RF Cinema: The monthly community game movie discussion

[singlebanana]

I saw this one a while back. Great documentary and worth everyone's time. Don't worry, it won't make you like Phil Fish. 😂

[FatherJack]

Good stuff. Nice to see an insight into programming indie games and the pressures it brings. Nice to see all that effort rewarded in the end.

[zophar53]

Yeah, I can't even imagine the stress of living like that for years on end to not even be sure if people will see your game, let alone actually like and buy it.

[GrayGhost81]

I saw this one a while back. Great documentary and worth everyone's time. Don't worry, it won't make you like Phil Fish. 😂

No joke and no lie at all, I came here to say that I also saw this a while back and it made me like Phil Fish.

[bombatomba]

I saw this one a while back. Great documentary and worth everyone's time. Don't worry, it won't make you like Phil Fish. 😂

No joke and no lie at all, I came here to say that I also saw this a while back and it made me like Phil Fish.

It's been a long time, but what I do remember is that the creators of the film were very effective in delivering their message; by the time the credits rolled I felt for all the designers, and keep in mind this movie was released when "indie" game designers were all the rage, and not a week went by when I didn't feel like the game media weren't trying to cram these people down our collective throats (as if lone, independent designers was a new phenomenon).

I forgot Jim Guthrie did the music for the movie.  Very nice.

[zophar53]

We inturrupt your Super Bowl preparations to bring you the next selection in our movie group. For March, I chose one I've wanted to showcase ever since I made my list a year and a half ago. Judging from the comments on that article, The Thirteenth Floor is a flick that most people either hadn't seen or hadn't even heard of, but were pretty interested in watching. Released in 1999, before The Sims and Second Life became a thing, it tells the tale of a tech company who develops a virtual world modeled after Los Angeles in the 1930s. It's so real that the creator of the simulation starts using it to live a second life of carefree shenanigans. When he turns up dead and one of the simulated people discovers that his world isn't real, things get pretty intriguing.

It's worth noting that the trailers for this movie are a bit strange. Some of them make it seem almost like a horror flick, which in my opinion isn't necessarily representative of the final product. There are some horror elements toward the end, but overall I'd describe The Thirteenth Floor as more of a slightly noir-ish sci-fi film that takes philosophical influence from Philip K. Dick. Also, stay away from the longer trailers (over 2 minutes), as they blatantly reveal the big twist. I can't stand it when studios do that.

[img width=300 height=450]https://i.imgur.com/XnkJ9mV.jpg[/img]

As usual, below are links to the (non-spoilery) trailer for The Thirteenth Floor as well as its IMDB page. This movie was fairly quickly forgotten in the wake of films like The Matrix, which debuted the same year, so I'm not sure how easy it'll be to find in physical format. You can check your local used media store, but the DVD and bluray copies I found on Amazon are way overpriced so I don't recommend going there. Fortunately, it's available digitally on Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, PSN, and the Microsoft Store. Enjoy some football (if that's your thing) and see you next month!

The Thirteenth Floor (1999) on IMDB

The Thirteenth Floor trailer

[zophar53]

I'm a little surprised there haven't been any comments on this one. I'm prepping my piece to write it tonight but don't have any thoughts from the community. Did anyone see this?