Wii vs. PS3? Screw it, let's watch a movie!

Over the past few weeks thousands of rabid videogame fans have flocked to their respective video game retailer and attempted to pick up either a Wii or a PS3. While videogames are fun, it just seems like a big to do over nothing. Yes, the Wii is fun and the PS3 is overhyped & destined for failure by using yet another doomed format, but who cares? Something far more important to debate is who makes worse video game movies, Uwe Boll or Paul W.S. Anderson? There are plenty of other people to debate the console wars, it just makes for a topical jumping off point for today's list. My favorite video game themed movies... The Wizard This movie was the bees knees when I was 10. When it recently got rereleased on DVD I gave it another look and suprisingly it's still pretty fun. I hadn't realized how many of the jokes in that film had gone over my head when I was a kid, and in hindsight the film is definitely more of a family drama than a comedy. The stuff that definitely made an impression when I was a kid, turned out to be the cheesiest stuff in the movie, i.e. the power glove scene, the kid knowing how to find a secret whistle in a game, and Beau Bridges playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I remember the ad campaign for Kids said that film was what kids did when parents weren't looking, I'd have to say the Wizard is a good depiction of what kids in my neighborhood were doing. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children I'm the first to admit, this movie is very, very, very confusing. But it's also very, very, very pretty. The rich detail in this animation makes this just a fun watch. If you've played Final Fantasy VII the story makes a little more sense, but not a whole lot. And man are those some huge swords. Just gigantic. This is from the same people that made Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, and the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris, if only they could have made the sequels half that good. The director is the same guy who directed the PS2 game Kingdom Hearts 2, which a game director making a movie might explain some of the gaps in story. Tron The be all, end all of video game movies. Another Bridges plays an uber gamer (see how I brought that back) who gets sucked into a computer world where he is forced to compete in competitions from the viseo games he has created in the real world. This movie is unbelivably rad. The graphics were the cutting edge when the film was made, and oddly enough I think they're perfect for the film. Even if you made this movie today I would hope the visuals would be close to the same. I'm just as much a fan of this movie now as I was when I saw it when I was a kid.  Joysticks This is far from the greatest movie ever made, but it is incredibly fun to watch. Goofy and laid back like most of the teen movies from the early 80's, this movie is just great. An arcade crew rallies to keep from being shut down by the man. This movie sticks with me because I saw it in a double feature with DC Cab when I was younger. My parents wouldn't let me watch Simpsons, but I got to see Joysticks and Porky's, weird. Grandma's Boy  This movie came earlier this year and has a certain charm to it. A game tester is trying to move on to game creating and ends up moving in with his grandma, hilarity ensues. Linda Cardellini is at her most adorable, so Freaks and Geeks fans should check it out, and it has very solid supporting performances from Jonah Hill and Nick Swardson. The DDR scene is incredibly funny. The characters are rich and funny, even if the story is light and fluffy. At times it also seems like the movie doesn't know if it wants to be a stoner comedy or Revenge of the Nerds level goodness.   Joysticks, The Wizard, Tron, and Advent Children are all in Joysticks upstairs (in the psychotronic room) Grandma's Boy is in Comedy