, Jr., Jonah Hill and Zachary Quinto.
Captain America: The Winter Solider
Watch a four-minute preview of the new Marvel movie over on Fandango.
Game of Thrones
There is a rap album based on Game of Thrones. Not just that, but it is funded by HBO. I can’t make this shit up. It features tracks by Big Boi, Common and others. The title? Catch The Throne.
You can listen to Big Boi’s track “Mother of Dragons” here.
LEGO The Hobbit
The newest trailer for LEGO The Hobbit is in the style of Ocean’s 11 and you will be a better person for watching it.
Mario Kart 8
Nintendo will be releasing a limited edition of the Wii U game with a blue Koopa shell statue. It will look perfect next to my other shelves of limited edition game items I get for some reason.
YouTube’s Antonio Toscano has made a habit of making LEGO trailers out of many films including Iron Man 3, Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness. Now he is back with his take on the first trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Focus your eye holes and see if you can notice all of the special appearances by other LEGO characters.
Besides being the bane of bare feet everywhere, LEGO’s have been a part of our upbringing for over 60 years. Few companies can claim that the height of their popularity began in their second half-century, but with each new franchise Lego associates itself with, they close the cultural and age divide of their fans. This has become apparent in the fact that I was at a video game store buying Lego Batman 2 next to a mother buying it for her child or how I try to justify paying $150 for a Lego Hobbit set being (almost) in my mid-30’s.
Now the inevitable has happened; a full-length movie based on the blocks themselves. The reigns were given to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who have made a niche for themselves in two very different franchises (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs & 21 Jump Street). They have expertly combined these two vastly different types of comedy and created a very special thing: a movie that is as good to watch as an adult as it is a kid.
The LEGO Movie follows everyman, Emmet (Chris Pratt), a construction worker who gets up, goes to work, buys overpriced coffee, watches the same show as everyone else and basically conforms to the life society has told him to live. The social commentary in the first ten minutes is palpable even through the laughter. It is just the beginning of self-awareness you will watch for 100 minutes.
After work one day Emmet notices a woman snooping around the construction site and as he follows her he accidentally happens upon the Piece of Resistance. It becomes fused to Emmet and he is taken to be interrogated by Bad Cop (Liam Neeson). Soon, the woman, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), comes to his rescue and takes Emmet to see Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) who pronounces Emmet to be the “special”. The one to take the Piece of Resistance and stop Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from unleashing the mysterious “Kragle” destroying the LEGO world as they know it.
Only problem being that Emmet is not a master builder, meaning his ideas appear to be pretty much useless.
Emmet, Wyldstyle and Vitruvius make their way to a secret meeting of master builders including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Shaquille O’Neal, Michelangelo (the artist), Michelangelo (the Ninja Turtle), Gandalf and Dumbledore to name a few.
Side note: Morgan Freeman’s dialogue with Gandalf and Dumbledore is worth the price of admission alone.
Emmet is scorned for not being the “special” and has to prove to everyone that if they all work together, they can defeat Lord Business. Their journey is a frantic one as they are continually being hunted by Bad Cop over various LEGO sets that give a good history lesson to the little plastic blocks. All the while Emmet pines for the affection of Wyldstyle who is currently dating Batman (Will Arnett), who even writes a song for his girlfriend about being an orphan and dark.
Speaking of Batman’s love song; The LEGO Movie’s soundtrack is expertly handled by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, who has also done the music to multiple Wes Anderson films as well as Nickelodeon’s Rugrats. The film’s theme song “Everything is Awesome” (written by Shawn Patterson) plays a prominent role throughout. Tegan and Sara teamed up with The Lonely Island (yes, from Jizz in my Pants) to sing what is perhaps the greatest song ever performed in human history. I oversell, but seriously, try and have a bad day listening to this.
The voice casting is as close to perfect as you can get. You already know that Morgan Freeman will be awesome because…Morgan Freeman. We also get the likes of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in a nice bit of back and forth as Superman and Green Lantern, giving fans of 21 Jump Street some fun fan service, Alison Brie, Charlie Day (who goes full-on Sunny in one scene), Will Forte and Nick Offerman. We even get Anthony Daniels and “Sweet” Billy Dee Williams as C-3PO and Lando for God’s sake!
Second side note: Liam Neeson’s Good Cop voice will haunt my dreams forever.
