Sometimes no matter how bad an idea sounds, you still want to hope for the best. When it was announced Joel Schumacher, of all directors, would be helming Eight Millimeter, which was a great script by Andrew Kevin Walker, the writer of Se7en, I tried to convince myself that maybe somehow it would wind up a good movie. Having read the script two years before the movie was made, and then seeing the finished result in the theaters, I was so infuriated at how Schumacher completely screwed up what could have been a great thriller in the hands of a good director, I felt like ripping my chair out of the floor and hurling it at the screen.

After seeing the promising trailer for Rob Zombie’s Halloween at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, it gave me some hope that, well, maybe it won’t be so bad after all. Then several months later when Halloween was the cover story in Fangoria, and I saw that in Zombie’s version Michael Myers’ mother, played by his wife Sheri Moon Zombie, is a stripper, my hopes crashed into the basement.

The reviews for the new Halloween have mostly been terrible, and the fan boys have been gloating that their prophecy of doom came true. “I Told Ya So!,” read the headline on Aint-It-Cool-News. Yet I find it hard to blast Zombie out of hand for this like many fans are doing. More than hate or anger, my state of mind over this latest remake of a horror classic can only be described as unfortunate.

As I wrote in a previous blog last May, I don’t think Zombie’s a hack. I wasn’t thrilled with House of a Thousand Corpses, but I couldn’t totally dismiss Zombie’s movie debut because it was clear to me the film was made by someone who was technically skilled, and was following his own vision. I still believe Zombie has a lot of potential as a filmmaker, but I also feel a remake of Halloween is the wrong venue for him.

No matter how good Zombie’s take could have been, the shadow of the original is too strong to step out of. A director who is capable of doing something original shouldn’t be working on what’s essentially a cynical cash grab. The critics have also pointed out that Zombie’s sensibilities, like giving Michael Myers a back story, and giving the characters coarse, trailer trash dialog that fits better in his own films instead of a Halloween movie, worked against what Carpenter had previously set up in the original, ultimately canceling itself out.

Not that John Carpenter is totally blameless here either. In MovieMaker magazine, he joked that the people who showed up to the set of the new Halloween and protested it were “homeless people…Those are my only fans. They all live under freeways.” He also couldn’t understand why the fans weren’t happy about Zombie, but weren’t unhappy about Rick Rosenthal, who directed Halloween II and Halloween: Resurrection. Ah, John, if you’re reading this, we’re fans of yours here at Tom’s. We don’t live on the streets, we weren’t happy with the Halloween sequels either, and there are more fans of you and your work out there than you realize.

MovieMaker also pointed out that Kurt Russell, who we’re also big fans of here at Tom’s, isn’t thrilled about the upcoming remakes of Escape From New York and The Thing, which back in the day Carpenter was blasted for remaking, and now his remake is a classic in its own right. Carpenter replied that Russell is “very passionate about what he’s done in his career and the characters he’s created. I’m a little more cynical.”

The horror fans especially hold their favorite films near and dear to their hearts,
but in all fairness, this isn’t as blasphemous as remaking Citizen Kane, or even more appropriately in this case, Psycho in color. The original Halloween was made by gang of filmmakers who wanted to make the best movie they could on a $320,000 budget. Certainly no one working on it thought it would become an untouchable classic, or that it would one day wind up in the Library of Congress.

Carpenter’s vision as a filmmaker elevated Halloween from what could have been a standard drive-in flick into a well-crafted shocker. It certainly didn’t cry out to be remade or improved, and in the scares department, it would still be tough to surpass. As remake mania swept through the horror world, the late Bob Clark actually tried to stop his classic Black Christmas from being remade because he felt it couldn’t be improved (the even more unfortunate remake, which did indeed get made against everyone’s wishes, certainly proved him right).

As writer / director Don Coscarelli recently told Rue Morgue magazine, he’s been offered to remake his 1979 horror classic Phantasm, and could probably make big bucks from it, but for right now he won’t allow it to be remade out of respect for the fans. Why couldn’t Carpenter do this for Halloween?

Ultimately, the powers that be will point to the film’s opening weekend box office success, laugh at the fans who are boycotting the film, and dismiss them as pathetic geeks who need to get a life. And win, lose or draw, it looks like this will be the only Halloween revival. Rob Zombie said he won’t be back for another, and Bob Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter, “I never say never never…but it would have to be something very, very different.” What, no Halloween II remake? No one wants to try Halloween III with a different title to see if it works as a non-Halloween film?!

Funny enough, Carpenter may have the last laugh here. This remake has ultimately proven what the cheesy, mad slasher films of the ’80’s proved decades ago. The original Halloween has been imitated many times, but it has yet to be equaled.

