Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse: ANOTHER WayForward Surprise!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

What the what? I had to do a double take when I saw this news, as Shatae has all of a sudden hit the gaming limelight three times this year and these last two titles are going to no doubt get her on the minds of many more gamers out there. Granted, the currently in development Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse is ONLY for the Nintendo 3DS (but I’m guessing it will run on the new 2DS), but I and I’m betting nearly every Vita owner wants their own version of this game so they can see what all the fuss is about. I’m gathering Wayforward needs to hear from Vita owners (and PS3/PS4 owners) because this magic gal is the life of the party when it comes to delivering the classic gaming greatness that’s never going to die. Color me happier by the minute – keep it up Wayforward and the top of my head will flip clean off from smiling too broadly!

RoboCop Trailer: “Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Me…” to the Multiplex!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, CBMTrailers!)

OK, I’m (almost) sold. Granted, you can’t beat the original for what it brought to audiences back in the day (an unexpected hit, plenty of quotable lines, practical effects work galore and a story that solid, mixing drama, humor and extreme violence very well indeed), but this remake isn’t looking bad at all from this trailer. I have to say that this NOT being rated R is a bit annoying (the original film’s first cut kicked the censors in the groin and got an X rating until a few choice cuts were made. It took eleven attempts in total to get that R rating!), but I’m betting the studio thinks a PG-13 film will put more asses into seats because the tweens can walk up and buy tickets. Bleh.

Anyway, on one hand I can’t see this tanking unless there’s a big snowstorm in February that keeps people away and the film gets really awful reviews from some older cranky critics who do nothing but revere certain films and have a ZERO tolerance for anyone (no matter how skilled) touching what they grew up watching too many times. Then again… that February 7, 2014 release date scares me a bit. That and the assorted set woes I’ve occasionally read about. Well, as long as it’s better than Total Recall and Dredd and Hollywood doesn’t decide to copy Robocop 2 to even more of a T if this film does well, maybe it’ll be fine. Let’s see now… February, la, la, la… that means the Blu-Ray/DVD is out around May… Hmmmm, I think it’ll make a nice birthday present for me next year…

Steal This Idea! Any Creative Breaking Bad Fans With Decent Songwriting Skills?

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

OK, I’m a genius (in my mind), but even I need some help every so often. My latest bright idea: take the awesome song Two Reelers from Frank Black’s excellent Teenager of the Year album and rework it into a Breaking Bad homage and possibly a video using clips from all the show’s seasons. “How do I think these things up?” you ask? Well, as usual, it’s random. This silly idea popped into my head while listening to that tune today when the line

And Mr. White heard bad report
And so it ends the two reeler short
Cause you cannot do what you can’t

rolled into my ears and I started laughing because the show has PLENTY of scenes where Walt gets bad news about something or IS bad news for someone and hears about it from someone else.

Anyway, in a perfect world, Weird Al would be on the case in a heartbeat and a half, but I don’t ave his number handy and even if I did, he’d probably think I was on meth when I thought this one up. Sooooo, I’ll just put this idea out here and let you guys pick up the slack and net some genius points of your own with those mad rewriting skills. You’ll either gain immortality on the web or a couple of lawsuits or both for your efforts most likely, so get crackin’, people! I expect results. Or as the late Gus Fring would say “Now get back to work!”

If You Never Loved Lucy, Well… This Might Change Your Mind…

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, ItsNotYouItsMeblog!)

I happened to be flipping around the dial randomly again and TCM paid off, as usual with a film I hadn’t seen yet (but had heard of). This clip from director Dorothy Arzner’s 1940 film Dance, Girl, Dance of Lucille Ball doing the number “Jitterbug Bite” cracked me up because in another universe, she’d have been more famous for her sassy song and dance numbers and not trying to “splain” every week to Ricky about why the oven grew a twenty-foot bread loaf, why she stuffed too many chocolates into her face at the chocolate factory or got into a catfight in a vat of wine grapes with some stubborn grape-stompers.

The film itself is pretty funny, pitting Lucy’s burlesque queen Bubbles (what a name!) up against the cute gal played by Maureen O’Hara who does the opening act everyone boos until Lucy steps in to pull her showstopper number. of course, being typcast as a sexpot isn’t the best thing for any actress who wants to stretch her wings, so it’s definitely a great thing that Lucy didn’t let herself get trapped into these sorts of roles, right? But of course, if you never loved Lucy, it means you just never watched enough TV back in the day or sought out all those reruns that seem to in in constant loop on some channel somewhere in the world…

So, There’s Actually a Showgirls Sequel? Color Me Intrigued…

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

September 17, DVD and VOD. Yeah, I paid to see the original film and yup, nearly keeled over from the mind-blowing over the top hilarity of it all, so as soon as I got this news I had to put in a review request. As with the original, I’m going not expecting anything but to get a few more laughs and if the press release is any indication, I’m not going to be disappointed. To wit:

Las Vegas stripper, Penny Slot (Rena Riffel), sets out on an adventure to become the star dancer on a popular television show. With stars in her eyes, she tries to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – but instead finds drama, danger and snuff movies in a town much more wicked than Sin City.

