Alien Isolation “Lo-Fi Sci-Fi” Trailer: The Future? Same Problems As The Past (You Need Four Hands For Everything!)…

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geelw

Eeek. I actually MISSED posting the Alien Isolation update from April. Oops. Hey, it happens with all these games coming out, kids. Anyway, how fitting that this video is about the low-tech equipment used in the game and the lower tech methods developer The Creative Assembly used to get parts of the game looking quite analog. I love this behind the scenes stuff and you have to appreciate that old techniques work as well as (or even better in this case) than just doing everything on a computer to FAKE video footage that looks garbled and yep, “lo-fi”. October 7, 2014, folks. Carve out some time for this one – it’s turning out really special…

DreadOut Launch Trailer: You’re Now Under The Table Without A Single Drink, Right?

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geelw

On May 15, a bunch of you will be sitting in darkened rooms, headphones on and hunched over playing Digital Happiness’ scary new game, DreadOut. I’m gathering there will be some squealing and flat out screaming involved on that day, particularly among those of you who do something dumb like play with the door to your room open and your back to that door. You KNOW that’s not a good ting, especially when someone else in your house or that pet running around decides to pop in and check up on you. Yeah, I’d expect those headphones to pop right off when you leave your seat and hit the ceiling, unless they’re wireless headphones. in which case you’ll want to have a pair with a NICE padded top, as ceilings can be quite hard when you fly up to them too quickly. Ouch. Turn off that ceiling fan while you’re at it, as it’ll keep your head from hitting the floor before the rest of you comes down. The police will have a hard time figuring out what happened until some deft detective sits down in front of that monitor, puts those headphones on and the scenario is repeated… Ouch.

The Ultimate Godzilla Collection: Destroy All Mondays? Sony Pictures & Toho Would Probably Appreciate That…

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geelw

Sony Pictures Entertainment has released the latest in its Toho Godzilla Collection Blu-Ray collection, this time featuring two more films with everyone’s favorite ticked off giant radioactive lizard: Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah and Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus. You can grab yours at your nearest Wal-Mart or Best Buy location or if you’re an online shopper, Amazon.com is most likely your poison.

Of course, you’ll probably want a few more of the films from this monstrous set and I’d bet each of these retailers can help you out on that front. As you already know, that new Godzilla opens up May 16th here in North America, so if you want to go through every single Godzilla flick before then, now is a good time to start. Granted, that new film is a totally different bird – a re-imagining/reboot, if you please. But I know that canon-crazed fans out there will be looking for all sorts of Easter eggs and nods to their favorite films in this well-aged franchise…

Ha. So There WAS a “Musical” Episode of Orphan Black. Sort Of.

Posted on May 4, 2014 by geelw

Oops. Well, at least it wasn’t a ALL musical episode (thank goodness!) and that number ended with a bang of sorts with an unconscious Alison hitting the floor hard. Don’t drink and sing, folks! Heh. Anyway, I’m not sure how I like that Cal character and the plot twistaroo that happened, but we’ll see where that goes soon enough. Finally, I’d LOVE it if a certain dazed-out Russian clone would wake the heck up already and send everyone in the crazy commune to their maker, as they all deserve a nice amount of lead in their diet for what they’ve got planned. Yeah, you know you want them dead too. Anyway, next week’s show looks like a real corker (as you can see)…

More Star Wars Day Madness? Hokay, Knock Yourself Out, Fans!

Posted on May 4, 2014 by geelw

One: The folks at mimoco are running a Caption Contest that ends at MIDNIGHT! Th prize? Your choice of One (1) 16GB retired Star Wars MIMOBOT from the #MIMOVAULT (if available, at their discretion) or one (1) of their 32GB USB 3.0 current series MIMOBOTS. Woo! Time is running out, so go HERE and enter to WIN! You can also boogie on over to the mimoco shop and get 20% off any Star Wars USB drives you buy for 24 hours PLUS free shipping for U.S. orders over $50!

Two: Chronicle Books is doing their May 4th up a few ways today, starting off by announcing a fun new kid’s book available for pre-order, Goodnight, Darth Vader by writer/artist Jeffrey Brown.

Yes, it’s TOO cute, but according to those folks at Disney who now own everything Star Wars, most likely NOT at all part of the new canon they’re creating (boo!). Chronicle also has a free activity kit you can grab PLUS a cool facebook contest for an excellent Star Wars prize set that includes books and some really cute maquettes!

Three: Her Universe is offering up a 40% off sale on SELECT Star Wars items, three new items in their SW line and a $10 Star Wars Mystery Tee (what could it be?). Well, you’ll just need to buy it and find out, correct? Everyone loves surprises, right? Well, unless it’s Jar-Jar Binks staring at you when you open that Mystery Package… Eeek.

Anyway, there’s a lot more going on allll over the internet to-day, but I’m tied up in a few other things and just cobbled together some of what but busting my inbox’ back. Anyway, go consume mass quantities or something and… oh, you know how the rest of that goes!

Happy Star Wars Day! Funko Wants To “Force” Some Awesome Swag On You!

Posted on May 4, 2014 by geelw

Well, I’m sure if you happen to win this particular contest you won’t be whining at ALL about the fine folks at Funko sending you a box with SUPER rare items in it, right? in fact, I’d bet you’d be dancing around the room to some Meco if you DID win this really spectacular set of swag. Anyway, here’s the details on this very cool little LIMITED time giveaway – Er, get your cameras out, folks (you’ll need them to enter):

Happy Star Wars Day!
May the 4th Be With You!

