Gamer, that movie about video games made by people who had never played a video game, just opened in the 4th spot with a whopping 9 million dollars, despite a cast headed by Gerard "Sparta" Butler, Ludacris and Kyra Sedgewick. That doesn't mean Gamer will lose money, mainly because it had a ridiculously tiny budget, but Gamer is another demonstration that games and movies don't go together.

(FYI for anyone anticipating the Jonah Hex movie, it was written and nearly directed by the same writer/director team behind Gamer. Word to the wise.)

Whether it's attempts to turn games into movies, e.g. Doom, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, or make movies about playing games, e.g. Stay Alive, Gamer, the two are mediums that just don't mix.

Games are interactive. Even if their stories are good, they're an interactive experience that connects best when you're part of it. Movies are non-interactive. They're one long giant cut scene, and when video games are turned into movies, one 90 minute cut scene is what you end up with. Which is one reason most video game movies are boring as cut scenes.

And making movies about video games is even worse, because Hollywood has a way of feeling threatened by new mediums, and makes self-righteous movies about how awful those mediums are. Case in point, Network or The Truman Show or any of the 5000 movies about how evil TV is, or how the internet is a gateway for computers to come alive and consumer your soul. Gamer is in the same classic category, except it's a movie about how evil video games are.

It's a long way from The Last Starfighter, which despite being dorky, was actually fun... in the way that *gasp* games are. Take away the lightcycles and all the cool stuff from Tron and you end up with Gamer. Except Tron took place in the 80's where movies had as much connection to reality as Xanadu. Gamer insists on trying to "say something" about video games. Which is a problem because movies have nothing to say about video games. Maybe it's time Hollywood stuck to what it does best, live action adaptations of popular cartoons.