by John Carle, Nov 25 2013 // 8:09 AM

When the original Kinect launched in 2010, it is safe to say the peripheral had a share of flaws. It wasn’t as detailed as one would expect and couldn’t detect hands and fingers the way it was originally designed to. It also had a hard time reading individuals under a certain height. Considering Microsoft was trying to drive kids to play games like Kinectimals with the controllerless gaming, that was up there in the list of top functionality f&#* ups from them.
One that also seemed to be an issue was the rumor that the Kinect also had trouble reading people with darker skin tone. This lead to the premise that the Kinect was actually racist.
The team at Whiskey and Waffles joined up with Sandwich Productions (because the combination just sounded too damn tasty to ignore) and created the mocumentary simply entitled Racist XBox. We were thrilled with the end result and just how awesome WallE looked as a forensic scientist. We won’t spoil anything here but I will say there is a little bit of mature language so I wouldn’t go showing this to your 10 year old.
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Posted in: Comedy · Documentary · Games · News · Video Games · Whiskey & Waffles · Whiskey and Waffles · Xbox 360 · YouTube
Tagged: Comedy, Documentary, Kinect, Microsoft, Mocumentary, Racism, Racist, Whiskey & Waffles, Whiskey and Waffles, XBox, Xbox 360, XBox Kinect
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by Joe Gillis, Oct 29 2013 // 8:00 AM

It’s not all drama, action and explosions around here, we also like to learn a little something too when we can. So, when a documentary that helps explain the motives and psyche of various DC super villains is available, we take notice.
The documentary in question is called Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC Entertainment. It “explores the thin line between right and wrong, the nature of evil and how super-villains can reflect society’s dark side as well as our own personal fears. It also offers keen insight as to the reasons why comic book fans are so fascinated by the very characters they hope to see defeated.”
“Featuring interviews with such luminaries as directors Richard Donner (Superman), Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim) and Zack Snyder (Man of Steel), the film focuses on DC Comics’ most terrifying villains, including The Joker, Lex Luthor, Bane, Black Adam, Black Manta, Catwoman, Darkseid, Deathstroke, Doomsday, General Zod, Sinestro, the Suicide Squad, and more.”
Sounds good to us. Check out the trailer after the break and look for Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics on Blu-ray now.
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Posted in: Comics · DC · News · Trailers
Tagged: Comics, DC, Documentary, Movies, Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics, Video, Warner Bros
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by Stephanie Coats, Aug 9 2013 // 10:00 AM

Only five days after hitting the web, the Vlogumentary trailer is approaching 800,000 views. The documentary about video blogging is directed by Corey Vidal, and executive produced by Shay Carl. The two veteran vloggers released the trailer during a main stage presentation at last week’s VidCon 2013 to thunderous applause and plenty of tears.
Vlogumentary, which was previously titled I’m Vlogging Here, looks to be a poignant and honest portrayal of the impact of web video. The film explores the beginnings of many of the most popular YouTube channels as well as the art of vlogging.
Prominent YouTubers such as John and Hank Green (Vlogbrothers), Grace Helbig (Daily Grace), Toby Turner (Tobuscus) and many more are featured alongside dozens of lesser-known vloggers. Vlogumentary is set to release later this year.
Take a look after the break.
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Posted in: Announcements · Documentary · Geek · News · Trailers · Video · Web · YouTube
Tagged: Corey Vidal, Documentary, Grace Helbig, Hank Green, I'm Vlogging Here, John Green, Shay Carl, Tobuscus, Trailer, vidcon 2013, Vlogumentary, YouTube
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by John Carle, Feb 22 2013 // 10:00 AM

