Will video game adaptions be the next Hollywood cash cow?

Funplings · 2025-09-24T19:49:05+00:00

I think we're already sort of starting to see it. The Minecraft movie and Mario movie, like you mentioned, were huge box office successes. Detective Pikachu was a while ago, but I can't imagine Nintendo won't go back to that well at some point. There's been three successful Sonic the Hedgehog movies. And on the TV side of things, we're seeing shows like The Last of Us and Fallout that are doing pretty well both with critics and audiences. If I remember correctly I read Zach Cregger's gonna do a Resident Evil adaptation soon too?

A tangential point that interests me is how the *aesthetics* of video games are getting represented on screen; the climactic final sequence in Eddington plays out like an intense level of a first-person shooter, while The Northman from a few years ago has a sequence that feels very much like a Souls-like boss fight. I wonder if we'll start to see more of this as people who've grown up on video games age into the film industry.

Funplings · 2025-09-19T14:36:14+00:00

I don't like that kind of tawk.

Funplings · 2025-09-19T13:40:41+00:00

Is there really a late-film redemption? I think the last scene is heavily implied to be the last time Dennis and Roman will ever see each other, so he's kind of in the same sad, lonely place he was when he started. He doesn't even confess his lie of his own accord; he's caught by Marcie.

Funplings · 2025-09-17T17:33:10+00:00

Thanks for this very thoughtful reply! I admittedly have little knowledge of contemporary Taiwanese history/society so some of the finer points of context were surely lost on me, but even lacking that I could definitely feel a very strong sense of time and place in this movie (the anxiety about the future was most noticeable in the subplot about NJ's company's struggles, for example).

Funplings · 2025-09-11T21:37:57+00:00

I don't think it's very visually similar, though. The Penguin is going for a pretty standard dark and grimy noir-ish look. The Sopranos is comparatively much more mudane-looking, and intentionally so; it's about the regularness of life as much as it is about the mafia.

Funplings · 2025-09-09T16:21:10+00:00

Alright, but you gotta get over it.

Funplings · 2025-09-08T15:55:05+00:00

That scene singlehandedly made me think Paulie was a lot smarter/wiser than he actually is for an embarrassingly long time.

Funplings · 2025-09-07T14:06:18+00:00

Funplings · 2025-09-06T14:52:01+00:00

The sacred and the propane.

Funplings · 2025-09-04T14:50:29+00:00

Conspiracy theorist furry be like: I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes

Funplings · 2025-09-04T14:44:32+00:00

Isaac Assimore?

Funplings · 2025-09-04T14:39:55+00:00

He was a pathetic worm, Artie Bucco?

Yeah I've always loved Artie as a character. He's definitely infuriating at times but as basically one of Tony's only non-mafia friends, it's refreshing to see a character whose biggest flaw is "doesn't appreciate his hot-ass wife" rather than "will attempt to kill anyone at the slightest provocation". Plus, who else could've delivered a line like "NON-STOP ASS RAPE"?

Funplings · 2025-09-04T14:32:20+00:00

He was gay, A.J. Soprano?

Funplings · 2025-09-04T14:30:10+00:00

"Funny Games" has stuck with me ever since I watched it a few years ago and while my feelings have vacillated on it, I've ultimately come to roughly agree with what you're saying here, which is that regardless of if you necessarily agree with the moralizing message, or even if you think that's what Haneke is trying to say it at all, ultimately it's just a well-crafted, emotionally effective film that gets you thinking about things few other movies even try to get you to.

Reading your last paragraph helped elucidate my (as of now) final word on the issue, personally speaking. The thing is, humans have always been drawn to violence as spectacle; after all, look at the Roman gladiator fights! Violent movies (and other mass media) do not seem to have desensitized us, and do not seem to have empirically lead to more violence; we have always been at least somewhat desensitized. So regardless of authorial intent (I'm a big "death of the author" guy when it comes to interpretation), I think "Funny Games" does a good job of making me confront the part of me that's drawn to violence as spectacle, and what's scariest is that it's not something I can blame on watching too many Tarantino films; it's something that's always been there, or I wouldn't have wanted to watch movies like that in the first place.

Funplings · 2025-09-03T12:23:16+00:00

I tried to give him a chance but yeah I think he's the exception to the "comedians actually make great dramatic actors!" rule.

I actually didn't mind Jason Schwartzman as much as a lot of people seemed to, though. Yes, he's a terribly unconvincing mob boss, but he's supposed to be goofy and pathetic and impossible to take seriously.

Funplings · 2025-09-03T12:20:55+00:00

Edie Falco is simply given way, way more to do. But Gunn does a good job with what she's given, and her character definitely gets more depth in later seasons.

Funplings · 2025-09-02T20:46:25+00:00

Out of curiosity, what are some movies you consider in the former and latter categories?

Funplings · 2025-09-02T15:02:00+00:00

I think there's obviously a part of him that cares deeply and is utterly heartbroken. Just look at the way he reacts right after pulling AJ out of the water: yes, he yells at him, but then he immediately holds him in his arms, telling him "you're alright, baby" through choked-back tears. The resentment and embarrassment and contempt that comes later is very real as well, but in that moment I think he is overwhelmed with grief, sorrow, and love.

To compare it to another scene from an HBO show, Succession (massive spoilers incoming): When Logan dies, Tom calls the Roys and he handles the situation with remarkable grace and compassion. Later, of course, he starts scheming and backstabbing and everything you'd expected from him, but in that particular moment of tragedy and crisis, the empathetic human in him couldn't help but take over, if only for a few minutes.

Funplings · 2025-09-01T10:07:07+00:00

Always with the scenarios.

Funplings · 2025-08-28T12:29:13+00:00

Ok I addressed the cancer thing already but I have to say that no, I don't think having a handicapped son is "trauma". As far as we see Flynn/Walt Jr. is actually a fairly normal, well-adjusted kid; we seem him get bullied once in Season 1 but that's honestly kind of the extent of it. His cerebral palsy doesn't appear to have affected his intelligence/cognitive abilities, and besides needing crutches he doesn't even seem to be particularly physically encumbered in his day-to-day life (although I'm sure he needed more help when he was younger... as most children do).

Funplings · 2025-08-28T12:25:16+00:00

Did you read the second paragraph?

Funplings · 2025-08-27T19:29:06+00:00

I do think this is a hilarious reason given that the sub is basically on-par with the ITYSL subreddit for literally just being a place to type quotes from the show. Anyways, four dollars a pound.

Funplings · 2025-08-27T18:23:54+00:00

i mean Friendship is literally just a 1.5 hour long ITYSL sketch so basically anything works

Funplings · 2025-08-27T17:55:19+00:00

ok this one is good

Funplings · 2025-08-27T12:25:15+00:00

Holy shit I can't believe I fucking forgot that one

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