Dead Heads and tie-dyed music lovers can rejoice: the Grateful Dead is joining Harmonix’s Rock Band. MTV Games, which owns Harmonix, and Rhino Entertainment announced this week that the legendary band will be featured in the new music game Rock Band. And the best part is, the Dead won’t just have one or two tracks on the highly anticipated video game. The Dead will have a whopping 18 songs for Rock Band. So what are some of the tracks?

It seems that young Shia LaBeouf - star of Transformers and next summer's new Indiana Jones film - revealed the title of the movie during the MTV Video Music Awards last night. The title was later confirmed by the official site. The next Indiana Jones adventure will be called...

Yep. It's a tad long. I can hear some of you pups claiming that it's no longer than "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" but us older folks know that the name was only retconned to that in later years so that all the Indy movies would sit together on the shelf in video stores that sorted alphabetically. Originally it was just "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

I like the title. It sounds like a video game. That's probably because any Indiana Jones title that isn't one of the three from the movies will sound like a videogame until the film comes out and becomes part of the canon. What's most important is that it sounds like "Indiana Jones". "Kingdom", "Skull", "Crystal" - all great Indy buzz words. It doesn't fit with what I've heard about the story; not at all. That's fine because aliens and atomic bombs don't sound very "Indiana Jones". I put my faith completely - perhaps foolishly - in Spielberg and Lucas to deliver a quality movie.

We won't get any more Sallah or Henry Jones, Sr. but the inclusion of Cate Blanchett, LaBeouf, John Hurt, and the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood go a long way towards a good film. Is Harrison Ford too old for this? No. Luckily he's the exact same age as Indiana Jones and always will be.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released on May 22, 2008.

As a kid in the early eighties I spent a lot of time - and a great deal of my dad's money - in arcades. When TRON came out in 1982 it felt like someone had finally recognized the growing popularity of arcades and video games. Unfortunately the movie bombed in the theaters and the TRON arcade game actually outgrossed the movie. With 20 years of hindsight people started to look back at TRON and see some revolutionary ideas. There was talk of a sequel. There's been talk of a sequel ever since. There's talk of a sequel again.

Hollywood Reporter ran a story today saying that commercial director Joseph Kosinski is in the process of signing on to develop and direct a new TRON movie. Steven Lisberger, the original writer and director of TRON, is producing and said to be working with Kosinski on the development. Now before you break out your TRON costumes and frisbees and get in line remember that this is very early in the process. No footage has been shot. No actors have been cast. For all we know there isn't a finished script.

The rumors of a TRON 2 were especially rampant when the 20th Anniversary DVD of TRON was released in 2002 with some subtle and subliminal advertising for a second TRON story. That advertising turned out to be for the TRON 2.0: Killer App video game but there was some concept art in the DVD special features for a second movie. The rumored story at the time was being called Apocalypse Now with Flynn - Jeff Bridges character from the original film - in place of Colonel Kurtz having placed himself in the videogame world as a man-god-program. I got to tell you...that story sounded damn good.

I think the hope was that TRON 2.0: Killer App would drum up enough interest to get another movie off the ground, but it didn't work out that way. The game itself was very good using the Lithtech engine to render the TRON world with glowing light and very little textures. The level design was extraordinary and the game did an excellent job of portraying the world of TRON after 20 years had passed. Unfortunately despite positive reviews the game didn't sell very well.

So here we are with more news on a new TRON movie. I'll believe it when I see a trailer. I expect, almost on cue, the fanboys to start prognosticating about how the movie will suck and how their childhood will be raped again but I'm not so pessimistic. A new TRON movie would kick ass. I just hope it actually gets made this time.

This is not good. Last week Valve made the announcement on the Steam page that if you pre-purchased The Orange Box - which includes the full version of Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, Portal, and 10 levels of Peggle Extreme - for $45 you'd get to play the Team Fortress 2 beta "next week". That's great but the announcement specifically said Monday September 17th. It's almost 11pm EST Monday night and my Team Fortress 2 still says, "Pre-load complete; unreleased".

At midnight on Sunday the forum posts started on the Team Fortress 2 section of the Steam page. Gamers were sitting at their computers waiting... Waiting for that first opportunity to play one of the most infamous vaporware titles in PC gaming history. Of course nothing happened and no official word from Valve on when they were planning to unlock it. Time went on. The hardcore Valve fans grew anxious. Forget the fact that a Team Fortress 2 title has been in development and available for pre-purchase through several game retailers since around 1999, Valve had asked for money in exchange for the open beta and promised it on a date.

