Apple’s 'Tetris' movie trades real-life drama for spy fantasies

No, the origins of Tetris didn't involve a high-speed car chase, but the true story behind the game still reads like a spy novel. There's corporate intrigue, nefarious government agencies and an envious amount of globe-trotting. But the reality wasn't enough for the creative minds behind Apple's Tetris film, which premieres on March 31st. Director Jon S. Baird and writer Noah Pink couldn't help but spice up the story with hyperactive pixel art, cartoonishly evil villains and wildly discordant tonal shifts. The result is a film that may entertain general audiences – or critics who have somehow never heard of Tetris before – but will probably leave true aficionados of the game cold.From its opening scenes, in which a young Henk Rogers (The Kingsman's Taron Egerton) recounts the magical moment he encountered Tetris at CES, the film aims for the snappy dialog of Aaron Sorkin's scripts for The Social Network and Steve Jobs. But it never reaches those heights. Rogers is the entrepreneur responsible for working together with Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov), the Soviet programmer who created Tetris, to bring the game to the rest of the world. He makes for a compelling main character on paper, and yet the film doesn't delve too deeply into why he'd risk his life and business (he was the founder of Japan's Bullet-Proof Software) for a single game.AppleCall that a failure of storytelling, or perhaps it's just dramatic shorthand. Rogers is one of the first people to become truly... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-03-30 12:30:20 UTC ]

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What We're Reading – February 2020

Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide by Kate CharlesworthMy favourite place to be is partway through a book that I have just realised is becoming an all-time favourite. This month, it happened with Kate Charlesworth’s graphic memoir, Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide, a political history of gay... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-02-14 09:49:28 UTC ]
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New Cassandra Cain graphic novel shows Asian American girls can be Batgirl too

"Shadow of the Batgirl" author Sarah Kuhn wants young Asian American girls to see they can be the main character in superhero stories too. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-08 01:35:48 UTC ]
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Graphic novel New Kid wins prestigious Newbery Medal

Jerry Craft’s story exploring ‘friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh manner’ is the first graphic novel to win the long-running American children’s awardFor the first time, a graphic novel has won the Newbery Medal, the oldest and most prestigious children’s book award in the US. The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-28 16:03:46 UTC ]
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YA Graphic Novels, Memoirs, and Comics Releasing Winter 2020

Jumpstart your 2020 TBR. with this round up of Spring 2020 YA graphic novel and comics releases! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-01-09 11:39:40 UTC ]
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PW’s Most-Read Comics Stories of 2019

The enormous popularity of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man graphic novel series, trends in the changing U.S. comics and graphic novel retail landscape, and the growing popularity of manga and anime-influenced Japanese light novels, were among PW’s most-read stories about comics in 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Boom! Plans ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ Graphic Novel in 2020

Boom! Studios announced plans to publish Kurt Vonnegut’s classic sci-fi/antiwar novel 'Slaughterhouse-Five' as a graphic novel. It will be adapted by the writer Ryan North, artist Albert Monteys, and colorist Ricard Zapala. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Watchmen is by far the best adaptation of the comic – but should fans watch it?

HBO’s take on the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic succeeds where all others have failed, but it is yet another DC project made without Moore’s approvalIt’s been profoundly depressing to watch Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen mutate into a cottage industry for DC Entertainment. The comic... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-12-23 13:46:56 UTC ]
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‘They Called Us Enemy’ Tops PW’s Graphic Novel Critics Poll

'They Called Us Enemy,' a graphic memoir by activist and longtime 'Star Trek' actor George Takei that recounts the story of his Japanese American family's internment during WWII, has claimed the top spot on PW’s annual Graphic Novel Critic’s Poll. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Two Lives of One Woman: On Guzel Yakhina’s “Zuleikha”

WHEN I WAS a student in Perm, Russia, my university friend told me that her grandparents were kulaks. The term dates back to the era of collectivization, a harsh agrarian reform that took place in the Soviet Union between the late 1920s and the early ’30s. Hitherto privately owned land and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-12-14 18:00:21 UTC ]
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Noir detective game 'Blacksad' will be out for consoles on December 10th

Blacksad: Under the Skin has been available on Steam since mid-November, but don't worry about buying it if you'd rather play on a console -- you only have a few more days to wait. The noir detective game, based on a graphic novel series, will be out... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-12-07 09:55:00 UTC ]
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A Year in Reading: Nayomi Munaweera

Good Talk by Mira Jacob This is simply the best literary (in gorgeous graphic novel form) exploration of what it means to be an immigrant in the U.S. I’ve seen in years. Jacob talks about what being a parent in our current trash-fire of an age is like, what it means to have to explain … The post... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-12-05 16:00:41 UTC ]
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4 Graphic Novel Adaptations of Shakespeare

Want to experience the bard(s) as they were meant to be enjoyed without being pelted in the head with rotten vegetables by the haters? We got you. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-12-04 11:39:41 UTC ]
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Obituary: Howard Cruse, Pioneering Queer Cartoonist, Dies at 75

The pioneering underground and queer cartoonist and author of the acclaimed queer/civil rights graphic novel 'Stuck Rubber Baby,' died November 26, from lymphoma. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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When impeachment and the campaign collide

Yesterday morning, Gordon Sondland, the Trump donor turned US ambassador to the European Union, gave explosive testimony in the impeachment inquiry—directly tying the president and his top allies, including Mikes Pence and Pompeo, to the Ukraine scandal. Comparisons to John Dean’s testimony that... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2019-11-21 12:58:24 UTC ]
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IDW Debuts Spanish Graphic Novel Line with Takei's 'They Called Us Enemy'

IDW kicks off its Spanish-language graphic novel publishing initiative with George Takei's bestsellilng graphic memoir 'They Called Us Enemy,' to be released in a Spanish edition in June 2020. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Panel Mania: Chasing Echoes by Dan Goldman and George Schall

Dan Goldman and George Schall’s new graphic novel 'Chasing Echoes' is a comically driven story of a Jewish-American family’s search for their pre-Holocaust roots in the old country. In this 10-page excerpt we meet the unwieldy, indeed, dysfunctional clan as they arrive in Poland at a time when... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Graphic Novel Versions of Literary Classics Used to Seem Lowbrow. No More.

A new crop of adaptations proves that comic book artists can be complex and effective in tackling other writers’ work. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-11-12 10:00:08 UTC ]
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A New Book From the Creator of ‘Wonder’ Tells a Holocaust Story

In R.J. Palacio’s graphic novel “White Bird,” a grandmother finally shares her harrowing tale of survival under the Nazis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-11-07 22:07:49 UTC ]
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Myriad bags graphic novels from Williams and Slattery as it launches debut author contest

Myriad Editions has bagged a pair of "graphic medicine" books from Ian Williams and Zara Slattery, as the publisher launches its 2020 Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-07 01:44:47 UTC ]
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Which Kind of Witch Should She Be?

In Emma Steinkellner’s graphic novel “The Okay Witch,” a teenager descended from famous witches faces bigotry, not to mention her mother’s opposition. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-10-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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