Blu-Ray Review: Blind Woman’s Curse

Posted on May 21, 2015 by geelw

One of those wild Japanese films packed with striking imagery and offbeat performances, Teruo Ishii’s 1970 hybrid Blind Woman’s Curse makes for another excellent Blu-Ray release from Arrow Video. It wraps up action and revenge flick aesthetics with a creepy tone, loads of late 60’s era sexiness and violence with a solid performance from beautiful Meiko Kaji. She plays Akemi, the head of a yakuza clan sometime during the 1920’s who’s been released from prison only to find there’s a pretty efficient pair of assassins as well as other folks after her and what remains of her loyal gang.

The main assassin (Hoki Tokuda) happens to be the sister of a rival boss out for her own revenge. Akemi accidentally blinded her during the fierce and beautifully shot sword battle that opens up the film and she now she’s somewhat hard to stop as she whittles down Akemi’s gang. Her assistant, a muttering and really creepy killer with wild hair (Tatsumi Hijikata) is one of those characters who gets under your skin and remains there from the moment you see him. Both he and the black cat that appears during the film lend a supernatural tone to the proceedings that lend the film a nice horror vibe. That said, if you pay close attention, you’ll see that the film tends to toss a lot at you with expectations that you’ll keep up.

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Dimension: You’ll Never Be “Board” With Kosmos’ Challenging Brain Game

Posted on May 16, 2015 by geelw

Two things you’ll absolutely require when playing Kosmos Games’ Dimension would be an absolutely flat level table and friends not prone to elbowing you in the body anywhere while you’re racing to stack colored balls while reading cards that tell you how to stack them. Once you have those all sorted out it’s all fun and games and no one is getting hurt. Dimension is a really interesting hybrid of spatial puzzle and fast-paced ball placement for 1-4 players that will test even the most skilled minds with following a handful of simple rules. All you need to do is stack 15 colored balls as you can while paying close attention to the precise instructions set forth by the rule cards laid out for each session.

Blue can’t touch orange, you can only have two black balls on your tray, none of those colors can touch a white ball and so forth and so on. All of this while a timer is ticking away and someone is probably trying to pull off a cheat that won’t work under any sort of scrutiny because they’re LAME! Yeah, I’m talking about you, you know who. Anyway, Dimension is simple to set up and you can get playing in about five or so minutes. However if you buy this game specifically to play with younger kids, make sure you or some other adult does the assembling. If you just whip out the box on your jaded brood the kids will probably end up just rolling the balls under the couch with the cat chasing after them and call it a day. I say dazzle those kids with some freshly baked cookies or other treats while you put the game together in another room before surprising them with their soon to be new obsession.

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UPTIME vs Downtime: Good Energy Always Wins

Posted on May 12, 2015 by geelw

A few weeks back I got a few samples of UPTIME Energy Drink and a bottle each of Original and Maximum Energy Blend Tablets to take for a spin. I didn’t want to just toss them back over the course of a few days, get a quick buzz and blaze away for a bunch of hours on an energy wave at all. Instead, I decided to hold off on testing them out until I had a reason to require that boost the products offered.

Of course, life has a way of hitting you on the head with stuff that requires excess energy caffeine and its resulting crashes can’t handle. Let’s just say that when used correctly a little bit of UPTIME can really make a difference in your day.

UPTIME looks to distinguish itself from other energy drinks on the market with cool (and resealable) 12oz (355ML) cans, less ingredients than other energy drinks and a cleaner, no aftertaste finish that’s light and pleasing when all is said and done. There are two varieties, Original (sweetened with real sugar) and Sugar-Free (artificially sweetened) for those who want less “guilt” with their boost. For the record, there’s about a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine in a bottle. So if you’re averse at all to it you’ll want to seek your energy boosting through other means. Personally, I preferred the Original over Sugar-Free as I’m not fond of artificial sweeteners in anything, but the latter wasn’t bad at all. Saving my samples for a few brainy days was a good idea as I got slammed with a few things that required a bit more focus than I’m usually used to.

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Blu-Ray Review: Retaliation

Posted on May 9, 2015 by geelw

Retaliation (Shima wa moratta), Yasuharu Hasebe’s follow up to his 1967 yakuza flick Massacre Gun is another gem from the director worth a look. Packed with great Japanese actors throwing themselves fully into their roles as gangsters and plenty of full color violence, the film’s only “weak” point is a plot where you can often see what’s coming a mile away. But Hasebe’s technique shines here as the director pulls off some great shots and keeps you hooked in right from the beginning.

