Monday Madness: It’s A Jungle Out There! Dancing is Permitted.

Posted on July 8, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, so… how’s that well-chilled cubicle treating you to-day? Same ol’ same ol’, right? Gals yammering away around the water cooler or microwave about their weekend and hair, hair, hair in this humidity, guys doing the same but skipping the hair talk save for sharing man-scaping tips (eww and yikes, that hair can save your life one day!), and yeah, there’s that room-shaking sound again. That’s right, kids – It’s the big boss bellowing out of his cave every so often like a really hungry but even more lazy bear. Yeah, yeah, yeah- that’s a proper classic Monday for you. “Illegitimum non carborundum” and all that stuff. Just don’t start the drinking until AFTER work, chief. Nothing like coming back from that one hangover lunch and still have three or four hours to grind away. OK then – I’ll let you get back to your boulder, Sisyphus -hope you enjoyed the strange sights above…

Pacific Rim “Second Chances” Trailer: Your Countdown Clock May Be Running a Bit Slow…

Posted on July 7, 2013 by geelw

Oops, I forgot to run this trailer yesterday, so here you go. Only a few more days to go before those theater seats get packed in by the drooling mobs of kaiju fanatics and their mental checklists, so expect to see the Internet world even more flooded than usual with Comic Book Guy-like rants and/or raves about what works and what some of these smarty-pantses think was done “wrong” by Del Toro and company in making their summer epic. Pass the oversize grain of salt, puh-leeze! Meh, some people are never happy (and that’s because if they ever got up in the air on a crane to direct a shot, they’d probably poop themselves and pass out from fear of heights.

Rollers of the Realm Pre-Beta Hands-On: Pinball Wizards Whip Up an Instant Classic

Posted on July 7, 2013 by geelw

I can probably tell you the long and boring story of my first pinball machine memories (1972,Gottlieb’s Batter Up, first version, but I also vaguely recall playing Central Park a few years earlier at Coney Island while standing on a rickety wooden crate), but then you’d be fast asleep and drooling in front of your computer instead of up-voting Phantom Compass’ (and friends!) innovative Rollers of the Realm on Steam Greenlight.

The team is working on what’s turning out to be a superb genre-blending mix of old and new ideas that features some excellent pinball action, decent writing and so far, what’s looking to be the makings of an instant hit that absolutely deserves to be on as many platforms as possible. I signed up to get access to a playable version as soon as I heard this was in development, that pre-beta access popped up in my inbox on Friday and after playing the first chapter a few times, I’m definitely recommending anyone even remotely interested in pinball, RPGs and puzzle games to take a nice long look at this one…

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Clean Thoughts: Ivan Tors’ OSI Trilogy Deserves a Second Chance, I Say…

Posted on July 7, 2013 by geelw

I hadn’t even thought about Ivan Tors until a weird dream a few weeks back and again today when I was in the shower and for some reason, images from “gog” popped into my head. More precisely, one of the two robots spinning around with its arms out, damaged yet still quite dangerous. Yeah, I think of oddball stuff in the shower – don’t you? No, not THAT kind of stuff… this is a family show! OK, not ALL the time, but you get the point (jab, jab!)…

Anyway, before you ask a second time (and haven’t yet looked to the left at that poster – it helps to read this site while fully awake most of the time), “gog” was the third film in Tors’ really outstanding Office of Scientific Investigation (OSI) trilogy of “hard” science fiction films:

(thanks, MrMaxHeadroom!)

1953’s The Magnetic Monster and 1954’s Riders to the Stars made up the first two chapters and all three make up one of the most intelligent set of sci-fi flicks of the 1950’s. Tors himself was dedicated to making “realistic” genre films and all three succeed today despite many dated elements. That said, one does need to give films such as this a bit of a “pass” in terms of complaining about their cheesier or not so accurate aspects as they were predating and predicting many things science was still figuring out. I also give them a special hall pass gold star because audiences of the time got three films in two years that didn’t insult their intelligence and probably ended up as interesting for adults as it was for the kids who probably thought this was another raygun and robot quickie.

While I’ll most likely do a separate Random Film of the Week post on all three in the future, I’m going to go on ahead and recommend these (in order, of course!) if you’ve never seen them before. I think those of you with an eye for detail and an ear for good stories well told will get a kick out of this trilogy. Given that remaking them is probably never going to happen (although, it would be amazing to see these as period pieces rather than updated into today’s world), you may as well take these in as they’re meant to be seen and smile at the things that make you think a little more than you’d usually care to in a “B” movie…

Have Blogathon? Will Travel!

Posted on July 6, 2013 by geelw

OK, screw this damn hot as the sun under the sun weather. it is KILLING my productivity a bit too much. Well, I have a ton of notes for posts, but when I read them, my brain starts baking up like a Sunday ham (“Got any ham? Ham, ham, ham…”). Anyway, I think it’s a case of familiarity breeding contempt here. Or in plainer English – I’m working so much on my own stuff that I think I need a little challenge. All this heat is making me nuts, but I think I can contribute something to another or three of those fancy movie “blog-a-thon” thingies I’ve been seeing pop up.

I submitted to one already (see, see!) and I think I’ll get a nice kick in the pants if something new tickles my Fancy (which is picky as hell, aren’t you, Fancy? Yes, you are! Yes you are!). So, that’s where you come in, fellow talented typists of pedigree. I’d cook up my own blogathon, but I’m already project heavy here. That said, I do have a bunch of already written Random film of the Week and Random Film of the Week(end) plus a few other reviews on the site that might do for a new airing out link elsewhere. I can also write up something custom for an event (no wedding speeches, birth or bris announcements – let’s keep things in the ballpark where I have a chance of hitting something).