Funko loves Star Wars, so we decided to celebrate today by launching a giveaway!
We are giving away FOUR Star Wars Pop! Prototypes from the new Pop!: Star Wars series.
The winner will receive Pop! Prototypes of the following characters: The Emperor, Biker Scout, Bossk, and Luke Skywalker Hoth.

Prototypes are early models of Pop!’s to test their concepts. Each prototype is extremely rare! Only five are made of each character!

How do you enter?
We want to see your Star Wars pride!
Take a photo of ANYTHING Star Wars related, post the photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the following caption:

“May the 4th be with me to win a set of Star Wars Pop! Prototypes from @OriginalFunko #FunkoProto #Funko #StarWars”

Don’t forget to tag @OriginalFunko in the photo!

The giveaway will run until the Sith Lord shuts it down on May the Sith!
(May 6th)

Good luck and May the Force Be With you!

Random Films: Harry Palmer’s Here To See Me. Now, My Weekend Is Complete!

Posted on May 3, 2014 by geelw

Excellent. I’d been looking on and off for a copy of The Ipcress File that wasn’t priced like a Krugerrand and either Region 1 or at least not PAL format and as you can see, I had to import one after all. Still, it’s working fine and I’m quite pleased because not only do I get to see an all-time favorite once more after far too long, I get to write about this for an upcoming Blogathon (Hi, Fritzi!). Anyway, I’m off to catch the episode of Fargo I missed last week, then the new Orphan Black and if I’m still awake, I’ll watch this classic, take some notes and pass out ’til tomorrow. And YES, you should be watching both of those shows if you’ve yet to do so.

Yeah, I do live the wild, wild life, ladies and gents! Have the remainder of an awesome Saturday, people! I may be back later tonight, but perhaps not. We shall see. Harry Palmer is in the house and he can’t be ignored or delayed one bit… Well, ALMOST. Sorry, Harry – I just got threatened by some clones!

Dirty Harry Gets Lucky: Writers, Here’s How To Introduce Your Hero (#6 Of A Bunch)…

Posted on May 3, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, elinokiprios13!)

Yeah, this one still works quite well, as does the entire film. Sure, Dirty Harry rubbed (and still rubs) some the wrong way for a few reasons, but there’s NO denying director Don Siegel and star Clint Eastwood knocked it out of the park. Before the series descended into self-parody and too many one-liners and dopey situations (see The Dead Pool… or please don’t unless you love to cringe and laugh at the same time), we got a deadly serious Harry delivering one of the all-time best zingers in any film ever. Granted, Harry’s response to the injured would-be bank robber IS a bit over the top (Any cop doing that crap and getting seen doing it would be off the force, I’d bet), but that Scorpio killer is completely off his rocker and the film shows you clearly that despite Harry’s rather rude behavior, that old-time justice has its way with that creep. Still, I wonder how that would be played now? And NO, I don’t want a remake.

Amusingly enough, I wrote up a joke plot outline for a FINAL Harry flick many years back that had an aged and very retired Callahan out camping and fishing somewhere in the woods and a few people with grudges against him (for stuff he’d done in previous films) trying very hard to kill him (and failing miserably for a few reasons). It got wiped in a hard drive crash with a bunch of other ideas and I don’t want to even attempt to recreate it now. Still, back them I thought it made sense and the ending was pretty funny and final for the character and the few people that get to read it seemed to agree in a “too bad NO one will ever turn this into an actual script” manner…

Shaft “Let The Music Do (Most Of) The Talking” Intro: Writers, Here’s How To Introduce Your Hero (#5 Of A Bunch)…

Posted on May 3, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, FarOutFunky!)

Issac Hayes won a very well-deserved Academy Award for this funky theme to Gordon Parks’ still impressive action film that’s about as far from “blaxploitation” as it gets because the material is played seriously and every actor on screen was committed to make the project work as an action film and a still solid crime drama. I’ve seen this way too many times to count as well as some making-of features on that explosive main theme and the film that show how tight the production was and how the end result still stands up as a killer flick for the ages. I also love this intro because it’s got those actual grimy Times Square locations that are ALL gone these days. I can remember too many movie theaters lining both sides of Broadway and those side streets and while MANY were porn houses, a lot were playing first-run to oldies in single to multiple features in a SINGLE theater! Yes, there were no megaplexes back then running twenty plus flicks – unless you knew what you wanted to see, half the thrill of going to the movies was strolling up and down looking at marquees. Granted, the chances were good if you dress like a mark and acted like a total tourist, you’d be tailed around by creeps. But hey, those were the days of thrills nearly every step in that seedy area, kids…

Indiegala’s Tiny Mix Bundle: Not So Tiny (Just The Price!), But Oh, It’s Quite a Mix…

Posted on May 3, 2014 by geelw

Yet another great IndieGala sale for charity? Cool! This time up, it’s a mix of JRPG-inspired goodness, a crazy (not for the kiddies!) shooter some will find oddly… comforting if they have lousy jobs and twisted revenge on their minds but aren’t the violent type, some puzzle games to keep you playing ’til the wee, wee hours and even a few tough as nails (or “old-school”) style action platformers. As usual, the price is a total STEAL (well, in a “I took your stuff, but left you what I thought was cool kind of way), you need a working Steam account and probably a time machine once you grab this deal so you can actually PLAY all these games at some point. Yeah, you know you want it, so go get it!