Pictured L-R: Robbie Collier Sublett, Jennifer R. Morris, Matthew Maher, Caitlin Miller Production Photos by: T. Charles Erickson

When you tell a story about your parents, you are in large part saying, listen: here’s how I turned out this way. This feels especially true when the stories are about divorce, one of those defining childhood traumas. So there’s something absolutely electric about actors telling their parents’ divorce stories while performing as their parents, in their parents own words, gleaned from child-parent interviews.

On one level, you’re hearing these riveting accounts of how a failed relationship both reveals and alters one’s identity. On another level, you can’t help but thinking: Man, they told this stuff to their children, who had to internalize it enough to memorize and perform it. Sometimes they talk about their sex lives. Sometimes they talk about what a burden their children were.

It’s like some mutant therapy role-play session. It’s also great theater. As much as it’s a conceptual art piece, it’s also the most engaging form of storytelling: people just looking you in the eye and talking through some intense moments from their pasts. Of course, because the subject is divorce, they’re also working hard to build persuasive cases about winners and losers.

The characters are vivid and compelling. There’s a strong, southern aristocrat, played by her son, who comes to learn that her beloved husband has been hiding some truly shocking secrets. There’s an indomitably high-status, New York liberal/socialite, played by her daughter, who appears as comfortable in her victimhood as she is in her self-avowed egocentrism. There’s a pair of ageing hippies—both played by their son—who tried experimenting with the traditional rules of marriage, and there’s a lapsed Catholic, played by her daughter, who married a Harvard intellectual to whom she was never attracted because at the time, it somehow felt like the path of least resistance.

While the topic of these characters’’ stories is heavy and the context of the performance is loaded, the play frequently manages to be hilarious. Its creator’s have done an excellent job of editing the interviews to maximize entertainment value. Plus, the shock of hearing some spicy details or cold-sounding observations come from the mouth of these character’s children, often inspires that uncomfortable laughter you experience in the best dark comedies.

In addition to being insightful and funny, “Tales From My Parents Divorce” does give one a strange feeling of voyeurism. It begs the same questions as a good memoir: to put it crudely, how could they do this to their parents? How could their parents agree? It’s not that these parents are necessarily presented in a bad light; they’re probably more often sympathetic then not—but they are certainly exposed and open to interpretation. They’re also, often telling only one side of the tale.

When, how and to what extent should family history be public entertainment? As usual, the Civilians provoke some great questions.

The Civilians’ “You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents’ Divorce” plays at ArtsEmerson

’s Paramount Mainstage through October 30.

On June 9, a sneak preview of the upcoming film, “Super 8,” will be available via Twitter before the movie releases on Friday, June 10.

The hashtag #Super8Secret will allow Twitter users to buy tickets to a sneak preview of the film showing at select theaters across the country. The hashtag will be a promoted trend on the site throughout the day on June 9.

More than 300 IMAX and other screens will play the to film in the US and Canada. Attendees will also receive a free popcorn if they make another concession purchase.

This endeavor is a first for Twitter; it follows the premiere of the “Super 8” trailer on the site, which was another first.

The film comes from Paramount Pictures and is written/directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills.

“Super 8” takes place during the summer of 1979. After group of teenagers from a small town in Ohio see a train crash while making a movie with a Super 8 camera, they soon begin to think that the crash wasn’t an accident. People begin to disappear and unexplainable events begin to happen in their town. The local deputy tries to uncover the truth and discovers information that was certainly unforeseen.

The film’s Twitter page (www.Twitter.com/Super8Movie) provides more information about the film and uses the hashtag #Super8Secret to share information. For sneak preiview tickets on June 9, visit www.Super8-Movie.com/Sneak.

Remember when you blasted into space, as a little kid? Did you make your space ship out of an empty cardboard box, or did you just project yourself inside of a toy space shuttle? Did you ever try to make the fish-bowl space helmet, or tin foil antennae?

Chances are that when you weren’t thinking about politics that surrounded every step of your journey. You were probably more worried about what you would said to the moon men, than the Soviets getting to space before you, and whether or not that meant they could drop bombs on your head.

