And by “Them”, I mean YOU out there watching all these Pacific Rim trailers and such and chomping at the bit for July 12 to wash up sooner than it should. Yeah, Warner Bros. Pictures hears you and sees you and is right behind you all the way (which is a bit awkward when you’re trying to use the restroom, um… a little privacy, here?). Anyway, let’s hope those monsters don’t pop up while you’re all in that movie theater on day one, as they’ll most likely be stomping your way and all you’ll have to battle them are a few tubs of greasy movie popcorn and a bucket-sized soda. Then again, all you need to do is mix them together, toss a couple of those dynamite shaped hot dogs in the mix with a plate of nachos, light a match and there goes trouble… and that multiplex, too. Oops…
If figures. As I’m about to drag my weary bones into bed, D3Publisher in Japan drops this crazy TV ad for Earth Defense Force 4 and of course, it’s my duty to drop it in your lap as well before I drop into dreamland. Sorry about it landing in your cereal, though. Next time, keep that bowl on a table, you. Anyway, I’m too pooped to go poke around to see if another site has translated the description text, so you get some free jazz Bing Translation mess to decipher at your peril below the jump. All you need now is a set of bongo drums, a beret, a microphone and perhaps a hot cup of java and you’re all set to read some “beat” lingo that’s baffling, baby!
Er, “Scoodly Oodly, wah, wah, wah?” (+5 XP for getting that slice of near obscurity)…
I’d say by now that the older 60’s era campy Batman is no longer the “ideal” version of the character (and hey, I’m old enough to have been around for that original series), so it’s good to see the darker Dark Knight get so fully embraced by the bulk of the fans out there. OK, mostly embraced, as I know there are some REALLY stubborn die-hards who refuse to submit to “gritty” being the new black for their favorite hero. Granted, there IS that exclusive Adam West skin for the PS3 version that’s going to be fun to dink around with (although, I’d also want DLC that adds a ton of those campy full screen sound effects for the combat and you KNOW you want those as well), but I’m going to stick to the cranky newer guy I’m more used to these days. Sometimes, nostalgia needs to have a seat in that comfy chair with its feet up and sleep for a bit in front of whatever old stuff it used to watch on TV…
No, it’s not the name of a villain from the upcoming game, silly rabbits. It’s Axel Torvenius, one of the artists at Machine Games. His Speedpaint skills are pretty awesome, I have to say. Of course, I need to actually get around to doing more art myself, so it’s cool to get inspired by assorted people in a few places… OK, back to work before I start getting distracted by too much other stuff…
OK, OK, fan favorite or not and guaranteed big, BIG deal to those who know despite the “M’ rating, the kids who want this WILL be playing it, I still don’t get this fascination with Deadpool. I guess he’s so unconventionally non-PC a comic book antihero (basically he’s the insane adult cartoon version of Beavis and Butthead and Bart Simpson with access to all sorts of weaponry) that his antics are immediately appealing to that crowd, but maybe I’m getting old or something. Anyway, if the game is good, I’ll give it a try. I’m not expecting much at all, but that’s actually the best way to go into ANY game, I say. It’s best to end up always surprised by something as it helps keep the jade eye somewhat more closed.
