A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

Layton and Luke are invited to a mysterious opera called “The Eternal Kingdom”

From the get-go, it is pretty clear that one of the main objectives of making the film was marketing the Professor Layton puzzle games. The DVD opens briskly with a trailer for Professor Layton and the Lost Future (you should skip it, if you haven’t finished the game yet!). But what about the movie itself? Is it more than just a marketing tool?
Can it stand on its own? (more…)

If I was to pick one favorite movie, then that movie would be totally Brazil. For your information, I’m not a Terry Gilliam fanboy in any sense, but this movie, in my honest opinion, is a work of genius.

WHAT IS IT?

Brazil is a movie released in 1985 and is widely known because of the battle Terry Gilliam fought against Universal, finally succeeding in convincing the studio to release his intended version. The film is based a lot in George Orwell’s 1984, but in a more funny and retro-futuristic way.

WHAT GENRE?

Brazil is one of those films hard to define, I could say it’s a Sci-Fi Satire, but some people found it tragic at points, I personally cried at the end. I can say it’s very nostalgic look at the 80′s and a very sad projection of the humanity’s future. It can be said that Brazil is standing exactly in the middle between Comedy and Drama, being neither. (more…)

This is one of my favorite movies, regardless of the fact that it’s an anime. It also happened to be the movie to  introduce me to the genius of Satoshi Kon, but let’s take it from the start. For those who haven’t seen the movie, feel free to read as there aren’t any spoilers.
(more…)

Beware of the apeman in the train – it wants to drain your brain!

That’s a great piece of practical wisdom you can learn from the 1973 Spanish horror flick Horror Express starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas (sic!). Halloween is over… but if you’re sad about it, why not watch a good horror to cheer yourself up?

It’s 1906. During the digs in Szechuan mountains in China prof Alexander Saxton (more…)

Following our recent review of a disturbing horror production, I decided to write about a disturbing horror production of a different sort – a certain indie anime feature film.  I know what you’re thinking – anime films trying to shock the viewer with all sorts of nastiness and breaking all sorts of taboos are actually dime a dozen, but rarely offer anything interesting beyond having those ambitions. Midori aka Shoujo Tsubaki is different. For once, it was all written, drawn and animated in the course 5 years by a single man – a certain Hiroshi Harada, who was a recognized professional animator in the 70s and 80s, but grew disgruntled over the conservatism of the big studios and went solo once he was able to afford it. (more…)

Back to The Future with a female lead and an old scarf instead of a DeLorean…

Yet another stopmotion animation short of mine that you can watch for free
(more…)

Things just got more complicated, partner!

Somehow almost all my entries seem to go along with cartoony pictures. It’s hard to stay serious in such circumstances. Thankfully I have now dabbled in a realistic, gritty, FMV whodunit adventure game series called Casebook and am able to offer you a taste of something much more dark and realistic for a change. Dedicated especially to fans of solving crimes through methodical clue and evidence gathering and patience-demanding forensic work.

(more…)