Hump Day With The Ross Sisters: Don’t Get It Twisted, Mister…

Posted on June 5, 2013 by geelw

I’d forgotten all about the almost forgettable 1944 musical Broadway Rhythm until I was flipping around with the remote looking for something to work to as background noise for a bit of writing and boom, I see that TCM is showing the wonderful documentary That’s Entertainment III, an instant watch just for the old Hollywood history lesson and ton of rejected clips and alternate takes from more great MGM musicals. Anyway, they ran the end of this incredible dance sequence featuring The Ross Sisters (their sole film appearance) and as I watched it, I recalled I’d seen part of this film before, but changed the channel just before the “Solid Potato Salad” number where the gals do their thing.

Ouch, and ouch and ouch – all this clip reminds me of is how I really need to exercise more. Well, not to THAT point of flexibility, though. Hell, I almost broke a hip watching this. Anyway, nope, no special effects or stunt doubles here – just a lot of practice and probably no chemically packed fast food slowing them down one bit. Er, don’t try this at home, folks. Or at least keep an ambulance on speed dial…

Corona’s Humorous “Summer Cooler” Ad Needs a Horror Remake…

Posted on June 5, 2013 by geelw

Not that I have a twisted sense of humor at the ready or anything (OK, it’s active at all times, folks!), but as soon as I saw this new Corona ad, I started laughing probably for reasons the company hadn’t planned. Yes indeed, I can see some YouTube genius re-editing this one with quick shots of plastic wrapped (and fake) body parts getting tossed into that dented cooler at one point. Yeah, those summer memories can really be fun… until you start remembering TOO much. And nope, it was drinking too much Corona that caused those blackouts and memory loss, either…

Fantasia: Music Evolved: Harmonix Has A Hit Here (But I Bet The Real Yen Sid Is Rolling In His Freezer…)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by geelw

Ho-kay. I’m so behind the times in the modern music thing that I initially thought this was going to be a game featuring that former American Idol winner who fell on hard times (pay your taxes, people!) getting a second chance in a new IP where players got to sing in front of their KINECT-enabled TV’s. Boy was I wrong. Look, I’ll give Harmonix every benefit of the doubt because they’ve made some great and innovative music and dance-themed games for a number of consoles, but this trailer is pretty lousy because it doesn’t say “Disney” to me at all – it says “desperation” for whomever got behind this and forgot all about the original movie and that still impressive classic animation/classical music combination.

Yes, I get the whole argument about tuning in to modern tastes, and YES, poking about for previews has revealed that the game has a few interesting aspects that make it sort of a cross between Child of Eden and some sort of exploration/collection-fest. That said, as a fan of traditional animation and more types of music than the not yet completely revealed track list that’s seemingly made up of later 20th to more current hits, I have to pull the emergency brake and fall onto the heaving bosom of a tutu-clad cartoon hippo for comedic effect. Come on, Harmonix – there’s a great library of classical tunes that deserve being introduced to folks who have no clue what an orchestra is.

Yeah, this will probably do well and make people like me warm up the oven to pop in another frozen crow pie, but no classic Disney magic means… no classic Disney magic, period. Bruno Mars and classic Queen are for listening to when you’re dancing in the shower (watch that soapy floor!) or driving to the mall with the kids (as they’re screaming at you to change the station because Freddie Mercury’s voice freaks them out). I guess this being an exclusive for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One means the chances of a Wii U game that’s closer to the original film (or hell, even Fantasia 2000) in tone. But, whatever – maybe I’m just old fashioned or something…

Halo: Spartan Assault Announce Trailer: Selling Points (Minus Some Common Sense)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by geelw

Hey, I happen to like twin stick arcade shooters, so I was happy to see that this upcoming game is going to feed that need… provided I (*urgh!*) buy a twin stick-free Windows 8 PC, phone or other device. Which, by the way… is something I have zero intention of doing. Oh well. Still, I’ll give it up for Microsoft, developer Vanguard Entertainment and 343 Industries, who do have the right idea in trying to get fans to get into a portable Halo experience. Still, skipping the Xbox 360’s huge user base and Windows 7 PC’s (but probably not the upcoming Xbox One where it SHOULD be a free pack-in on the HDD to lure in more early adopters) and effectively enforcing an upgrade to play this one isn’t settling in with some folks who’d prefer the entire Halo series ported over at some point sooner than later… Continue reading →

Game of Thrones 3:9 Aftermath: I Hear Red Wedding Planners Get Paid Less…

Posted on June 4, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I used to work in a small indie game shop and there was a customer who was a big fan of the GoT books who came in one day in a lousy mood about the original version of that “Red Wedding” sequence (which I found out after some poking around yesterday) was actually much worse in the books (as well as a bit more visually twisted).

