Rayman Legends PS Vita Trailer: Vivent les Jeux 2D!

Posted on May 29, 2013 by geelw

rayman legends wall I was going to do this entire post in French and make some really funny (translation: LAME) French jokes, but I can’t speak French very well (c’est la vie!), I don’t trust translation software at all (See the mangled title above) and I didn’t want to be kidnapped and tortured by any French special forces that happen to be in the area or just so happen to drop in to see me for getting too funny about the country. Hey, I was watching The Battle of Algiers again, so I’m a little paranoid today,

OK? Anyway, oh yeah, Rayman! *Ahem.* He’s back and coming to the Vita soon, so if you happen to love colorful and hilarious 2D side-scrolling platform games that just so happen to be made in France, well… Rayman Legends is calling to you from that streetlamp on the corner while accordion music toodles away in the background. Go on… you know you want to drift on over just out of curiosity. Hmmm… maybe you should just buy the game before Maurice Chevalier’s ghost wakes up and starts singing “Louise” or “Thank Heaven For Little Girls”… the gendarmes always come for him when that last tune kicks in…

Random Film of the Week (Too): Point Blank

Posted on May 29, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, MyDeathlok!)

Forget that offbeat poster to the left, all the film’s stylish narrative tricks and fine ensemble cast doing some stellar work, folks. There’s one obvious moral to John Boorman’s Point Blank that seems to have escaped nearly everyone who dies in this film. That would be the following: If you owe Walker $93,000, stop talking so damn much, pay the man and stay breathing a bit longer.

Of course, this would make for a really short movie that’s probably not too entertaining, so the assorted bad men yak it up with excuses for not having his money while Walker (Lee Marvin), beats them with his wits, fists, a few well-placed bullets and assorted items in some of the sets. This is one of those “mature” late 60’s flicks where violence and refreshing vulgarity were emphasized as selling points and served the story being told. Although the storytelling here may require repeat viewing for those not used to narrative abstractions such as unusual editing, flashbacks and an ending that leaves a few questions lingering in the night air like the smell of gunpowder.
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Riddick: Rule the Dark Trailer: This One’s Too Easy To Poke Fun At (Again), But…

Posted on May 28, 2013 by geelw

I’ll be nice and give it a pass because the series is three out of four in my eyes. Yeah, I think I made a “Dim Weasel” joke before (well, I thought it was hilarious), but I watched Pitch Black again a few days ago and it’s not a bad intro to the Riddick character. Even better were the two video games (The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena) that worked thanks to developer Starbreeze Studios NOT basing it on the first film, but on developing the Riddick character and making him an interesting anti-hero. That last Riddick film from a few years back was… entertaining in a biting off more than it could chew in developing more lore for the character, but it holds up if you don’t take it too seriously.

This new flick seems to go back to what made Pitch Black watchable – Riddick up against a deadly threat, but adding in the twist of him needed help from the hunters after him in order to survive. WIll I go and see it on day one? Probably not. But if it turns out better than expected (not that I’m expecting anything other than it has a beginning and ending and something blows up at one point), I’ll be catching this a few months down the road on its cable premiere…

Man of Steel TV Spot 8: There’s a Bad Man Coming, And He’s Got A Head Full of Trouble…

Posted on May 28, 2013 by geelw

Michael Shannon has one of those faces that makes a great villain or at least, a good guy with a really hard edge you’d never want to run into in a dark alley. Anyway, here’s Mr. Mc Grimace doing his thing in this new Man of Steel TV commercial. Memo to anyone left in Hollywood that has a working brain and isn’t on too many drugs. If there’s ever a Mike Hammer TV series or movie to be made, it better be period-era precise and have Mr. Shannon in it as the lead. You’re welcome, and if it’s a series being made, “Kiss Me Deadly” HAS to be the final episode, as you can’t beat that story for sheer insanity when it comes to its beginning and ending…

Humble Indie Bundle 8: Too Much For Almost Nothing At All (And More If You’re Not Cheap!)

Posted on May 28, 2013 by geelw

How the heck do they do it, I keep wondering. Games like these cost a chunk of time and money to make, but here we go once more – your chance to help out charity by paying what you want to grab some great indie games and awesome bonuses. A buck (cheapskate!) gets you FIVE great games and a nice set of soundtracks, but if you beat the average price and pony up a few dollars more, you unlock two more really cool games (and feel better about yourself, right?). As with most Humble Bundles, this one’s up for two weeks and after that, it’s gone for good. Pop on over to the Humble Bundle site, poke around and see what’s what, then give ’til it doesn’t hurt. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity will thank you kindly and you’ll walk away with a steal and a happier hard drive full of cool stuff to play.

