BUY THIS GAME! Unepic Sneaks Onto Nintendo eShop

Posted on January 18, 2014 by geelw

Hey, you beleaguered Nintendo Wii U owners starved for original content, take heart. The indies are coming! The indies are coming! Sure, it’s been edited for content (gone are the profanity and more “adult” references), but Unepic is a wonderful and funny blend of old-school “Metroidvania” style action/RPG gameplay, a very funny story chock full of in-jokes and classic gaming references, and yes indeed, plenty of replay value. New exclusive to Wii U features and some great voice acting are all aboard and even if you have the PC version, this comes very highly recommended. And below (*ahem*), aquí tenéis el trailer oficial en castellano de Unepic para Wii U. Um, so buy it already! Ten years of Spanish waaaay back in school and a bunch of Spanish friends from all over the place and I’ve never used it (*sigh*). So I may as well pretend I can get by. Whee!

Random Film of the Week(end): A Shock to the System (1990)

Posted on January 18, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, FirstLookStudios!)

I’d bet anyone reading this who has held any sort of job where they felt (or feel) underutilized, under appreciated or have been passed over for some sort of award or reward has felt that certain twinge deep in the back of their minds. You want revenge for that wrong done to you and for the briefest of moments, a flash of some sort of violent or not so violent payback pops into your head and is gone like the wind before you can dwell on it. Or (in real life) you just make the rest of the day a complete pout-fest until you can slog it on home and bury your sorrows in a quart of Cherry Garcia with a few shots of Disaronno for good measure.

Well, dear reader, drop that spoon and stumble over here for a spell. I’ve got your back here. A Shock to the System is your movie selection for this evening. Director Jan Egleson’s great little 1990 black comedy is a showcase for Michael Caine’s laid back, brooding and maliciously dry portrayal of Graham Marshall, a NYC ad executive with time (and a few people) to kill after he’s passed over for a promotion. Oh, it’s not as grim as it sounds, ladies and gents. In fact, I bet this film will give a few of you all the wrong ideas…

Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: THE DARK

Posted on January 17, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, AussieRoadshow!)

John “Bud” Cardos’ one hundred and ten percent wretched sci-fi horror flick The Dark is one of the best reasons for better movie theater security guards and well-caffeinated ticket booth clerks. I paid to see this R-rated waste of time when I was 15 and it was four bucks I still want back. This is one of those “so bad it’s worse” “cult” films that boggles the mind as to not only how it got made, but how it got into theaters. And this is coming from someone who loves crappy movies to death.

Allegedly, Tobe Hooper was in on this mess as the initial director before being replaced by Cardos, but I’d gather he split or was canned because whatever script was presented to him scared him off. Or he was merely killing time before *not* directing Poltergeist a few years later (*ziiiing!*). This won’t be a long and loving look back at this dopey flick, so don’t get too comfortable. In every way possible, this film reeks of people showing up to work just to collect whatever paycheck was promised them (and probably some drugs as well), and that’s a shame…

Continue reading →

The Indie Gala January Bundle Gets Deadly… And You’ll Get A Premonition When You Buy It…

Posted on January 17, 2014 by geelw

Ha! ANY chance to write more about one of my favorite games is a good thing, so here you go. Over at the Indie Gala site, their January bundle just got even more interesting, going from a must buy pack to “If you DON’T buy this bundle, you’re nuts!” deal. $5.19 got you seven games up until today when Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut was added to the deal and three more Steam games are coming soon. Nice.

The Steam version of DPTDC adds a ton of bonus content, Steam-specific achievements and (Xbox 360) controller support (sure you CAN play with a mouse and keyboard, but this is ONLY recommended if you already do so and are GREAT at it). As for the game proper, it’s a surprising throwback that won’t win any awards for visuals, but has a story that’s quite interesting on a few emotional layers. In addition, the game is a homage to all sorts of cool stuff and packs in movie trivia like a boss (just drive around and listen to the banter for some fun knowledge dropping). Sure, it won’t look amazing at all on that 50″ or three screen monitor setup and the game isn’t going to task your overclocked gaming rig at all. But good, quirky games like this don’t need fancy system defying visuals to be awesome, I say.

That, and the rest of the games in the bundle are all pretty unique in their own right. You’ll see soon enough. Now go spend a few spare bucks (part of it will be going to charity, so it’s okay!) and have a great(er) weekend!

Random Film of the Week: Body Parts

Posted on January 17, 2014 by geelw

While flawed, Eric Red’s 1991 horror film Body Parts works for about two-thirds of its running time until it goes to pieces and collapses into a heap. It’s a variation on The Hands of Orlac and other potentially possessed parts flicks that makes for a fairly freakish time thanks to Jeff Fahey’s committed performance, Red’s mostly solid direction and an outstanding score by Loek Dikker that drives the film right from the main title sequence.

Like Oliver Stone’s even more flawed horror flick THE HAND, there’s some good stuff in here, some bad stuff and some flat out crazy stuff. But Red’s film is a lot more compelling and even more interesting on the visual side of things up until the aforementioned belly flop into silly quasi-Frankenstein’s monster/evil scientist with a bizarre agenda territory…

Continue reading →

Walk of Shame Trailer: Hmm, Ladies Get Hangovers, Too? Who Knew?