Most of what you have seen in the past on the Kickstarter Watch has been gaming related. For the most part, we don’t even get a chance to look at every Kickstarter campaign email that gets sent to us because there are so many out there. But when we got the press release about Legends of the Knight using Kickstarter to help them finish off production, there was something special about this project that made us click through and watch the trailer (which you can see embedded at the bottom of this article).
Growing up as lifelong comics fans, it was impossible to not know who Batman was. Whether you were a Marvel guy or even didn’t like Superman because he was just too powerful, almost everyone in or around the industry has a soft spot for the Batman.
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Posted in: Announcements · Comics · Dark Knight Rises · DC · DC Entertainment · Documentary · Kickstarter Watch · Movies
Tagged: Batman, Brett Culp, Comics, DC, dc comics, Documentary, kickstarter, Kickstarter Watch, Legends of the Knight, Movies
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by John Carle, Jan 21 2013 // 11:00 AM

You have to love Instant Netflix. On those late nights where you can’t fall asleep, it just seems to know exactly what to recommend to you to help you pass the time. But this isn’t about Instant Netflix, though I do thank it for the recommendation. This is about Indie Game: The Movie.
Indie Game: The Movie takes place with three indie developers who are in three very different situations with their games. The men behind Braid, Super Meat Boy and Fez are all profiled in this documentary exploring the world of indie development and the trials associated with it.
Jonathan Blow talks about life after having a successful indie release with Braid and the effect it has had on him. Team Meat, a duo comprised of Edmund McMillen and Michael Refenes, are shown from midway through their development process until the release of Super Meat Boy on XBox Live. Finally, Phil Fish chronicles the trials and tribulations he went through in the extended development process of Fez.
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Posted in: Documentary · Games · Indie · Movies · News · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Braid, Documentary, Edmund McMillen, Fez, Indie, Indie Game: The Movie, Indie Games, Jonathan Blow, Michael Refenes, Phil Fish, Super Meat Boy, Team Meat
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by Nat Almirall, Apr 13 2012 // 3:00 PM
I’m a Bob Marley fan, but I wasn’t ready for a two-and-a-half-hour documentary on the guy. I liked director Kevin MacDonald’s other stuff, particularly The Last King of Scotland and Life in a Day, but, again, two-and-a-half hours.
And while the time doesn’t fly by, it does hold your interest. There’s the standard talking heads you always see in a movie like this, but instead of each and every one endlessly talking about how much of an influence Marley was, MacDonald does the opposite and focuses more on the personal details and experiences that directly influenced Marley.
The film opens in Ghana, with a guide taking the camera through a tour of an old slave port. He stops at an ancient wooden door. “When the blacks passed through this door,” he says, “they knew they would never be coming back, that’s why it’s called ‘The Door of No Return.’” We’re then whisked to the shanty town of Nine Mile, Marley’s home town, and the story of his early life begins. Many of the details will come as a surprise—for example, I never knew his father was a white, English captain in the Royal Marines, nor did I know his father was 60 years old when he married Marley’s 18-year-old mother.
Interviews with Marley’s friends, cousins, band members, aunt, and mother reveal a man who struggled with his mixed race and saw music as his only way out of poverty. A lesser director would have several interviewees reiterating that point to drive it home, but here many of MacDonald’s interviews are conducted on location, so when we see one of Marley’s cousins leaning against an outside bar worked into a dilapidated shack, nursing his Guinness and puffing on half a cigarette while a stray dog runs by, we only need to hear it once, and the point has already been made by what we’ve seen.
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Bob Marley, Cedella Marley, Chris Blackwell, Documentary, Junior Marvin, Kevin MacDonald, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Magnolia Pictures, Neville Bunny, Reggae, Rita Anderson, Ziggy Marley
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by Grace Suh, Feb 10 2012 // 12:00 PM

This extraordinary documentary Pina by German filmmaker Wim Wenders (justly nominated for an Academy Award) on the choreographer Pina Bausch, his countryman, near-contemporary and fellow visionary, was a long time in coming. An artistic collaboration had been planned for some time but in an instance of epic bad timing, Bausch died just two days before filming was to have begun, having been diagnosed with cancer only five days previously.
The movie is thus haunted by the specter of death and of aging, compounded by the fact that many company members had been with Bausch for twenty-plus years. This theme is stated in the opening piece (returned to periodically in the duration of the movie), in which a long line of dancers chants Fruhling…Sommer…Herbst…Winter as they snake along a train platform, behind and onto a stage and later, on a wind-blown hilltop.
The Tanztheater German expressionist influence is clear in their affects, which ride the line between ecstasy and despair. Are they smiling in the face of death, or ruefully acknowledging that life and death march on regardless?
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Documentary, Movies, Pina, Pina Bausch, Reviews, Rite of Spring, Wim Wenders
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by Jonathan Weilbaecher, Nov 10 2011 // 1:30 PM

