Hikari Friday: Mystic Powers Spidey Could Be Yours!

Posted on January 16, 2015 by geelw

This weeks Funko Hikari Friday giveaway? It’s a simply too colorful for his own good Spider-Man up for grabs. ONE lucky winner will get #1 of 1000 of this limited edition Hikari Premium Japanese Vinyl Mystic Powers Spider-Man in all his shiny rainbow-colored glory. Check him out below:

As usual, entering is a cinch, but winning takes a LOT of luck. Still, take a chance and you never know. Spidey just may be slinging some of those mystic powers of his on your tchotchke shelf as a nice surprise! Anyway, hit up Funko on one of their social channels:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the dirt-simple rules and you’re in it to won it. Hopefully! The lucky winner of this week’s figure will be notified in about a week. Good luck and check back next week for a new giveaway!

Wyrmwood: Dead Down Under In This High-Octane Horror Hybrid

Posted on January 15, 2015 by geelw

With no signs of stopping zombie films (and believe me, I’ve tried!), it’s great to see directors getting a bit more creative than usual with the genre. Case in point, WYRMWOOD, see to land in theaters February 13th, 2015 courtesy IFC Midnight. First time director (and co-writer) Kiah Roache-Turner takes the standard undead stalking the living formula and adds it to a post-zombie apocalyptic Down Under setting with some interesting characters and twists galore. Sure, it’s rocking that Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead vibe somewhat fierce. But there seem to be enough laughs here to evenly balance out the gore factor and if there’s anything a good horror hybrid movie needs, it’s some decent humor to break up the monotony. Well, at least I think so.

Here’s the trailer:

As well as what your ticket money gets you (fun!):

WYRMWOOD
In Select Theaters on February 13th

Zombies invade the Australian Outback in this brain-splattered, Mad Max-meets-the-undead thrill ride. When an apocalyptic event turns everyone around him-including his wife and daughter-into marauding zombies, everyman mechanic Barry arms himself to the teeth, soups up his car, and hits the road in order to rescue his sister from a deranged, disco-dancing mad doctor. Bursting with high-octane car chases, crazy-cool homemade weaponry, and enough blood-and-guts gore to satisfy hardcore horror fans, WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD takes the zombie flick to bone-crunchingly berserk new heights.

Cast: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill, Luke McKenzie, Yure Covich, Catherine Terracini, Keith Agius, Meganne West

Directed by: Kiah Roache-Turner

Written by: Tristan Roache-Turner, Kiah Roache-Turner

Genre: Action/Horror

Distributor: IFC Midnight

Sounds like a plan. Bring a date and all that stuff. I think I’ll need to review this one for sure…

Kotobukiya’s Zatanna Bishoujo Figure Will Make Your Wallet Mysteriously Lighter…

Posted on January 15, 2015 by geelw

Guess what? As soon as you looked into those eyes (or at those fishnets, yeah, I know some of you all too well!), you probably felt something light and drifty in your pants or other place you keep your credit card. Hey, now, this is a family show! Anyway, that was Zatanna up there making your purchase for you and kindly stepping into a big box that’s going to arrive one she’s all ready to ship. Hey, give a girl credit for being resourceful!

And don’t even try and send her back, either. She’ll turn you into a rabbit sized frog if you even go near that return shipping label. Just make a nice space for her on a shelf (she’s not going to conjure up a cabinet, you know), oh… about this high and this wide. What, you can’t see my measurements on your screen? I see. HERS you could check out okay, though. Yeah, I got your number, pal…

You’re still here? Okay, okay. The bad news first: Zatanna’s not up on the Kotobukiya website for sale yet (boo!). But expect some news about her availability soon as a pre-order. As in around Toy Fair next month.

Here are the vitals in the meantime:

DC COMICS ZATANNA BISHOUJO STATUE

A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import! Continuing the lineup of beautiful bishoujo-inspired statues combining the super heroines and villains of DC Comics with traditional Japanese stylings is a truly magical lady, the sorceress ZATANNA! Daughter of the famous stage magician Giovanni “John” Zatara, Zatanna debuted in 1964 as a powerful addition to the mystical side of the DC universe. In addition to performing on stage like her father, the skilled magician has worked with various versions of the Justice League, Sentinels of Magic, and more with her unique backwards-English spell casting. Zatanna appears in this brand new Japanese Bishoujo (pretty girl) styled statue based on original character art by world famous illustrator Shunya Yamashita!

