Doctor, Doctor… Give Me The News (In a LESS Contrived Manner Next Time)…

Posted on August 2, 2013 by geelw

OK, I don’t like this live event announcing the new Doctor Who at all as it reminds me of that basketball special I didn’t watch because I’m not a sports fanatic (but couldn’t ignore because it was ALL some were babbling about for days before and afterward). Whatever happened to a simple surprise in the upcoming last season episode or a simpler press release or even better, a simple press conference that doesn’t require much in the way of expense or overblown wind up to a three-second reveal? Eh, whatever – I’ll be out and about tomorrow and not able to catch the special when it runs, but I bet it gets rerun later in the day on BBC America. I’ll be home around 6 or 7pm, so I’ll just tune in then. Or since I’ll be online all day, maybe I’ll just see all the comments and fan gushing all over facebook and twitter…

All that said, MAN, there are some awfully sexist fans out there! I’ve overheard a few conversations where there’s actual outrage expressed if the new Doc turns out to be a female. I say that would make for a super season that shakes things up quite a bit and if it happens, it’ll make the writing quite interesting. Anyway, we’ll see in less than 24 hours, right?

Shaky Cam Video Alert!: Some More Batmobile Stuff…

Posted on July 10, 2013 by geelw

Oops. Go grab some Dramamine – I’ll wait. OK, you’re back? Good. I’d almost forgotten to upload these awful Batmobile videos from the Mezco Toyz event back on June 25th,so here you go. Thankfully, they’re all short and easily digested (*burp!*). I’m laughing like a maniac in one of those clips because of the absurdity of how small the entrance to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not space is and the fact that so many people were cramming in that it was hard for anyone to get pictures or video.

I think I had another two or three movies I deleted that were nothing but hands with cameras filming more hand with cameras as that Batman theme looped endlessly, but I deleted those because I was laughing even MORE hysterically in those films. I’d have them subtitled in some comic book font if I had decided to run them, though. Some sort of Joker laugh repeating “HA HA HAAAAA!” over and over…

Gallery: That Darn Bat(mobile)…

Posted on June 26, 2013 by geelw

OK, thanks to some very fine detective work (not by me – I just spackle on the snark here), the part of Robin was played yesterday by the one and only Aaron Sagers of MTV fame and also host of Travel Channel’s Paranormal Pop Culture and a few too many other things which means he either doesn’t sleep much or has clones running around. Yeah, I like Orphan Black a lot – so sue me.

Anyway, I still think the man still needs a decent Robin costume (sewn up for him by someone on Etsy, of course – gotta keep the NYC dollars here, right?). Hmmm… where’s my Magic Excuse Ball?… Ah, there it is! (shake!) Hey, he was wearing a mask and I didn’t know who he was! (shake!) Er…. I don’t watch MTV these days (thanks to playing too many games or watching more movies lately)! and (shake, shake!) hey, the lady behind me who wanted to put her squealing kid in that Batmobile for a picture made me laugh when she tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I knew who that guy was before offering up a suggestion or two I didn’t write (this IS a family show, folks)…

And yes, while we didn’t get an Yvonne Craig episode yesterday, there WAS a Batgirl of sorts there. You’re welcome.

Fat (Albert) Tuesday, Too: Hey, Hey, Hey! Shout Factory Says Press “Play!”

Posted on June 25, 2013 by geelw

Scene 215

INTERIOR: Shout Factory Mail Order Department

6/24/2013 APPROXIMATELY 1:54:36PM

(phone rings)
Hello, Shout Factory!
Ow. My. Ears. Dude.

Sorry. This IS Shout Factory, you know! How Can I help you today?!
Hang on, dude… let me get some cotton balls and half an earmuff… (sounds of drawer opening, followed by rattling noises)… OK, I think I’m better now.

That’s good to hear! So…How can I help you today?
Ehm, er… say there? Do you have Fat Albert in the can?

(*sighs*)…NO. sir, We don’t currently sell ANY of our videos in can form. However, you can buy Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: The Complete Series, which has all 110 episodes of the classic show with Bill Cosby, Fat Albert, Rudy, Weird Harold, Mushmouth, Dumb Donald, Russell and, yes the Brown Hornet! 15 Discs, 39 hours, $99!
D’oh! Oh, COME ON NOW, You’re supposed to say “Yes, we do!” or something like that!

(*yawning*)… REE-aaalllly now? I did not know that! So, can I put you down for a copy of this set or what?
Blaaaaaaaaah! You’re no fun, grrrrr! I’ma go call the stupid drug store instead!! (slams phone down) *click!*
*Snicker…* Dopey kids and their ancient pranks! Boy, some people never learn!