The two-man cast of One Small Step, mounted by the Oxford Playhouse and presented through this weekend at the Paramount Black Box through ArtsEmerson, worries about all of these considerations, as the they take you through the entirety of the Space Race in an hour, using the sort of props you might find in your parents’ attic.

One Small Step is a step up from simply imaginative and fun because actors Robin Hemmings and Oliver Millingham manage to reveal the fact that they know these are in many way serious events, they just refuse to present them seriously. As if to say these were more naïve times, they view the 60’s through childish eyes, delighting equally in their caricatures of brash and menacing Russians in strangely pointy pillow-case helmets, and the earnest and over-eager Americans, exasperated that they are lagging behind.

The company’s consistent butchering of the accents of both nations (all Americans are southern by the way, right through Richard Nixon), serves as a reminder that the perspective on offer is from a third party, Britain, who never got their own space program off the ground, but watched on eagerly with a horse in the race and an equal view of the moon.

One Small Step is goofy, but it’s meaningful goofiness. A child-like take on an epic event of history that feels far in the past but never grows old as food for the imagination.

One Small Step Plays through October 24 at the Paramount Black Box

LOS ANGELES — With the 25th anniversary of “Top Gun,” Double 6 and Paramount are working on a new downloadable game.

This time they are working with Jack Epp Jr., the original author of “Top Gun” to make sure the game stays true to the original, Academy Award-winning film.

The developers are heavily skewing the game to the Indian Ocean mission at the end of the movie, and they are using the Top Gun school to get the players acquainted with the game.

The game has two modes, a story mode where you attempt to accomplish missions, following the story, and a “Horde Mode.” In Horde mode, it’s an endless wave of enemies that keep coming. You have to kill as many as possible and get the best score you can.

The game included a few interesting unique features inspired from real life fighter experiences. They animated the wings on the F-14 to move like the real ones do. The wings move in and out depending on the speed of the craft. They also created a tunnel vision similar to what real pilots experience before they black out. This was interesting when playing with the game, because when you pull High G’s, the sides of the screen go black, and you can only see a circle in the center. This creates an interesting counter to going too fast or being too hard on the stick.

They added a special mode Called "CFI" which allows the player to keep constant focus on the selected enemy. This allows the player to pull the maneuvers from the movie. This will move the game into a third person point of view for a short period. The game was fun in an arcade style. The Missiles regenerate so even though it is being limited you aren’t limited to only what the plane can launch with. That would make the horde mode too hard.

The graphics are pretty simple, consistent with other downloadable games. They’ve stuck with the original F-14 Tomcat fighter, which was retired by the Navy a few years ago. It’s good to see the Tomcat live on.

With a dearth of flight simulation games lately, you should definitely give this a go.

Top Gun is a quick one. We got our first look at it at E3 this year, and it’s already releasing in July, exclusively for the PlayStation Network.

Three Paramount announcements today:

Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures announced that “The Lovely Bones,” from director Peter Jackson for release on December 11 in limited release with an expansion on December 25 and a wide release on January 15, 2010.

Paramount Pictures’ “Paranormal Activity will be released on September 25 in limited release.

Paramount Pictures’ “Up in the Air” from Director Jason Reitman and starring George Clooney will be released on November 13 in limited release and expanding on November 25.

We don’t have the Boston release dates yet, however.

It’s almost time for The Warriors to come out and play.

Thanks to the folks Paramount Digital Entertainment, soon Xbox 360 owners will be able to feel like they are inside one of the most beloved cult classic films of all time.‚  Starting sometime in September, gamers will be able to buy The Warriors: Street Brawl on Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 800 Points.

However, before we get too excited, a thorough examination of the features and gameplay must be performed.

Luckily, Paramount Digitial Entertainment was kind enough to let me have an intimate, hands-on preview with The Warriors: Street Brawl.‚  Below are some of my thoughts, impressions and gathered information of the upcoming Paramount title.

First, let’s have a little refresher course on what exactly The Warriors movie is all about.‚  Released in 1979, The Warriors is a film based around a gang of the same name.‚  During a gang summit in New York City, Cyrus, leader of The Gramercy Riffs, the most feared and respected gang in New York, was assassinated during his speech.‚  Wrongfully accused as the murders, The Warriors must make their way through the streets of New York and reach the safety of their home turf, fighting numerous other gangs in the process.

