Wide World of Entertainment News

Many things going on in the world of entertainment, Dear Reader. I feel an obligation to keep you up to speed with them.

The New Harry Potter. Everyone’s holding their breath: can this thing make bank with no new books coming out? Can it still draw them in when everyone knows the ending? The smart money says “absolutely,” since the reviews have been very good and the ticket sales have been strong. So, for the moment, it seems like Warner Bros. can rest easy. But honest to God, I’m not totally convinced they can ride the wave forever. They’ve decided to split “Deathly Hallows” into two movies, and that’s a very wise move, but by the time they get these effects-laden, ultra-expensive monsters into the multiplex a couple of years down the road, will things have quieted down? I mean it hasn’t been that long since the last book came out, but it will have been years by then. I’m still worried for them.

Bruno. It didn’t kill. It did better than they “expected,” which is of course ridiculous, since studio execs always deliberately under-expect their profits. But the reality is, the movie just came and went. There is no question in my mind that “Bruno’s” respectable but shrug-worthy $30 M haul represents a failure to capitalize on the lightning-in-a-bottle phenomenon of “Borat.” I guarantee you they spent that much on the advertising campaign alone. Fortunately for them, Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies are overwhelmingly cheap to make, so it’s not like they’re taking a loss, but they’re also not rolling in bedspreads made of $100 bills.

Personally, I still kind of blame the ad campaign, which couldn’t go two seconds without mentioning “Borat.” There’s something pathetic and desperate about that, honestly. I understand that some people aren’t going to recognize the guy, and you need to get the word out, but it went too far. And although I have zero plans to watch the movie, those who have tell me that the over-the-top, gross-out nature of the flick borders on desperate. I have not met or read anyone who didn’t feel at least a little turned off by it. “Bruno” is really no different, in that way, from “Transformers 2″: it wants to force your love. It’s the kind of art that is made by accountants, trying to quantify enjoyment. As a person who owns and thinks somewhat highly of “Borat,” I’m going to pass.

Honest to God, no one even cares about the gross-out stuff. The most repulsive scene in “Borat” (you know the one I mean) is almost universally skipped, everything else is what made the movie work. Similarly, the scenes people talk about with fondness from “Bruno” have little to do with gay sex, so why were the people behind the movie so convinced they had to push the envelope? All they got out of it was a divided gay community, and it would have unquestionably bolstered the box office numbers to have their support. It just pet peeves me when people try to be offensive. I know that some art is revolutionary, I recognize that a great piece of entertainment often needs to push your standards, but I find it so loathsome when that’s the only trick you’ve got. It makes you come off like the kid in high school that would do anything to be liked. It’s just sad, I feel like you’re showing me your true colors, and they’re pretty dull.

Left 4 Dead 2 Controversy. It just rages on. “Left 4 Dead” is a survival shooter released last year in November by Valve, a company of impeccable quality. A brand new IP for them, it was quickly seized by long-time Valve devotees and newcomers (like myself) alike, and even though there was a limited amount of content, the replayability was very high and we were promised lots of downloadable add-ons. So now here we are, less than a year later, and instead of DLC we’re getting a full-priced sequel. “L4D2″ features all new maps, new characters, new zombies, but the engine is the same, and there’s no question that it’s going to feel familiar. Many Valve fans are incredibly upset, as many as 30,000 of them are claiming to boycott. All the while, the company has been patiently insisting that the new game will be worth the hard-earned cash.

Personally, I’m not even going to hesitate to scoop up the sequel, but I concede that it’s a strange move. The better part of a decade elapsed before they sequeled “Half Life,” or “Team Fortress,” or any of their other mainstream IPs, so it’s clearly a new business model for them to do this now. Many are revolted that Valve could be doing this “just for the money,” but even if they are, I’m still going to support them. In the era of Wii, we’re already seeing video games erode into the same watered down, focus-group obsessed crap that movies have become. All the money is in getting the casual gamer, the guy or gal who picks up a game once or twice a month. Personally, I dread this future. For so long, we gamers were left to our devices, and our relationship with the studios who made our entertainment was close-knit. There was no casual market, everything was designed for the hardcore, and we truly didn’t know how good we had it.

Soon, I wonder if there will be a market for games like “Dead,” where unique art styles, daring ad campaigns, and game mechanics designed for hundreds of hours of longevity rule the roost. We are so accepting of niche markets in this industry, games for specific subsets can actually get decent budgets. And gamers are ruled only by what is fun and available, you don’t have to have a star or a famous name attached to your project. Take a look, for example, at this ad campaign for Valve’s own “Team Fortress 2,” a competitive online shooter where players select one of a dozen or so different classes to play as (engineer, soldier, medic, heavy, etc). Each class has pros, cons, and a huge amount of personality, all of which is driven home by a wonderfully-implemented cartoon art style. Will there be room for this anymore?

(FYI: They’re a little violent, but it’s all cartoon violence)

Look at that. You try to tell me with a straight face that there is a serious market for 1950s Cold War cartoons. It’s a niche, and niches are the most wonderful kind of liberating. But now, with more and more Americans taking notice of the video game industry, I fear we are going to lose the boldness, the bravery that made games like this possible. Companies like Valve may find themselves with slimmer profit margins, as everything goes the way of “Wii Fit” (blegh). I’m not convinced this sequel is a cash-grab, but even if it is, I don’t care. I’ve got your back, guys.