Anyway, feel free to let me know if you know of or are in fact, hosting one of these shindigs and I’ll gladly contribute. I just signed up for one that happened to pop up on another (and much bigger deal than my) blog as I was writing out this post(you can join the fun there as well!), so that’s one down – more to go…

Earth Defense Force 4 Gameplay Videos: Bigger, Better, Faster, MORE.

Posted on July 6, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, GameEmpireHD!)

My own copy of the game is in transit from Play-Asia, but there are some folks who picked up the game in Japan and are posting videos galore to show off some of the new features and the updated visuals. Here are a few from Game Empire HD that range from short to medium lengths and show a few of the classes in action. I’m a bit more methodical in how I play an EDF game, so seeing all those pickups left lying around at the end of those stages is a bit distressing. Then again, I’m gathering the person playing is trying to blast through the game as quickly as possible just to get as many videos up as possible.

That said, I did notice all of the videos posted so far are played on Normal mode. Personally, I always blaze through Easy first when playing an EDF game just to get it out of the way, earn a bunch of armor and new weapons plus whatever bonus is gained for completing the game on that difficulty level. That and it’s the best way to see what’s coming on the harder difficulties without struggling with too much dropped on my head at once. OK, I think I have about a week or so to wait, so let the countdown commence…

Pacific Rim TV Spot #7 (Plus!): Another Smash Hit From Kaiju Goo Goo…

Posted on July 6, 2013 by geelw

Only a few days left before this stomps into theaters, so yes indeed, the ad and future Blu-Ray/DVD bonus features are rolling out bit by bit. I haven’t been following any merchandising on this film at all, primarily to keep me from buying every Jager and Kaiju I can lay my eyeballs on to fill that shelf space I don’t have (hey, nearly every inch of free space has a game in it or nearby). But don’t let that stop YOU from blowing a chunk of your last paycheck or three if you see something that grabs you.

Er, of course… if that something grabbing you is a few hundred feet tall, you can throw all the money you want at it and not much will happen at all. Hell you don’t have THAT much shelf space anyway…

Hey, part of that last sentence rhymed! No charge for that instant poem (as usual)…

Review: Spelunker (Virtual Console)

Posted on July 6, 2013 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo Wii U (also on Wii, 3DS)

Developer: Tozai Games

Publisher: Tozai Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Still going strong after 30 years, Spelunker is one of those great games that gets a lot of love and hate for what it puts you through. On one hand, it’s a challenging game packed with treasures to grab and a satisfying sense of accomplishment each time you clear a level. On the other hand, it’s a REALLY and infuriatingly challenging game thanks to “the weakest action hero in the history of gaming”, and yes, that’s a selling point of this gem, folks. If you’re no fan of trial and error, the combination of this terminally frail dude, the need for pinpoint control and collecting air supplies scattered around the levels while avoiding death from everything from a VERY short fall to the small assortment of enemies will have you screaming at your TV within seconds…
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It’s an Impromptu Holiday. Whee? Nope, It’s Just Too HOT to Work…

Posted on July 5, 2013 by geelw

Myahhh. MAN, it’s HOT out. Some like it that way, but I do NOT. “How hot is it?” you ask? TOO damn hot, it’s too damn hot. To be more precise, it’s hotter than Georgia asphalt out, my energy level is draaaaining faster than the Bandy tract (sslurrrrrrrp!) and I think I’m melting. How are you feeling? Hot, hot, hot? It feels like today is the day the earth stood still AND caught fire. I could go on and on with the movie references, but my poor brain has gone and walked on out of my head and is sitting in the freezer taking a nap. And my feet are about to go join it there.

Anyway, back later tonight, or at most, by tomorrow morning to afternoon. I’m so beat that on the way back from shopping with ingredients to make a niiiiice soup, I thought of the time I needed to spend chopping up stuff to toss into a pot, made a detour and had a slice of pizza and the rest of that bottle of formerly ice-cold water I’d been toting around all day.

OK, I did get three insanely hot peppers cut up and into a jar with some oil for later use, but while saving the seeds to plant (hey, free peppers are a side benefit and easy to grow too!), I accidentally rubbed my eye (thankfully after washing my hands) and had a small sun frying one side of my face for a bit. Oh, it’s fine now, but I was about to act out the ending of The Man With the X-Ray Eyes for about five minutes or so. OK, I’m going to take another shower and collapse onto my bed with the fan on. If I pop up later tonight, it’ll be a miracle…

DARK “3D Features” Trailer: Riding The Double Gimmick Wave…

Posted on July 5, 2013 by geelw

This latest trailer for RealmForge’s upcoming Xbox 360 and PC game DARK shows off both modern and “vintage” 3D visual options. I’m still one of those skeptics about that Oculus Rift being anything but a developer’s dream more than a gamer’s go-to peripheral, but that’s because I haven’t tried those damned fancy eyeball curtains and am getting tired as hell of hearing people claim that it’s such a hot deal. I’m sure I’ll get to give the Rift a go one day and be a-mazed out of my skull, but I don’t trust a product without a release date nor a price point that claims to be affordable and the best thing since sliced bread with bacon baked into it. I guess the best thing to do is dig up my ancient cardboard anaglyph 3D glasses and see how that mode hold up as I look into snapping up the more expensive version of that old tech in the future to see if it’s worth what it’ll cost (which probably won’t be as cheap as I’d like). Eh, whatever – if the game is good without the extra distraction of something on my face, it’s a better thing at the end of the day…