The hours grew late with no official word from Valve, no news update on the site, and the forum was responding with spirit-crushing dial-up slowness. People were getting angry. Forum posters talked about how they had taken the day off to play, canceled plans, and skipped school just to get on the TF2 servers as soon as possible. I realize that those are the postings of the Valve acolytes and that Valve can't be blamed for how their customers opt to spend their days but if it wasn't going to be ready by Monday why post the actual date? "Next week" was the headline and it could have been clarified once everything was in the "go" category. I didn't troll the forums all day constantly refreshing so I could have missed an official post here or there - perhaps a moderator update - but throughout the day I never saw anyone reference it and I never saw a sticky thread hit the page with that information. Besides this is not something you bury in a forum. If you could take the time to post the story about the pre-purchase then you can take the time to post something on the Steam news page that the TF2 beta isn't happening as planned.

The Steam client is up and it's even been updated today (as has the website detailing the changes). No mention of Team Fortress 2. I'm not infuriated like a lot of the people out there, but I do see a problem. Unfortunately a great deal of the shooter fans are straight blowing up right now. These are Valve's biggest supporters - the Disciples, the missionaries, the guys who carry the banner of Steam, Half-Life, and CounterStrike into the perilous corners of the globe. Gamers are not particularly patient in any case but promise them something, take some money, and then not deliver? Ouch... I would not want to moderate that forum.

This isn't the first time Steam has been slow to unlock a purchase. I bought BioShock through Steam as well. I wasn't expecting it to unlock at midnight the day it was available but it was late in the afternoon when it finally unlocked. Was I able to play it? No. Despite the fact that the entire game was pre-loaded I had to wait another hour or so for the files to all unlock on my computer. Bad form, Valve. I could have - perhaps should have - gone to a store at lunchtime and bought it. I'd have been playing it sooner (DRM issues aside).

I worked in IT so I know that things come up at the last minute that can destroy any planned launch. However I also know that when that happens the first thing - the VERY first thing - you do is communicate with the customers that there is a problem and it is being worked on. If the problem isn't fixed in a matter of hours you give them an update. You keep them in the loop. Valve not communicating anything about why their hardcore fans are being denied Team Fortress 2 today is tantamount to a slap in the face. I am only mildly inconvenienced by it but the ravenous animals snarling at the gate will not be placated so easily. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "It'll probably go up tomorrow. What's one day?" To these guys it's being 10 years old and having to wait until the 26th to open your presents. I wonder how many people will go back to Valve for a refund.

You first read about it here on Tom's Games, "Soldiers of the Dead" that is, the underground comic by Paul Fusco. As you’ll read here, screenwriter Paul Fusco wrote an original zombie tale of a man fighting off the undead in a hostile jungle environment (Fusco calls it "Black Hawk Down" meets "Aliens"). These are no Romero zombies. They’re created by voodoo, and our hero learns you gotta fight voodoo with voodoo.

I’m conflicted about World in Conflict (pun intended). I’ve been playing the new PC game steadily over the last week, and on one hand, I can’t pull myself away from it. Set during a hypothetical Soviet invasion and World War III scenario in 1989, Massive Entertainment’s new real-time strategy game is full of epic battles, eye-popping graphics and keen gameplay with a story and production values that really sucks you in. But on the other hand, after playing several hours of World in Conflict, I’m coming to the surprising conclusion that the PC game isn’t really an RTS.

In a recent issue of Guitar World, the cover invited you to test your knowledge in the ultimate guitar quiz, 666 questions in all. With the imminent release of the next Guitar Hero game, and this current ish of Guitar World, it made me think of what could be some cool, fun, trivia for the readers of Tom’s who are also rockers.

If you’ve been to a Guitar Center lately, you may have seen an exact replica that’s been made of Eddie Van Halen’s famous red and white striped guitar, known as the “Frankenstein” because it was cobbled together from spare parts. The replica is going for $25,000 (!), but did you Ed bought the original neck and body for $80.00? Did you also know he painted his home made guitars with Schwinn bicycle acrylic lacquer (several coats per guitar)? He also kept the frets from popping out with Krazy Glue.

Steve Lukather, the reknowned guitarist for Toto and top studio musician in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, has played with everyone from Paul McCartney, to Michael Jackson at his peak with Thriller, to Don Henley. Lukather thought he could play with anyone, but what was the one gig he had a tough time accepting (an album by Richard Simmons). Speaking of high profile sessions, you’ve certainly heard the great guitar solo Eddie Van Halen laid down on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (that’s Lukather on rhythm guitar). Do you know how much money Ed made from playing on that album? Zero, he did it for free.