Bat Tuesday Leaves Me Stuffed Full of Nostalgia…

Posted on June 25, 2013 by geelw

So, yeah – that’s the 1966 version of the Batmobile in that picture (well, a tire from the 1966 version of the Batmobile). I’ll post a bigger gallery later or tomorrow after my CE Week exploits, part deux. Mezco Toyz rolled out this awesome treat infront of then partially inside the Ripley’s Believe or Not! er, Museum? as they also rolled out an awesome new Mez-itz set featuring a vinyl version of the classic ride along with The Dynamic Duo (that would be Batman and Robin) that’s due for launch in July (go pre-order one NOW or the even cooler Summer Exclusive Mez-itz Bundle!)

I wanted to snap about a hundred more pics of this George Barris-engineered wonder, but there were SO many people on 42nd Street that started gathering that I had to get in the 30 or so shots I took pretty quickly and (DUH!), I actually didn’t take any movies of the car outside thanks to my surprise at it being rolled out of a trailer about 25 or so feet from the museum. Uh-Oh! Would I get at least close enough to that Batmobile so it was actual 1:1 scale… or would I end up underneath a few too many shoes and sandals with socks before I reached my destination (damn tourists!)…

Tune in below the jump, dear reader…

(hey, I was going to say “Tune in next week… same Bat time, same Bat channel…”, but some of you would take that TOO literally and NOT come back until next week. I can’t have that, so… look down and click, puh-leease)

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Late Night Game Week (Final Stage!): Wii, U Get 2 C That Jimmy Still Sux!

Posted on June 22, 2013 by geelw

Ha ha. OK, I had to do that horrid spelling job in the header as a little in-joke even I don’t get and yep, it’s another pre-show title to save time because I just KNOW Jimmy’s going to lose it and fail at another game live on TV. Anyway, saving the Wii U for his final post=E3 Game Week show meant this was either going to be a blowout for Nintendo because more people stayed home to watch OR… a bust because they were all out clubbing or whatever the crazy kids do on a Friday night (har har). Anyway, the 20-Ryu Hadouken/cartridge blowing/toothbrush circle bits was dumb and funny (and all those “World Records” they set WILL be broken over the weekend, I bet). That multiple video games “record” bit was stupidly awesome, though. Jimmy “played” six games all at once for twenty seconds and looked as if he was trying to escape from robbing a vintage game shop and ran into an arcade only to be trapped on a Dance Dance Revolution Supernova machine. Or something like that – just watch the video:

See? Now go break THAT record, Mr. or Ms. Guinness…

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Late Night Game Week (Day 4): Jimmy Answers the Call of Duty, Gets Ghosted…

Posted on June 21, 2013 by geelw

I actually wrote the headline before Jimmy’s show kicked off (hey, planning in advance works when you know what’s coming, correct?), but in case you missed it, the proof is above (or will be once NBC gets its act together, grrrr!).

Anyway, the show was a bit more game-centric and snappier than last night’s thanks to Defiance’s Grant Bowler, Jimmy running viewer videos of themselves playing with their mothers (pretty damn funny) and Elijah Wood geeking out with Fallon over The Last of Us before talking briefly about the new season of Wilfred and the remake of Maniac and then some fake video games in a skit.

As for CoD:G, well, it looks great on the Xbox 360 (but I think that dog has a LEAN button… whaaaat?!), but the demo was too short and other than a nice scripted building tumbling down and the novelty of playing as Riley (the dog) for brief bits, it’s looking like a CoD game, which is great to bad depending on your bias in either direction. I only play for the campaign mode anyway, so I may look into this on the PS3 or PS4 in the future. And oh yeah, I was actually wrong up above! Jimmy didn’t suck so much at the game today. Well, other than barking at the screen at one point (OK, it made me chuckle a bit).

Well, tomorrow is Nintendo’s day on the show, although I noted in the teaser for the show, they had “Nintendo Wii” and not “Nintendo Wii U” as the system being demoed. Oops. Er, unless Nintendo has some surprises we didn’t see at E3 planned for tomorrow, that is…

Two For The Road: James Gandolfini and Slim Whitman…

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

I actually didn’t like The Sopranos the first time I saw it (coming into the middle of an episode in the middle of a season has that effect on some people), but I wised up and stuck with it, enjoying the ride over the last four seasons or so and going back to catch most of the episodes I missed out on. For me, that final episode was quite a nice surprise but not too surprising, as it didn’t go for the expected. Of course, neither did the show on many occasions where stories were layered with hidden and not-so hidden depths mixed in with some shocking deaths just to hammer home the point that Tony’s world wasn’t a very nice place after all. I liked James Gandolfini’s work in most of the films he was in, but like many fans, he’ll always be Tony Soprano, driving down that highway through New Jersey on the way to raise some hell or suffer through some of his own creation. He’ll be missed…

