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Sports & Recreation Podcasts

Video game to film adaptations are often seen as terrible, and sometimes even unwatchable. We're looking back at these films and giving them a second chance, reviewing them with a focus on finding the good in them.

Location:

United States

Description:

Video game to film adaptations are often seen as terrible, and sometimes even unwatchable. We're looking back at these films and giving them a second chance, reviewing them with a focus on finding the good in them.

Language:

English


Episodes
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Ni No Kuni (2019)

5/3/2024
We review "Ni No Kuni", a story about a fantasy world linked to our own by the worst thing possible: a "chosen one" anime hero with an IQ equal to his age. CONTENT WARNING: jealous boyfriends / mass murderers / multi-dimensional terrorists (and that's all just one guy!), mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:34:25

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Gran Turismo (2023)

4/5/2024
We review "Gran Turismo", the true story of a Nissan exec who watched The Last Starfighter too many times and thought "Why not this, but with race cars?" Can video game skills translate to a real race track? Don't cheat and look up the story on Wiki, experience it with us! CONTENT WARNING: reckless management, car crashes, father and son conflict, anti-"Nick" propaganda, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:38:57

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The King of Fighters (2009)

3/15/2024
We review "The King of Fighters", where a young Japanese boy out for revenge trains to become a white man and travel to another dimension for a chance to become the KING OF FIGHTERS™ because... something to do with a floating, pulsating ball of slithering energy snakes? Yeah, we're not sure how to process that one, either. CONTENT WARNING: mind control, secret lesbians, snake orgies, mid-movie whitewashing, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:36:43

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Detention (2019)

10/31/2023
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE! This spooky season we watch "Detention", a haunting mystery about two students trapped inside a hellscape that may well be of their own making. Is there anything scarier than going back to school? How about a 1960s Taiwanese school at the height of the White Terror... and also ghosts? CONTENT WARNING: military oppression, icky student-teacher relationships, teenage jealousy, damnation loops, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:33:53

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Final Fantasy: Advent Children COMPLETE (2005)

9/29/2023
It's our last stop on our Franchise Tour, and we're wrapping things up with something special: our first sequel! We review "Final Fantasy: Advent Children COMPLETE", a feature length CG cutscene that tries to follow up one of the biggest video games ever. Are you curious what happened after the events of Final Fantasy VII? Do you want to know more about your favourite character, perhaps Barret or Yuffie or even Cid? Well, so do we, and that's AFTER watching this film... Prepare yourself for a cinematic Ultimate Weapon, with the longest version of an already too long story. CONTENT WARNING: dilly dallying, shilly shallying, Marc trying to make sense of FF7, stealing your boy's ghost-girl, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:38:16

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HALO Legends (2010)

9/7/2023
We look at an anthology of anime-tinged tales from the HALO universe, with stories ranging from educational to badass to downright silly. Don't worry, fanboys: they're probably not (all) canon. Want more Master Chief madness? Here's him "returning" a bomb to The Covenant, from the game HALO 2: Giving the Covenant back their Bomb - Halo 2 Anniversary CONTENT WARNING: interplanetary war, planned mortality for children, suicide by mech, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:35:58

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Dragon Quest: Your Story (2019)

8/25/2023
This is it, listener. We might have found the single best video game movie we've ever seen or will see. Join us for "Dragon Quest: Your Story", a movie that manages to both adapt a popular entry from the RPG franchise while also doing something entirely new and interesting. This movie was so surprising that I won't even fill this synopsis with snarky jokes (well... maybe in the content warning). CONTENT WARNING: interrupted inspirational speeches, unavoidable side eye, digital girlfriends, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:38:29

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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

8/11/2023
We continue our look at franchise adaptations with "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", a story about heroes fighting to save the planet with the power of love. It clearly has the broad strokes of the franchise in that setup, but does it remain faithful in its execution? Prepare yourself for the first (and ONLY) film by Square Pictures. Here's a link to the DVD extra spoofing the music video for THRILLER: Michael Jackson - Thriller - Final Fantasy CONTENT WARNING: invisible monsters, soul stealing, workplace safety violations, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:55:29

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The Witcher - Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)

7/28/2023
We've heard the argument that video game films are bad because "games focus on the gameplay, not on the plot". That may be true, but video games do offer the player fascinating worlds to explore. So what if you just adapt the world to a film, and not a specific game? Sounds like another tangent series to me! We begin our latest journey with "The Witcher - Nightmare of the Wolf", an anime adapting the game (or the Netflix series, OR the books... yeah, we know) about magic-infused monster hunters and their time at the worst summer school ever. CONTENT WARNING: extreme gore, bio-augmentation, institutionalized child murder, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:37:05

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Super Mario Bros. (2023)

5/12/2023
It took 30 years, but Nintendo has finally forgiven Hollywood for "Super Mario Bros: The Movie (1993)". The titular plumber is back on the silver screen, but does this Mario have what it takes? Can the character that started the video game movie curse be the one to break it once and for all? Strap on your red or green overalls, everybody, and LET'S A GO!!! CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping (again), forced marriages (again... man, this seems familiar), impromptu rock ballads, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:38:53

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Fatal Frame (2014)

