Are you game for movies based on ‘Tetris,’ ‘Angry Birds’ big screeners?

/ October 2, 2014
(From syracusenewtimes.com)

(From syracusenewtimes.com)

First off, I’ve never played Tetris. Not in the 1980s, not in a retro moment since.

Nevertheless, my eyebrow arched at the sight of a Rolling Stone story that the Game Boy console game favorite from 30 years ago is being turned into a movie. An epic sci-fi movie. I’d heard enough talk about Tetris to make me say, hey, wha! (I didn’t live under a rock! I just never played the game.)

And then I jumped over the Cinema Blend at the very first piece I spotted there was about Angry Birds being turned into a movie by Sony, and the humongous cast of voicers being signed on as the flock.

Now that game was one of the first I downloaded onto my very first iPad. I tired quickly of shooting the birds to try to topple the piles of things, but, hey, I was part of the craze.

Movies, huh?

I am more tweaked by the comedic potential of “Angry Birds” than the sci-fi possibilities of “Tetris.”

And you?

If you’d like to read my weekly Film News blog on the wickedly entertaining Syracuse New Times site, click the link below. As an added benefit, you’ll find the links to the Rolling Stone and Cinema Blend stories cited above.

http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/tetris-angry-birds-coming-big-screen/

If you could pick one video game you’d like to see turned into a movie, what would it be, and why? Who would you like to star in it, and why? What’s your top score ever on your favorite game, and share your secret, please.

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48 thoughts on “Are you game for movies based on ‘Tetris,’ ‘Angry Birds’ big screeners?”

  1. All of this will pass right by me, Mark. Unless one of my kids says, “Hey, let’s watch The Lego movie!” At which point I will watch The Lego Movie, somewhat begrudgingly, but will be won over and think it is really, really awesome! Just guessing 😉

    Well written post, Mark. As always. Happy weekend 🙂

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    • Ha! For Karen and I: ‘Gone Girl’ this week, ‘The Judge’ next week. We can compare notes again, Robin. I’m not so sure about ‘The Best of Me,’ though. I did see the trailer but have not compared what else is opening that far out …

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      • I know that Nicholas Sparks is sometimes corny, but one of my two daughters will go with me to the third one. I think I liked the Notebook one the best, since James Garner and the woman who was the other person grown up from Rachel McAdams part, was outstanding in her portrayal of dementia or Alzheimers… I am not going this weekend, but by the end of October hope to have hit all 3!

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  3. Super Mario bros for a film. They did a TV series (must have been in the 80’s/early 90’s) which I watched not so long ago, and it really freaked me out! The theme tune, the actors, the dancing… Yes! I said dancing…everything about it just freaked me out! My 2nd choice would have been the ninja turtles, but this is already in the cinemas!

    Paperboy was my favourite game of all time… wouldn’t make much of a film though!

    So I guess Mario it is!

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  4. I like playing Angry Birds and I LOVE (!!!) playing Tetris! Always have and still do. However, I won’t bother seeing either of these as movies. Sorry, Hollywood…If you’re that desperate for material, I’ve got some books that would be good movies… LOL! When I was a teenager, I was at a skating rink and played Q-bert for the first time—and got the all-time high score on the machine! And you know what? I have NO IDEA how that happened! LOL! Seriously! 🙂

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    • Tetris is attractive for your syndrome, Rachel, with the lines and patterns? And maybe Q-bert somehow?

      Or maybe you were the first to play the Q-bert machine? Anyway, I think Hollywood will keep making these game movies until nobody goes.

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      • I know you’re right about Tetris. I could seriously play that until my eyes bleed. LOL! In fact I have played it until my eyes streamed tears from not blinking for so long! As for Q-bert I don’t even know how the game goes, so I think you’re probably right on in that I was the first or one of the firsts to play the game there. LOL!

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  5. I can see them making a movie behind the story of Tetris… since there was a lot of legal battles involving copyright and licensing when the game first hit the market. But if this is about the game itself…. ??? Is Tetris even popular anymore? I cant even see this as a desperate cash grab by Hollywood!

    Video games based on movies are a great idea. Movies based on video games are not….

