Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass

I honestly don't understand why it's so difficult to make a good movie about Roman military exploits in ancient Britain. 2004's King Arthur and 2007's The Last Legion , apart from trying to add some realism and Roman history to the Arthurian legend, were both as dull as ditch water. Centurion , the latest from The Descent , Dog Soldiers and *ahem* Doomsday writer-director Neil Marshall , attempts to change the fortunes of this very specific historical action-adventure sub-genre. Still though, Centurion doesn't look like an overwhelmingly awesome film experience, even if the red band trailer provides a better indication of the film's R-rated uber-violence. Previously known as Ninth Legion, Centurion is a survival thriller that theorises what happened to the real life Roman Ninth Legion - consisting of well over 4000 men - which mysteriously disappeared during a disastrous campaign in northern Britain circa 117 ADE. Inglourious Basterds , 300 and Hunger ...

Right, now I know I said I wasn't going to be blogging today but then I thought this was too cool not to share. It turns out that for the past few months, I've been received a hefty chunk of traffic from the official Expendables movie website. I was pleasantly... or more accurately, ecstatically... surprised to find that my Trailer Tuesday blog post on the film is listed as the first News item on the site. Which, of course, is pretty damn awesome! A huge thank you must go to whoever it is at Lionsgate, or whoever makes the decisions regarding their website content, for linking to my blog. I've outlined the linked item in blue. Anyway, The Expendables opens in North America on 13 August, and in South Africa a month later on 17 September. For those who don't know anything about it, the film is pretty much the ultimate action movie. The Expendables is written by, directed by and stars Sylvester Stallone , who has filled his cast with some of the greatest ass-kicking act...

Five new movies open in South Africa today, just in time for the long weekend. Of course, if you haven't seen it yet, Inception ( 87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes ) should be your #1 viewing priority, but in terms of the new releases, for starters there's Bollywood romantic comedy Aisha about a young woman playing matchmaker in upper-class Delhi; and Mao's Last Dancer ( 80% Fresh ) based on the true story and bestselling autobiography of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin , who struggled against repressive Communist authorities at the same time he was rising to stardom in America. Parents looking for harmless fare for their kids, meanwhile, can take their little ones to goofy James Bond-esque sequel Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore ( 15% Fresh ). James Marsden , Nick Nolte , Bette Midler , Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Applegate and Roger Moore all provide voices for this extensively CGI-ed tale of secret agent dogs, cats and pigeons uniting to defeat a common...

Well, it's that time of year again: the annual SA Blog Awards are here. The competition is generally regarded as a popularity - not quality - contest that gives a nice little pat on the back to the "elite" of the local blogosphere. The same people just keep on winning year after year. But, you know what? To hell with that. I want a piece of the voting action this year. I certainly don't have any illusions of winning, but it would be nice to receive a little acknowledgment and attention. Pleeeeaaaassse... So, of course, the big question: Why should you vote for me? 1) The trump card: The obvious reason - vote because you enjoy my blog posts... because you find them informative, intelligent and entertaining. Perhaps I'm just ignorant of the local "competition", or a little delusional, but Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass is arguably the top South African entertainment blog covering all things pop culture geeky: movies, gaming, role-playing, superheroes...

Two weekends ago, I attended a themed 30th birthday party for a friend - one of those unusual jock-geek hybrid guys, as much into rugby as he is into gaming (electronic, boardgames and tabletop wargaming). Anyway, the theme of the party was World of WarCraft (WOW), referring of course to the most popular, fantasy-themed MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) on earth. I'm a big fan of World of WarCraft - having just got off the "juice" in March this year. And I'm just as big a fan of cosplay (although I don't have the opportunity to do it often). So naturally the party was a chance to combine two passions and really make an effort with my costume. It took me a week to gather all the outfit components as well as make, and paint, the armour. As you can no doubt guess, I am VERY serious about my cosplay... to the point of doing the Superman thing and wearing underwear over my clothes. Anyway, I was initially torn between going as an undead / ...

