For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired more by video games than arguably any other medium of art. As a filmmaker who is truly indebted to these digital worlds, it’s incredibly important to me that the work I create is always authentic to that experience. It’s a medium that’s been really close to my heart since my earliest memories, and it’s become a huge part of why I create. The thing about video games and film, though, is that we’re kind of just starting to see the cross-pollination between the two.

 

There’s been plenty of discourse regarding this merging of mediums over the years, with many tending to have a negative outlook on the process when it’s not, quote-unquote, true to the source material. However, this usually amounts to, “Oh, it’s not the same exact beat-for-beat story as the video game I remember watching the cutscenes for as a child.” In all honesty, that alleged bastardization is what precisely compels me. When it comes to straight-up adapting a video game, what matters most should be adapting the mechanics of the GAMEPLAY.

 

Story and character are undoubtedly an essential element of the “gaming experience.” But it’s when said story is told through the gameplay itself—the atmosphere, your interaction as a player, “leveling up” in the shoes of the characters—that the experience really sings, as opposed to, “Okay, time to put the controller down and watch a game try to imitate prestige television.” For the longest time, I’ve struggled to articulate this feeling to people not as well-versed on the matter. However, I’ve finally been given the opportunity to do so by the wonderful folks at Roxy Cinema.

 

My new repertory series of films, dubbed I PAUSED MY GAME TO BE HERE, aims to show what is truly possible when filmmakers (whether intentionally or not) learn the right lessons from these digital worlds. Films in the series include:

 

📀 George Lucas’s STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)

 

📀 Neveldine/Taylor’s GAMER (2009) (35mm)

 

📀 David Cronenberg’s EXISTENZ (1999) (New 4K Restoration)

 

📀 Hideaki Anno’s SHIN GODZILLA (2016)

 

📀 Zack Snyder’s SUCKER PUNCH (2011) (35mm)

 

📀 Christopher Nolan’s TENET (2020) (35mm)

 

📀 Christophe Gans’s SILENT HILL (2006) (35mm)

 

📀 Tony Scott’s DOMINO (2005) (35mm)

 

📀 Tony Scott’s DÉJÀ VU (2006) (35mm)

 

While some of these picks are either adaptations of pre-existing video game IP or films directly ABOUT video games as an industry, the majority of my choices for this series are pieces that I believe truly capture that feeling I’ve been trying to articulate for so many years.

 

Jargon-laden worldbuilding, expressionistic CGI, fixed camera angles, POV shots, mythic emotions, and much more are all abound in these works. They’re all very dear to me and part of the reason why I do what I do. I hope you can get just as much out of them as me while you’re AFK from your COD match. 🎮

Words by Heather Landsman