Apple TV+ found the perfect fit for its ever-growing lineup with the launch of ‘Tetris” on March 31. The film tells the unbelievable story of how one of the world’s most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe. Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pazhitnov (Nikita Efremov) to bring the game to the masses. Based on a true story, “Tetris” is described as “a Cold War-era thriller on steroids, with double-crossing villains, unlikely heroes and a nail-biting race to the finish.”
Following its March 15 premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, critics praised the film, earning it an 82% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reads, “While it’s nowhere near as addictive or fast-paced as the game, ‘Tetris’ offers a fun, fizzy account of the story behind an 8-bit classic.
Following its March 15 premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, critics praised the film, earning it an 82% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reads, “While it’s nowhere near as addictive or fast-paced as the game, ‘Tetris’ offers a fun, fizzy account of the story behind an 8-bit classic.
- 4/8/2023
- by Vincent Mandile
- Gold Derby
Okay, so we’re mere days away from the release of an animated CGI feature based on one of the biggest video game properties. Y’know about the two plumber siblings? Perhaps you’re needing another big “game” dive, but don’t want to try and stream the recent Sonic flicks, or any of a dozen movies lifted from the very successful gaming franchises. Well. we’ve got a new film all about that late 80s game where you try to fill in a wall at the bottom of your screen with a series of four brightly colored blocks. Really, a flick of those downward-floating bricks? They couldn’t grab the rights to Pong? Oh no, this is all about the creation and marketing of that game, and it’s almost a cold war thriller. Don’t roll your eyes, because there was a lot of high-stakes intrigue in the story of Tetris.
- 3/31/2023
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
There’s a promising and even semi-adult comedy at the heart of “Tetris,” an otherwise corny action-adventure based on the real-life story of how the iconic 1980s computer and video game was licensed outside of Russia. Most of the plot of “Tetris” concerns the political maneuvering and corporate espionage required to smuggle “Tetris,” the iconic brick-laying puzzle game, out of Moscow and away from greedy businessmen.
The lead protagonist of “Tetris” (the movie) also happens to be its main hero, an uncomplicated leading man whose personal motives don’t matter so much as the vague and never credibly represented virtues of “Tetris” (the game). Meet Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), a fast-talking Dutch-American salesman living and working in Tokyo. Henk needs to license “Tetris” to the Japanese gaming company Nintendo so that his family business, Bullet Proof Software, can survive. Henk also needs to sell “Tetris” to Nintendo so that he...
The lead protagonist of “Tetris” (the movie) also happens to be its main hero, an uncomplicated leading man whose personal motives don’t matter so much as the vague and never credibly represented virtues of “Tetris” (the game). Meet Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), a fast-talking Dutch-American salesman living and working in Tokyo. Henk needs to license “Tetris” to the Japanese gaming company Nintendo so that his family business, Bullet Proof Software, can survive. Henk also needs to sell “Tetris” to Nintendo so that he...
- 3/16/2023
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
At last, a video game movie that’s more than just a video game movie.
In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The screenwriter realized that there’s more to Tetris than most people knew. Namely, there’s a terrific backstory about how this Soviet-hatched computer software made its way over the Iron Curtain, and telling it could play like a Cold War thriller as three teams of Western rivals race one another to Russia to secure the rights.
In a sense, the video game movie that “Tetris” most resembles is 1984’s “Cloak & Dagger,” which made an Atari cartridge the MacGuffin that all kinds of untrustworthy people want to get their hands on. Here, it’s...
In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The screenwriter realized that there’s more to Tetris than most people knew. Namely, there’s a terrific backstory about how this Soviet-hatched computer software made its way over the Iron Curtain, and telling it could play like a Cold War thriller as three teams of Western rivals race one another to Russia to secure the rights.
In a sense, the video game movie that “Tetris” most resembles is 1984’s “Cloak & Dagger,” which made an Atari cartridge the MacGuffin that all kinds of untrustworthy people want to get their hands on. Here, it’s...
- 3/16/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Full disclosure: Sue me but not only have I never played the iconic ’80s video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film Tetris, which world premiered tonight at SXSW and comes from Apple Original Films. I realize that probably makes me a bit of an oddity to the gamer generation, but I can only say my lack of knowledge on this product did not hurt one bit in being wildly entertained by a movie that tells its origin story. In fact it seems to be part of an encouraging but unlikely new genre this young year: movies all about the backstory of well-known products. BlackBerry from IFC and Paramount, Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight, and now Tetris from Apple have been on display this week at SXSW (BlackBerry actually premiered at Berlin), and if you think watching the emergence of a smartphone, a Cheetos brand...
