Monthly Archives: April 2010

Shrek Forever After – Q&A with Donna Woo

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By Gareth Von Kallenbach and Genevieve Mc Bride

Skewed & Reviewed thanks Donna Woo, Associate Producer at Activision Publishing, Inc.’s for answering a few questions about Shrek Forever After, due out May 18 on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and Nintendo DS.

What is the background and setting for the game and how closely does it follow the events of the film?

Matching the movie, the Shrek Forever After video game story starts with Shrek signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker, Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumpelstiltskin is king, and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now it’s up to Shrek (with the help of Fiona, Donkey, and Puss In Boots) to undo all he’s done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his one True Love. The friends must work cooperatively to solve challenging puzzles and battle new enemies while traveling between Shrek’s normal world and his alternate reality with the ultimate goal of conquering the crafty Rumpelstiltskin.

What are some of the locales and missions gamers will see in the game?

Players will have a chance to play and relive the adventures they will see in the upcoming film and past Shrek films, as well as brand new adventures created specifically for the game. Players will venture through familiar areas such as the Swamp and Dragon’s Keep, environments from the upcoming film such as Ogre Camp and Rumpelstiltskin’s Palace, as well as all-new settings created just for the game.

What have been some of the biggest challenges and rewards in crafting the game?

The biggest challenge is recreating what is loved about the film and capturing the characters’ personalities in a game with compelling gameplay. The most rewarding thing has been seeing the game come together after everyone’s hard work. Another plus has been watching the kids have fun while they play together to solve puzzles and defeat enemies with their friends!

What sort of enemies and heroes will players face and will there be boss battles?

While traveling the lands of Far Far Away, players will encounter a wide variety of enemies from witches, Merry Men, evil trees, pirates, angry villagers, knights and exploding pumpkins. Players will also encounter boss battles, where they will face off with some powerful and well-known characters from the Shrek universe, eventually confronting Rumpelstiltskin himself.

How do non-playing characters figure in the game?

The game will have both friendly and enemy NPCs. The friendly NPCs in the game offer all kinds of help. The Three Little Pigs give the player tutorials. Upgrades and more advanced skills can be purchased from Cookie the ogre in her store in Ogre Camp. The Three Blind Mice offer tips and hints for the puzzles… for a small fee! Players may also be surprised by seeing other loved Fairy Tale Creatures from the Shrek world that show up throughout the game to give side missions.

Will any of the films stars be providing voices in the game?

We are ecstatic to have Walt Dohrn reprise his movie role as Rumpelstiltskin in the game. No other actor would be able to capture the unique and eccentric personality of what could possibly be the greatest Shrek villian. Another feature film star you’ll hear in the game is Craig Robinson, who voices Cookie, a new Ogre character introduced in the upcoming movie. Also, many of the Fairy Tale Creatures from the feature film lend their voices to the game. Among these voices you’ll recognize loveable characters such as Pinocchio, Gingy, the Three Little Pigs, the Three Blind Mice, and the Magic Mirror.

What sort of missions will players have and is there a co-op mode?

Gameplay is a fun mix of exploration, combat, and puzzling. Players can journey through the game in single player, or have up to 3 of their friends join in for 4-player drop-in/drop-out co-op. In addition to Shrek, gamers will be able to play as the alternate reality versions of their favorite characters – Fiona, Puss In Boots, and Donkey – as seen in the upcoming film. Each character has its own special skills and abilities.

What are some of the enemies in games and their abilities?

The game has a variety of enemy types. Each enemy has his own attacks, and the player will have to figure out which character’s moves are most effective. Power-ups open up another level of attack options, as each character will have their own unique combat moves. New and upgraded powerups are available to the player through Cookie’s store in the Ogre Camp. As the player progresses further into the game, he will be able to return to the store and see what new items have unlocked for purchase.

How do players gain new skills and abilities in the game?

Each playable character has its own personalized skills and abilities. As players advance through the game, they unlock more powerful skills. New upgrades and power-ups become available in Cookie’s store in the Ogre Camp. Purchasing power-ups in the store make them available as pick-ups in combat gameplay. These power-ups allow the characters to perform new cool and powerful moves. Upgrading these power-ups gives the characters more muscle against even the toughest enemies.

How do you balance action, story, and puzzle solving in a game like this and is there a temptation to prioritize one over the other?

