There was a certain theme running through the third Conan show from Majestic Theatre in Dallas: homoeroticism. It all started just after the opening monologue, when Conan O'Brien decided to take a ride on Andy Richter's podium, which doubles as a mechanical bull, while Richter was still on it:
The theme continued with another pre-taped bit in which O'Brien took producer Jordan Schlansky, a self-proclaimed metrosexual, to get a cowboy makeover at Chick Elms Western store in Stephenville:
A seemingly innocuous bit in which other states decided to mess with Texas joined the party by having men dressed in skintight suits and their respective states go at it in a wrestling ring:
O'Brien seemed to be stuck in that mode, as one of the topics of conversation with Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory, who's not exactly known for being a hunk, was how good he looked with his shirt off:
Wednesday night's catapult basketball shot at AT&T Stadium included a piñata filled with brisket, armadillo roadkill and a referee:
The night ended with the Eli Young Band, who hail from Denton, performing their song "Dust" from their just-released fifth album, 10,000 Towns:
They also performed "Drunk Last Night" as a web exclusive:
O'Brien welcomes Charles Barkley and Lyle Lovett for the final Dallas show on Thursday.
The third Conan show in Dallas was filled with veiled and not-so-veiled homoeroticism.
Photo courtesy of TBS
The third Conan show in Dallas was filled with veiled and not-so-veiled homoeroticism.
Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Sebastian Hansen in A Minecraft Movie.
One reason the majority of movies based on video games have failed is because their filmmakers didn’t understand how to translate the appeal of the game to the relatively-limited storytelling ability of film. Players can often spend hundreds of hours in the world of a video game, and trying to condense that experience down into 90-120 minutes is close to an impossible task.
Minecraft, a sandbox adventure game which contains countless possibilities for its players, turns out to be the exact right type of game to turn into a movie, at least in the proper hands. A Minecraft Movie is completely and gloriously ridiculous from beginning to end, with the filmmakers - led by director Jared Hess - understanding that to make a movie about a game in which (almost) anything can happen, you have to match that energy.
And so they tell an uproarious story in which Steve (Jack Black) is a miner on Earth who discovers a portal to the Overworld (aka the world of Minecraft) where everything from animals to plants to food is made up of blocks. After getting trapped in the Nether, a dangerous, hell-like dimension, he sends his trusty dog back to Earth with the cube that opens the portal between Earth and the Overworld.
Through a hilarious series of events too detailed to properly explain here, the cube falls into the hands of ‘80s video game legend Garett Garrison (Jason Momoa). When Henry (Sebastian Hansen), a 14-year-old who’s just moved to town with his sister, Natalie (Emma Myers), discovers the cube at Garett’s store, the two of them - along with Natalie and local realtor Dawn (Danielle Brooks) - get pulled into the Overworld as well.
Usually when a film is written by a team of five writers, as is the case here, it’s a sign that the screenplay will be less than cohesive. While they didn’t manage to come up with a comprehensible story, they do fill the running time with as many gags as possible, a strategy that pays off handsomely. Taking the creative ethos of Minecraft and amplifying it immeasurably, the film features too many off-the-wall jokes to know where to begin.
The connections between the human characters are about as random as can be, and yet due to the nature of the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach, they develop a strong bond nonetheless. Steve and Garett are both pompous characters whose egos are the sources for much of their humor. Henry and Natalie bring the heart, while Dawn complements the group well despite not really fitting in with everyone else.
Of course, the whole point of making A Minecraft Movie is to pay tribute to the game, and they are able to throw plenty of bones to the gamers while still entertaining anyone who’s never played it. They incorporate the essentials of the game like building massive structures, crafting items, and interacting with creatures (aka mobs), but in such a fun and engaging way that it doesn’t really matter if a lot of it doesn’t make complete sense.
Black’s style of acting is one you either love or hate, and this might be the epitome of a Jack Black performance. He dials up virtually every line he delivers, a manic tour-de-force that sets the tone for everyone and everything else in the film. Momoa is also great, delving into comedy in a way he rarely has before and succeeding mightily. Hansen and Myers both work well, giving the film the youthful feel it required, and while Brooks is mostly along for the ride, she gets in a few good scenes of her own.
Could A Minecraft Movie now take the throne as the best adaptation of a video game ever? That’s purely subjective, but the way Hess and his team put the pedal to the metal from minute one and never let up, it certainly deserves to be part of the conversation. It’s a silly, fast-moving romp that works both as an homage to the game and as a stand-alone movie.
