RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION And FINDING NEMO 3D Own Box Office

Finally some action at the box office! It's been awhile since a movie has taken the bull by the horns but now we have a couple of 3D movies playing in the rodeo. Both movies have a history of course so that helps too. And are going #1 and #2 for the weekend right now.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION  is the fifth installment of the Resident Evil franchise and it not showing much signs of slowing down at all. In fact, 3D has seemed to inject even further energy into the series starring Milla Jovovich. RE:R took in $8.4 million on Friday and is expected to bring in between $22-25 million this weekend which isn't far from it's last installment that brought in ~$26 million back a couple of years ago.

FINDING NEMO 3D is of course the re-release of the beloved Pixar tale this time being presented in 3D. NEMO brought in $5.1 million on Friday and is looking at a ~$18 - 20 million weekend. If you haven't seen the movie - by all means go see it. Especially in 3D!

So - a great weekend for 3D movie fans and seeing as though these are two movies I have been anxiously awaiting, I'm going to be busy this the next couple of days. Enjoy!

Milla Jovovich Packs Heat In Two New Pics From RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

Click to enlarge

Check out a couple more cool shots of Milla Jovovich in RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION! That must be one hard top to get out of with all those buckles. But she is definitely packing heat dual wielding those suckers, is she not?

Here's the movie's storyline:
The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by new found allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION opens September 14.

Must Watch: Full Trailer For RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

I see an expanded budget here! Looking good too. After the last installment in the franchise I called for more "zombies" and less super-powered creatures and it appears that my wishes are being met! I see hordes of zombies in the new full trailer for RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION and plenty of action, complete with a revisit to Alice's family memories. But were her memories true or implanted?

And of course, Michelle Rodriguez is so welcome back! She needs to stay in future movies please. :-) 

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION is shot in native 3D on 3ality Technica rigs so expect the best in visuals!

Here's the official storyline for the movie:

The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by new found allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION opens on September 14.

MUST SEE: New Poster And Banner For RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

As most of you know, I am a big fan of this franchise. And If you have been following along, then you know that I am also a proponent of having waves and waves of zombies in the way of our heroes. I'm happy to say that because of the trailer it seems that Paul WS. Anderson is doing it the right way! :-)

Have a look at some new artwork that Sony Screen Gems has released for us:

THE POSTER -
Very cool mash up look at the destruction of cities around the world (London, New York, Moscow) with a fleet of heavily armed helocopters bearing down on us. Clearly global peril is a key element this time around.

Note the currents in the water form up to be the emblem of the Umbrella Corporation.

THE BANNER -
Simply has Milla Jovovich doing her killing thing with the tagline: THINK GLOBAL. KILL LOCAL. Seems to be a clue to what we might anticipate seeing in the movie along the lines of: "To win this thing you have to have the bigger picture - but oh by the way, zombies at your 6."

Here's the movie's storyline:
The wildly successful film franchise adaptation that has grossed nearly $700 million worldwide to the popular video game series, “Resident Evil,” returns in its highly anticipated fifth installment, “Re5ident Evil: Retribution” in state-of-the art 3D.

The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

More when I get it! RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION opens September 14, 2012.

RESIDENT EVIL 5 Officially Moving Forward! Release Date Set...

You know me and zombie movies! I am pleased to let you know that RESIDENT EVIL 5 is going to take place (just as Milla Jovovich had foretold just after the launch of RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE).

Sony Screen Gems has set a release date of September 14, 2012.

No word on whether or not Paul W.S. Anderson will be directing or not, but I think it is safe to say he will be. And writing as well. Hopefully there are a TON more zombies in this iteration. Paul, are you reading this?

It is also safe to say that RE5 will be 3D as well, although this has not been announced yet. The additional 3D revenue and of course the native 3D cinematic experience that RE:A enjoyed are ample enough reasons.

Source: STYD

Milla Jovovich: RESIDENT EVIL 5 Is Definitely Happening!

Zombie fans rejoice! While I thought that the story in RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE sucked, it was made up for in spectacular 3D (Vince Pace and crew) and special effects. If director Paul W.S. Anderson is able to combine that 3D imagery with an awesome story - wow. You won't get a better lead for the movie in Milla Jovovich (Anderson's wife) as she has killing zombies down to a science.

