Cheesy and Cheesecake Machinima

July 4, 1996: I remember when Independence Day hit the American theaters. My family traded in the usual fireworks celebrations to be one of the first to view the patriotic thriller, filled with aliens, explosions and human drama. The plot was overall cheesy, but it filled the need for good times. Summer is a great time for action movies, sci fi and beach bingo. Out of wack heat indexes send many of us into the shelter of the theater. Some head out to the beach to party, and others head to the theater to get their thrills on screen. We live vicariously on the screen through the characters we see. Have you ever noticed the difference in ratings between Yahoo movie goers and film critics; sometimes, viewers admittedly like to be shallow, superficial and escape. Not always wonderful goals, but the cinema has room for that too. Cheesy movies have always had their place in popular cinema - so why not in machinima. Yes there are some, but I am specifically looking for those future summer machinima classics. I have to laugh at the 2006 Beach Party 2 filmed in World of Warcraft.

I spent the morning on web browers searching for fun summertime machinima - from bikinis, beaches, romance and even cheesy monsters movies and turned up nada. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance was always first on the list of any type of video. What about some good romance - those dreamy romantic classics set in the summertime or just a fun spring break type of movie. I plan to pursue my search, but for now I think I can say - where's the cheesecake? Does everything have to be so dang serious all the time? It is okay to lighten it up sometimes...It is summer and for me as an American, July 4th is about family, fireworks and beach fun. So pardon me if I digress this week from serious topics.

Here's a list of some classic summer movies to inspire some cheesecake machinima! LOL.

On a personal level, I recently made a fun video in less than a half day, Soni Rocks America. It is intended for friends, and now the cat is out of the bag so I will use it as example of just having fun with film. I think we can learn from those fun moments, and we are more likely to experiment when we are in a play mode , and when the stakes are not so high. So here's my American Tribute: Cheesecake Machinima! There, I define cheesecake and illustrate it through my less than profound latest video. In advance, I will apologize if I offend you with my SL booty. Yes - dancing bikini clad women on the beach! I will have to turn in my feminist card.

In closing, I will blame Lowe Runo for inspiring me and a few friends recently with his late night brainstorm to recreate YMCA in the SL streets of NYC. So - the point of all this is - don't forget to have fun this summer, along the way toward that MAGNUM machinima masterpiece.

:) Soni

This column is now syndicated to AVIEW TV, courtesy of Lowe Runo Productions, Inc. and the Professional Machinima Artist Guild.