Sniper Elite III Launch Trailer: I’d Say If Mr. Fairburne Is Early… You’re Going To Be Quite Late.

Posted on June 26, 2014 by geelw

Rebellion’s newest installment in their Sniper Elite series smashes into stores tomorrow in Europe and July 1 here in North America and if my earlier preview impressions hold up in the final build, the game is guaranteed to be a bigger hit than the previous installments. Improvements all around to the visuals, map design and both solo and online gameplay mean this one’s going to eat up a chunk of time among genre fans looking for something new to keep them occupied for a bit. I’ll be lurking close to my mailbox to get the jump on the delivery guy so I can grab my copy of the game from him before he knows it’s gone. Or perhaps I should just let him do his job, as I don’t want to get into trouble for my over-excitement…

Random Film of the Week(end): Blow-Up

Posted on June 22, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Cinedelica TV!)

“Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out.”

Some people hate Michelangelo Antonioni’s groundbreaking 1966 film Blow-Up (or Blowup depending on how you prefer it spelled, I go with the poster myself) with a passion reserved for cruel dictators and people who drive vans full of puppies and baby rabbits into lakes. Me, I’ll admit to disliking and being frustrated with the film when I saw it as a not quite ready to see something so heady teenager thinking it was going to be something entirely different. However, as years have passed and I’ve seen it a few more times, I’ve come to truly appreciate the film for the things it nails while realizing most people who despise the film tend to over-analyze it to the point of making themselves confused as to exactly what the movie is about.

For all its swingin’ London scenery, excellent use of that great Herbie Hancock score, skinny exotic models posing for a seriously unlikable main character and seemingly “boring” stretches where seemingly, nothing important happens for some viewers looking for a proper narrative before something important DOES happen (that’s picked upon as important to those plot followers, naturally). The funny thing is, any attempts as locking in that golden “Aha!” moment are interrupted by a few distractions that intentionally take focus away from things unless you’ve clued into what’s actually going on here. With all that, Blow-Up is actually a surprisingly minimalist and easy to understand film, albeit an experience that demands your complete attention. Well, once you cut through the arty fat and get to the hidden in plain sight meat on the bone dangling in front of you, it’s a more fulfilling viewing experience. On the other hand, it’s also a film that while open to a few interpretations, still revolves around a central theme some continue to overlook. Continue reading →

Game of Thrones 4:10 – Endgame For Some, More Game For The Rest…

Posted on June 20, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I waited the required amount of days of mourning for those who bought the farm on the final episode of Season 4, so here’s a wrap up of sorts. Well, not having read the books other than bits and pieces of two of them, I’ll say I was nicely surprised at how things ended this season. I knew Tyrian wasn’t going anywhere (yet), so his rescue and revenge bits were lovely to see. Now you know why bathroom doors have LOCKS these days, people.

As for the battle of the century THIS episode (or Brienne of Tarr versus The Hound), it was certainly fierce and bloody, but I figured it wouldn’t be a head-popping as that last big one on one fight on the show. I guess that’s the end of one of these characters, but as we don’t see an actual death, I wouldn’t be surprised if that old dog pops up in a future season. Of course, that bit has been done already, so perhaps he’s gone for good. Oh well. There are plenty of other mean men (and ladies) left on the show to get ticked off at…

Continue reading →

Speaking of Sniper Elite III: This New Trailer Lets You Play Along (And See What’s Coming)…

Posted on June 19, 2014 by geelw

And of course, as soon as I post that last article, I see this trailer in my inbox. Oops. Well, as it’s a fun little interactive video, I figured I’d give a few of you something to do while you’re waiting for the game to drop next week. Anyway, this is a tiny bit gory and NSFW, so don’t let the kids go clicking around here. Or the family pet. That dog or cat might get some not so good ideas from watching this and you’ll be sleeping with a light on and your bedroom door locked tight so Scooby or Felix won’t do you in while you’re dozing…

Sniper Elite 3 Limited Special Edition: PC Gamers Get A One In A Thousand Shot for This Awesome CE

Posted on June 19, 2014 by geelw

While collector’s editions of PC games aren’t exactly uncommon these days, digital delivery means more and more die-hards seem to prefer that non-disc means of getting their content. Rebellion is smart enough to know that there’s still a market for big metal tins full of cool stuff outside the console space where CE’s are all to common these days, so here you go: the Sniper Elite III Limited Special Edition (cue explosions and fancy sniper music or whatever you need to get you even more excited). Wow. This huge lot of goodies is limited to a mere 1000 copies worldwide, is ONLY available at the Rebellion web shop, costs 149.99 and is packed to the gills with stuff you can hold in your hot little hands. What sort of stuff, you ask? Well, just look below:

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LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION INCLUDES:

Sniper Elite 3 PC game supplied on 2 DVDs
Access to ALL current and future Sniper Elite 3 PC DLC packs
Bespoke game tin protected by an individually numbered card sleeve
Wax-sealed secret dossier including: tank & weapon schematics, maps of North Africa, spotter’s guides and more!
A5 card hand-signed by members of the Sniper Elite 3 development team
Limited edition t-shirt
Hand-illustrated playing cards representing American, British, Italian and German forces
A2 firing range poster
6 x original Sniper Elite 3 postcards
Woven Sniper Elite 3 badge with heat activated adhesive backing
Printed instruction manual

Note: All printed box contents for the Limited Special Edition are in English only.

