Alien Isolation “Creating the Cast” Trailer: Who’s Who Before All That Screaming And Dying Starts…

Posted on May 8, 2014 by geelw

Once again, it’s fantastic to see all the hard work going into making Alien Isolation a game worth watching. In case it hasn’t been made clear yet, this isn’t a run ‘n gun shooter or one more generic jump scare-filled horror game at all, but a project that’s hopefully going to be seen by fans of the series to fit like a glove in between the first and second films. Sure, that Colonial Marines game may be infamous on a few fronts, but AI will hopefully erase all those negative memories by being a completely different experience in every way. The game is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on October 7, 2014, so keep an eye peeled if you’re liking what you see in all these behind the scenes trailers…

GOTHAM Trailer: Fox Wants To Make Me (And Other Bat-Fans) Nuts In A Few Ways (Good & Bad)…

Posted on May 6, 2014 by geelw

Hmmm… this extended trailer for Fox’s upcoming GOTHAM looks REALLY good, but has me concerned about a few things. I dislike the whole concept of these “origin” reworkings because all these writers seem to LOVE throwing together every character they can write in who they think need to be in these shows with an intent to show how they came to be from nearly every angle. Sure, the fact that young Bruce Wayne is probably going to be VERY important to this series is a selling point, but do we REALLY need to see a young Catwoman as a fence-hopping Hot Topic outfit shopping (or shoplifting) kid, what looks like a too-tall Penguin and other characters who really don’t need full-on “Hey, we were in Gotham City, too!” stories? Granted, like the other DC shows, none of this will be seen as “canon” by many, but the show WILL be seen that way to younger fans growing out of the cartoons and into the Nolan films (like them or not, they’re important for a few reasons).

Eh, we’ll see, as always. I probably just don’t trust Fox for other things entertainment-wise, so my bias is showing here. Or the show will stink despite the good looks. Eh, we’ll see. I’ll at least catch the first season and see if it stands upright. The casting seems solid here, so it’s up to the writing and directing to make or break this one…

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…

Oops. One Tiny Mistake There, TCM. Otherwise, Both Thumbs Up!

Posted on April 25, 2014 by geelw

While it’s wonderful to see William Friedkin’s 1977 film SORCERER getting some much needed love at TCM’s yearly film festival (held this year at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood), I’ll admit to my eyebrow shooting up at the word “The” in that video title.

(thanks again, robatsea2009!)

Eek. Yeah, it’s a minor mistake that can easily be corrected with a few keystrokes, but I’d never heard of “the City Lights” “The Ben Hur”, “The Frankenstein”, or “The King Kong” in my film studies. So that sort of thing is a bit pesky to me. Anyway, perhaps the person who posted this video was thinking of the film Friedkin’s is based off of, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s brilliant 1953 action/drama The Wages of Fear. Hmmm… now I want to see both films pop up on TCM soon. Or even better, FINALLY see Friedkin’s film make a decent Blu-Ray appearance, as it’s one that’s LONG due.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Poster Blitz

Posted on April 4, 2014 by geelw

I’m not sure how many “official” posters there are for this upcoming blockbuster, but Comic Book Movie has a nice set of nine new ones up today to check out, all of which are pretty darn cool. Add the ones at the Imp Awards gallery and that’s eighteen posters with who knows how many more to come before the film arrives here on May 23, 2014. I’m glad I don’t collect these things anymore, as I’d need a warehouse for each film that comes out I’m interested in or like already. Ah well… someone is doing the living vicariously stuff on that front for me out there, so no worries…

Alien Isolation Update: The Sounds Of Nostalgia Recreated For Your Screaming Pleasure…

Posted on April 4, 2014 by geelw

What’s looking like the best Alien game to date is getting even better thanks to the development team’s focus on getting every element right as rain. Jerry Goldsmith‘s score to Alien was and in not only one of his best works, it’s one of the best genre soundtracks ever created (even though the original film drops a chunk of it in favor of cues from Goldsmith’s score to Freud and some classical tracks). I could write an entire post on the score alone, but I’ll wax poetic on it at some point in the future, as I’m kind of otherwise occupied with a living pile of work shuffling around the room here and making a nuisance of itself. Anyway, as you can see and hear here, Alien Isolation will get an additional layer of creepy thanks to the sound design and as a huge fan of the original film, I couldn’t be happier.