And Milla herself has just gone on record saying: "This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at No. 1 worldwide. It’s the biggest movie in the franchise. So we’re definitely going to make another one. We’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It's going to be a more interactive process."

So what do we need in RESIDENT EVIL 5? MORE ZOMBIES!! I mean millions of 'em. Throw Weta's MASSIVE software at it and crank it. How would you combat that many hungry walkers? Throw them in the middle of this massive abomination of humanity and let them try to get out of it. Think LEFT 4 DEAD, but with many more undead. Part of the reason AFTERLIFE sucked for me was the zombies got very little screen time and this is in fact a zombie movie. I could care less about the head of Umbrella, really. He is getting ridiculous at this point now anyway. I don't want a thinking enemy, I want an uncontrolled, massive zombie domination and Alice trying to get free of them. My two cents anyway, and they are asking for advice.

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE holds the seventh best September opening weekend in history thanks to 3D screenings. Obviously, 3D will be a huge part of RE:5. Worldwide RE:A has raked in $70 million already.

**Small spoiler** Kinda ironic to see Wentworth Miller inside a cage in prison after his now famous role in TV's PRISON BREAK isn't it? I didn't think anything of it until later - he did seem right at home there :-) I hope Anderson listens to the public a great deal for RE:5. In other words... MORE ZOMBIES!

S3D Gaming Review: RESIDENT EVIL 5 - 94/100

Jim here. Time for our S3D Gaming Review of RESIDENT EVIL 5! Take it from me, these guys know what they are doing. Simply spectacular 3D effects and immersion while all the time fulfilling the need for action and story. Capcom powered by NVIDIA really have outdone themselves with RE5. But don't just take my word for it! Metacritic gave it an 87 and Gamerankings an 88.

Lets talk about the stereoscopic 3D aspects of the experience first!

RESIDENT EVIL 5 is the first gaming title to be fully certified for the "3D Vision Ready" logo - and it looks it! Blood actually appears to fly off the screen at you. And yes, these gimmicks are tailor made for 3D gaming - kind of like the opposite of movies where you simply want to be immersed. Gaming with 3D Vision makes you feel like you are intimately involved! One of the first scenes that I really noticed how well this is done is the motorcycle scene. I found myself ducking :-) What is very cool about this scene too is that they combine elements of gameplay with cinematics - I won't go on too much about that though! Don't want to spoil it for you. And yes. All cinematics are in stereoscopic 3D (S3D) as well! I will mention a few highlights for me during the game and while I will not elaborate too much, there are small spoilers.

The gaming experience starts with the menus and I must say, they are the best I have ever seen. Seriously. A simple thing like menus can make a huge difference in the experience! ALL of it is S3D. Even the menus - floating spores are seemingly right in front of your eyes but still allowing you to clearly interact with your options and selections. It's all very creepy. I chose the easiest setting. You see I have a thing about zombies and I am just not quite prepared for the massive onslaught of the highest levels. YET. 

For suspense I don't think it gets any better than in the mines. One of the characters has to pack up their weapon and carry a lantern to illuminate their path and the shadows are AMAZING. The light from the few lightbulbs down there shine right in your eyes as you walk/run by. Obviously the lantern bearer cannot defend themselves and that adds to the excitement! And there is always a delay to see things when you change the direction you are looking as the lantern must be turned to match your view.

NVIDIA's 3D Vision:
Setting up NVIDIA's 3D Vision couldn't be easier really. The hardware is easy to use and understand - you just plug in the 3D IR device in a USB port, make sure your glasses are charged up (or use them while they are charging - again, a simple USB cord). The system auto-detects when you have started a 3D game, video or photo viewing session and kicks in the glasses. The glasses even come with two additional nose pieces to optimize the unit for your own needs! One thing to pay close attention to is the drivers - but NVIDIA is trying to make this as painless as possible. For me, 3D gaming was perfect from the get-go.

I used Steam for my gameplay and it works flawlessly. Love how the full game downloads in the background and lets you know when it is ready to be played.