3/24/2023
We close out our international tour with "Fatal Frame", a Japanese horror film where a group of students at a Catholic all-girls school truly are lovers in a dangerous time. CONTENT WARNING: suicide, curses, homophobia, films that distort the very fabric of time itself, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:38:17

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Corpse Party (2015)

3/10/2023
We review "Corpse Party", a Japanese horror film about love, loss, and why you should never trust your classmates when you're trying to escape a hell dimension. CONTENT WARNING: unintentionally satanic rituals, evil ghost children, possession, tongues, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:36:09

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Super Mario Bros. - The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! (1986)

2/24/2023
You've heard of the Lost Levels, but what about the lost movie? We review "Super Mario Bros. - The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!", a Japan only release! This early foray into film cements Mario as the trailblazer of video game film adaptations. But why wasn't it released in North America? Was it not good enough, or were we just not ready for its power? Brace yourself for a tri-force of entertainment (and no, that's not a reference to the wrong franchise)! Watch the same version we watched here! Super Mario Bros. Anime Movie Restored (VHS) · English subbed CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping, forced marriages, taking shrooms, painful mispronunciations, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:25:03

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Oneechanbara (2008) AND Oneechanbara 2: Vortex (2009)

2/10/2023
We get more than we bargained for when we review "Oneechanbara" (AKA "Bikini Samurai Squad"), and it's sequel "Oneechanbara: Vortex”. Can scantily-clad heroines save the world from yet another undead apocalypse? Can samurai-cowgirl Aya stop her sister Saki's stupid schoolgirl schemes, from bloodthirsty rampages to skeletal resurrections? Can sequels be bothered to acknowledge ANYTHING from the previous film? It's time for a Double Dose of zombie-slaying action! CONTENT WARNING: sibling rivalry, kung-fu zombies, sexy corpses, hungry swords, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:37:17

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2007)

1/27/2023
We're going international! For this tangent, we're looking at video-game-to-film adaptations made outside of North America. Does Hollywood just fail to understand the source material? Let's see if adding subtitles brings these films above subpar! First up is "Yakuza: Like a Dragon", a Tokyo crime film where the one-eyed man truly is king and the scriptwriter offers too many side quests for the audience to keep track of. CONTENT WARNING: gang wars, masochists, disinterested law enforcement, bad mothering, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:37:24

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Cuphead Christmas Specials (XMAS SPECIAL 2022)

12/24/2022
MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONCE AGAIN! This year, we rekindle the joys of our childhood with the 2-part Cuphead Christmas Special. Settle in by the fire and witness a harrowing act of Christmas decorating with "Holiday Tree-dition", followed by a heartwarming tale of teaching ole' Beelzebub about the spirit of Christmas with "A Very Devil Christmas". CONTENT WARNING: price gouging, yuletide judgment, cult rituals, dark metamorphosis, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:24:58

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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2022 - PART 3! - House of the Dead (2003)

10/31/2022
Lock your closets and check under your beds, the big bad BOLLeman is coming to "entertain" you! It's time for the final part of our 2022 Halloween celebration, Uwe Boll's very first video game adaptation EVER, "House of the Dead". Witness the genesis of a merciless creature, fated to consume and destroy everything it touches, to the horror of teens everywhere. Did I just describe the zombie leader attacking the partygoers on the island, or Uwe Boll himself? There's only one way to find out... CONTENT WARNING: bad negotiating, pre-fornication urination, self-sacrificing sabotage, fever-dream level editing, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:37:24

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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2022 - PART 2! - Alone in the Dark (2005)

10/30/2022
The Halloween frights continue with part 2 of our Uwe Boll Bonanza... "Alone in the Dark"! Christian Slater stars as an amnesiac orphan who must confront both early 2000s era CG and a militarized Smithsonian in order to learn the truth about himself... or he could just read about it at the orphanage. Seriously, it's all readily available in duo tangs and everything. Think this movie is bad? Here's a list of films that are apparently even WORSE, according to Rotten Tomatoes: List of films with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes CONTENT WARNING: symbiotic mutations, premature explosions, the death of yet another BRAVO team, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:36:28

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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2022 - PART 1! - Bloodrayne (2005)

10/27/2022
This Halloween, we do something truly scary for video game fans... as we watch 3 Uwe Boll films BACK-TO-BACK! We start our Trilogy of Terror with "Bloodrayne", where our heroine evolves from vampire to DAMNpire by facing down her Discount Dracula daddy issues... and getting a big D from a mullet masquerading as a vampire hunter. CONTENT WARNING: bloodsucking, best friend butchery, vanishing sub-characters, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:37:20

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DOA - Dead or Alive (2006)

10/14/2022
Based on the hit fighting game series, we watch a tale of fortune and glory... Only one fighter will defeat all opponents and emerge victorious... One with the strength, determination, and spirit to claim the title... But which one will it be? Strap on your parachute and dive in to find out! CONTENT WARNING: objectification of women, martial arts appropriation, deadly eyewear, mild language. Featuring the voices of Marc Athanas, Wayne Bressette, and Nick Mohr. Our theme music was composed by Jack Feerick, and performed and realized by Sam Feerick.

Duration:00:35:50