Don’t get me wrong. Inception is a very good film – well made, well acted, original and thought provoking. It’s just that given the tide of hype that has propelled this sci-fi tinted crime caper into cinemas, I just wasn’t as satisfied as I thought I should be. Although I was never once bored during the film’s two-and-a-half hour running time, I never experienced the sense of exhilaration that comes from deep emotional immersion in an excellent, entertaining film. Instead I felt detached, distracted more by the mind games played by writer-director Christopher (Memento, The Dark Knight) Nolan , than really embracing the onscreen events. Without giving too much away, Inception is something of a cross between The Italian Job and The Matrix . It’s a globe-trotting heist movie set predominantly in the unstable world of dreams, where characters are continually forced to question what is real, and, by extension, if something isn’t real, is it any less emotionally valid. Cobb ( Leonardo DiCa...

Not everyone enjoys the work of director Zack Snyder , but I'm definitely in the fan camp. Dawn of the Dead (2004) , 300 , Watchmen - I've yet to be disappointed, even if the films themselves weren't flawless. And judging by the teaser trailer for Snyder's big 2011 release - his 2010 movie, for the record, is animated owl fantasy Legend of the Guardians - moviegoers are once again in store for a mind-blowing (and eye-popping) treat. Thanks to just 90 seconds of footage, Sucker Punch has instantly leaped to the top spot on my list of 2011's Most Highly Anticipated Films. Surprisingly NOT based on a comic book or any other pre-existing pop culture property, Sucker Punch is an original story written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya. The film has been described as " Alice in Wonderland with machine guns," although that description seems woefully inadequate given the wild mishmash of imagery and genres present in the trailer. Sucker Punch is apparently the ultim...

The point of a well-intentioned movie remake – at least as I understand it – is to take a popular film that is flawed or dated in some way, and make it “relevant” again for contemporary 21st Century audiences. The remake should pay tribute to its source material, while attempting to erase its flaws. Most importantly, despite being inherently unoriginal, the remake should display some kind of inventiveness. In the case of remakes in the fantasy and horror genres, this inventiveness typically appears in the form of nifty computer-generated effects that weren’t possible before, and which, when used correctly, immerse the audience more deeply in the movie experience. It’s such a disappointment then, given such obvious goals, and given such obvious potential for crawling beneath viewers’ skins, that the new A Nightmare on Elm Street is just so damn dull and unimaginative. Apparently a good chunk of the tedium can be attributed to the filmmakers’ stated decision to return A Nightmare on Elm...

Seven new films open in South Africa today. Curiously two of these films have already been released by one of the nation's two main distributors - if the Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor websites are to be believed. So, yes, apparently as of this weekend you can finally watch Lars von Trier 's controversial arthouse horror film, Antichrist ( 48% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes ), as well as "uplifting" Christian cancer drama Letters to God ( 17% Fresh ) , at selected Ster Kinekor cinemas. Also screening at select Ster Kinekor cinemas is filmed concert The Big Four . Gods of metal Metallica , Slayer , Megadeth and Anthrax rock out for three and a half hours on the big screen. Fans will no doubt love it! Completely different, but also showing in limited release, is the Oscar nominated German drama, The White Ribbon ( 85% Fresh ) about a village that falls prey to suspicion and mysterious events just prior to World War I. Meanwhile, screening more widely at local moviehouses fr...

As I’ve mentioned before, Wonder Woman has always been an enigma to me. I feel that I should like her. After all, not only is Wonder Woman the first and greatest of all superheroines, but her origins are steeped in Greek mythology. Still, I never understood the appeal of the character, or her motivations… until last week when I finally watched Wonder Woman , the 2009 animated film from Warner Bros. and DC. Wonder Woman is arguably the best and most enjoyably adult-orientated of DC’s direct-to-DVD animated films – which, for the record, also include Justice League: The New Frontier , Batman: Gotham Knight and Green Lantern: First Flight , among others. Featuring an all-star voice cast, the animated Wonder Woman film is an excellent showcase of the character, and highlights the immense potential of making a live-action film centred on Diana, the Amazonian Princess. As the film reveals, there is enough thematic depth in the original depiction of Wonder Woman, without needing to revamp ...