Lets get to the gameplay!!
RE5 was released on September 15 with a rating of Mature. The story takes place years after the events of Raccoon City (previous RESIDENT EVIL location) and bands together two members of the Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) to figure out what is going on. Chris Redfield (survivor of the original game's Arklay Mansion) teams up with Sheva Alomar in a fictitious region of Africa to investigate suspicious activity. You play one of them.

The game has an awesome new co-op mode too - you have to work together for some aspects - or perish. The second character can be AI driven, or be played by another human through Windows Live. I have not utilized this yet, but I am told it is optimized for syncing up with another player after you have entered into a game chapter (there are other ways too, but a bit more cumbersome). Further, when your Windows Live companion leaves the session, the game's AI takes over seamlessly! You will unlock achievements very much along the lines of what Microsoft does with the XBOX 360 - some hilariously named.


You CAN use game controllers for the game which is nice, but I prefer the vast number of options that a keyboard/mouse provide. Hot swapping weapons based on inventory slot number is vital too :-)

During the game you must seek out gold, ammunition, the occasional weapon, and treasures. Everything can be sold to build up your savings to buy or upgrade your inventory. I think the in-game and setup equipment screens are very well done allowing you to see and adjust both you and your partner's stuff when needed.

When you or your partner dies, you are sent to the zombie zealousness screen as I refer to it :-) You are in first person and witness the hacking of your body as you perish most horribly. Yep. It's in 3D.

The chapter set up works. While loading, you are presented with a brief history item from the RESIDENT EVIL archive. Saves are made at logical locations and it is a breeze to relaunch where you have left off. One item of gameplay that bothered me was not being able to walk or run while aiming your weapon - I suppose your targeting would be all over the place but one might still be able to master it. I would like to see that corrected. But other than that I give the game a full 94 out of 100. I will be playing this one for quite some time - can't wait to explore the harder levels. It is rock solid and a blast to play! Recommended in S3D of course!

Here's the system I built and used for this review :
Resident Evil 5
Windows 7 64 Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66GHz
4GB Dual Channel Corsair 1066 DDR2 Memory
EVGA GTX285 1MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Kit
Asus P5QL/EPU Motherboard
Western Digital 650GB Sata Hard Drive (this is actually a bottleneck - will try to get a SSD soon)
Antec TruePower 750W Blue Power Supply
Altec Lansing Speakers
Logitech Wave Keyboard and MX 620 Wireless Mouse
Coolermaster HAF 922 Case
Samsung 120Hz 2233RZ 22" 3D Monitor 

System recommendations are:
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 32/64 bit or Windows 7 32/64 bit.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 CPU or higher.
RAM: 2GB system memory.
HDD: 100MB free disk space. 

Other Display recommendations:
DISPLAY: Either the Samsung monitor above or the ViewSonic FuHzion VX2265. Alternatively you could use a 100Hz or higher analog CRT.
HDTV: You can use a 1080p DLP TV - see NVIDIA's site for more details.
PROJECTOR: Various projectors can also be used such as the DepthQ HD 3D Projector.
GRAPHICS CARD: GTX 260 or better; GeForce 9800 GX2 or GTX+; or the GeForce 8800 Ultra or GTX.

First Impressions: RESIDENT EVIL 5 In Stereoscopic 3D Vision!

Jim here. WOW. I am stunned at how great RESIDENT EVIL 5 looks! To those of you not in the know, I just finished building my stereoscopic 3D gaming PC (powered by NVIDIA's GTX 285 and 3D Vision technology) and the first thing I put on it was this awesome zombie hunting game!

I will have a full review soon, but I wanted to share with you my first thoughts. Once I finished downloading the game with my Steam client, I was up and running very quickly (a brief side trip to create my Windows Live gaming account).

Right from the get-go I was into it: The menu screens have floating 'spores' that float in front of the text and man was it impressive. Getting right to gameplay, they have done an outstanding job. Small details like the sun giving a optical beam effect when looking through windows (coming right at you), or dust particles giving a floating effect for example.

Zombie hunting is cool too! You get a 3D effect for aiming your weapon (right mouse button) that traces a laser sight to your target.

