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E3: Sony’s E3 Line Up
In a more unorganized fashion, Sony has revealed their E3 line up in this press release you can read beyond the break. With a decent line up it’s going to be tough for them to keep up with Microsoft.
“We’ll have another great year in 2009 because we have an amazing line-up of exclusive games on tap, including Gran Turismo 5, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, ModNation Racers, MAG, and God of War III, not to mention an onslaught of content hitting PSP with fan favorites such as LittleBigPlanet, RockBand, and Metal Gear Solid,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. “PlayStation has been redefining consumer entertainment since its inception and we have no plans to stop. We’re continuing to raise the ante when it comes to delivering compelling and fun entertainment experiences to consumers and will do so for many, many years.” Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) held its annual press conference today at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles, Calif., announcing several new products and services that reiterate PlayStation’s industry leadership position, by delivering consumers comprehensive entertainment options and fun experiences for all members of the family. Closing out a record year of sales for PlayStation in 2008, the company unveiled a new hardware offering the PSP® go system and laid out its most aggressive software line up to date with unprecedented support from its publishing partners, including Activision®, Capcom®, Electronic Arts (EA), and Ubisoft®. The company also showcased an unparalleled exclusive line up of more than 25 first-party games that are both defying and defining gaming genres with titles ranging from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves™ and MAG, the industry’s first 256-player online gaming experience, to ModNation™ Racers, which reinforces PlayStation’s leadership and innovation towards user-generated gameplay. Proven franchises will also hit PlayStation platforms including Gran Turismo® 5, Ratchet & Clank® Future: A Crack in Time, and God of War® III. In addition, SCEA announced several exclusive titles for the PS3 including RockStar North’s Agent and Final Fantasy XIV, as well as exclusive titles for the PSP such as Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
Also announced on stage, the PlayStation Portable family introduced its newest evolution, the PSP go system and a remarkable content line up including exclusives Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet™, and Resident Evil. Coming to North America in October 2009, the PSP go system is specifically designed for the digital lifestyle with an even more portable, pocket-sized and sleek design. Exclusively for downloading digital content, the PSP go system comes built in with 16GB of internal flash memory for games, videos, music, and photos, and will be priced at $249.99 (MSRP). SCEA also announced a suite of new digital content services that will be available for both PSP go and PSP-3000 systems, including a new music application called “SensMe™channels,” a mood based music recommendation system and Media Go!, a free application that makes it easier for consumers to manage their PSP games, photos, videos and music on their PC.
Also, demoed on stage, SCEA previewed current developments for an engineering prototype of a new controller which can be combined with PlayStation®Eye to offer unmatched precision for added depth and enhanced gaming experiences for casual to the hard-core gamers. The controller detects the natural movements of the hands and uses the PlayStation®Eye to detect the position of the controller in 3D, allowing the camera to project users onto the TV screen to play and interact with onscreen objects. In addition, DUALSHOCK® 3, one of SCEA’s most popular peripherals, will be offered in three new colors this year. “Satin Silver” will be available exclusively at GameStop from July through September, while “Deep Red” and “Metallic Blue” will be available at all retail partners starting in October.
PlayStation Network continues to evolve with new content and services being added from all major network studio partners, in addition to 16 new premiere partners from Hollywood, anime and sports. With the addition of the new content providers, PlayStation Network’s video delivery service offers nearly 1900 movies and 9400 TV episodes to consumers. The new Hollywood partners include Showtime Networks Inc., Starz Media, – for Film, TV and Manga Anime, G4 & E!, Summit Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, HDnet & Magnolia Pictures. Anime partners include, Anime Network, Media Blasters, Right Stuf’s Nozomi Entertainment, Starz Media’s Manga Entertainment, Toei Animation, Viz Media, WEP and FUNimation Entertainment. Sports partners include HDNet Fights, UFC, Wrestling from TNA and Video Action Sports. Additionally, the PSP system users now have increased freedom to directly access the PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, enabling them to download movies and TV shows without connecting to a PC or the PS3 system first.
Let’s start with the good news. Lockbox looks far better than its misleading marketing materials suggest, a supernatural horror movie so darkly lit and color graded that you’ll have to squint your way through jump scares. It’s also anchored by reliable genre performers. That’s also about where the good news ends with this rote adaptation of Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop.”
The empathetic Carla Gugino gives her all as Ellen, a saint of a woman with boundless patience who takes on life’s hard luck with a kind smile. After giving up her career as a fashion designer to become caretaker for a dying mother, she’s then forced to reinvent herself once more when her caretaker role ends. That catches us up to the events of Lockbox, where Ellen is asked to take in a cousin she hasn’t seen in quite some time who’s dealing with severe PTSD.
Just as Ellen finally establishes a real connection with Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci), it’s interrupted by the arrival of peculiar neighbor Vahna (Katharine Isabelle), who spells clear trouble. When Vahna shows up dead, it sets in motion a supernatural battle of possession.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
Director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism, Prey for the Devil) and screenwriter Justin Yoffe approach Lockbox in the broadest of brushstrokes, dooming it from the start with clunky storytelling and woefully underdeveloped themes of heady topics like PTSD. Winthrop is a character that comes loaded with emotional baggage and trauma that’s piled on throughout his tragic life, but much like its title, his interiority and history are treated like a tightly guarded secret meant to prolong the supernatural mystery.
The problem here, though, is that Lockbox is too sparse to sustain mystery at all, and it instead robs Winthrop of characterization. It winds up trapping the talented Pucci without anywhere to go, toggling between wounded animal and mentally disoriented.
From there, Lockbox bounds through plot developments without any sense of stakes or purpose, peppered by a smattering of haphazard paint-by-numbers jump scares. The only unwavering constant is Ellen’s resolute faith, and Stamm seems to leave it entirely to Gugino to guide confused audiences through this inconsequential story right up until its supernatural climax.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
To give more credit, Lockbox at least injects an unconventional exorcism here; just don’t expect much in the way of explanation. When the film finally reveals the meaning behind its title, it dangles a fascinating carrot it has zero interest in delivering. More than a severe lack of fleshing out its characters beyond plot drivers or devices, this faith-based flick also seems terrified to offer any worldbuilding whatsoever.
Yoffe’s script stretches the short story beyond its means instead of fleshing it out, and Stamm fills out the gaps with cheap CGI scares and overwrought performances; Isabelle’s Vahna is beyond cartoonish in her villainy. It’s also pretty nonsensical, treating only Ellen’s faith with the utmost sincerity and largely squandering its typically reliable talent. So much so that the final imagery, pure sunkissed saccharine sentimentality, leaves you with the feeling that this horror movie might be better suited as an entry in Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Lockbox releases in select theaters on July 3, 2026.
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