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!

Turner Classic Movies Finally Gets With The Program on YouTube

Posted on March 21, 2014 by geelw

Like many of you out there, I love Turner Classic Movies quite a lot, although the popular classic movie site isn’t without its issues. I’m still waiting to see more imports (where are Cul De Sac, {The Mad Adventures of} Rabbi Jacob, The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe and other intriguing foreign films that deserve a wider American audience?) and a more stable Underground (I can be the host, as I have a LOAD of ideas to make it better and more accessible to new viewers to the weird and strange!), but overall I’m happy with most of what they do. That said, they’re finally using YouTube a lot more effectively, posting videos for current programming for the day during the week, which goes a long way towards making folks like me see what’s coming on during the day without having to check the cable guide or just turn the channel on when we crawl home and hope we’ll see something we haven’t yet. Yeah, the frequent rebroadcasts need to be worked on a bit, but for now, I have one LESS thing to gripe about…

Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes: Demo As A “Luxury” (For Better Or Worse)…

Posted on March 18, 2014 by geelw

So, it’s here and even though it’s been known for a while it was going to be what amounts to nothing but a brief demo with a $30 price tag (and similar to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in its cost versus brevity factor), some critics have been punching away hard on poor Big Boss/Solid Snake. As I’m not made of money, I’m going to wait for a used copy or trade from a friend to pop up, but I really want to play this just to see that Fox Engine in action, how Kiefer Sutherland works as the voice for Snake (taking over from David Hayter) and the ability to tackle that single (and large) map as many ways as possible. Granted, the one to two hours maximum play time I’m hearing about IS a bit pesky, but I’m gathering most reviewers played through just to complete their posts and aren’t fully appreciating that demo for all its worth. On the other hand, this is a Hideo Kojima game, so perhaps that and the Metal Gear name are carrying that price point into “Hmmmmm…” territory for some writers and players.

That said, the full game (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain) is still underway as far as development goes, so I do hope the cost of this slice is offset in some manner, be it some exclusive content available to those with save files (on-disc and not DLC so EVERYONE who bought in can see/play it) or something else Kojima and publisher Konami can think up to keep the angrier folks down off their soapboxes. Eh, we’ll see, I suppose. I’m just glad to see a new MGS on a home console after all this time…

Review: Magus

Posted on March 16, 2014 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Black Tower Studios/Aksys Games

Publisher: Aksys Games

# of Players:1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: D+

While playing through the comically wretched (in)excess that is Magus, I kept having flashbacks to the time the late, lamented 3DO’s internal studios were churning out games like Warriors of Might and Magic, Crusaders of Might and Magic, Shifters and most importantly, Godai: Elemental Force (one of the most laughably busted games ever made for the PS2). Magus reminded me of those games and more recent ones where any good intentions were waylaid by questionable execution that ended up sapping anything decent out of them, leaving a residue of fun smothered in layers of glaring badness.

Now, I love my bad games to death, but Magus gets a special place in my library for making me laugh out of confusion and unintentional humor at the same time. If Black Tower were trying for some sort of genre-bending parody they’ve succeeded royally. On the other hand, if this was a serious idea gone south for the duration that couldn’t be salvaged, it’s a bit head-shaking how this game got made this late in the PS3’s life cycle… Continue reading →

Oculus Trailer: Nothing (New) to See Here, Move Along…

Posted on March 16, 2014 by geelw

*Sigh*… I don’t know why I do this to myself, but I figure one of these modern horror films will actually do what it’s intending and actually scare me. Granted, I draw the line at the torture porn genre stuff and some of the repetitive nonsense that templates better films that were more entertaining back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Well, at least this poster variant is REALLY nice (and probably the creepiest thing about the film).