In all honesty you can apply the above Girlz 'N' Games comic to the release of pretty much any high profile video game. Call of Duty . Gears of War . The latest World of WarCraft expansion. And, of course, yesterday's worldwide release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - arguably the most highly anticipated real-time strategy game (RTS), if not ANY video game, of 2010. Fans have been waiting 12 years for Blizzard Entertainment to finally release the sequel to 1998's StarCraft . StarCraft is of course a seminal title in the RTS genre, for its strategic gameplay AND the fact that it helped turn turned video gaming ( in South Korea especially) into a professional, star-making sport. Given the StarCraft II excitement I've witnessed recently in real life and online, I couldn't help but think that all the giddy, frothy mouthed StarCraft fans are oddly reminiscent of Twihards - especially those who attended special midnight functions so that they could be first ...

Considering that long awaited StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty releases worldwide today, sending gamer guys to Twihard levels of squeeee-ness, I thought it would be fun to pull one of the most popular ever Girlz 'N' Games comics - which is StarCraft themed - from the archives. Enjoy!

It typically takes something like 4 years to make an animated film, which may explain why it seems like it's taking forever for The Goon to hit the big screen. Based on the twisted Dark Horse comic series from writer-artist Eric Powell (who you can follow on Twitter ), the CGI-animated film adaptation of The Goon was announced back in 2008. Since then, bits and pieces of news about the project have surfaced online. So we know that Fight Club's David Fincher is producing the film, while Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti voice The Goon and his diminutive sidekick Frankie. Meanwhile, the project, unlike the vast majority of comic-to-film adaptations, has maintained a surprising amount of creator involvement - with Eric Powell writing the script himself. We've also already had one very brief peek at the film's look , when a few stills and concept poster were released back in 2009. One year later, and the film's first trailer has just screened at the 2010 San Diego Com...

This is just a short blog post to commemorate a milestone: the 5th birthday of this blog. I hope you've enjoyed all the movie, comic and general pop culture geekery - interspersed with the occasional personal reflection, over-share and meltdown - that have made up half a decade's worth of blogging around here? To celebrate, grab a cup of tea or coffee, and have a cupcake on me!

During March last year I blogged gleefully about the announcement of video game sequel American McGee's Alice 2. Now I'm pleased to report that there's been a fat batch of new information and images released relating to Alice 2, including the revelation of the game's official title, Alice: Madness Returns . The video game - for PC, Xbox and PS3 - is the long-awaited sequel to 2000 action-adventure American McGee's Alice . As with the first game, Alice 2 is designed by American McGee (and developed at his Shanghai studio Spicy Horse studio), while Electronic Arts is the game's publisher. The original American McGee's Alice was a macabre take on the b eloved characters created by Lewis Carroll , pushing the Alice mythos into nightmarish territory that Tim Burton didn't even get close to touching in his recent film . American McGee's Alice ran with the premise that sweet, innocent Alice survives a fire that kills her entire family. Shattered by gu...

Between South Africa's two big cinema chains, Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor , local moviegoers have a grand total of ten new films to choose from this weekend. Still though, despite such a glut of new releases, I can only single out one that caught my attention - making it my movie pick of the week. Before we get to that though, here's a rundown of all the other movies debuting on the big screen this week. Goal! 3: Taking on the World : I honestly didn't even know there was a Goal! 1 and 2. Anyway, this sports drama continues the tale of Mexican footballer Santiago Munez ( Kuno Becker ) as he strives for glory. This time he has to overcome personal demons and play against his best friends at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Mighty Macs : Get your "inspiring real life sports drama" fix with this tale of a wannabe female basketball star who accepts a coaching job at Pennsylvania's Immaculata University in the early 1970s. Watchmen and Sin City's Carla Gugino st...

Just a fun nostalgia-driven blog post for today. Basically after fondly browsing this webpage , I got to thinking about my various pop culture firsts back in the 1980s. What various bits of plastic, magnetic tape, vinyl, celluloid etc. took your pop culture virginity back in the day? The following is my personal list. If you run a similarly themed blog to mine (or even not) maybe you feel like doing the same thing on your little portion of the web? And for non-bloggers, please trawl your memory banks, give it some thought and share your "firsts" in the comments section below this post. First movie: I have mentioned this on my blog before , but the first film I ever saw at the cinema was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom . It was very early 1985, I was 3 and my mother was heavily pregnant with my sister. Unholy terror that I was, I ran around the cinema until the movie started. From the moment that Kate Capshaw started warbling Anything Goes though, I was rigid in my seat; ...