Even as The LEGO movie winds down with an epic battle it does something unexpected; it hits you right in the feels. I will not give anything away, but it is sufficient to say, when it is revealed what is in the abyss and the movie reaches its climax, prepare for a gut punch that only an adult can feel. I almost had a Toy Story 3 moment…almost (don’t make me go there again).
I was expecting good things out of The LEGO Movie and even those expectations were far exceeded. It is increasingly funny the farther along the story goes and will make you feel what it was like to be a kid again, then brings you back to remind you that you are an adult, but it is still never too late to be special.
Everything is awesome, indeed (at least for 100 minutes).
There is a joke here about The LEGO Movie’s success and a brick house but I will avoid that altogether. Simply put, The LEGO Movie opened HUGE.
Projections had it bringing in $45-50 million and that was blown away with $69.1 million. This is another notch in the belt of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who have already found success with the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs franchise as well as 21 Jump Street and its soon to be released sequel.
George Clooney and Matt Damon had to settle for saving the world’s art in second place. The Monuments Men grossed $22.7 million for a decent placing against its competition. The rest of the top ten fell into place like it has looked for the past month except for new release Vampire Academy which opened anemic with $4.1 million.
1. The LEGO Movie- $69.1 million/ $69.1 million
2. The Monuments Men- $22.7/ $22.7
3. Ride Along- $9.4/ $105.1
4. Frozen- $6.9/ $368.6
5. That Awkward Moment- $5.4/ $16.8
6. Lone Survivor- $5.3/ $112.5
7. Vampire Academy- $4.1/ $4.1
8. The Nut Job- $3.8/ $55.0
9. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit- $3.6/ $44.4
10. Labor Day- $3.2/ $10.1
More Lego goodness is always a good thing. Lego The Hobbit is making its way to consoles next year and will be based on the first two films in the trilogy. Why? Hell if I know. I will still buy it because I loved Lego Lord of the Rings.
Joel, Ellie, clickers, tension, gunshots to the face, bow and arrows, Rick, Michonne, Daryl.
Wait…what?
And the greatest trophy ever created for Playstation.
DC and Marvel go head to head this week with the release of Batman: Arkham Origins and Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Deus Ex returns in a director’s cut and the music video game genre is not completely dead with Rocksmith 2014.
Next week is when it gets big with Assassin’s Creed IV, Battlefield 4 and WWE 2K14. The holiday games have begun.
October 22nd
[amazon_link id=”B00B98HBTA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Lego Marvel Super Heroes[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, Wii U, Vita, DS, 3DS)
[amazon_link id=”B00BORFD9Q” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut[/amazon_link] (Wii U)
[amazon_link id=”B00DWXV074″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[/amazon_link] (360, Wii, 3DS)
[amazon_link id=”B008MO6AQO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst[/amazon_link] (360, PS3)
[amazon_link id=”B00D6PTMB4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Rocksmith 2014 Edition[/amazon_link] (360, PS3)
October 25th
[amazon_link id=”B00C7103DO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Batman: Arkham Origins[/amazon_link] (360, PS3, Wii U)
[amazon_link id=”B00C7103C0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate[/amazon_link] (3DS, Vita)
How fast can a game go from “I will pick it up sometime” to “gimme gimme gimme”? For this fat nerd it is as easy as making Stan Lee playable in glorious Lego form. He even transforms into The Hulk!
Yes, I do realize how I sound like an annoying child but I don’t really care. It is Stan Lee. As a Lego. And you can play him.
[amazon_link id=”B00B98HF1O” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Lego Marvel Super Heroes[/amazon_link] releases for the 360, PS3, Wii, Xbox One, Wii U, PS4, PC, 3DS, Vita, DS, Jaguar, Virtual Boy, Neo Geo, Game Gear and Colecovision this fall.
http://youtu.be/jsT7FhnNVwQ
Here is the shiny box art for the upcoming LEGO Marvel Superheroes. Nothing to really surprise you with except the flat-chested Black Widow, but that is just the boobie-loving part of me venting. Of course, it probably speaks volumes about me that I am even thinking about boobs on a LEGO figure.
[amazon_link id=”B00B98HBTA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]LEGO Marvel Superheroes[/amazon_link] releases this fall on every system imaginable. They may even have a 3DO version coming.