The Hunger Games VS Battle Royale

When a big blockbuster movie is at least 30 days from release, a huge advertising campaign begins. Since The Hunger Games media blitz kicked off, there has been nonstop talk about how The Hunger Games is a rip off of Battle Royale. I don't know why people are making this comparison. Maybe it's because they both take place during a dystopian future. Maybe its because they are both about kids killing each other. Whatever the reason, it needs to stop. Both are movies based on books. Both have similarities no doubt, but they are hardly original concepts.

I believe Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, when she says that she never heard of Battle Royale while creating her trilogy. I believe her because, from the examples I've listed below, I'll demonstrate just how long this subject matter has been around.

For those who may not know. A dystopian future is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state.

Spartacus and Roman Gladiators: While Spartacus has found popularity recently with a tv show, it's hardly fiction. Spartacus was a real person forced to fight to the death in an arena for the amusement of citizens. While some gladiators may have volunteered to compete in the arena, Spartacus was a captured slave and had no choice.

Death Race 2000: This 1975 film staring Sylvester Stallone, takes place in a dystopian future where an annual road race occurs, in which the participants kill each for the entertainment of others.

The Long Walk: This is a 1979 Stephen King novel, in which 100 teenage boys are forced to walk in a marathon. They are required to maintain an average speed of 4 miles per hour. If at anytime they fall below that speed, they are shot and killed.

The Running Man: Another Stephen King novel published in 1982. It takes place during a dystopian future, in which a game show has people being hunted and killed by "Hunters". This spawned a movie with the same name in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Marvel Comics Mojo: This character created in 1985 as an X-Men super villain. He is a slaver who rules the Mojoverse, a dystopian future dimension where all beings are addicted to his gladiator television programs, in which he forces slaves to kill each other. He kidnaps the X-Men and forces them to play the game in an attempt to boost ratings.

Hard Target: A 1993 film directed by Chinese director John Woo and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the movie, Van Damme must stop a man who holds a private hunting game in which the hunters pay $500,000 to hunt and kill people.

The Condemned: A 2007 film where 10 convicts fight to the death in a tournament broadcasted on the Internet.

Those are just a few examples. There a many more books and movies that are much older than these listed, that also have the same subject matter. Battle Royale is not even close to being an original concept. Which is why I don't understand this Hunger Games-Battle Royale rip off talk.

Both movies are great! The examples I listed are great as well! Instead of comparing these films, watch and enjoy them. While these two films are hardly original, (what movie is these days?) they both deserved to be watched. They both add something new to the table.

The Walking Dead Sale

If you want to catch up on some Walking Dead lore, I have great news! Right now, The Walking Dead digital comics are on sale! Normally WD issues are $1.99 each, but right now you can purchase them for only .99 cents! So stop reading this and go catch up on some Walking Dead!

Big Walking Dead Reveal

Michonne is finally here! She was finally revealed on the season 2 finale of The Walking Dead! Fans have been waiting for her arrival since the 2nd season began. As a fan of the comic series, I'm a huge fan of Michonne. Season 3 can't come fast enough!

Former Sony Exec Joins Microsoft

In a surprise move by Microsoft,
former Sony exec Phil Harrison takes over for Peter Molyneux at Microsoft's European Lionhead studios.

Xbox 360 Sells More Consoles In February

The Xbox 360 won the February console wars, making it the 14th month it has sold more units than its competitors.

The Original Superhero: John Carter

When I was 14 years old, I turned in my first book report for English class. The report was for Starship Troopers, a popular science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. After my first report was turned in, the teacher assigned each one of my classmates and I a new book. She handed me an extremely warn copy of A Princess of Mars, the first in a series of John Carter books (also known as the Barsoom series) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Burroughs created the first John Carter story in 1912, then later turned into a novel in 1917. It is widely considered the pioneer of science fiction. In fact, many people think if John Carter had not been created, we wouldn't have some of the greatest science fiction we do today. Including Star Wars and Superman.

In 1975, George Lucas created a synopsis describing his story as "in the grand tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs' 'John Carter of Mars,'" according to "The Star Wars Genesis," an article by Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier. That synopsis later turned into Star Wars.