The one fun and funny thing about this trailer is I’m SURE the folks behind the upcoming Oculus Rift virtual reality (or whatever they want to call it) headset probably don’t want the negative stigma of someone slapping on those expensive X-Ray specs and seeing not so friendly ghosts popping up in their faces. Eh, whatever – I’ll be waiting for this one to pop up on cable to see if it makes me even shift a little in my seat. I sure wasn’t at all scared by this two and a half minutes…

Transformers: Age of Extinction Trailer: Bay of Picks of the Litter? We’ll See…

Posted on March 5, 2014 by geelw

While I’ve seen the three previous films and way too many of the cartoons to count, I’m not a huge fan of the Transformers movies and their CG overkill, nor do I revere those old animated series as some sort of overall canonical tome that cannot be tampered with. That said, it looks as if this one’s going to be more “serious” than previous installments,, but then again you can’t tell by a two and a half minute plus trailer how the quality of the final flick will be. Mr. Bay seems to have spent that studio money up but good here and based on the usual polarized response this teaser has gotten, I’d say this will make a Megatron full of money (ah ha ha… Hey, pure corn is my specialty, folks!). Then again, if this is the last of the series (and to quote the late Godfather of Soul, James Brown: “Please, Please, Please!”*), it’s certainly going out with a bang. We’ll see on June 27th what’s what, I suppose. Check that: YOU’LL see before I will, as I’ve sat out the last two films until they popped up on cable.

*Yeah, I do KNOW that classic song is about JB wanting someone to NOT leave him, but for this franchise, that cape has come out too many times and it’s done every encore it can think of…

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…

Nintendo Direct: 2/13/14: Some Things Old, Some Things New, Still A Work In Progress…

Posted on February 14, 2014 by geelw

So, Nintendo is definitely trying hard to find its place in this crazier era of free to play games, pay to win and cheap, cheap indies and major releases bundled up and ready to sell as a song for charity at the drop of a hat. I’m a happy Wii U owner disappointed that first party titles that use that otherwise innovative gameplay seem to be slow to get made, a misstep the company that usually pioneers things that get copied hasn’t quite made up for thanks to other issues they’re dealing with. Granted, this set of new games on the way goes a long way in making me cheer up a little, but for my tastes, things don’t get interesting until about 24:11 when the indies roll in. Renagade Kid has always been one of the best developers on the DS, so it’s remake of MOON for the 3DS, MOON Chronicles should be quite a showpiece that makes waves as the first “FPS” for the handheld. It’s also a sci-fi/mystery game between the aliens coming at you, so hopefully those elements get played up as much.

As for first party games? I’m not a HUGE fan of those uber-cute franchises these days, but I see the need for them. I hope more publishers jump on board the Game Boy Advance reissue bandwagon, as there are some true classics for that old handheld worth seeing and playing once more (or more). Finally, Monolith Soft’s upcoming RPG looks great, although I get a sense that some of the gameplay quirks from Xenoblade (Chronicles) will be in full effect. Bayonetta? I wrote about you yesterday, my dear and I know you HATE being spoiled (well, too much). So far, so good… but I’m still wanting to see more and more unique games on the way.

Comcast/Time Warner Round Two: Let’s Get Stupid…

Posted on February 14, 2014 by geelw

So far, no one but business news folks and analysts like this Comcast.TWC “deal” and I’m still ticked off by it to post something that’s not going to be laced with profanity. So, I’ll letting the famous and fast Taiwanese Animators (formerly or perhaps still known as NWA World Edition) have at it with a hilarious take on this stupid and historical kick in the behind a few too many millions are going to be negatively affected by. Yeah, this is going to be nothing but bad news for anyone but investors looking to make some bucks and some executives who will be rolling in more loot from irate consumers who currently use either service and get stuck with whatever fee increases come from this merger. Mark my words, folks…

Comcast Buys Time Warner Cable: Here’s All You Need To Know As a Consumer…

Posted on February 13, 2014 by geelw

Words fail me on this EXTREMELY crappy 45 billion dollar “deal” for any current consumer of pay TV out there who uses either service, so I’ll let assorted clips from The Empire Strikes Back do the talking (Thanks to ABiggerQuote for the clips!):