Using sleight of hand as well as her considerable beauty, Zatanna distracts you, her audience, as she prepares to pull something out of her hat. The magician looks like she is frozen in mid-performance, wearing her stage costume and sculpted in a unique pose. Zatanna balances on one foot with the other pulled up under her as she leans to the side, dramatically aiming her wand at her outstretched top hat. The beguiling sorceress wears her classic costume, a feminine version of a traditional magician’s outfit with high-heeled boots, fishnet stockings, white gloves, a black bodysuit, and a complex top with tuxedo elements. There is an incredible amount of sculpted detail in Zatanna’s intricate clothing as well as her long, flowing hair and captivating Bishoujo-styled face.

Sculpted by Takaboku Busujima (Busujimax), Zatanna stands just under 10 inches tall (1/7 scale) on her specially designed display base. Whether displayed on her own or with other DC Comics Bishoujo statues on your shelf, this enchantress is ready to work her magic!

srp $69.99

Available July 2015.

TM & © DC Comics.

MVD Visual Wants YOU To Get Motivational Growth!

Posted on January 14, 2015 by geelw

Well, after seeing the trailer for this February DVD/Blu-Ray release, so do I. And you thought you had problems getting and sticking to your simple New Year’s resolutions. Poor, strange Ian Folivor above needs to get his entire life in order and thanks to a chunk of talking mold in his rather nasty-looking bathroom, he gets the chance. Of course, this being a horror film, all sorts of things go wrong and there will probably be a few bodies hitting the floor before all is said and done. Which is exactly how it should be in cases where a talking mold takes up residence in one’s bathroom.

Coming on home video from Parade Deck Films, Motivational Growth is written and directed by Don Thacker and stars horror veteran Jeffrey Combs (as the voice of the mold), Adrian DiGiovanni as Ian as well as a bunch of other actors you may or may not know who may or may not survive the film. Or their characters may or may not survive. You know the drill, but horror comedies like this are always more entertaining in my opinion because you’re laughing and cringing for all the RIGHT reasons. MVD Visual ships this one out next month, but you can pre-order it here if you’re into this sort of thing.

Since you’re read this far, that must mean you are, so you certainly don’t need any motivation from me at all, right? Ha, I thought so…

Hikari Friday: Win A Colorful Creature For Your Collection!

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

This week Hikari Friday giveaway from Funko is a sort of amusing one to me. I’ve always seen The Creature From the Black Lagoon as a “serious” (yet somewhat amusing) monster in those films (well, except for the last one when Universal tried to make him a half-man half amphibian thing). However, seeing this week’s giveaway made me crack up because Funko went and made him the least threatening-looking classic Hollywood monster I’ve ever seen. Take a gander at Secret Base Creature Hikari Sofubi Figure:

I was laughing because my first thought was along the lines of “So, what’s that secret base filled with? Fruity Pebbles?”. Clearly, this Creature has managed to sneak his way inside, slaughter all the guards plus Fred, Barney and Dino and eat up every box of Pebbles in the formerly “secret” secret base. Yeah, you laughed too. Anyway, as usual, this one is a limited edition (winner gets #1 of 1500) and entering is easy as pie. Click on over to one of Funko’s social hubs:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Enter by any rules necessary and you’re all set. If you’re the lucky winner, you’ll be notified next week and soon enough, this glitter filled sea beastie will be decorating your home. Disco ball and strobe lights not included. If you don’t win but still want this cool collectible, just boogie on down to your favorite Funko retailer to grab one for your very own. That one won’t be a freebie, but it’s definitely going to be quite the conversation piece!

Brandish: The Dark Revenant – Whip Out That PSP One More Time!

Posted on January 8, 2015 by geelw

I was going to use the word “Brandish” twice in that title, but my brain is all fried up from today’s rather mind-boggling “finale” to the kitchen repair job that still has me reeling. They’re done… but NOT done. I give up! Well, not quite yet, but man… am I wiped out from all this nonsense.

Anyway, next week (January 13) sees Nihon Falcom’s remake of its classic Super Nintendo RPG Brandish land on PSN for the PSP and Vita rechristened as Brandish: The Dark Renevant. I need something nostalgic like this to keep me sane, so it looks as if it’s going in the queue. Xseed Games deserves props one more for keeping the PSP alive after all these years,but as noted, the game will also run perfectly on the Vita as well as PlayStation TV if you’ve committed some money to that newer device/service. $19.99 is the MSRP and the game promises some old school challenge just like the original (but harder!).