James Hetfield is one of the best riff masters in metal, but initially he just wanted to concentrate on guitar and songwriting. Do you know who was asked to join Metallica twice as a singer, and turned the gig down twice? John Bush, who sang for Anthrax and L.A. metal mavens Armored Saint. For more Metallica trivia, did you ever hear that the ominous bell at the beginning of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is reputedly a door bell? You may probably also know that Les Claypool from Primus auditioned for Metallica as Cliff Burton's replacement, but didn't get the gig because he was too...funky, and the band was stumped when he showed up to jam and asked if they knew any Isley Brothers tunes.

Here's one I've always wanted to know: Has anyone ever figured out how many times Stairway to Heaven has been played on the radio? It would be interesting to find out how much dough Zeppelin made just off that song's royalties. It's also hard to believe considering how much you hear it on classic rock radio, but did you know at the band's insistence it was never released as a single?

Here’s one for the film buffs: Did you know master poster artist Drew Struzan, who gave us the incredible art for the Star Wars campaigns, also painted the cover of Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare (Cooper posed for the cover in Struzan’s living room).

For the drummers out there, according to an article on Led Zeppelin in Vanity Fair, John Bonham’s drum solos were getting so long, Jimmy Page once had enough time to go to the hotel and back while Bonham played on and on. One time when Iron Maiden were playing their thirteen minute epic Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner in concert, two of the members of Motley Crue came out onstage, set up a table, and started playing cards while the band played on and on. Did you know Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner was a favorite song for D.J.s at the legendary L.A. metal station KNAC to put on when they wanted to sneak out and smoke a joint? (For rock stations in the ‘70’s, the sneak out and get stoned classic for DJs was Freebird)

And do you know the punchlines to these musician jokes? How many guitar players does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Ten, one to screw it in, nine to stand around with their arms crossed saying, “I can do that.” How many lead singers does it take to screw in a light bulb? The lead singer doesn’t screw it in, he puts the bulb in the socket and the world revolves around him. And of course, how many rock journalists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Ten, one to screw it in, nine on the guest list.

If playing Guitar Hero inspires you to pick up the real thing, make sure to pick up Guitar World magazine as well, and put your rock I.Q. to the test.

Today's other big release was supposed to the be the official demo for the most eagerly awaited PC game of the year: Crysis. Electronic Arts and developer Crytek had for some strange reason selected Halo 3's mega launch date to release the demo, but word came recently from Crytek that the demo will be postponed until Oct. 26. While the Crysis beta is currently being enjoyed by many a PC gamers (including two of our own at Tom's Hardware Guide), the rest of the world will have to wait a whole month to get their hands on this precious gem. However, the news wasn't all bad this week as Crytek announced a little something special for the game.

People love the Halo. After Halo 2 made $125 million in it's first 24 hours at a $50 price point, we all knew that Halo 3 would do pretty well at $60 but this comes as a bit of a surprise. The Xbox 360 install base is smaller than that of the original Xbox at the time of Halo 2's release but it looks like all the people who own 360s are Halo fans.

From the press release:

Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game “Halo 3” has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like “Spider-man 3” and novels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

“Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon,” said Neil Thomson, Senior Regional Director, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft UK. “Not only is “Halo 3” setting sales records, it’s also redefining entertainment. Within the first 24 hours alone, we’ve seen more than a million Xbox LIVE members worldwide come online to play Halo 3 – that makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”

You can read our Halo 3 review here.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that people are willing to spend a great deal of money on Halo titles the Halo movie remains in a state of limbo. It is true that Microsoft put some pretty ridiculous stipulations in the movie contract: a $10 million fee for the script, the studio was to stick to rules put in place by the game developers, Microsoft wanted final approval of director an cast, Microsoft executives got full access to the rough footage, and a minimum $75 million budget. But that's what you do when you know you're sitting on a gold mine. Unfortunately it's only a gold mine if the movie gets made.

Microsoft wants the Halo film to break the mold of video game movies. They don't want anything like the D.O.A. or Bloodrayne movies. They want sci-fi Lord of the Rings. I see a big stumbling block that the movie people and the game people will have to overcome - how do they get a big name actor to play the Master Chief when you never get to see his face? You see, actors like the audience to see their face. This is why Spider-Man spends so much time with his mask all torn up or completely off in the Spider-Man movies. The studio will push to have the Chief's helmet removed and I think Halo devotees may see that as some kind of heresy. A big-budget Halo film that follows the game's story could be amazing. Whether we'll ever actually get to see it is another story.

So what does $170 million in 24 hours mean? Will the movie studios give the whole Halo film project another look? Yes. Can we expect a Halo 4? Yes.