FUSE Launch Trailer: Tip #1: Don’t Die Hard, Duck, Dodge and Destroy…

Posted on May 28, 2013 by geelw

So, FUSE is finally out and, Insomniac fans can get their game on for the first time on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. As I’m up to my eyeballs in stuff to do, I haven’t grabbed a copy yet, but I’ve played a few demo builds at press events and based on the quick report from a friend who picked up his from a certain game shop, it’s super challenging and a hell of a lot of fun. I’m more of a solo player, so I’ll need to make it through the campaign with my fingers crossed that the AI is really good (it was in those preview builds) and Insomniac tweaked the challenge in that one crazy mode where the objectives change randomly for each wave of enemies. OK, enough daydreaming – back to work…

Random Film of the Day*: The Three Worlds of Gulliver

Posted on May 27, 2013 by geelw

*For the next few days, I’m going to add a random film the great Ray Harryhausen worked on. The legendary special effects MASTER passed away on May 7, 2013 at age 92 in London and yes, the film world has lost a true giant as well as a fine and talented gentleman…

OK, I don’t “hate” The Three Worlds of Gulliver at all, but as a kid, it did take me four attempts to sit through this classic family film without falling asleep. Sure, Ray Harryhausen’s “Superdynamation” effects and that lovely Bernard Herrmann soundtrack make this another perfect one-two punch for movie fans, but something about this flick has always rubbed me the wrong way.

It’s probably a combination of a few things from the silly refrigerator magnet names Johnathan Swift came up with being too nonsensical even for a kid to wrap a brain cell around (Brobdingnag? Glumdalclitch?), some languid pacing and seeing too much of Kerwin Matthews’ over-sized head (even when he’s normal-sized, his melon is a moon on his neck). Or it’s probably because Ray’s work here is “limited” in terms of the amount of stop motion effects (but you do get some great matte shots). The other technical work is fine, mind you – it’s just that compared to his more popular fantasy films, this one seems somewhat tame…
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Capcom Arcade Cabinet All-In-One Pack: Holdouts Get It But Good…

Posted on May 27, 2013 by geelw

So, you were one of those ~~cheap~~ thrifty folk hanging about and peeking ’round the corner every so often waiting for Capcom to release the full version of its hit arcade games collection at a ridiculously low price? Well, *ding!*… your order is hot and ready to go. Available now for oh, about 50% off and including the two secret bonus games, Vulgus (“What’s a Vulgus?!”, you ask? You’l find out soon enough!) and 1943 Kai! you can grab Capcom Arcade Cabinet on PSN and XBLA for $29.99 (or /€29.99/£23.99/2000 Microsoft points). Play these at home on your TV and not have to worry about some thug shaking you down for quarters, sticky controllers or cigarette smoke blinding you when you’re going for that high score. Er, unless you smoke when you’re playing games…

Random Film of the Week(end)*: Dementia 13

Posted on May 27, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, drbloodsvideovault!)

dementia 13 Sure, it’s a quickly made post-Psycho cash-in with the added shock value of a character getting decapitated on screen (a rather nifty cheap effect if you’ve never seen this flick before), but thanks to a creepier tone and some nicely tense lensing by a young director named Francis Ford Coppola, Dementia 13 manages to be a pretty decent little horror film.

Granted, if you pay enough attention past making popcorn and turning your brain off to watch this one, much of the script and more of the dialogue make about as much sense as a cat driving an oil tanker full of Tater Tots down a freeway on the way to the mall. But on its own merits, it’s a fine directorial debut brought in on a shoestring by the director and enhanced by producer Roger Corman to include the aforementioned head removal and some other elements he thought would punch things up a a bit more…

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Warner Bros. Wants You to Know There’s a Difference Between a Robot and a Man of Steel…

Posted on May 26, 2013 by geelw

Man of Steel TV Spot #7, meet Pacific Rim TV Spot # 2. Now shake hands and come out fighting for those summer box office bucks. Even better, go beat the stuffing out of something big and evil. Hmmm… Seeing both of these trailers together almost makes me think of the odd power Warner Bros. films have had over the decades. I can recall seeing many trailers either on TV (while watching TCM, primarily) or in theaters throughout the years where I’d nod when I saw that logo because I knew I’d be in for an entertaining two hours or so. Of course, I could say that about MGM, RKO, Universal, Paramount and other studios living and dead, but right now… I’m in a WB mood.