The annual “Famicase” exhibition of imaginary Famicom (NES) cartridges is on right now at Meteor in Nakano, and you can browse through all of the works here. Pictured top, the latest contribution from my buddy Cory Schmitz, who has been participating for 3 years running now.
The latest episode of Toco Toco TV takes a look at media artist Etsuko Ichihara — whose work includes the mix of robotics and tradition pictured in this post. And it looks like the next episode is already heading back to the gamespace, covering game creator Kazutoshi Iida.
There’s a lot of fun to be had with screwball comedies of the 80s like this one. I think it’s aged fairly well, and I had a pretty good time watching it again. It’s also fun to see young Tom Hanks in action, and to revisit good ol’ Shelley Long and Alexander Godunov. I miss those days when Spielberg produced stuff like this.
Stand by Me is just as good now as it ever was. It’s aged incredibly well, and watching it again last night, I was so there again, following these boys on their little adventure, with that classic soundtrack perfectly accompanying the proceedings. Also, maybe it’s just because I watched it so many times back in the day, but there were just so many lines that I recognized again — like the one on the poster, yes, but so many more. Definitely one of the highlights from 1986.
To my credit, I remember not really liking this movie even back then. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun watching it now, but oh my this is a terrible movie. In fact, it feels like a parody of an 80s action movie, except that it really is an 80s action movie. Seriously, if they were were to make a spoof now, they could just take the same script and shoot it the same way, scene for scene. Stallone, kudos, you really had no shame, did you.
Sure, I don’t really watch TV shows in real time anymore, but with all the buzz surrounding it, I was curious to check out the first episode of American Gods. I’ve never read the Neil Gaiman book its based on, so don’t know much about the story other than the descriptions I’ve read, which is that modern gods roam the Earth. How’s the TV show? Well, it’s still too early to tell where the story is going, but there were some pretty neat moments — that sex scene was pretty eye opening. The production values seem to be through the roof, so it’s certainly nice to look at. I’m definitely interested in watching more.
When Double Fine Productions did its previous Amnesia Fortnight in 2014, and documented it through a web series, it was one of my favorite “TV” shows of that year. They’re at it again, and although the game jam itself ended a few days ago, all the episodes of the documentary series aren’t out yet (they’ve covered the first 5 days so far), but I’m yet again really enjoyed following all the teams as they try and produce a great game prototype in less than two weeks. You’ll find all the episodes here.
I loved this series about game culture so much, I binged all 9 episodes — which you can watch here (although I recommend downloading the Red Bull TV app on Apple TV and watching them that way, which is what I did) — in one night. Each episode explores a different aspect of today’s gaming culture, from the experimental to the weird to the retro to the unexpected. Can’t recommend this enough. (And I loved seeing my friends Colin and Sarah Northway in the VR episode).
This past Sunday’s cartoon session kicked off yet again with another fantastic Samurai Jack episode — I really don’t know what I’m going to do when the season is over (and there are only 3 episodes left). After watching another episode of the Tangled series, I capped off the first season of Mickey Mouse shorts with “Third Wheel” and “The Adorable Couple” (pictured). Next week I’ll kick off the second season of shorts, but it also makes me sad to think that there are only 2 seasons to watch. These shorts are just so great. I then finished my morning viewing with another classic Looney Tunes short, this time “Buccaneer Bunny,” which so-stars Yosemite Sam as a pirate. Fun stuff.
Oh the joys of re-watching classic John Hughes movies (he didn’t direct this one, but still wrote and produced it). It’s got the classic soundtrack, the great characters, and everything else I remember liking about it. Watching this also got me thinking how it’s a shame that there is no creator these days making cool teen movies like Hughes did in the 80s — at least, not that I’m aware of.