File this under “Now I’ve seen everything…”, folks. Stride Gum has teamed up with W+K London and Johnny Two Shoes to create Gumulon, which as you can see above is… yes, a game controlled by players chewing to jump. And I’m betting you’ll want a gum with a long-lasting flavor to play, meaning (cue Stride Gum theme music… if they don’t have a theme, they better get one and fast)… you’ll be buying some Stride with this new iOS game (as in: iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3rd & 4th generation, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 4th & 5th generation). I normally don’t cover iOS stuff (hey, do I look as if own anything Apple other than actual apples which aren’t “owned” for long because they’re eaten in a few delightful ways), but this was amusing enough to catch my eye when it hit my inbox, so here you go. Er, I guess if you get REALLY good at this one you can consider yourself… (wait for it…) chew chew trained. A ha ha and ha…
I actually didn’t like The Sopranos the first time I saw it (coming into the middle of an episode in the middle of a season has that effect on some people), but I wised up and stuck with it, enjoying the ride over the last four seasons or so and going back to catch most of the episodes I missed out on. For me, that final episode was quite a nice surprise but not too surprising, as it didn’t go for the expected. Of course, neither did the show on many occasions where stories were layered with hidden and not-so hidden depths mixed in with some shocking deaths just to hammer home the point that Tony’s world wasn’t a very nice place after all. I liked James Gandolfini’s work in most of the films he was in, but like many fans, he’ll always be Tony Soprano, driving down that highway through New Jersey on the way to raise some hell or suffer through some of his own creation. He’ll be missed…
As an impressionable teen, these commercials for Slim Whitman’s albums had my friends and I always laughing (and occasionally warbling awfully mangled versions of his tunes while strolling down the street), but I think they also made us appreciate other musical styles. Granted, I’m a nut with wild musical tastes (AM radio USED to play great music before it became home to the insane, incessantly annoying “opinions as facts” and “I’m famous because I have a radio show and people who believe my crazy BS!” talkers), so I think I came to see the man’s genius a bit more over time. But I do recall having the stupidest yet most amazing dream where Slim was covering The Ramones and yes, it was a spectacular a vision indeed. “I Remember Yoooooooou-ooooooooou-oooooooou!” (I still can’t listen to that song without laughing, by the way).
That and hell, Slim Whitman saved the earth, dammit. Go watch Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! if you don’t believe me…
EMBED. EMBED. EMBED. Old habits die hard. Think of the children. If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again. Good Guys Wear Black, Elvis needs Boats!
Nice to see Riddick: Rule the Dark isn’t being rolled out into theaters this September with any funky 3D added, as I think it will hold up as is without the gimmick. Personally, I hate wearing glasses over my glasses, although, it’s cool to take the freebie specs home and see if any games look interesting with them. Hey, I’m a firm believer in tech that multi-tasks! OK, I watched too many Good Eats episodes back when the Food Network was kind of still about cooking and not competitive food disposal contests mixed with crap “reality” TV… Oh, I’m not ranting here, folks… just speaking the truth is all…
When 2001: A Space Odyssey set the bar for visual effects back in 1968, movie studios around the globe kept trying to reach that level of polish and for the most part failed miserably. Outside of a few major and minor sci-fi hits and misses in theaters (Marooned, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and Silent Running pop off the top of my head) and on TV (those bits of Gerry Andersen’s UFO and Space: 1999 that work), it wasn’t until the release of Star Wars that a major studio film had a visual aesthetic genre fans could glom onto almost universally for sheer “wow” factor. Granted, when Logan’s Run was in its production phase, I’m betting it sure looked “futuristic” to the very hard working teams building that huge model of the city and domes, the set and costume designers and yes, the visual effects crew, actors and director. Hell, it certainly impressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as a special Oscar was awarded the film at the 1977 Academy Awards. Of course, George Lucas and ILM made that award all theirs the next year in a film not predicted to do all that well by a few people (Lucas included)…
Still, that didn’t help matters much in my case, as even as a wee bairn of eight years of age, I knew Logan’s Run was going to be enjoyably junky thanks to the TV commercials and rainbow on those posters I saw in subway stations. Interestingly enough, it actually popped up on TV about a year later (an amazingly fast time for a major Hollywood film), and while I was fascinated by some elements, to my mind it still looked cheap and the story (which I didn’t know was even more edited for TV) was hard to follow. Naturally, even though I didn’t like the film much, I ended up watching every episode of the 1977-78 CBS TV series and just like what happened with Planet of the Apes on the network, it managed to be dumber than the film, but easier to follow once I figured out that nothing would happen to the leads because they needed to be around for next week’s show. But I digress… Continue reading →
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 