As an impressionable teen, these commercials for Slim Whitman’s albums had my friends and I always laughing (and occasionally warbling awfully mangled versions of his tunes while strolling down the street), but I think they also made us appreciate other musical styles. Granted, I’m a nut with wild musical tastes (AM radio USED to play great music before it became home to the insane, incessantly annoying “opinions as facts” and “I’m famous because I have a radio show and people who believe my crazy BS!” talkers), so I think I came to see the man’s genius a bit more over time. But I do recall having the stupidest yet most amazing dream where Slim was covering The Ramones and yes, it was a spectacular a vision indeed. “I Remember Yoooooooou-ooooooooou-oooooooou!” (I still can’t listen to that song without laughing, by the way).

That and hell, Slim Whitman saved the earth, dammit. Go watch Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! if you don’t believe me…

Late Night Game Week, Day 3: Jimmy (Almost) Survives Watch_Dogs And Aisha Tyler

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

The problem with five minutes of one game (or two and a half minutes give or take of two games) is it’s IMPOSSIBLE to grasp what the hell some games are about. That said, in the case of Ubisoft’s stellar-looking upcoming action/adventure game Watch_Dogs, five minutes on a crazy and funny talk/variety show with a giddy host is excellent yet somewhat less than perfect for a game so huge. Don’t get me wrong, kids – I’d invite Jimmy Fallon over to the home office and show off some wacky games he’s most likely never heard of at the drop of a hat, BOOM, I’m there… er, he’s here (oh, you know what I mean). Thankfully, Aisha Tyler (also a HUGE gamer and comic as well as Ubisoft’s go-to celebrity as she also happens to be a character in the game) did a great job of explaining the concept and some of the open world gameplay before Jimmy took over and failed a mission (*sigh*). Well, he got further than I thought, but still. I’d actually love to see the guy host an ALL gaming show one day, not just one with funny segments and a few stars popping up to plug their assorted projects.

Of course, that would be a different show entirely, but a NEEDED one for gamers and G4 is no more (although, like a zombie with a steel-plated skull, the damn channel is STILL on the air pumping out movies and reruns of old shows including X-Play and Spike TV is too damn dumb to watch unless GTTV is on, as it’s just macho crap and blood beat-fests all day and then some. Yuk). I suppose internet “TV” shows are a good source, but not if one has a crap connection or hell, prefers gaming news from eight feet away and doesn’t own a damn Smart TV or whatever it is that basically means you’re online watching Honey Boo Boo when you COULD be learning a new language or something else more interesting…

Jimmy Fallon Versus The PS4: Jimmy Gets the Knack!

Posted on June 19, 2013 by geelw

While the Xbox One got two games crammed into five minutes, Sony’s new PS4 showcased one game, the family friendly platformer, Knack was the showcase title on this second day of Late Night’s Game Week. Game Director Mark Cerny was on hand to show off the new console and controller, noting that it’s been redesigned for shooter fans, most likely to let them know they’re not forgotten despite the somewhat cute game on display Jimmy was about to dive into. He also got in a quick shot at Microsoft by noting that used games could be played on the PS4 and (yes!) the console can indeed be used offline. Microsoft takes another knock there, thanks to it’s spotty PR performance not doing the best job at explaining things. As for Knack, Cerny showed off a quick cut scene and played for a quick bit (the game looks great, but Jimmy was easily distracted by some amazing looking water for a split second) before turning over control.

Fallon played a cool ice level that showed off some great-looking Pixar-like visuals and a familiar mix of 3D platforming and combat. Knack can smash and absorb bits of the environment in order to grow and take on the characteristics of whatever he’s busted apart. It’s sort of like a Metal Men comic meets Crash Bandicoot with the aforementioned Pixar visual style and it looks pretty incredible. That said, I’m gathering Knack was shown for a few other important reasons. Fallon’s viewer base covers a wide age range, so Sony wants to get the console buying adults on board with a non-violent game they can immediately buy with that PS4. The game is a first-party title and Sony’s first party studios are responsible for a good deal of the system’s hits, so as a launch title, Knack needs to show it can be as good as the best games of its type on the new hardware. Finally, I think the game may be a hard sell to some of the shooter fans (thus the earlier shout-out by Cerny), so I think Sony wants them to know their games are indeed coming (and on launch day, at that). Then again, those shooter fans DID get a great demo of Killzone: Shadow Fall three months ago.

Oh yeah, Jimmy didn’t suck too much at Knack, but he’s still like a box of puppies bouncing in the back of a moving truck when it comes to getting all giddy about stuff. You have to love the man for his sense of wonder other TV hosts fail to activate in anything like a realistic manner, so I’ll give him that much…