Making a video game from a movie of this fashion is no easy task, but Paramount did a service for The Warriors: Street Brawl by implementing the most logical game style for the title: side-scrolling brawler.‚  With this approach, players can get a true feel of what The Warriors movie was all about.‚  Whether it is used to introduce new fans to the film or just for old fans to get a closer look at the action, the side-scrolling style of Street Brawl is a perfect fit for a game inspired by a film such as The Warriors.

I really liked the dynamic nature of the side scrolling, as well.‚  As I fought my way through groups of Baseball Furies and Turnbull AC’s, I noticed that the screen would zoom in and out as I progressed through the level.‚  This would allow the side scrolling to be functional while also being something other than boring.

The makers of The Warriors: Street Brawl also did their due diligence in regards to staying accurate to the movie that inspired it.‚  When starting a new game, players can select from some of the main members of The Warriors, including Swan, Cochise, Vermin or Rembrandt.‚  Each of these characters will have certain strengths and weaknesses in their speed, strength and fighting style, which could greatly help them in their quest to get back to Coney Island.‚  Also, the environments and enemies also come straight from the film as well.

Speaking of environments, I’d have to say that the backgrounds for Street Brawl were probably my favorite parts of the game.‚  Each environment had a very gritty, dark comic book feel to them, making it clear that my character was traveling through a very dangerous place.‚  The fights taking place on the subway and in the subway station were by far the most detailed and intriguing backgrounds I’ve seen in a side-scroller in a long, long time.

However, not everything in Street Brawl was quite as aesthetically pleasing as the environments.‚  What especially stuck out to me as a let down were the character models.‚  Unlike the game’s backgrounds, the character models were very bland and lacked detail.‚  The motions of Cochise, the Warrior I chose to play with, were scripted in a way that made every attack and step seemed unnatural and stiff.‚  A special move that stuck out in my mind (a long-reaching spinning kick) looked good, but fell short of redeeming the overall motion flaws in Street Brawl.‚  Perhaps I’m overlooking they comic book stylization of the game or maybe I’m just simply spoiled by my experiences with Battlefield 1943, but it just seems like XBLA games should have better graphics than what I saw with Street Brawl.

Still, I think the main entertainment value from The Warriors: Street Brawl will not come from the way the game looks, but how the game plays.‚  Street Brawl is a title that uses very simple controls.‚  Toggling the X, Y, A and B buttons serve as a medium to punch, kick and pull of special moves.‚  Players will also be able to pick up and use weapons, such as knives, bats, crowbars, 2×4′s and pool cues, to deal more damage against the rival gangs.

Street Brawl also has a wide variety of game modes.‚  First, there is the campaign.‚  Though I only got to play the single-player campaign, Street Brawl has single player, local multiplayer and Xbox Live co-op campaign modes.‚  As described towards the beginning of this preview, campaign allows players select a character and fight their way through New York and reach the safety of Coney Island.‚  Each player will be able to accumulate points by defeating enemies, picking up bonus items (rings, coins, gems) and advancing further into the game.‚  Players must continuously fight throughout the campaign or else the AI will punish you for stalling by sending in many enemy reinforcements.‚  Also, the longer you can survive through the campaign, the more characters you can unlock and fight with in future Street Brawl sessions.‚  Other game modes include Boss mode and Versus mode.‚  Boss mode lets players fight every boss they’ve seen in the campaign in succession.‚  This allows players to be immediately challenged without having to complete the entire campaign again.‚  Versus mode allows players to fight their friends to see who is the most skilled gang member.

Overall, The Warriors: Street Brawl looks like it could be a pretty swell XBLA title.‚  Running for just 800 Points (about $10), Street Brawl wont convince people to buy an Xbox 360, but it is an affordable option for those who don’t want to buy an entire $60 game.‚  Fans of those classic SNES and Sega Genesis side-scroller titles should keep an eye out for Street Brawl in September.‚  Those who are not quite familiar with the genre might want to just check out the demo.

And, well, for the true fans of The Warriors, the question isn’t whether or not they will buy Street Brawl.‚  The real question is: Can they dig it?