As I said above, WOW. I see from Rebellion’s facebook page for the game that some PS3 and Xbox 360 owners are jealously bugging them about console versions, but I’m gathering the team doesn’t want to spend the next week or two autographing a few thousand more of those A5 size cards, so I guess there will be a thousand REALLY lucky PC owners who get the ultimate version of what’s looking to be the developer’s best game to date. Given that the release date is right around the corner (June 27, 2014, to be exact), I’d bet this one sells out fast.

A “Gentle” Reminder From Game of Thrones…

Posted on June 15, 2014 by geelw

So, today is Father’s Day and yes, every daddy-o on Game of Thrones has got problems of a sort to deal with or has been a problem to someone else that’s been resolved (or will be at some point). Tonight’s the season finale, so it’ll be edge of the seat time while it’s rolling out fates for assorted dads and non-dads alike. My own father is no longer with us these days, so save for this sole post I’m taking the bulk of today off just to get a little breather before I reboot Monday and resume a bunch of stuff I need to follow up on. If you own dad/granddad or any pop you know is still around (and you get along these days), do something nice for him today – that’s an order, by the way.

Sorry, 20th Century Fox. Your Throwback Tease Was Too Rich For My Blood…

Posted on June 14, 2014 by geelw

So, I get an email on Thursday from 20th Century Fox’s YouTube channel about Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and it gets me grinning because I’d been thinking of picking this up at some point and thought this was news of a lower-priced reissue. HA! I clicked that link under the trailer and got sent straight to Amazon, where the movie’s 2-disc DVD set is still commanding a whopping $70 (eek!). Um, thanks, but no thanks, folks.

Hell, at that exorbitant price point, I’ll just lurk around TCM and wait for them to show it again one late, late evening (or too early in the morning, actually). Of course, getting any Russ Mayer flick for under the cost of a body part is tricky these days if you live in the US and want a legal version. But man, owning them all must sure be a heck of a thing if you display your collection proudly and have to explain the man’s work to friends and relatives who’ve never seen anything he’s done. Good luck with that!

Enemy Front Launch Trailer: “Into the Black” And Hopefully On A Few Fronts At That…

Posted on June 6, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I quite like the song in this trailer… but to me, it’s just NOT proper at all for a World War II-based game. Granted, I’m not expecting this tune to be IN the actual game, but I’ll slightly dread watching the game credits because I can just hear this popping up at some point during however many minutes it takes to spool them all out. I’ve never seen a short credit roll in a modern game unless it’s an indie title made by one person or a tiny team where all is revealed in less than a minute. Anyway, that’s my sole complaint with Enemy Front until I actually get some hands-on time with the final version (PS3, please!). The game isn’t out until June 10, 2014, but I guess using the D-Day anniversary to push a game set during that period isn’t the worst thing that could happen today, right?

The Green Inferno: Eli Roth Lets The “Save The Planet” Crowd Have Both Barrels…

Posted on June 2, 2014 by geelw

So, what’s up in the jungle, Jim? Not much but lots of death and leftovers! Anyway, here’s the plot of this upcoming horror flick, suitable for no one under the age of slashenteen without a cast iron stomach:

A group of college students take their humanitarian protest from New York to the Amazon jungle only to get kidnapped by the native tribe they came to save. A tribe that still practices the ancient tribal rite of cannibalism, with a healthy appetite for intruders.

(thanks, Movieclips Trailers!)
Well, there goes my plans to visit even the nearest sunny park around here at this point. Guaranteed to cause all sorts of outrage when it’s released (mostly among people who won’t see it under any circumstances, I’d bet), The Green Inferno is a throwback to the gory glory days of exploitation horror films and nope, I’m not planning on seeing this in a theater at all.

If I do decide to commit to this flick and it’s NOT a media screening with relatively normal people in attendance squealing and hiding under the seats, it’ll be in the comfort of my own home where I can shut it off and find something else to do if I’m feeling queasy. I’m gathering the home video and/or cable versions will have more footage and on disc, I’d hope there’s a nice behind the scenes documentary that gets into how this was made. I didn’t make it through Cannibal Holocaust (this film’s inspiration) in one sitting, but I think I can handle this… I think… (cue creepy music that gets me wanting to go watch a Caillou box set instead on a permanent loop)…

Runaway Nightmare Trailer: Vinegar Syndrome Brings Back The Bad, Bad Girls…

Posted on May 30, 2014 by geelw

I’d only heard of this 1982 exploitation flick from a few friends who saw it back in the day and this trailer makes me want a working time machine so I could go back to the days of popping downtown to Times Square to catch unabashed junk like this in a double feature guaranteed to make me burn up a few brain cells before all was said and done. You don’t see these films for their “educational” value, that’s for sure! Granted, super cheap ticket prices aside, those bad old days were pretty hairy for movie going in that area, what with the sticky floors, smelly seats and generally rowdy crowds at most theaters save for the first run houses that were kept in as pristine shape as can be. Anyway, this DVD is out July 8, 2014 at the Vinegar Syndrome site, so go grab it, round up a few friends and some suitable eats and have a blast, I say…