Movie Make-out

[Editor's Note: I'm pleased to introduce my new co-editor Jillian Pullara, who will be covering games for this and the next iteration of MovieMakeout.com. And just what do I have planned? Answers, in a week or so. - TL]

I don’t think you need me to reiterate the things that Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert said about how video games aren’t art, nor do I need to validate Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade’s responses both in news post and comics form.

In fact, you don’t need me for anything, but I’m still going to opine… because I can. Because I’m a gamer, and because I’m an art enthusiast. And because I respect Mr. Ebert as an intelligent man who gives insightful reviews of movies, even if I disagree with them.

First, Roger Ebert’s opinion is not wrong. It is ill-informed, and a bit closed-minded, but it is not wrong.

To me, there are two discussions going on here, both of which refer to Mr. Ebert’s ill-informed opinion. One is understanding who gamers are, and what video games are, and the other is defining what exactly art is.

Mr. Ebert has a limited understanding of who we gamers are, and what it is we get out of video games. There are completionists, and those whose idea of enjoying a game is to beat it as quickly as possible. But there are others of us whose enjoyment in a video game comes from experiencing the game itself. Because the goal of “beat the game” is assumed, the goal is no longer “win” but “experience.”

Read more

Q: What do Superman and Spider-Man have in common?

A: The heirs to the comics creators’ estates are suing to regain control of the copyright, which may put the production of any movies into doubt.

Similar to how earlier in 2009, the heirs to the estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sued to regain some part of the millions that were earned from Superman Returns’s worldwide box office receipts, the heirs to Jack Kirby’s estate are seeking to terminate the hold that several companies have on the copyright to Spider-Man, the X-Men, and several other character that were created by Kirby during the Silver Age of comics.

Among the companies that were told that the rights would soon be reverting to the estate are Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures, each of whom have a great interest in making sure that they only have to pay Marvel Comics for the use of the characters in their big screen adventures.

Marvel responded last Friday by filing a lawsuit against the Kirby heirs stating that because Kirby’s work on the characters was under a “for hire” contract, his claim to the characters is invalid, according to many sources (but I’m using Digital Spy.com and Newser.com’s accounts).

Marvel attorney John Turitzin commented on the Kirby heirs actions, stating that the heirs were trying “to rewrite the history of Kirby’s relationship with Marvel” and that “Everything about Kirby’s relationship with Marvel shows that his contributions were works made for hire and that all the copyright interests in them belong to Marvel.”

Marc Toberoff, also the attorney for the Siegel and Shuster heirs, responded:

The truth is that Jack Kirby was his own man. Like so many artists in the fledgling comic book industry of the late 1950s/early 1960s, Kirby worked with Marvel out of his own house as a freelancer with no employment contract, no financial or other security, nor any other indicia of employment.

Kirby’s wonderful creations, which leapt from the page, were not Marvel’s ‘assignments’, but were instead authored by Kirby under his own steam and then published by Marvel. It was not until 1972 that Kirby by contract granted Marvel the copyrights to his works. It is to this grant that the Kirby family’s statutory notices of termination apply.

What some are saying prompted the Kirby heirs to action was a recent change to the copyright laws which allows more avenues towards people regaining the rights to their work, but I have not been successful in seeking out the exact verbiage of the changes. If that’s true, then I really hope that they are able to get some control back.

However, unlike Siegel and Shuster’s situation, Stan Lee was also very much a part of the Silver Age character creation due to his employ of what became known as “the Marvel method” and since Lee has yet to make an official statement about the events, fan perception of how this all goes down could be split.

We’ll be bringing more news to you, as it happens.

If you’re a Wil Wheaton fan like I am, then you probably have already read his blog entry about how you can get a free book download today only.

The book in question is called Shatnerquake by Jeff Burk and Wheaton’s description makes it sound like it’s as much of fun read as Free Enterprise was to watch:

It’s like Lloyd Kaufman and Sam Rami’s mutant offspring wrote a book. It’s very funny, and doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is: The William Shatner locked in surreal and hyperreal mortal combat with every character he’s ever played, from the Priceline guy to Kirk.

I just downloaded the book and am throwing a little tip money into Burk’s jar, and I’ll tell you why: It’s all because of movies like Clerks and Paranormal Activity.

I love that Kevin Smith maxed out his credit cards to make a little black and white movie about my generation and most of that money went to securing the music rights. I love that Oren Peli’s casting notice was so unconventional that no regular agency would have ever considered sending any actors to the auditions.

I love how people like Smith and Peli and now Burk took a chance with their art and how that with interaction via Twitter and the blogosphere, us “normal” non-Hollywood types can have a way to give back and help them succeed. The “cost” of the free download is to write a review on Amazon or GoodReads and you bet I’ll be doing that tonight after I leave the office.

I wish more filmmakers interacted with the public this way.

Do you love movies? Can you string together sentences that actually make sense? Do you want to write about movie news 3–5 times a week for almost no money at all? If you answered yes to all of these, then you should apply to join the Movie Make-out team!

That’s right: Movie Make-out is looking for a third writer to expand its coverage of film news. (Okay, let’s face it; I don’t post much, so really a second writer.) Thick skin, the ability to edit images for posting on teh intarwebz, strong grammar, and the desire to churn out a healthy balance of news and commentary (not just fanboy-like bitching) are a must. A broad knowledge of film — that includes movies made before you were born and outside of the United States — and familiarity with WordPress are a huge plus.

Please submit 2–3 writing samples, ideally of recent movie news, to gordon at multiplexcomic.com. Please include at least one independent and/or foreign film, cite (link to) at least two sources in each article, and provide an example of an image or video you would use to illustrate the post. You will not be writing reviews (at least not at first), so please do not send them as samples.

If you live in L.A. and aren’t doing anything on Saturday, September 5, I’ve found a way for you to indulge your inner Meryl Streep fanatic while going to the theater at the same time.

All you have to do is head over to bang.studio and check out “Streep Tease” an evening of monologues by Meryl Streep as delivered by men.

As noted in Variety, the eight performers—Roy Cruz (also the show’s producer) Taylor Negron, Sam Pancake, Steve Hasley, David Dean Bottrell, Eddie Sanchez, Mike Rose and Trent Walker—are putting on the show because not only do they love the Academy Award-winning actress’s work, they’re also honoring the directors and writers who worked with her.

The best part of all is that even if you don’t live in California, you can still check out the performance that starts at 8:00 pm Pacific via the show’s webcam and chat room.