- 3/16/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Somewhere along the way in Jon S. Baird’s fleet and compelling fictionalized look at the invention of Tetris, you forget that you’re watching a film about a video game. Zippy car chases, farcical negotiation scenes and a tour of 1980s-era conference rooms around the world make Tetris, which premiered at SXSW and airs on Apple TV+ at the end of March, more than an ordinary origin story. Baird (Stan & Ollie) uses the convoluted licensing battle around the game to frame a sturdy and occasionally funny drama about capitalism, intellectual property and the specter of the Soviet Union’s dissolution. Tetris’ willingness to tackle these themes indeed makes it more absorbing than your average streamer fare, but it also makes you wish the film went farther in exploring its ambivalence about the relationship between creative expression and greed.
The story starts in ’80s Las Vegas, where Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton...
The story starts in ’80s Las Vegas, where Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton...
- 3/16/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
South by Southwest on Wednesday revealed the second half of its lineup for this year’s edition, set for March 10-19.
This includes Visions, the Global section presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to the Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight and other sections.
‘Swarm’
New on the sked is Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s Amazon Studios series Swarm and Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, respectively the opening- and closing-night TV premieres. They join the previously announced opening-night world premiere of Paramount’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
This year’s closing-night film will be announced closer to the event. In addition, there is another movie to be announced for the fest’s Monday, March 13 slot. Given the Oscars on March 12 (note the festival sets their dates five years in advance), I understand that evening’s lineup will ease a bit with amped-up...
This includes Visions, the Global section presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to the Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight and other sections.
‘Swarm’
New on the sked is Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s Amazon Studios series Swarm and Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, respectively the opening- and closing-night TV premieres. They join the previously announced opening-night world premiere of Paramount’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
This year’s closing-night film will be announced closer to the event. In addition, there is another movie to be announced for the fest’s Monday, March 13 slot. Given the Oscars on March 12 (note the festival sets their dates five years in advance), I understand that evening’s lineup will ease a bit with amped-up...
- 2/1/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2023 South by Southwest Festival has officially unveiled its second wave of headliners and TV premieres, including Opening and Closing Night episodic selections.
Set to take place March 10 through 19, the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals launched the 2023 Film & TV Lineup including all Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight, and other sections. Highlights include Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’ “Swarm” opening the TV program, with Lee Sung Jin’s TV series “Beef” debuting Closing Night.
For the film side, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was previously announced as the Opening Night feature. This year’s Closing Night film will be announced closer to the festival.
New Headliners additions include queer “Fight Club” film “Bottoms” and biopic “Tetris” about the videogame of the same name. Disney+ series “American Born Chinese,” starring the Oscar-nominated “Everything Everywhere All at Once” trio Michelle Yeoh,...
Set to take place March 10 through 19, the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals launched the 2023 Film & TV Lineup including all Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight, and other sections. Highlights include Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’ “Swarm” opening the TV program, with Lee Sung Jin’s TV series “Beef” debuting Closing Night.
For the film side, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was previously announced as the Opening Night feature. This year’s Closing Night film will be announced closer to the festival.
New Headliners additions include queer “Fight Club” film “Bottoms” and biopic “Tetris” about the videogame of the same name. Disney+ series “American Born Chinese,” starring the Oscar-nominated “Everything Everywhere All at Once” trio Michelle Yeoh,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
South by Southwest Conference and Festivals is nearly upon us, as it runs from March 10-19 in beautiful Austin, Texas. And as such, the second wave of the 2023 Film & TV Festival Lineup including all Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight, and other sections, have been announced.
Additionally, SXSW also announced that Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s “Swarm” and Lee Sung Jin’s “Beef” will be the Opening and Closing Night TV premieres. The Film & TV Festival’s opening night film is the previously announced “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” This year’s Closing Night Film will be announced closer to the event. (What will it be?)
Where else can you see the world premiere of a Hollywood blockbuster like “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” as well as documentaries on the Blackberry smart phone and Canadian music channel MuchMusic?...
Additionally, SXSW also announced that Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s “Swarm” and Lee Sung Jin’s “Beef” will be the Opening and Closing Night TV premieres. The Film & TV Festival’s opening night film is the previously announced “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” This year’s Closing Night Film will be announced closer to the event. (What will it be?)
Where else can you see the world premiere of a Hollywood blockbuster like “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” as well as documentaries on the Blackberry smart phone and Canadian music channel MuchMusic?...
- 2/1/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Donald Glover’s Amazon show Swarm, Apple’s making-of Tetris movie and Disney+ series American Born Chinese are among the new additions to the TV and film lineup at the upcoming SXSW festival.
The Elizabeth Banks-produced MGM movie Bottoms, from the team behind Shiva Baby, is set for the headliners section, joining the Taron Egerton-fronted Tetris and previously announced titles Problemista, from A24, franchise flick Evil Dead Rise, and Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot. Dungeons & Dragons will open the fest.
