Lets put Nathan Fillion to bed.

The Idea of petitioning to cast an actor in a Hollywood film is ridiculous. Regardless of the film, the director must be responsible for primary casting, free from influence by the fans or the studio.

David O Russell is a respectable Director, especially since his Oscar nod for The Fighter (one which should have been given to Christopher Nolan for Inception). It remains to be seen if he can direct a straight action film. He will to have to change Uncharted a lot, it may be a revolutionary game but it is not very original in terms of cinematography or narrative.

Mark Wahlberg would be great with Emily Rose, am I out on a limb with this one?

The announcement that Mark Wahlberg would be cast as Nathan Drake was met with disbelief. After petitioning for Nathan Fillion to get the role it was seen like a slap in the face. This is probably because many gamers associate Wahlberg with Max Payne. All actors get involved in bad films at some time in their career. Wahlberg was unlucky enough to be in a bad film with a big fan-base. (I would liken this to Hayden Christiensen in Star Wars, but he is just a bad actor). Boogie Nights, The Departed and now The Fighter all demonstrate that Wahlberg can turn in a solid, subtle and intense performance. More importantly David O Russell has a better track record than John Moore and I think they will be conscious of the critical and box office failure of Max Payne (Moore has not directed since.)

The success of The Fighter in the Oscar nominations should be a good thing for Uncharted. Columbia pictures will now be keen to cash in on the profile of Wahlberg and O Russel. Hopefully this should translate into O Russel getting greater artistic freedom. This is important because big changes have to be made. A great game doest necessarily translate into a great film and the same can be said of books and films.

Nathan Fillion could never have been Drake, the creative process is not democratic and that’s a good thing. I personally would have like to see Emily Rose get a chance to reprise her role as Elena Fisher but its unrealistic. There’s a bigger picture to be considered. Tron: Legacy was made on positive reaction to the teaser trailer and for all its good will to the fan-base it was boring. The Uncharted film carries a weight of expectation. In its current hands, its probably got the best chance of success you could hope for.

Beacon Bimonthlies 3 – Friday 25 January 2010

Beacon Bimonthlies is an exciting art event where people can experience and discuss art happening around the east midlands. This is my blog for the last event.

Beacon Bimonthlies: Beacon Bimonthlies 3 – Friday 25 January 2010: "The first Beacon Bimonthly of 2011 was held at the Beacon home base in Wellingore. It attracted a large crowd of local residents, artists an..."

The Greestone Group. Photo: Daniel Warren

Reviews, Embargoes and Black Ops

It's the confusingly dated 9/11 in the UK, a date which marks the release of Black Ops. Anyone who knows anything about video games knows what Black Ops is. The core game will be a variation on previous franchise iterations with new maps, game modes and weapons. With so much already known about the game why is it not sent out for review prior to release?

Films are press screened and I don’t think games should be any different. Games might not have the same release window but the launch is still important. A lot of people will want to get the game on day one. With Black Ops under embargo the internet is full of opinion based on trailers and gossip. There needs to be the opportunity to read informed criticism beforehand.

When a film is not press screened it is usually because it is awful. Some games are sent out for review early but it seems to be too infrequent. In the video-games industry the power of advertising outweighs quality criticism and discussion. It seems reviews are only useful to publishers as a promotion tool, unnecessary when a game is ‘guaranteed’ 18 million sales. 


Black Ops will be open to negative criticism for its inherited floors and perceived lack of creativity. If this discussion happened in advance of release it might nullify some of the hype. After millions of people own the game it seems hard for prominent writers to publish unbiased reviews. Individual criticism on the internet is dismissed as reactionary or fan-boyism.

The video game criticism is still growing and faces its own unique problems as an art form. Games need to available for review before release, and maybe more importantly, before sales figures.