Hmmm… you can’t go anywhere up straight into parody (and perhaps Russ Meyer territory, or at least the outskirts of that particular peculiar town) from there, so here I sit awaiting “greatness” and a fine time at Camp Value. Maybe I should stock up on brown rice and vegetables while I’m camped out by the mailbox?

Gravity Main Trailer 2: Some More Weightlessly Worldy Matters…

Posted on September 5, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough it seems that the lonely guy/gal in a big dangerous place is turning into a sub-genre. There’s this flick from Alfonso Cuarón, that new Robert Redford flick with him on a boat at sea (I forget the title, but it’s obvious Oscar bait), and if you can stand it (well, he’s not alone, but it’s basically another big “one man” Oscar bait performance), Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (a movie I still question the necessity of with a big, fat “Whyyyyy?”). Of all three, I’ll stick with Gravity because of Cuarón’s work on City of Men, a film that had me hooked in from that opening scene. I’m hoping this one doesn’t go the happy ending route or at least if it does, it’s an ending that’s satisfying and leaves some form of closure no matter what happens.

Shantae Is BACK… As A Kickstarter Project Well Worth Funding!

Posted on September 4, 2013 by geelw

After a pretty crappy early part of the day… now I actually feel like dancing around the room (but I’m in the library today and that’s not a really good idea). Anyway, WayForward Technologies is indeed working on a new Shantae game for anything that can play it (consoles and PC are the main targets) and YES, you should drop a few bucks to fund it for the stretch goals to make it even better. Here’s a peek at the pitch:

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is the name of the game and it’s already set for a release on a few platforms (it’s already confirmed for Wii U, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC via Steam), but WayForward wants to make the game even bigger and is offering up some awesome bonuses as well as cool stretch goals if they fly way over their target. You know the drill: You have a month to pledge (well, 29 days and counting down) and this one’s worth your time to check out just because you’re a fan of the company’s work or you’ve never played a cute as hell platformer with a genie (or half-genie) before and Shantae’s shimmy has you intrigued.

I used to work in a game shop years back and I actually passed up the chance to buy a copy of the original Shantae, which was a DUMB move on my part as that old Game Boy Color title fetches a few hundred bucks thanks to a low production run (and the fact that the game is really fantastic). I’ve missed out on the sequels thanks to them being digital only (boo!), but I’m backing this new game because it’s coming out on a few platforms I can actually get it for (I’ll probably get a Wii U version just to use that GamePad more than I currently do). Anyway, I’m off to that screening I noted in the above post – go make WayForward happier and pledge towards this instant classic, I say…

Apologies Are In Order (And Quite Fitting, Today, At That)…

Posted on September 4, 2013 by geelw

Ha and double ha. Apologies for the slowness of posts lately. Actually, today is just dopey because I had some computer issues that took a wee bit too long to figure out what was wrong, but that’s been taken care of. Amusingly enough, I have a film screening to attend in about 3 hours for Toho’s King of Gomen Nasai (The Apology King), and yes, it’s a comedy if you haven’t gathered by the trailer above and that goofy Ringu-inspired video below in this post. I’ll most likely whip out a review of this one afterward, as it’s too weird to ignore. Back in a bit. I may be back before Pumpkin Hour, in which case, I’ll have a new post or two up then.

Nintendo Tries To Be Funny, 1DS Joke Falls Flat (and Probably Confuses Some)…

Posted on September 3, 2013 by geelw

Ay, Carumba! OK, Nintendo, just stop it. STOP IT. Seriously. People thought the 2DS was a big fat joke because it had been done to death as a joke meme when the 3DS was announced, but you guys ended up taking that back with last week’s official 2DS announcement. Of course, that led to MANY Nintendo 1DS joke images that got lame after the first dozen or so images, but here comes Nintendo, pulling off the biggest joke with an actual fake site for a nonexistent device that will to some people who think it’s actually a great idea, something they’d actually want to buy. Duh. Yeah, and yep, there’s a disclaimer on the site that’s worth a chuckle, yet insulting at the same time to anyone not used to Nintendo’s way of following their own path and ignoring the mobile market (for now).

Anyway, yuk it up while you can, people – when your fans start clamoring for that 1DS, you’ll wish you’d never cooked up this shortsighted gag…

Lost Planet 3 “Ask Jim” Q & A: Here’s Your Bill!

Posted on September 3, 2013 by geelw

Mr. Watterson takes questions from some fans in character as Lost Planet 3‘s Jim Peyton and you get to listen in and maybe learn a thing or three. I’m about midway through the game (I’m taking my time as scouring every nook and cranny) and having a blast so far. Although I’m writing up a review myself, I’d have to say straight up that LP3 is one of those interesting game experiences where you just need to play it and experience the story as opposed to reading impressions and making up your mind based on those alone. OK, shutting up now and getting back to the game – back in a bit with an update… it’s a stupidly busy week here!