The X-Men are a cornerstone franchise, the popularity of the book from the 70’s through the 80’s and it’s domination in the 90’s have helped shape an entire generation of artists and storytellers. The man behind most of that legacy is Chris Claremont, one of the most prolific creators in comic history. Now the story of his legendary run on Uncanny X-Men is being told as a documentary and you have a chance to help fund it.
Sequart and Respect Films are putting together the documentary and have set up a kickstarter page looking for funding from true believers like you. If successful, this documentary would be the first in a series of docs that focus on iconic series and creators that are worth telling, but likely would struggle to be big enough for a feature length doc.
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Posted in: Announcements · Comics · Documentary · Marvel · Movies · News · Video
Tagged: Announcments, Chris Claremont, Documentary, kickstarter, Marvel, Movies, News, respect films, sequart, xmen
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by Chris Ullrich, Sep 8 2011 // 10:00 AM
For me and many of my friends, one of our endless debates will always be: Star Trek or Star Wars? Like Coke vs. Pepsi, Ginger vs. Mary Ann or Mac vs. Windows, geeks always have a fun time debating the merits of their favorite things.
One of those favorite things celebrating a milestone today is Gene Roddenberry’s venerable franchise Star Trek. 45 years ago today the show first aired on NBC and from that moment on it spawned generations of devoted fans and turned into a worldwide phenomenon beloved by millions of people all over the world.
To help celebrate that milestone, the Science Channel is working with Gene Roddenberry’s only son, Rod Roddenberry, to produce the world premiere documentary, Trek Nation.
According to the Science Channel, the film “shadows Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod, as he explores his family legacy and the crusade his father’s passion and curiosity for exploration. Through interviews with his most devoted fans, including George Lucas and J.J. Abrams, Trek Nation follows a son searching for the wisdom of his father.”
Sounds pretty interesting. Think I’ll give it a look.
Trek Nation is set to air on Wednesday, November 30 only on Science Channel. Check out a new clip from the doc after the break.
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Posted in: Documentary · News · Science Channel · Star Trek
Tagged: Documentary, Gene Roddenberry, Rod Roddenberry, Sci-Fi, Science Channel, Star Trek, Star Trek 45th Anniversary, Trek Nation, TV
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by Nat Almirall, Jun 29 2011 // 11:00 AM

The Last Mountain of the title refers to Coal River Mountain, an area in West Virginia being mined by the Massey Energy company. Massey has a long history of violations, as the villagers below are quick to point out—creating lakes of toxic goo that threaten to pollute the waterways of West Virginia and other states; unsafe mining practices that likely caused brain cancer in several residents, union busting, profiteering, global warming and so on.
Director Bill Haney (The Price of Sugar) provides an informative summary of the dangers of Massey Energy’s practices with first-hand accounts from Coal Mountain locals as well as experts. It’s well-researched and articulate, and yes, it’s a problem. But that’s where The Last Mountain stops being informative and Haney’s contempt for Massey takes over.
It gets points for criticizing democrats and republicans alike, but it ultimately lets politicians like West Virginia governor Joe Manchin and Obama off the hook while taking aim at Massey CEO Don Blankenship. Sure, Blankenship may be a crook, but I doubt the filmmakers believe that the next guy in line will act any differently, so what’s the point in vilifying him?
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Posted in: Documentary · Movies · Reviews
Tagged: Bill Haney, Bill Raney, Bo Webb, Dada Productions, David Aaron Smith, Documentary, Don Blankenship, Ed Wiley, Jennifer Hall-Massey, Joe Lovett, Lorelei Scarbro, Maria Gunnoe, Peter Rhodes, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Susan Bird, The Last Mountain, Uncommon Films
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