Anyway, it’s been really interesting to hear and see people who didn’t read the books go totally bat-crap crazy over the episode, as it’s been known all along that no one is really safe from an untimely demise. Sure, it was definitely shocking (and how!), but that ticking clock for the characters probably has a few more stops to make before all is said and done…

That said, this is probably one of the few episodes I won’t watch multiple times, as I usually end up catching them again On Demand when I’ve got a free hour or so to spare.

Shout Factory Keeps The 70’s Rolling Along With Some Genre Classics…

Posted on June 4, 2013 by geelw

Seeing these three films pop up on the Shout Factory site almost makes me feel old, except for they got me excited that they’re back in circulation, so I’m bouncing around the room. OK, not so much at my age… but any activity is good when you get this creaky. I added the road movie from hell Race With the Devil as a Random Film of the Week last year, but haven’t got around to Electra Glide in Blue (a really good, quirky cop flick with one of those depressing 70’s endings) and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, a pretty cool extended car chase flick with some great action and yep, another smasher of an ending sequence.

Hmmm, with all this road wreckage, wild hippie women, devil worshipers doing their thing in the woods and assorted traffic cops going through really lousy workdays, it’s a wonder real people drove ANYWHERE during this period. Well, they had to go to the movies too, so I’d gather an evening at the drive-in for a triple feature of all three might have been happening somewhere out there back in the day…

Anyway, that’s two more films I’ll need to add to the RFotW pile – stay tuned…

Now Playing: Remember Me (and Other Stuff)…

Posted on June 4, 2013 by geelw

Of course, I had to run out early on Friday evening and zoomed past the UPS truck a block away that I SHOULD have hung around a few minutes to bug the driver about any packages that were mine on board, but, oh well. Anyway, Remember Me popped up again yesterday and I’ve been playing it since (which is why there weren’t a load of posts happening, folks). Anyway, it’s quite a blast and yep, a review is incoming probably tomorrow. So far, it’s quite original, somewhat linear, but very gorgeous in a “this is the game you make when your studio is in Paris!” kind of way.

Back in a bit – spoiler: the score will be good unless the game falls apart in what looks like the last few areas I’ll be getting back to soon enough. As for “Other Stuff”, that’s not a game – it’s just my queue stacked up with a bunch of games I’ll try to get to before the E3 crunch steamrolls me…

Random Indie Game of the Week: DreadOut

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly and ironically enough, one of the scariest work-in progress games I’ve played this year comes from a developer named Digital Happiness. Based out of Indonesia, this small studio is in the process of polishing up their first game, DreadOut, a nicely frightening homage to Tecmo’s criminally neglected Fatal Frame series with a modern (and optionally social) twist.

DH is using the extremely versatile Unity game engine, a wonder tool for a number of small to large studios that can pump out some fantastic visuals the can be scaled to run an a wide range of computers and devices. The speed at which this has come together combined with the quality of the work is pretty astonishing. I believe Digital Happiness happens to be in the CG animation business or something, and you can see this in the character art, animation and general pleasingly realistic style of the visuals.
Continue reading →

Orphan Black Season One: I Hope Tatiana Maslany Has A Lot of Shelf Space…

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

If you missed out on BBC America’s incredible sci-fi drama series Orphan Black because you were unsure about whether or not it would be any good, go find out how to (legally) check this show out and prepare to be amazed. Maslany’s portrayal of (so far) seven different cloned characters is amazing, especially in scenes she shares with herself (through some excellent CG effects and body doubling). It’s not just the different hairstyles, wigs and makeup either. Each of the clones has a separate personality and life which the actress does a remarkable job of portraying to perfection.

Continue reading →

Random Film of the Weekend (Too): Time After Time

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, warnervod!)

Amusingly enough, this RFoTW post was going to be about Somewhere in Time, but I’d mistakenly typed in Time After Time as the title of that film when doing a search for the poster, looked at the results and remembered that while SoT is indeed a fine (and highly underrated) gem, TAT is more pure fun to watch and does a few more interesting things with its characters and plot as it takes them from past to present.

Adding some unique twists to the time travel and Jack the Ripper mythologies, it combines mystery, drama, action and romance with bits of comedy that work despite some first time director flaws in the ointment. Oh, and it’s a grand little science fiction film that works because you’re sucked in so quickly and completely forget the fantastic elements being so farfetched thanks to the story, characters and direction making it so real…
Continue reading →