As for TV premieres, in addition to Swarm and American Born Chinese, Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, and David E. Kelley’s Love & Death will screen at the festival. Also notable on the TV front: The fest will screen Demascus, which was recently axed by network AMC amid an ongoing shake-up at the network and its hope to write down around 400 million of content...
The Elizabeth Banks-produced MGM movie Bottoms, from the team behind Shiva Baby, is set for the headliners section, joining the Taron Egerton-fronted Tetris and previously announced titles Problemista, from A24, franchise flick Evil Dead Rise, and Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot. Dungeons & Dragons will open the fest.
As for TV premieres, in addition to Swarm and American Born Chinese, Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, and David E. Kelley’s Love & Death will screen at the festival. Also notable on the TV front: The fest will screen Demascus, which was recently axed by network AMC amid an ongoing shake-up at the network and its hope to write down around 400 million of content...
- 2/1/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jon S Baird’s miniseries opens in 1960s Westminster, where John Stonehouse (Matthew Macfadyen) is an up-and-comer in the Labour Party. “What do we know about him?” asks prime minister Harold Wilson. “Working-class boy. Parents both trade unionists. Served in the Raf during the war.” Naturally, he’s made aviation minister – a role that takes him to Prague and into the arms of an obvious honey trap. “We would like you to become an unofficial representative of our country in Great Britain,” he’s told, in a smoke-filled Soviet interrogation room, as the film of his tryst is slid across the table. And so begins the decade-long unravelling of his life, a process that will end with him leaving his folded clothes and passport on a Florida beach and swimming out to sea.
Macfadyen is one of Britain’s finest actors, and his performance as Stonehouse rounds out a trilogy...
Macfadyen is one of Britain’s finest actors, and his performance as Stonehouse rounds out a trilogy...
- 1/2/2023
- by Nick Hilton
- The Independent - TV
Stars: Vitaliy Khaev, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Mikhail Gorevoy, Elena Shevchenko, Igor Grabuzov, Aleksandr Domogarov, Ilya Gavrilenkov, Vasiliy Kopeikin | Written and Directed by Kirill Sokolov
Do you remember The Raid? If you’ve seen it you probably won’t ever forget it. Now imagine taking the brutality and physical violence of that film and transpose it to one apartment and only a handful of people. That’s Why Don’t You Just Die! in a nutshell.
The film tells the story of Matvei, who ends up at the door of corrupt detective Andrei after his resentful daughter asks Matvei to kill him for her. The reason? She claims that her father has repeatedly raped her since she was a child. Now Matvei does what every longing boyfriend would, he says yes. Only Matvei doesn’t bank on things going south quite so fast. He also didn’t bank on Andrei fighting back,...
Do you remember The Raid? If you’ve seen it you probably won’t ever forget it. Now imagine taking the brutality and physical violence of that film and transpose it to one apartment and only a handful of people. That’s Why Don’t You Just Die! in a nutshell.
The film tells the story of Matvei, who ends up at the door of corrupt detective Andrei after his resentful daughter asks Matvei to kill him for her. The reason? She claims that her father has repeatedly raped her since she was a child. Now Matvei does what every longing boyfriend would, he says yes. Only Matvei doesn’t bank on things going south quite so fast. He also didn’t bank on Andrei fighting back,...
- 4/16/2020
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Stars: Vitaliy Khaev, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Mikhail Gorevoy, Elena Shevchenko, Igor Grabuzov, Aleksandr Domogarov, Ilya Gavrilenkov, Vasiliy Kopeikin | Written and Directed by Kirill Sokolov
Do you remember The Raid? If you’ve seen it you probably won’t ever forget it. Now imagine taking the brutality and physical violence of that film and transpose it to one apartment and only a handful of people. That’s Why Don’t You Just Die! in a nutshell.
The film tells the story of Matvei, who ends up at the door of corrupt detective Andrei after his resentful daughter asks Matvei to kill him for her. The reason? She claims that her father has repeatedly raped her since she was a child. Now Matvei does what every longing boyfriend would, he says yes. Only Matvei doesn’t bank on things going south quite so fast. He also didn’t bank on Andrei fighting back,...
Do you remember The Raid? If you’ve seen it you probably won’t ever forget it. Now imagine taking the brutality and physical violence of that film and transpose it to one apartment and only a handful of people. That’s Why Don’t You Just Die! in a nutshell.
The film tells the story of Matvei, who ends up at the door of corrupt detective Andrei after his resentful daughter asks Matvei to kill him for her. The reason? She claims that her father has repeatedly raped her since she was a child. Now Matvei does what every longing boyfriend would, he says yes. Only Matvei doesn’t bank on things going south quite so fast. He also didn’t bank on Andrei fighting back,...
- 8/26/2019
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
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