Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser Trailer: In Space, Everyone Can See You Tease…

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

Well, I’ve changed my tune on this flick since I first heard it was being made, but yet… I worry a tiny bit about its future. I’m betting the fans will ABSOLUTELY eat it up and make it a box office champ for a bit, but I know the more curmudgeonly critics will not get this all that much. There will be whining about everything from the stunt casting, the snarky late 20th century jokes, maybe a knock on any visual effects they dislike, and yes, probably some complaints about James Gunn’s direction when stacked up to the other recent Marvel movies. Eh, whatever, I say.

Of course, I could be wrong (again!), but based on a few Godzilla reviews from folks who didn’t get that film, I’d say Guardians of the Galaxy is in for a rough ride in the mainstream newspapers and websites. Anyway, the real noise drops on Monday, so this teaser is just that. I hate these teasers for actual trailers, by the way… but it’s so common that there’s no way this practice will go away anytime soon because of all the interest each microsecond of new footage draws to movies that do this. Well, it seems to work, as I know I’ll be back here on Monday with another update on THAT trailer. Oh, and yes, that’s the new poster for the film. Nice, huh?

Oops: Think Geek Reminds Me I Forgot Their Star Wars Day Sale… There’s Still Time To Buy!

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geelw

Okay, you only have until midnight to grab some bargains at 20% off, so you last-minute shoppers can and should boogie on over to the Think Geek shop and check out the oodles of Star Wars goodies they have for sale. I actually couldn’t find the other half of my tea infuser earlier today, so this Death Star Tea Infuser is calling out to me like millions of voices from destroyed Alderaan. Hmmm, I wonder if someone thought it was a gas explosion right as it happened? Ouch.

Anyway, I also like these awesome Lightsaber Umbrellas (available in three styles!) because I just NEVER carry an umbrella and this would completely make me do just that even if there’s not a cloud in the sky. Of course, I’d maybe want a waterproof Jedi raincoat, but that’s what the Force is for, correct? Then again, I wouldn’t need an umbrella if I can keep rain from making my clothes wet… hmmmm…

Anyway, time’s a’wastin, Padawans! Get some (more) shopping done already!

Happy Star Wars Day! Funko Wants To “Force” Some Awesome Swag On You!

Posted on May 4, 2014 by geelw

Well, I’m sure if you happen to win this particular contest you won’t be whining at ALL about the fine folks at Funko sending you a box with SUPER rare items in it, right? in fact, I’d bet you’d be dancing around the room to some Meco if you DID win this really spectacular set of swag. Anyway, here’s the details on this very cool little LIMITED time giveaway – Er, get your cameras out, folks (you’ll need them to enter):

Happy Star Wars Day!
May the 4th Be With You!

Funko loves Star Wars, so we decided to celebrate today by launching a giveaway!
We are giving away FOUR Star Wars Pop! Prototypes from the new Pop!: Star Wars series.
The winner will receive Pop! Prototypes of the following characters: The Emperor, Biker Scout, Bossk, and Luke Skywalker Hoth.

Prototypes are early models of Pop!’s to test their concepts. Each prototype is extremely rare! Only five are made of each character!

How do you enter?
We want to see your Star Wars pride!
Take a photo of ANYTHING Star Wars related, post the photo on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the following caption:

“May the 4th be with me to win a set of Star Wars Pop! Prototypes from @OriginalFunko #FunkoProto #Funko #StarWars”

Don’t forget to tag @OriginalFunko in the photo!

The giveaway will run until the Sith Lord shuts it down on May the Sith!
(May 6th)

Good luck and May the Force Be With you!

READS: Dark Horse Comics Offers Up Some Sweet Star Wars Deals For The Fourth…

Posted on May 3, 2014 by geelw

Click Me!

I’l bett you one whole Republic Credit that Dark Horse Comics doesn’t care a hoot that Disney has decreed only what it creates from now on as “canon” and hell, they don’t need to at all, as up until it was yanked from them, they’ve been doing up the Star Wars license pretty right all these many years. Anyway, to celebrate May the Fourth (Be With You), the company is offering up some excellent deals on digital downloads from the massive lineup of SW books it’s put out over the ages. Click away on each image to be transported to a galaxy far, far away (or more precisely, a server far, far away) where you can check out and pick up a ton (or whatever they weigh on your own planet) of books at great prices.

For you cheapskates or those new to the Star Wars visual reads thing, you can grab the first four issues of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Empire and Star Wars: Legacy absolutely free of charge. That’s TWELVE free issues! FREEEEE! You don’t even have to let the Wookie win here, as even Chewbacca knows what free means. Well, he WILL rip your arms out of their sockets if you interrupt him while he’s reading, though…

In terms of KOTOR, that particular series makes a grand jumping off point, as it’s derived from what some consider the best Star Wars video game ever created. I need to replay this once again, as it still holds up as a great example of a well-written game that’s also extremely fun to play to the point that it works as a wonderful introduction to console or PC role-playing games thanks to the well done tutorials that ease you into play during the opening sequence and make you feel comfortable with the mechanics by the time that first section is complete.