In creating the game, we worked to ensure that the player was spending as much time puzzling as in combat. A great support cast of Fairy Tale Creatures provide players with a variety of side quests and mini games. All the characters need to help solve the puzzles – using their unique abilities to do so. To ensure that these puzzles were fun and on target, we held focus test sessions, inviting kids to play the game and allowing the team a chance to see kids actually play the game and hear their valuable feedback on the puzzles they encountered. This feedback was one of the most helpful resources in improving the gameplay.

While the game play balance is important, it is also important to have strong story to drive the players through the game. The team has worked hard to create an interesting and entertaining story for the game that follows similarly to that of the film plot, while still offering a new and exciting experience for fans who have watched the movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

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Back in the 80′s, razor-fingered Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) became an iconic figure of horror and mainstream pop culture with the film “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Thanks to great special effects, macabre humor, and the charismatic Freddy, audience flocked to theaters and launched a highly successful series that spanned several films. Eventually the series ran its course, but the title character remained a mainstay of horror fans everywhere. Last seen in “Freddy Vs. Jason”, the terror of teenagers’ dreams has returned in a new take on the film from the Platinum Dunes production team, the same team behind the successful relaunch of the “Friday the 13th Series”.

The new film stars Jackie Earl Haley as the title character, and once again he is dispatching the teens of Elm Street in all manner of bizzare and grisly fashions in their dreams. Soon the town is full of dead teens and their insomniac peers anxious for an answer to the madman. Their parents are no help as they are quick to downplay any questions about Freddy and quickly disregard any concerns raised by their kids, even when the body count continues to rise. As their numbers dwindle, a group of friends starts to uncover the reason behind the unresloved deaths and band together to solve the mystery of Freddy Krueger and survive.

Freddy is only able to menace the teens in their sleep, so they take all manner of precautions in an attempt to stay awake and plot a defense, but sleep is something one can only postpone, never fully avoid, which means Freddy is always lurking, just waiting for his chance to strike.

What follows is a fairly by-the-numbers horror film that is sadly is lacking much suspense and horror. I was a big fan of the series and I found myself wanting to watch the original Wes Craven classic rather than what was unfolding on the screen. Haley does a great job as Krueger, blending menace with gallows humor, but Englund left a very large Fedora and razor gloves to fill and Haley comes up lacking. I also missed the elaborate effects that defined the series, greatly underwhelmed by this film’s attempts. The gore, suspense, and thrills were restrained compared to the previous films.

This is not to say this is a bad film, but the generic cast headed by Thomas Dekker gives us very little to root for and left me wanting more. Here is hoping that the next offering gives fans more of what made the series so popular and less of the formulaic predictability that has become so common in horror.

2.5 stars out of 5.

Ellen Dubin to Appear on The W Network in The Lois Wilson Story.

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Update, The show will also appear in Canada on the W Network.

“When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story” on the W Network

Premiering Tuesday, May 4th. at 10:00 PM EST/PST
Wednesday, May 5th. at 9:00 AM EST/PST
Wednesday, May 5th. at 2:00 PM EST/PST
Now residing in Los Angeles, Toronto born actress, ELLEN DUBIN plays Dora, a supporting lead, in CBS’ MOW (Movie of Week), “WHEN LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH: THE LOIS WILSON STORY” which will air on Sunday, April 25 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The Lois Wilson Story will air on the W Network in Canada on Tuesday, May 4 (10:00-12:00 PM, ET/PT).

From CBS – Based on the Biography by William G. Borchert, this Drama Is about the Trials and Ultimate Triumph of the Co-Founder of Al-Anon, Whose Alcoholic Husband Co-Founded AA.

This new “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation stars Golden Globe Award winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Winona Ryder (“The Age of Innocence,” “Little Women,” “Star Trek”) and Emmy Award and Canada’s own Golden Globe Award nominee Barry Pepper (“61*,” “Seven Pounds,” “Flags of Our Fathers”).

The Back Up Plan

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Ah, the story of Mr. Right appearing just in the nick of time, well almost. Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) has spent her life looking for the perfect guy but he has never shown up. Now she wants a baby and decides to become pregnant on her own through artificial insemination. It would just figure that right after deciding to use her backup plan a new man enters the picture forcing her life to adjust once again.

The film stars and generally centers around Lopez as the wacky yet likeable Zoe, a character who is not unlike those we have seen in J.Lo’s past. Her co-star, Alex O’Loughlin plays the male lead of Stan, a handsome cheese-maker. Other notable cast members include Micheala Watkins, as the jaded New York mother, Mona, and Melissa McCarthy as Carol the leader of a group of proud single mothers.

The most amusing scenes in “The Back-Up Plan” occurs during moments of the true-to-life internal dialogue by the problem riddled Zoe. Unfortunately the remaining seventy percent of the film is spent bouncing awkwardly between the less than steamy romance and the failed attempts at comedy.

