Arrow Video July Releases: Dead on Target (Again)

Posted on April 7, 2015 by geelw

The fine folks at Arrow Video continue to whip out releases from their UK catalog through MVD to film fans and collectors stateside well worth buying and July’s three Blu-Ray/DVD sets are a nice trio for your library. This time, it’s an odd triple threat of 1970’s Japanese pop style, a bleak Gallic “spaghetti” western and a fun, funky horror film starring a pre-A Nightmare on Elm Street Robert Englund. That video below of Stray Cat Rock: The Collection should hopefully tease some of you into action in the form of adding it to your want list somewhere or bugging someone to get you it (or all three films) as a nice gift.

Well, I’D bug someone to get me all three of these flicks. Hey, I have unusual tastes in films from unforgettable classic silents to a handful of loud, noisy super-budget blockbusters more easily forgotten. I won’t knock your tastes at all (well, unless you still watch “reality” TV with a straight face and actually get upset at every VERY obviously scripted moment better done the first time and not the 500th). Eeek.

Blu-Ray Review: Day of Anger

Posted on March 18, 2015 by geelw

When UK-based Arrow Video finally decided to launch in North America this year, it picked a trio of excellent films to kick off what’s going to be a wild run of classics and desired library additions. As all three films arrived at the same time, I had to flip a coin to choose which one to review first and Tonino Valerii’s magnificent 1967 spaghetti western Day of Anger (I giorni dell’ira) won the review draw.

This was one of those genre films I’d heard about for years but have never seen until this beautifully restored (from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative) version and it’s very highly recommended whether or not you’re a western fan. Excellent performances all around, some stirring set pieces, excellent art direction and cinematography all wrapped up with a superb Riz Ortolani score that will stick in your head for days makes this one a must-see (and must buy if you’re a collector). Continue reading →

Today’s “Motivation”, Courtesy Bigmouth Inc.

Posted on March 11, 2015 by geelw

Okay, you should never be THIS lazy, but if you are, you’ve probably earned the right to be at some point in your life. That said, You probably know some exercise buff who’d get a kick out of this Exercise Block. Or you know one who’d kick you out of their workout cave if you gifted them with one just to push their buttons a tiny bit. Although, if that peson can bench press your current weight, I’d not want to push those buttons so hard.

In any event, if your eyes lit up when you saw that photo, you have to have one and somehow don’t know where to find it, click on over to Bigmouth Inc. for a list of places you can pick one up along with a bunch of other fun to funky novelty items. Once you’re on the site, expect to find yourself chuckling a wee bit too much at their assortment of crude to cool to flat out hilarious impulse items.

VHS Video Cover Art – May Blooms Up A Killer Book From Schiffer

Posted on February 11, 2015 by geelw

Oh, yeah. As someone who grew up in the VHS era and had a rather huge collection of films (long sold off, sadly), seeing a book like this coming in May from Schiffer Publishing gets me all giddy. VHS: Video Cover Art by Thomas “The Dude Designs” Hodge (and yes, that nickname sounds straight outta the eighties) is a 9″ x 12″ hardcover, will feature 264 pages, 570 color photos (and an index, of course) and cost $34.99, a pittance for the sheer amount of nostalgia guaranteed to be on display.

For me, this one is a “shut up and buy it” book if there ever was one. I’ve looked over the first 24 pages and had a huge grin on my face that’s still lingering. This one’s going to do well amongst the collectors out there and any movie fan looking for an excellent gift will want to keep an eye peeled for when this drops into stores in a few months. Color me excited, folks. Between this and those Mill Creek collections I’ve been picking up for dirt cheap lately, my teenage years are coming back full force. Er, without the awkwardness around the ladies and doing stupid stuff for fun part…

Eggtronic HUB-IT Review: The Humble Charger Goes Social

Posted on January 16, 2015 by geelw

When you think device charging, you generally don’t think of it being a big social experience. Sure there are those times where you share a charger or charging station with a random stranger, but it’s usually a pretty low key and common thing everyone who owns a device does at some point. On the other hand, Eggtronic’s HUB-IT Sync & Charge Station practically demands to be shared with up to seven other people just about anywhere for a few reasons. It’s larger than a pocket charger, meaning you’ll deliberately be carrying it around to get attention and its unique cartridge based connectors allow for charging everything from iOS and Android devices to handheld gaming systems such as the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS. Up to 10,000 devices are currently supported, so there’s a very good chance what you have in that pocket or bag can indeed be charged up quickly. Continue reading →

BUY IT! Blazing Labbit One-Day Sale at GoHastings

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

Okay. I had no idea Kidrobot’s wonderfully cool Labbits were still being made and this one almost made me cave in with the open wallet. I have more urgent financial needs, so I’ll need to live vicariously through one or more of you out there. However, you’ll need to act quickly. Online retailer GoHastings only has this Marvel Ghost Rider Labbit collectible figure sale up TODAY until midnight, so ~~jump~~ HOP to it already!