Ghosting is very, very minimal. You have to look for it and once in the game - forget it - there is no way to notice very small nuances like that.

I have yet to put any solid game time into it yet, but very soon! Stay tuned for that review!! Hats off to NVIDIA and CAPCOM for this joint S3D effort. Amazing indeed. This stuff WORKS.

The 3D Premiere Of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD To Have 3D Gaming Too: RESIDENT EVIL 5

Jim here. It's zombie night at the 5th Annual Johnny Ramone Tribute in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on October 3rd. Not only is the world 3D premiere of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (NOTLD) taking place, but NVIDIA will also be there to allow attendees to dispose of zombies in stereoscopic 3D with their 3D Vision technology and Capcom's RESIDENT EVIL 5!

PassmoreLab did the modern conversion of NOTLD and they are really looking forward to showing their 2D to 3D expertise at the festival.

Rose McGowan (GRINDHOUSE) will be on hand to introduce the movie.

The event is open to the public for a $10 per person minimum donation, with proceeds benefiting the Johnny Ramone research fund at USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center. Gates open at 5:30 pm. Picnic dinners, drinks (including alcoholic ones), pillows, blankets and small chairs are permitted. Attendees will receive free commemorative 3D glasses upon entering.

Resident Evil 5 is the latest PC game to take advantage of NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, which transforms standard games into eye-popping, jump-out-of-your-seat, 3D experiences. Not only did its creator Capcom design "out-of-screen-effects" to scare the daylights out of gamers, they also rendered all of the game's cinematic cut-scenes with the same immersive 3D effect. The critics have raved about the game running on NVIDIA 3D Vision. Said Jeff Haynes of IGN.com, "Resident Evil 5 was designed to fully take advantage of 3D, [with] certain segments of the game piercing the digital 'fourth wall' with a sense of negative depth that is quite incredible."

"Night of the Living Dead was one of Johnny Ramone's top ten horror film favorites of all time," said John Cafiero, chief of staff of the Johnny Ramone Army, an official entity acting on behalf of the seminal punk rocker and his Estate preserving the icon's memory and legacy. "What better way to celebrate the world premiere of this incredible flick in 3D than to give people a virtual experience to fight the living dead in Resident Evil 5 in 3D on NVIDIA's latest gaming hardware."

For more information: 5th Annual Johnny Ramone Tribute, NVIDIA 3D Vision, PassmoreLab.

3D Game Review: RESIDENT EVIL 5

Jim here. Got some rather cool 3D gaming news to share - My friends over at IGN posted their Resident Evil 5 for the PC review and has given it a very nice score of 9.3! This is a higher score than the console version received! The editor who reviewed it loved the graphics, the upgraded mercenaries mode and the new 3D Vision feature.

IGN compared the game in all formats and the PC version came out on top.

Here is what they had to say: ...However, if you do happen to have a 120Hz monitor and you have the Nvidia 3D vision glasses, you're definitely in for a serious treat. RE5 was designed to fully take advantage of 3D, and it doesn't disappoint, rendering Chris and Sheva in a way that provides them with the visual illusion of weight and mass as they move through their environments instead of being flat 2D images onscreen. Objects and enemies also appear to pop out of the screen during certain segments of the game as well, piercing the digital "fourth wall" with a sense of negative depth that is quite incredible. Once you see the slithering worms of the first boss of the game seemingly drip through the screen at your face, you'll know you're seeing something special. Since you're able to tailor the perception of the depth to your personal taste, you can also adjust how much of an impact the 3D has, which allows you to make the experience fully subjective to your tastes. While not everyone with a PC may have the gear to take advantage of the 3D, it's extremely easy to enable, and RE5 provides two benchmark tests to help you configure your experience. If you have the means, definitely check out the game like this – you'll enjoy the experience.

RE5 is actually better looking on the PC, and if you happen to have the equipment, playing in 3D is an excellent experience.

I think that is a pretty clear, ringing endorsement of 3D gaming on the PC through NVIDIA's 3D Vision. Can't wait to get mine set up - should have it shortly!! Let the reviews begin on MarketSaw :-)

Found this clip on YouTube too - Enjoy the preview ...