Here’s a clip from YouTube featuring Japanese violinist Teppei Okada playing the Super Mario Bros. theme music on his violin, which by itself, is nothing extraordinary, but here’s the catch: he also plays the various sound effects – Mario jumping, collecting coins, powering up, and so forth, in time with a prerecorded playthrough of the game!
Check it out:
And here he is again, this time playing through the opening of Super Mario Bros. 3:
Pretty crazy, right?
If you search for him on YouTube you’ll find other videos like these, mostly playthroughs of Japanese 8-bit games.
Here’s the official teaser trailer for Donnie Yen’s latest, Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen:
Donnie Yen reprises his role of Chen Zhen from Hong Kong’s 1995 television series Fist Of Fury.
The masked superhero elements, a la the Green Hornet (also, Jet Li’s Black Mask), are new, as are the parkour/freerunning-inspired moves seen in the trailer.
Looks promising, and definitely one for fans of martial arts films and Hong Kong cinema to keep on the radar.
Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen arrives in theaters in Hong Kong September 23rd of this year.
Check out this cool piece of retro-inspired artwork by artist Vladimir Gerasimov (“FullPlateMail” on deviantART) called, simply, “A Tragedy,” depicting the unfortunate consequences of an encounter between Super Mario and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
(A Terrible Mishap In Manhattan With Super Mario And The Ninja Turtles)
Fun stuff.
I love the expressions on their faces, especially Splinter, and the fact that Mario’s drawn with a bald spot up top the way he used to look back in his pre-Koopa stomping, Donkey Kong days.
And here’s another piece in a similar vein, although I can’t seem to recall who to credit for the piece.
Can anybody help me identify the artist?
(Mario's About To Get Stomped On)
Looks like Mario’s back to his villainous ways, a la Donkey Kong Jr.