As for what the game is all about, a peek below the jump should satisfy your curiosity… Continue reading →

DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition – Dante’s Return-O…

Posted on January 6, 2015 by geelw

Oh, I kill me with these puns, don’t I? Um, don’t answer that. Anyway, both Capcom and the supremely talented development team at Ninja Theory took a tremendous deal of grief and worse from some gamers when DmC was announced and that very different Dante graced that mockup mugshot poster. While the fanboy ire raged and internet fires blazed up on message boards, the game’s development continued as developer and publisher pretty much ignored the haters as they made the game they wanted to make. For the most part, the new game was solid, fun to play and like every other game out there, not without its flaws. Still, it must have moved enough copies to warrant a major upgrade to new consoles as PS4 and Xbox One owners are soon going to see DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition smash onto those consoles in March.

For some gamers who’ve already played this one on the older consoles, the idea of shelling out $39.99 to play it again may seem like a not so hot idea. However, Ninja Theory and Capcom intend to deliver to old and new players buying in a game that’s vastly improved over the previous version… Continue reading →

Persona 5: Last Gasp on the PS3/First Breath on the PS4…

Posted on December 31, 2014 by geelw

Atlus’ long running Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series of games has always been a reliably sturdy franchise for fans, surviving a few major artistic and gameplay changes some dislike while providing deep and generally well written plots as well as some interesting characters. The company has been teasing Persona 5 for a little while now as the game is still in development in Japan, and as this latest teaser shows, some of the familiar elements are back. Expect high-school age kids finding out they’ve got hidden powers called Personas, Japan at the brink of some sort of apocalyptic destruction, and dozens of hours of gameplay not counting plenty of side-quests. Demon fusion, teen angst, maybe a bit of romance options and a number of returning good, evil and neutral NPC’s to chat with will no doubt also be par for the course.

This second teaser trailer reveals not much at all other than some of the new cast of characters and their names. Additionally, as this will be the first Persona game for next-gen (or current gen if you’ve already made the switch), it will be interesting to see the differences between the PS3 and PS4 versions of the game. I’d imagine the more powerful PS4 will run the game at a steady frame rate and probably feature ore detailed environments. But outside that fighting game, the series has never been about super flashy visuals or lightning paced action. We’ll keep an ear to ground for more on this one, but let’s just say a chunk of time is being carved out in order to dive deep into this one and play it at length.

Unmechanical Extended Edition: Get A (nother) Grip Games Goodie in 2015!

Posted on December 31, 2014 by geelw

Grip Games is at it again with a cool enhanced update to one of its popular titles. Unmechanical Extended Edition is coming in 2015 for PS3,PS4, Xbox One courtesy of Grip and developers Teotl Studios and Talawa Games. Given that the original game was a critical success on multiple mobile platforms and PC, a console version with a bit more content was pretty much a no-brainer. Exclusive to the console versions is a new chapter that allows playing of the puzzle/adventure/platormer hybrid as a new character. Grip has also announced the Vita version of the game has been canceled, at least for the time being. The press release notes this, however:

While it is possible that this version will eventually be released, it definitely won’t be simultaneously with other versions.

Ouch. If speculation must be made, I’d imagine that getting Unreal to play nice on the Vita is probably trickier than expected. That or there are other issues keeping this one from its Vita debut. In any event, if Grip and company manage to work things out and get the game up and running, an update will be posted as soon as any news arrives in the inbox here. In the meantime, here are five screens to check out.

Right now, sometime in January 2015 looks like when we’ll see Unmechanical Extended Edition land safely on home consoles. Stay tuned for more on this one…

Hikari Friday: Win Spider-Man or Astro Boy This Week From Funko!

Posted on December 19, 2014 by geelw

This week in Funko-land, you can win big if you’re the one of the lucky two chosen to get one each of these cool figures. Check out the Distressed Spider-Man Hikari Sofubi Figure below. At a whopping 8 inches tall, he’s nicely over-sized, folks:

And below Spidey, here’s another Gemini Collectibles exclusive, the Infrared Astro Boy Hikari Sofubi Figure. Take a look, people:

Each one is #1 of a limited 750 piece run, so if you do win, you’ll get giddy that you’ve got the first one off the line for not a dime. As usual, you can enter simply by heading to one of Funko’s social network spots:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

follow the dirt simple instructions (usually a follow and post of some sort is required) and you’re all set. Of course, if you luck out and don’t score some swag for FREE, you can always pony up some of that hard earned dough of yours. That Distressed Spider-Man will be at your nearest Funko retailer in January, while the Infrared Astro Boy pops up on Gemini Collectibles’ site at the end of this month. Winners are usually announced on Thursdays, but as next Thursday is Christmas, I’m betting Funko will drop the news a day sooner or a day later. Hey, don’t try and pin me down for a better answer – you’re lucky you get an update on this site every so often with all I have going on! Anyway, good luck and definitely have a stupidly super weekend!