Carter's abilities come from Mars's low gravity. It gives Carter enhanced strength and agility, ability to jump great distances. Superman was created in 1938. Durning his early run in comics, Superman's powers came from the difference in Earth's gravity compared to his home planet of Krypton. Superman wasn't able to fly yet, but was able to leap a great distance, creating the term, "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" Carter is extremely honorable and courageous. Traits also found in Superman's character.

Carter is a former confederate solider who ends up in wild west Arizona, before being transported to Mars. The merging of western and sci-fi genres, gave influence to shows today like, Joss Whedon's Firefly series and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's Cowboys and Aliens.

Durning A Princess of Mars, John Carter gets transported to a mysterious planet, finds himself aligned with one of the planets native tribes, and falls in love with the native princess. He fights to save his newly adopted people from tyranny and oppression. James Cameron was quoted in The New Yorker magazine saying "With ‘Avatar,’ I thought, Forget all these chick flicks and do a classic guys’ adventure movie, something in the Edgar Rice Burroughs mold, like John Carter of Mars—a soldier goes to Mars,” Cameron told me. The hero of “Avatar,” Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a paraplegic ex-marine who travels to Pandora, a moon in the Alpha Centauri star system, where there is a human colony.". The final arena battle scene in Star Wars Episode II The Clone Wars, was heavily influenced by John Carter. Conan, Mad Max, and Star Trek all have influential examples. Even writer Michael Crichton named a character after John Carter.

Burroughs's novels have also influenced our earliest space program. It has inspired people to become astronauts, as well as NASA's interest in Mars itself.

Whether or not you have read the Barsoom series of novels. I encourage everyone who is a science fiction or fantasy fan, to think of some of your earliest memories of the genre. Keep in mind, that without
author Edgar Rice Burroughs's 100 year old novels, our lives may have turned out much differently.

Fan Made Uncanny X-Men Series

A few X fans have taken it upon themselves to make a good X-Men series! With literally no budget, they have made a compelling series that follows the original material. If only Hollywood made X-Men with as much care and passion.

Check episode 1, "Birth" here.

Chronicle Director In Talks To Direct Venom

According to The LA Times, Chronicle director Josh Trank wants to direct a Venom movie, and is in talks to direct. Venom, which is a Marvel comics character, made his big screen debut in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. Since that time, rumors have been swirling around about a Venom spinoff.

Josh Trank's latest film, Chronicle, is a found footage movie about teens with super powers, got fairly good reviews, scoring 69 on Metacritic.

It would be interesting to see how he does with a more established character, and a much bigger budget.

Mass Effect 3 Graphically Better On XBOX 360

According to performance analysis tests run by Digital Foundry, ME3 is graphically superior on XBOX 360. PS3 graphics for ME3 have been found to drop as low as 20 frames per second. Read more about it here.

Nielsen Ratings Disaster

Using a system thats over 60 years old to determine a shows rating is a shame. It's a complete disservice to the people who work very hard making good quality scripted shows.

For those who don't know, Nielson is a rating system based on a "survey" format. Meaning that Nielsen looks at a certain number of television viewers and determines what a viewership should be. It also requires the selected household to have a Nielsen box or Set Meters that are connected to the back of their television. It gathers the household viewing habits, from channel changes to skipping through commercials, and sends them directly to Nielsen nightly. There is an estimated 116 million television viewers in the United States. Only 25,000 households have a Nielsen box.

Using one of my favorite shows, Legend of the Seeker (LOTS) as an example. Here is how the boxes work: Where I live LOTS came on Sunday at 8 PM. During that time, out of the 25,000 Nielsen boxes, maybe 1,500 households watched. It would then be calculated and averaged that 1.5 million viewers tuned in. In reality 30 million households could have actually watched LOTS on Sunday at 8 PM. The rest of us, including myself, do not get counted in these numbers.

Nielsen also only tracks about 1.5 million DVR boxes, but doesn't count Netflix or Hulu views either. Genre shows generally cost more to produce. With the numbers Nielsen produces, it's understandable that it would scare away potential customers from purchasing commercial spots. Causing a show to get unjustly canceled. This is why cable shows last longer with lower ratings. They are not handcuffed by this system as you have to pay to acquire their service.

The Nielsen rating system needs to change. It's a medieval system that doesn't work anymore. Television shows are too expansive just to rely on it alone. As long as this dying system remains in place, viewers will continuously be robbed of great television. In a world where cheaper reality shows continue to take over our programming, this can not continue.