We’ve got a bunch of screens from Godfather 2. Enjoy.

And, of course, we just started using Lightbox, so we’re all all excited like teenagers who just found Internet porn for the first time.

After being promoted by Michael Corleone to Don of New York, players expand to new cities, as they build up their families through extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal crime rings and defeating new families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America. To help players manage their empire, The Godfather II introduces “The Don’s View” “" an innovative strategy meta-game that allows players to oversee the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the Don’s View, players will be able to build, defend and expand their crime rings, while keeping an eye on the movements and plans of the rival families. Players will also learn to master the business of organized crime by building a family of Made Men, hiring crew, handing out orders, and promoting their best men up the ranks.

Electronic Arts and Paramount Digital Entertainment announced Friday that a sequel to the hit movie video game adaptation “The Godfather” will be released, extending the original storyline of the game and building on the universe created by the Academy Award winning movies.

“Inspired by the film and Mario Puzo’s Corleone family drama, The Godfather II game goes beyond the film’s story by setting players in the world of organized crime in 1960′s Florida, Cuba and New York,” the companies said in a statement.

After being promoted by Michael Corleone to Don of New York, players expand to new cities, as they build up their families through extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal crime rings and defeating new families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America. To help players manage their empire, The Godfather II introduces "The Don’s View" — an innovative strategy meta-game that allows players to oversee the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the Don’s View, players will be able to build, defend and expand their crime rings, while keeping an eye on the movements and plans of the rival families. Players will also learn to master the business of organized crime by building a family of Made Men, hiring crew, handing out orders, and promoting their best men up the ranks.

Set in a stunning open-world environment, The Godfather II expands on the popular gameplay mechanics of the first game and doubles down on the series’ signature BlackHand control scheme, which now features even more visceral hand-to-hand brutality at your fingertips, introducing a new combo system, pressure tactics and executions. In The Godfather II, players will fight alongside their hand-picked crew, who have their own skills and expertise. Each family member specializes in a specific field such as demolitions, arson, engineering, first-aid and more. As The Don you control the family, sending some of your men on missions while heading off into action with others. The combination of strategic organized crime gameplay and brutal BlackHand action sets The Godfather II apart from other open-world games.

“In the 1960′s, a mafia Don was only as strong as his family,” said Hunter Smith, Executive Producer of The Godfather II. “We found the hierarchical culture of organized crime intriguing. Running an organized crime family in a world defined by family loyalty is something that we felt could introduce a new strategic element to the genre. That is what the Don’s View is all about — laying out a strategy to pick off the competition one by one. The Don’s View is so unique, it could fundamentally change the rules of open-world games by blending action and strategy to create something entirely new.”

Geoff Keighley’s GameTrailers TV on Spike TV will have an exclusive premiere of Godfather II: The Game on August 15. The episode, entirely devoted to the game, will include behind-the-scenes features and interviews with the development team. The game’s trailer will also be unveiled.

The trailer will also be available on August 18th at: http://godfather2.ea.com.

Paramount Home Entertainment, which includes Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, has announced its decision to use only High Definition DVD, over competing Blu-ray technology.

The decision was made after company research said HD DVDs had the necessary technology on the market, low manufacturing costs and best value and quality for consumers, they said.

On August 28, Blades of Glory kicked off this new program as the first release. Transformers and Shrek the Third follow.

These three movies represent more than $1.5 billion in worldwide box office sales, and company executives believe the sales will keep increasing.

“The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD,” said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, the leading studio in domestic box office revenue. “I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount.”

Regular DVD players are hardware-based, while HD DVD and Blu-ray systems rely on software. That means updates and movie extras can be easily downloaded from the web. Even with this similarity, many movie and technology powerhouses support Blu-ray technology since it offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs while still having great image quality.

The price between HD DVD players and Blu-ray players, however, is what interests consumers the most. The cheapest HD DVD player retails for approximately $300, while the cheapest Blu-ray devices sell for at least $599.

“We decided to release Shrek the Third and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg CEO of DreamWorks Animation. “We believe the combination of this year’s low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home.”

Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new release dates for upcoming films and will also sell catalog titles in the future. Steven Spielberg films remain uncommitted to either format.