Akira Kobayashi plays Jiro Sagae, a gangster fresh out of prison after an eight-year stretch for murdering a rival yakuza. He’s followed from jail by Jo Shishido’s Hino, the brother of the man he killed who’s been planning his revenge for years. As Hino attacks Jiro, Hino’s girl (who’d been following him) rushes in and interrupts the battle, forcing Hino to put off his vengeance until later. Jiro eventually goes to see his aging and indebted to another crime boss Godfather who sends him to pay his respects to his former rival. That Boss makes Jiro an offer he can’t refuse in the form of busting up another gang trying to buy up farmland in a tiny village so a factory can be built. Jiro gets a ragtag group of assistants from a failed actor, a card shark, a pair of singers and amusingly enough Hino, the man who tried to kill him at the beginning of the film.

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Blu-Ray Review: Massacre Gun

Posted on May 6, 2015 by geelw

Yasuharu Hasebe’s brooding but action-packed Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjū) is a great example of the Japanese gangster film that’s well worth a look. Starring chipmunk-cheeked Jô Shishido (he has plastic surgery to look that way), the film packs in plenty of beatings and shootings into its 91 minute running time while maintaining its not so sunny outlook for just out everyone in its cast. Then again, when the “happiest” looking guy in the movie is the angry one with the titular firearm you know you’re in for a wild ride.

Shishodo stars as Kuroda, a hit man who turns on his employers after being sent on a job to kill his girlfriend. Kuroda fires himself after the work and teaming up with his brothers Saburo (Jirô Okazaki)and Eiji (“Tatsuya Fuji”, or director Hasebe’s acting persona) also wronged by the crime boss, set off to take down his empire. This trio of men setting out for vengeance on other men thing is a high risk gig and yes, the film has a very fatalistic tone running throughout that works heavily in its favor. Some Japanese gangster films tend to have running themes about codes of honor and men maimed or dying in as respectful a manner possible (well, given the violent ways in which they meet their ends). There’s a lot of that in Massacre Gun, but Hasebe’s fluid, innovative direction and use of a jazzy score make the film compelling even in its most violent moments. That and the film is amusing when it needs to be. Someone gets a nice surprise in the form of a booby trapped coffin and some of the sudden violence can be funny because it arrives when least expected and lasts longer than you’d think.

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Review: Amzer Stando Universal Tablet Stand

Posted on May 2, 2015 by geelw

You had ONE job to do, Stando… and you do it REALLY well. If you’ve poked around looking for one you probably know that tablet stands are a dime a dozen these days. Or more precisely, feel like they cost a dime a dozen to make. Some look great but tend to be flimsy, fall forward pieces of junk not worth sending back because the shipping probably costs more than the price paid. Amzer’s Stando laughs in the face of those cheap stands by being more than worth its $39.99 price tag. It’s stylish, stable and dirt simple to use for anyone interested in getting their 7 to 11-inch tablet to act as a handier (and hand-less) video player or other useful option.

There’s nothing fancy about the Stando other than the name, but this is a great thing. Out of the box it takes a few seconds to set up thanks to an intuitive design. A bend to get it open, a simple expanding of the arms to hold your tablet of choice by two corners, a bit of adjusting to your preferred viewing height (and maybe a spin to see it rotates that device a full 360 degrees) that’s that. The weighted base is perfect and even some heavy table banging for test purposes didn’t dislodge the tight grip the rubberized arms held on my tablet. I’d bet a dollar that nice clicking sound Stando makes when you adjust it was engineered in on purpose. It lends a “mechanical” sounding element to the holder as well as gets the attention of anyone in the immediate vicinity. That’s also not a bad thing as during my outdoor test at a nearby diner a few people came up to check out the Stando and ask where I got it.

As the unit is made for a single task, don’t expect anything like a USB power charger built into the base or a fancy carry bag. That said, the unit is designed so your device’s charger slot and other useful ports and buttons are always within reach. Stando will fit tablets that have one of Amzer’s silicone Jelly Cases protecting it with the same grippy relish it holds an uncased unit. This is one of those products that works so well there are no real complaints to make so it’s easy to recommend. It’s even sturdy enough to be somewhat kid-friendly provided your kid has been very well schooled in tablet handling and knows the difference between a gentle tap/swipe motion and cat-pawing a tablet to the floor. Some kids get this, some don’t – you’re mileage may vary.

Bottom line, for that $39.99, you’re getting a fantastic product that will last through many years of usage, is travel friendly and just may become your tablet’s best friend. Amzer’s got a winner here for tablet owners looking for quite possibly the best tablet stand to date. Grab one and make you flimsy stand owning friends quite jealous.

Score: A

“What Do People Do All Day?” DAF Edition!

Posted on April 24, 2015 by geelw

Ah, memories. Anyway, it’s been an intense and stupid week for me, but at least I got other stuff done besides grow a few new gray hairs from all that annoying tech nonsense.

In honor of one of my favorite books from my childhood (that you should buy whether or not you have kids of your own), here’s what I did of note on a few days this week:

I made a nice pizza on Monday. I also got a nicer new phone, but that’s an ongoing post in the making as far as getting some stuff sorted out before I can activate the damn thing.