Anyway, let me shut up here and let YOU go grab some deals or at least something free to keep you occupied this weekend. Have a blast and “May the…” oh you know, you know!

Funko Wants To Pop! Your Wallet With Too Much Cool…

Posted on May 1, 2014 by geelw

Funko continues to expand its Pop! line with more new figures from your favorite films, TV shows and other pop culture trends, meaning you’ll be expanding that shelf or cabinet space to make room for MORE cool vinyls. May (this month!) brings Custom D.I.Y. Male and Female figures that allow you to create your own “limited edition” figures using whatever means necessary. These blanks can be painted, sculpted, chopped in pieces and put back together (eek!) or whatever you can think of. Well, as long as you’re pleased with the results.

June brings in a couple of doses of Disney, old-ish and new. Old-ish would be the four Pop figures from Beauty and the Beast, Belle, Cosgsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts (with Chip!):

June also brings in A fresh set of Star Wars Pop figures (I still can’t quite grasp Disney owning that license!) that include characters from Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi including a super-sized 6″ Wampa, Luke Skywalker in his Hoth outfit, Bossk, The Emperor, Hammerhead, and a Stormtrooper Biker Scout. can you say TOO cute? Sure, you can!

Yeah, yeah – the Star Wars stuff isn’t out ’til NEXT month, so it’s missing those “May the Fourth Be With You” celebrations this time. Funko is just showing them off now to get you all hyped up for when they’re officially released. Now that your wallet is drained, I guess I should inform you that there’s MORE on the way. So keep building those shelves and display cases and Funko will make sure you’ll always have something to put on them…

Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes: “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, Indeed…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

Well, it HAD to happen, but I’m not exactly happy it has. Anyway, I bet Activision is royally ticked off because this would have been excellent as a T-rated Marvel Ultimate Alliance sequel or reboot with a more serious story and more “realistic” action figures that they could have also done as a more family-friendly jaunt in the Skylanders vein. Granted, dividing the universe up like that may have been a bad idea because one BIG game that will sell well is better at the end of the day that two that use wallet-draining collectibles as a core element, but who knows? I could see the older collectors sticking to the heroes they like and spending money and those with kids (and more money) springing for both sets, but that’s my brain over-thinking things (again).

Anyway, the license is now Disney’s to play with for ages (forever, it seems), so this is what’s coming, and soon, at that. Hmmm… Iron Man, Thor and The Black Widow in that starter pack? Okay, but I bet Cap will sell out in America and yes, like you, I thought Spider-Man (who’ll fly off store shelves as well) wasn’t going to be here thanks to Sony Pictures currently owning the rights to the character. Yes, Disney Infinity 2.0 and these figures will indeed sell out everywhere this holiday season, but I’d love to see something mature pop up out of the Marvel Universe again before it goes all cookies and milk and yearly “spend your holiday money on THIS!” on us grumpy old timers. That, and how do you make Deadpool cute? Or the Man-Thing? Or some of the other oddball characters you probably won’t see here thanks to some hefty editing out of anything deemed too much by Disney? Eh, we’ll see… I’ve been proven wrong many times in the past.

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…

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!

Hey, Spider-Man 2? Even Electro Doesn’t Spark My Interest…

Posted on February 24, 2014 by geelw

Uh… nope. I’m not feeling this new Spider-Man movie at all for a few reasons. The reboot was kind of lame and forced with way too many CG effects (par for the course for this franchise) and worse, separating it from the rest of the Marvel movie lineup has always been a terrible idea because as come comic fans know Spidey WAS an active Avenger for a brief time. Anyway, this new film has too many villains, too many connected bits (I think the Oscorp-created heroes is a terrible idea) and nope, I don’t like the casting here at all. That said, this one will rake in the dough as it were because the fans don’t seem to care thanks to them just wanting more of the same but bigger and louder.

That said, I’d really rather see a filmed version of that now dead Broadway musical Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark just because of all that behind the scenes turmoil that went into the live show and all its changes during and after its initial previews and premiere. I hope someone was smart enough to shoot that, as even as a flawed work, there’s something about a live show (or a filmed version of one) that’s a good deal more interesting and impressive than a film with a room full of computers powering the better parts of the action scenes…

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer: Not Your Average Folks In Tights…

Posted on February 19, 2014 by geelw

I didn’t think I’d be interested in this one at all, but this trailer got me turned around and a bit more hopeful that this actually works. The cast is out there and full of interesting choices, there’s a lot of humor and despite the Marvel logo and immediate knee jerk response that this is yet another super hero flick, there are nice signs that this one may be more than it seems. Of course, you don’t get what you expect with a James Gunn film, so it’s also great that this trailer really doesn’t do anything in giving away any major plot points (which should make this a nice surprise to see in a theater). Fan reaction seems quite positive overall, but as usual the trolls are out holding up under bridges and waiting for the saps that always get caught up in their toll traps. I pay them no heed and no fee, folks. I just roll over their flat heads with the heavy cart, hobnailed wheels and all…