$20 off one of these is a big deal and it doesn’t have that Nic Cage crazy smell either. Just pure vinyl formed into a pleasing shape and colored accordingly. Ahhh… I can almost smell this on your shelf. Um, well… if you leave me a spare key under the mat, I’ll come by when you’re not in and do all that Labbit sniffing and leave you a nice note after I’m done.

Hmmmm. This reminds me that I need to see if Kidrobot will be at Toy Fair next month. I guess I should make an appointment to go sniff some Labbits, huh? Back in a bit…

Dark Horse Comics Blows Out Its Star Wars Line With a MEGA Sale!

Posted on December 26, 2014 by geelw

With Dark Horse Comics having to give up its successful Star Wars license for good as of 2015, what’s a comic company to do but blow out everything they currently have in a big sale of epic proportions? Well, other than rent a small moon-sized space station with the ability to destroy planets in order to try and keep that license going, of course. Anyway, from now until 11:00 p.m. (PST), Wednesday, December 31, you can get twenty years of Star Wars digital comics at half price. That’s a LOT of books, folks. Well over 500 issues (568, I believe) of different comics totaling over 28,000 pages of stories and art. Yikes. Anyway, you can buy these digital issues singly at half off or just say “What the Force?!” and just get every single issue for $300. I wonder if your favorite reading device will creak and groan from the strain of all that content? Will it weigh more if you happen to have enough storage space to fit every book on a hard drive or other storage media?

However great this deal sounds, remember this, Padawans: The internet can indeed be more dangerous than Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than you can online. You must be cautious. Granted, you can and should save all that reading material to “the cloud” in order to access it any time you like. But I’d also suggest a home storage solution just in case that cloud goes all Alderaan one day. Hey, in space, no one can hear you scream… unless you lose all your stuff you thought was safe because you didn’t have a safer home backup. Then, it’s all “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” as you see that money well spent vaporize into nothingness. Get this deal, for sure – but make sure you stick it somewhere safer than online with the rest of the stuff that seems to get swiped on a regular basis. Given that these books will never see the light of day again (thanks, Disney!), it’s best to stock up, even on those issues that you wouldn’t read.

Christmas Comes Early. Or Is It Valentine’s Day?

Posted on December 21, 2014 by geelw

So, yeah. Christmas came a bit early. My older brother and his kids popped by with a bunch of gifts including this big ass box of chocolates that was fodder for a ton of jokes. Damn thing is big enough to be an end table or a pet coffin (if one had a pet that ate some of that chocolate accidentally) and can probably be re-purposed as a nice hobo suitcase or over-sized book with a bit of DIY ingenuity. As it’s hot as heck in here because of the winter heating, that candy went into storage bags and into the fridge (it’s going to take months to finish it and anyone coming by is getting some whether they like it or not). Um, anyone want a big ass empty candy box? Anyway, I also got some more useful stuff, so it’s all good.

Back in a bit. Or tomorrow, as I’m working on a ton of stuff and need to finish at least half of it before Wednesday…

Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Altec Lansing Life Jacket

Posted on December 15, 2014 by geelw

A few days ago, I was laughing while a speaker floating in my bathtub blasted assorted tunes as water splashed around it. Nope, it wasn’t another repair nightmare taking place, but Altec Lansing’s waterproof Life Jacket Bluetooth Speaker ($149.99 MSRP), one of which I got to review. It certainly nails the waterproof thing to a T, but how does it sound outside the pool or tub? We’ll get to that below the jump. Continue reading →

Holiday Gift Guide 2014: DuneCraft – Plant Life!

Posted on December 10, 2014 by geelw

If you’ve got a green thumb, know someone who does or want to sharpen up your plant-raising skills past simple watering, there’s nothing like getting something fun to grow as a gift. Any time of the year is great to receive something potted or packaged, but you know you’re here because you’re looking for something seasonally gift-worthy.

Personally, I love growing and experimenting with assorted plants from cacti to whatever peppers I can raise in the sunny windows here during spring to early fall. So the idea of getting or giving something I’ve raised from seed or a small plant has always been something I like doing. Of course, not everyone has the patience or sunlight to appreciate gardening indoors or out. But if you’re one of those people who do or love learning to, here are a few suggestions you may find appealing…

Continue reading →