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    • Because they are saying epic sci-fi, I don’t think it’s about the legal battles. And it also makes me think whatever they come up with, true-blue Tetris fans may come out of the theater saying ‘huh?’ to the connection even if they love it. The game could still be way popular. I wouldn’t know since I never played it once, ESN. And your last statement is cool. The Birds is going to have a great voice track, though.

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  6. I guess they have already done the Pinball Wizard routine with Tommie, correct Mark? Or am I remembering that wrong? I was never into the games myself. Loved to drag race when I was young and foolish, did a few gigs before I tore both shoulders up and had to stop playing my guitar, but am still hooked on playing Solitaire every night to get myself into sleep mode. That started when I was working second shift in a nursing home and needed something boring to bring me down enough to get sleepy. Definitely don’t want to see any Angry Birds in a movie. Had to deal with enough of those when the dogs would stir up the blue jays out on the farm. Those jays make really angry birds that attack with a vengeance.

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  9. How could a movie possibly be made about Tetris? They’re just falling blocks, yes? Huh. Pitfall Pete would be good to see movie form. Love the Atari-style video games, just because they are so one-dimensional and lame. Frogger, Asteroids, etc. I haven’t played anything since my early teens, but sure did enjoy them back in the day.

    Oh, but speaking of movies: They’re making one about Peeps, the marshmallow candies!!! That I would see, though chances are good it will be dumb.

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    • I hope all the Peeps scenes will be diaramas. When I worked at the big daily, we had an annual Peeps diamara contest, and would get hundreds of entries. I would walk past them slowly, hand on chin, to be one of the newsroom judges. People were so imaginative with their Peeps diaramas. I loved them!

      So. I loved playing Ms. Pac Man and Galaga in the early 1980s but I was seriously lousy at both of them, a bonafide quarter-drainer. No, my talent was in pinball. I’d try to get barroom Olympics going around the pinball tables. Succeeded for a while there in the mid ’80s up here in Syracuse. Sigh. Now I’m nostalgic. I’m going to experience an emotional tilt, Liz.

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      • well, then. Have I got a post for you: http://funnynamesblog.com/2014/04/29/roscoe-e-rodda-bob-born-born-of-sam-born-and-their-peeps/

        I always follow our local contest, but what a kick to judge one! When my youngest had her first birthday, I put a peep on top of her cake, then surrounded the cake with cupcakes and put one peep on each. Thought it was so cute and was going to send a picture to the Peeps website. But when I went to the site I saw that my little “flower” was nothing compared to what was out there. Yes, folks get so very creative!

        I do not know galaga–must google. And I will be watching for a Pinball movie. If they can do bricks falling from the top of a screen, they can do a small ball shooting all over a large board with holes. Think of the possibilities.

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      • Your Peeped-out first birthday cake-and-cups is an awesome idea, Liz.

        And now I am going to dream about being stuck inside a big pinball machine, avoiding balls, flippers and holes. I just know I am. Who’s going to be stuck in there with me? Hmmmm?

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  10. i really have absolutely no desire to see any of these, and was always a horrible video game player, so no high scores to report unfortunately. that being said, movies based on video games will always make a fortune )

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  11. I got no dog in this hunt. I haven’t played a videogame since about 1983. Isn’t “Fast and Furious” pretty much a version of Pole Position or whatever car flipping over, going fast games there are? I imagine a movie version of Frogger would be bad, but not as bad as “Chariots of Fire,” which we tried to watch last week, and fell into boredom comas and threw the VHS at the wall to make it go away.

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  12. It’s been a long time since i’ve done any gaming. I find it hard to wrap my mind around a Tetris or Angry Birds movie. Thanks for the entertainment update Mark.

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  14. Can’t help feeling they’ll turn anything into a movie these days, if they think they can make a pile of dosh out of it! Does anyone even play Angry Birds any more? Even my sons have long since moved on!

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  15. Thank you for this! I haven’t been in the right mindset to address this, but Tetris? Really? And I love that game, can play for hours straight, yet the idea of a movie is just beyond logic.

    Maybe they can turn “Spy Hunter” into a movie. Oh, wait, we already have James Bond. Close enough.

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