Posted on January 16, 2014 by geelw

And yeah, yeah… I know they do. They also do a lot of other normal to abnormal stuff some dumb guys still don’t realize, but perhaps they’ll catch onto one of these days (right ladies?). Anyway, Elizabeth Banks proves she’s game for anything (again) in this upcoming comedy. I don’t normally cover this sort of flick, but I got a chuckle watching the trailer (predictable as it is) and decided to toss up a post. Now, I won’t run out and see this at the movies at all, kids. But when it turns upon cable (by the end of the year, I bet) I’ll probably take a look at it. Your mileage may vary of course, so feel free to mark your own calendar if this chick-centric flick floats your boat. There, my good deed for the day is done (I think)…

Random Film of the Week: The Thing

Posted on January 16, 2014 by geelw

So, it’s John Carpenter’s birthday and once more, I find myself writing about The Thing. The last time it was a dissection of that disappointing 2011 prequel and this time, it’s a little look back at what I think is one of the scariest mainstream sci-fi/horror films of the 80’s that still works today thanks to how well it was put together. The overall tone of relentless, deliberate dread the film sets up from the very beginning is claustrophobic and overpowering as you’re sucked into the story about the doomed men of Outpost #31.

I saw this back in 1982 and the film really pushed the envelope of what could be done with practical effects so much that even today most of Rob Bottin’s (and that brief slice of Stan Winston’s) groundbreaking work holds up as believable. Of course, the story and excellent cast also make this one such a killer film to curl up with that I’d even recommend it to those who hate horror movies just because everything clicks so well…
Continue reading →

Toukiden: The Age Of Demons Stomps Exclusively Onto Vita In February

Posted on January 16, 2014 by geelw

As someone mad in lust with much of Omega Force’s output over the years, I’m more than pleased that the veteran developer has whipped up this great-looking PlayStation Vita exclusive and it’s making its way to North America (February 11) and Europe (February 14) soon. I like the separate anime and CG promotional videos for this, the gameplay looks thrilling and while some are making Dynasty Warriors and Monster Hunter comparisons (yes, there are some similar elements), I see more of a Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll influence here:

(Thanks, FrankNStein!)

THAT game was one of my favorites from 2010 and if Toukiden manages to iron out the issues it had while providing even more action, it’ll be a must-buy title for Vita owners. I’m going to grab it no matter what because I trust Omega Force to keep me entertained until the wee hours bumping off assorted demons and avoiding doom every step of the way. Anyway, I’ll hold of writing more on Toukiden until I get some hands-on time. I don’t think a demo will drop on PSN for this, so I may just buy the game outright if I don’t get a review code. I wont’ note here that the Japanese version of the game is cross play with the PSP version of Toukiden (!!!) simply because the chances of that coming out here are slim to none. Boo, but I’d gather it wouldn’t sell in the numbers it needs to break even. That said, I have three PSP’s here, so I’d buy this game once for both handhelds.

Anyone saying the Vita is “dead’ needs to actually own one and look at the current library (yes, outside your comfort zone there are some GREAT game experiences) as well as the ridiculous value PlayStation Plus adds to the handheld that makes it a keeper. And don’t even get me going about the ability to play PS4 games on the thing…

Concursion Trailer: The Act Of Running Together Is Working Quite Well For Puuba Games

Posted on January 16, 2014 by geelw

Oh, Puuba Games… You intrigue me so. Your first game, Concursion looks pretty darn cool with all that genre switching on the fly, colorful mix of visual styles and and promise of many hours of play and replay value. That said, I tend to be cautiously optimistic about stuff like this because no game is “perfect” and in fact, it’s often the case that a game’s flaws can actually make the overall experience better for some players who can exploit them to the fullest. Granted, the only flaws I see is that dance the main character does at the end of that trailer above (it’s so… 1991!) and some generic-looking sprites. But I know this isn’t the final product at all and I’m not some internet troll with an already dull as hell axe to grind.

Anyway, I’ve got my eyeball on you kids. Get this one polished up and DONE and don’t screw it up. I want people to fall over themselves to get this one when it’s finally done and I also want to see it pop up on consoles at some point down the road because I’m a multi-platform kinda guy…

BAM! SOCK! FINALLY! Batman Coming to Home Video!

Posted on January 15, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, hitmanhalley!)

Well, that took way too long. Anyway, according to DC Comics and that news item/tweet they ran from Conan O’Brien here, it looks like someone’s long national nightmare is over while others are going to be starting. Anyway, Warner Bros. Home Video will be dropping some sort of set on you Bat-fans sometime in 2014, so you may (or may not) want to haunt your favorite retailer online or off so you can run over someone to grab that day one release. That is all. I’m a little bit thrilled about this because I’ve seen all those episodes but not for some time now and can only imagine the transfer work and all those crazy colors I’m going to see pop off the screen. “POW!” Indeed.