loonyblog.

My Simpsons Sixth Season DVD set arrived the other day, complete with that hideous new packaging. Incredibly, it’s even worse than it appears in photos. While the outside is just crappy plastic, the insides are a total mess, and as soon as you open it there’s all kinds of crap that falls out all over the place. This is simply a bad, bad, idea for a DVD box. Within minutes of opening it, I’d already ordered my replacement. It’s just that horrible.

Or do all these screens from Black show lots of shooting, but no targets? I keep waiting to see what you’re supposed to be shooting in the game, but no luck so far. If you look closely in some of the screens, you can see people, but who knows if those are targets or friendlies?

Last night I finished the game I’ve been playing (Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich — fun stuff!), and so now I find myself wondering what to play next. This happens to me every time I finish a game…I look over my stacks of unplayed games and eventually decide on what to play next. For a change however, I decided to throw together a list of everything that’s waiting for me. Read on for the whole thing.

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Good lord, it looks like the phenomenon of everything in existence being released on DVD has spread to Sony’s UMD video format…take a look at Sony/Columbia-Tristar Pictures’ upcoming UMD release list (via The Digital Bits):

9/13 - 13 Going on 30

9/20 - Mr. Deeds, Big Daddy

9/27 - Lords of Dogtown, Creature Comforts: The Complete First Season

10/18 - The Mask of Zorro

10/25 - Bewitched (2005), Heavy Metal

11/1 - The Fifth Element, Good Times: The Complete First Season, Sanford and Son: The First Season

Street Date TBA - Stripes

Okay, okay. The Fifth Element, Mask of Zorrow, Heavy Metal…that’s expected, and woo! Stripes!. But freaking Good Times? I mean, let’s be totally honest here…surely owners of PSPs have better things to watch than Good Times. And I don’t know how many people were really holding out for Redd Foxx to hit UMD. At the very least, you would expect such classics as Charles in Charge or What’s Happening!! to come out first.

If I’m cautiously optimistic at the upcoming V for Vendetta movie, and mostly enthusiastic at what I’ve heard about the Superman movie, I have absolutely no expectations for the upcoming adaptation of DOOM. It’s not like I have any reason to think that a game-to-film adaptation could be even remotely watchable. When the best film you can point to in a genre is Mortal Kombat, well…you know. Since most of the craptacular game-related films over the last few years have been the product of one Uwe Boll (early word is that BloodRayne is another classic to add to his resume), it’s not like this has been a particularly encouraging genre anyway.

And so it is with zero expectations that I look towards the DOOM movie. I’ve watched the full trailer that’s been released (available now at a FileShack near you), and it doesn’t look terrible. Seriously. I’m not going to say it looks like a classic, because let’s face it, it looks pretty stupid. But stupid’s not a bad thing. Idiotic, that’s a bad thing. Brainless violence can be fun (provided the words “Paul”, “Anderson”, “Renny” or “Harlin” are nowhere to be found in the credits). The first person sequences look goofy and pointless, but did you see the monsters? Those are pretty cool, and lifted largely out of DOOM 3. I’m not crazy about ditching the whole hell thing (childish though it may have been, it’s what the games are about), and no self respecting gamer would ever call the BFG a “bio-force gun”, but those are just fanboy quibbles.

So who knows. Maybe it won’t suck. I’m not going to get my hopes up, because, well…I never really had any hopes to get up before. It’s not like I was sitting around one day and said to myself, “DOOM…now there’s a story that needs to be adapted for the big screen.” Or maybe I did, before realizing that there was no story until DOOM 3 (and even that one was pretty light on it).

In a Single Bound is the name of a documentary about (what else?) the history of Superman. It features an impressive list of interviewees, including John Byrne, George Perez and Alex Ross, and can be viewed on-line for $1.50 or ordered as a DVD for $9.95. I made it about halfway through the trailer before ordering the DVD. It seems competently put together, and I’m all for supporting projects like this one. Go check it out, and stay tuned for a review once I’ve had a chance to watch it.

My favorite television show has stepped into the 21st century…there’s now an official Ebert & Roper podcast. It’s actually the entire show, which is pretty cool, although I still prefer to watch it, rather than listen to it. Personally I’d prefer extra stuff that didn’t make the show (if that actually exists — I’m guessing it doesn’t), but if you don’t have a TiVo and want to hear these two bicker, check it out.

The Aeon Flux trailer is out. Go watch it. Seen it? Good. Maybe you can tell me what the hell was going on. I mean, okay, the animated version was very confusing and non-linear and all that, and clearly that was the intent with this trailer. But jeeez…talk about annoying. And what the hell is Frances McDormand doing in there?

I fail to see how a movie that consists largely of Charlize Theron in skin tight outfits can be completely awful, but I’m starting to figure it out. I guess if 90 minutes of Kate Beckinsale in skin-tight leather can totally suck, 90 minutes of Charlize Theron can too.

Looks like V for Vendetta isn’t going to make Guy Fawkes Day this year…according to Dark Horizons, it’s been bumped to March 17th, 2006. Oh well. if it makes for a better movie, I’m all for delays.

The Simpsons season 6 DVD set comes out this week, and like many people, I’m planning on getting it. I just have one issue with it — the absolutely hideous box art (pictured on the right). It’s not just weird looking, but it totally doesn’t fit with the previous seasons that have been released. In an unexpected feat of kindness, FOX is allowing people to get a different box by mail, this time matching the previous sets. The cost is $2.95 for shipping, and that’s it. I’ll be taking advantage of this for sure.

Of course, the question arises — what happens when season 7 comes out on DVD? My guess is that FOX is using this as a testbed…if enough people opt for the alternate art, they’ll switch back. If not…then they’ll stick with what they’ve got.

But hey, it could be worse. It could be the dorky lunch box style Paramount used for the Star Trek DVD sets.