Alien Isolation lands on PC and PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One on October 7, 2014. back with more once Sega hits the inbox with an update…

Alien Isolation Gets October 7, 2014 Release Date

Posted on March 29, 2014 by geelw

Wow, I need to pay more attention (Part XVIX), as I didn’t know that Alien Isolation was being made for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Well, now… that changes things up considerably as I can live with the game on the PS3 as long as it’s got a solid frame rate and has the same content as the new-gen versions. Sure, I like fancy graphics and all, but my PS3 still gets a load of usage and I’m not about to knock Sega or The Creative Assembly for thinking smart and realizing from the outset that casting a wider net on this game means MORE people will play it if it gets great scores and they still don’t have a new system in their homes. Granted, as a system SELLER, it’ll work quite well indeed for those looking for a reason to snap up that nice new console or upgrade their gaming rig. On the other hand, those who can’t buy into the newer systems yet will appreciate not being let out of what could be the best Alien game to date. As usual, we shall see… but as I’ve said previously, I trust the CA to do this one up right (and then some)…

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer 2: It’s A Mutant Monday Today? Sure, Why Not?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by geelw

Since we’re now in summer blockbuster mode something like eleven months out of the year, I may as well post this big new trailer for the big new upcoming mutant-packed extravaganza. As a fan of the original story arc this comes from but not of all the movies, my feeling are mixed even though this does look quite thrilling. I’m probably jaded thanks to all these CG effects taking up so much screen time and real estate in films such as this that with few exceptions, these films start to all look alike. That said, somehow Marvel has yet to find how to make ALL its special effects packed films equally worthy of a trip to the theater as they’ve been hit and miss the last few years. Although it seems they’ll be getting plenty of opportunities to flood cinemas, TV, and any other device that can get a program up and running with caped and non-caped heroes galore 24 hours a day, so I guess that trend will continue for a while. Is this a good thing? Hmmmmm… for me, the jury’s out (way out). But remember kids… man cannot live by end of the world scenarios and last minute super rescues alone, as you’ll soon find out. Hell, the newspapers are chock full of REAL life doom and gloom as it is!

Random Film of the Week(end): Zardoz

Posted on March 22, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, tubesoda!)

How amusing that I had a dream about Zardoz and TCM (Turner Classic Movies) just so happens to be showing it this evening (EDIT: Okay, at 2am Sunday). John Boorman’s wonderfully gorgeous and ~~somewhat~~, okay, EXTREMELY bizarre follow up to the 1972 smash Deliverance was and is a weird mix of science fiction, black comedy and violence that baffled many critics and moviegoers of the time and while it’s a more popular cult film today with a loyal following, still has a polarizing effect on a few fronts. If anything, the film’s oddball mix of impressive and cheap visual effects and some stunning cinematography go a long way in holding one’s interest as the plot zooms all over the landscape.

From the killer opening sequence with a floating stone head issuing marching orders (“The GUN is GOOD! The PENIS is EVIL!”) to some well-armed men (well, the stone head is the one arming them with PILES of firearms), to one of those well-armed men (Sean Connery!) sneaking aboard that head to do a bit of surprising disposal work (how do you kill a “god”? Here’s one way if you need a hint!), Zardoz continually surprises, even when it’s getting too meta for its own good. Then again, that seems to be what Boorman wanted to do with this film. This is one of those experimental flicks that does an excellent job of making you pay attention right from the start and slowly draws you deeper into its odd characters and world. Granted, your suspension of disbelief is being kidney punched the entire way through, but such is art and films such as this one… Continue reading →

The X-Files is BACK (…As A Board Game This July)!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by geelw

I think I only fooled two people with half that headline, but that’s fine by me. Anyway, this July, IDW Games will be getting fans of the show a new BIG box board game based on the first three (and some would say the best) seasons thanks to Pandasaurus Games, designer Kevin Wilson (Arkham Horror, Descent, Civilization) and comic book artist menton3 (Memory Collectors, The X-Files: Season 10).

That box art is sure mighty pretty (and pretty simple) and if the game INSIDE the box is like that art, it’ll keep anyone with even a passing interest in the show back in deep where they should be. Of course, chain smoking as you play like that Cigarette Smoking Man isn’t required, but if you DO get that far into character, make sure you ask your tabletop buddies if it’s OK. No one likes to get kicked out their friend’s place (or even their own home) even if they bought the game with them.