There are a couple of good scenes but are they reason enough to endure the rest of the film? Not unless you have a deep desire to see farmers’ markets in New York and a poorly acted cameo by the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan. Still, fans of Lopez’s quirky romantic comedy style will enjoy her, just not as much as her previous roles because of the gnawingly awkward plot that defines this movie.

Too goofy to be romantic and too sappy to be funny, “The Back-Up Plan” continually fails to reach either goal accurately. It almost goes without saying that this film is, excuse the pun, simply too much of a stretch.

2.5 out of 5 stars

“OCEANS” Motion Picture Opens on Earth Day

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BURBANK, Calif. (April 15, 2010) – “OCEANS” won’t open till Earth Day, yet 400,000 moviegoers have already bought tickets to catch the movie in its opening week and protect coral reefs in the process. The “See ‘OCEANS,’ Save Oceans” initiative has bolstered ticket sales for the film; Disneynature’s pledge to make a contribution in honor of everyone who sees the motion picture between April 22-28 has already translated to more than 790 acres of marine protected area in The Bahamas—and that number is still growing with advance ticket sales on the rise and the April 22-opening just a week away.

“With 400,000 tickets sold so far, Disneynature’s second film is making a huge splash and saving coral reefs along the way—and ‘OCEANS’ hasn’t even opened yet,” said Chuck Viane, president, distribution, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. “Coral reefs are essential to the global ecosystem; we’re already on our way to establishing more than 790 acres of new marine protected areas—that’s the equivalent of about 600 football fields or nearly the size of New York City’s Central Park—and sales are still going strong.”

SEE OCEANS, SAVE OCEANS
Disneynature will make a contribution to one of the largest conservation organizations in the world, The Nature Conservancy, to save coral reefs in honor of each moviegoer who sees OCEANS during opening week (April 22-28). Through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Disneynature and The Nature Conservancy will help establish new marine protected areas in The Bahamas. For more details on Disneynature’s collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, please visit: www.disney.com/Oceans.

“The environmental community of The Bahamas is excited about Disney’s commitment to preserving our precious coral reefs,” said Eleanor Phillips, Northern Caribbean program director for The Nature Conservancy. “No matter where you live, everyone depends on our oceans for many of our most basic needs like food and medicine. After witnessing decades of exploitation and neglect of our coral reefs, it honestly makes my heart sing to see so many people working together to advance this important cause.”

The 700 islands that comprise The Bahamas contain miles of vital coral reefs, which are the foundation of a healthy ocean environment, providing shelter, nurseries and feeding grounds for hundreds of marine species, including dolphins, sea turtles and a wide range of fish. Scientists estimate that the coral reefs of the Caribbean could be gone within 50 years without a network of well-managed marine protected areas.

With generous support from Disneynature, The Nature Conservancy has recently launched its Adopt-a-Coral-Reef program (adopt.nature.org/coralreef/) in The Bahamas. The Nature Conservancy is working to protect the coral reefs in The Bahamas and other critical locations throughout the Caribbean and around the world. As a leading global conservation organization, The Nature Conservancy manages more than 100 marine conservation projects in 31 countries and in all U.S. coastal states.

ABOUT THE MOVIE
Disneynature, the studio that presented the record-breaking film “Earth,” brings OCEANS to the big screen on Earth Day, 2010. Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and OCEANS boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind—exploring the harsh reality and the amazing creatures that live within. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan and featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, OCEANS offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in a powerful motion picture that unfolds on April 22, 2010. For more information, visit disney.com/Oceans, become a fan on Facebook: facebook.com/Disneynature or follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Disneynature.

ABOUT THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Nature Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

ABOUT DISNEY WORLDWIDE CONSERVATION FUND
The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has advanced Disney’s legacy of conservation to inspire people and partnerships to protect the world’s wildlife. To date, the DWCF has granted more than $14 million in 110 countries. DWCF is a Disney initiative to support conservation and animal welfare and is not a US 501(c)(3) public charity. More information about DWCF’s efforts for wildlife, wild places and the people linked to their survival, is available at www.disney.com/conservation.

Skewed & Reviewed the TV Show – Episode 5

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Brought to you this week by Genuine Memories, Gareth von Kallenbach takes a sneak peek at movies like Losers, Get Him to the Greek, Shrek Forever After and Survival of the Dead. Also in this episode are reviews and updates on video games such as Grand Theft Auto Episodes from Liberty City, Transformers War for Cybertron, and Brink.