I got some stuff to review including three more excellent Blu-Rays from Arrow Video (thanks, Clint!) and a nifty tablet stand that’s actually pretty cool.

Speaking of movies, the greatest book I’ve read (this month) also arrived for me to review. You should buy a copy just for the cover alone. Okay, the insides are great as well.

I found some cool original Kenner Star Wars stuff when I was looking for something else in a bin of lots of something else. Yeah, I’ve kept a few of the things I’ve bought from when I was younger. Not enough of them, sadly.

I played a bunch of new and old games I’d been needing to get to. That’s Elminage Original, a PSP and Vita RPG very much in the Wizardry vein that initially had a lousy English localization until a patch over half the size of the full game cleaned things up considerably.

Some other stuff is on the way or has arrived, but you don’t need to know about a box of packing tape, some razors and a few other mundane items. Okay, back to poring over my email and figuring out what sort of time machine I need to build in order to catch up to the workload backlog. Or I can avoid that rabbit hole fantasizing and just get back to the grind. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Off to get some sleep now. I’ll be back in a few hours after waking up and soaking my eyeballs in a cup of coffee. Or trying out the Uptime energy drinks I got in the post last week to write about. Hmmm… there’s an angle right there to work, right?

Review: La-Mulana EX (Vita)

Posted on April 16, 2015 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Pygmy Studios

Publisher: Rising Star Games

Genre: Archeological Ruins Exploration Action!

# of Players: 1

MSRP: $19.99

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

“Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games…”

Yeah, I see you looking at those handsome La-Mulana EX screens and that exciting trailer and thinking “Oooh, a new ‘Metroidvania’ game to play and beat in a day or two!” Ha. La-Mulana EX laughs at your brimming overconfidence. Let me be the first (or perhaps last, as this review is a bit late) to inform you that going into this game with your dreams of adding a fast notch to your speedrun belt will have you lose that belt and perhaps your Vita right out the nearest window or under a speeding bus or some other method you choose to remove that handheld from your possession.

No, the game isn’t “bad” by any stretch of the imagination. Not at all. It’s just going to be one of the toughest games you’ll play if you’re not willing to read the digital manual and pay close attention to the basic to advanced techniques you’ll learn. In fact, what’s here will hopefully make you remove the word “Metroidvania” from your gaming vocabulary, as it’s a meaningless description that’s also a bit lazy in how it fails to actually describe a game as deep as this one. Continue reading →

Film Review: Memory Lane

Posted on March 14, 2015 by geelw

Packing in a compelling story that’s part thriller and murder mystery with a supernatural bent into seventy minutes is a tricky thing to do well. Nevertheless, Memory Lane is one of those odd yet impressive little indie films deserving of a wider audience. Director Shawn Holmes gets some decent mileage from his ridiculously small budget of $300, making a flawed yet powerful, emotion packed ride. While the film has echoes of Memento, Flatliners and oddly enough, Groundhog Day, that small amount of money spent doesn’t exactly buy you always stellar acting or prime locations to shoot in.

The cast of eager unknowns does what they can with the melodramatic material, but some are better than others in conveying the dense but compact script. The brief running time means some plot points get slimmed down or booted in the logic balls to make way for story advancement with the clock ticking away. But if you go in with no expectations, you may end up enjoying this one a lot more than you thought. When Nick (Michael Guy Allen), a PTSD afflicted Afghanistan veteran decides to end his life after his girlfriend Kayla (Meg Braden) takes hers, he sees a vision of what looks like her being murdered. Brought back to life by some friends, Nick realizes he “needs” to die again and again in order to find out what actually happened to the love of his life… Continue reading →

Film Review: Alien Outpost

Posted on January 30, 2015 by geelw

Set in the near future and packing quite a punch, Alien Outpost (Outpost 37) is a sci-fi action film genre fans will absolutely want to check out in theaters or on VOD. Directed by Jabbar Raisani, the film’s pseudo-documentary style does a decent job of setting up a not too far in the future world (2021) decimated by an alien invasion turned into a years-long standoff. Pitting a small yet dedicated group of soldiers against a weakened but still overwhelming force in a small, deadly area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the men of Outpost 37 will face hazards and horrors from the aliens who have begun to use some of the locals to their advantage.

The film works well on a visceral level because despite some humorous banter flitting in and out between the soldiers, the tone is dead serious and believable to a good extent. It would have been nice to see more of the main enemy, though. Other than a short bit at the camp, those Heavies are only viewed briefly during action sequences and mostly at a distance. However, from the brief but impressive CG footage that opens the film and assorted “news” clips of destruction worldwide, we can see that they came, saw and almost conquered the planet. Troops around the world initially sent out to combat the Heavies end up stuck where they are thanks to the war dragging on so long that it’s become an underfunded albatross of a conflict. Yes, the movie can be seen as a heavy handed allegory, but it’s an entertaining heavy-handed allegory provided you’re not expecting epic battles and don’t mind the mirror the film holds up to current events.

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