Mad Max “Much Damage?” Clip: Writers, Here’s How To Introduce Your Hero (#1 of A Bunch)…

So, TCM making more (and better) use of its YouTube page means I get to babble about storytelling for a series of posts about one important part of a good (or even not so good) heroic movie. Forget all about Mel’s more current issues, folks. Back when this film was made, he was cool beans on a fresh plate and Mad Max was to many, his breakthrough role (at least in the USA where action fans got both barrels from this wild ride). This particular clip shows George Miller’s assured direction of always hard to shoot vehicle action and some dynamic camerawork along with excellent use of scoring and sound effects. The opening minute of this scene is pure white-knuckle action, then there’s a pause while Max is introduced and takes over the pursuit, completely changing the tone. The contrast between the Night Rider’s ranting and Max’s slow set-up works and when he breaks the Toecutter in that “chicken” match, you know it’s pretty much all over. Granted, Max goes though some breaking of his own as the film progresses, but I’ll let you catch this on TCM (Saturday, May 3 at 2am ET/Fri, May 2 at 11pm PT) and not spoil a thing if you’re now to this one…

Gallery: Fearless Fantasy – A Super Colorful Gesture-Based JRPG Homage? Count Me In!

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So, these past few weeks are turning out to be full of nice surprises on the indie game scene, or perhaps I’m finally starting to see new games that grab my attention because they stand out from the way too crowded marketplace that seems to get new titles on a daily basis vying for attention. This time, it’s tinyBuild Games‘ upcoming digital-only release Fearless Fantasy, a wonderful-looking turn-based RPG with gesture-based combat, rich, colorful graphics and actual (as in GOOD) humor in the writing. Sure, my plate is full and my backlog is mighty, but as soon as saw that video above, those screenshots below and the GIFs , I made room to give this one a shot once a preview code arrives.

FearlessFantasy_ScreenShot2 FearlessFantasy_ScreenShot3 FearlessFantasy_ScreenShot4 FearlessFantasyScreenShot-1 dont-marry-the-guy hole mushrooms Xola

As for those GIFs, they’re below the jump along with a bit of amusing press release stuff to peruse along with some lovely character images. If you didn’t watch that video above, prepare your eyeballs for a color blast assault… Continue reading

Mario Kart 8 Direct: Nintendo Goes Nuts (Part Whatever) In The Best Possible Manner…

Yep, Nintendo is swinging for the fences with all their might with these Directs and as crazy as it sounds to those who wan the console to simply roll over and die (it won’t), it looks as if they’re going to make the Wii U a system its owners can be proud of no matter how it does against the competition. Granted, by all accounts I’ve read, Mario Kart 8 isn’t breaking any “new” ground other than being the first in the series to run in glorious HD. On the other hand, it also shows that no one knows what its customers want in a returning and eagerly awaited franchise like this than Nintendo. Could it use MORE characters like (Smash Bros.), some actual gameplay innovations and perhaps better support for that GamePad? Sure, why not try to sell more copies to people who might still be on the fence about that shiny black or white console of yours? Of course, the game will sell millions as it is and doesn’t need me to tell you die-hards anything at all about what it “needs” to do.

Then again, the oddball launch strategy for the 3DS and Wii U versions does have me a tad worried. Then again, second guessing Nintendo seems to be a silly proposition (with a few exceptions where I’ve been correct, ha ha). Between this and the company skipping the usual E3 press briefing for a big Direct presentation (more on that later today), following its own muse is the best thing the company has done in a while. Methinks 2014 is going to be a worm-turning phase for that beleaguered console some have already written off, but it’ll take a LOT of sales in a market packed with too many other grand distractions…

Mr. Hoskins Checks Out…

(thanks, FilmsActuTrailers!) 

I’ll do a proper RFToW for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? this coming weekend, but here’s a clip to remind me (and you, and you and you and you!) of how the late Bob Hoskins nailed it but good in playing his cheap detective so well against all those ping pong balls on sticks and other stuff on set, probably wondering what the hell he was doing while hoping the animators and tech folks could make the movie work. They did and it’s a classic for the ages.

 
I’d also recommend Hoskins in Mona Lisa, The Long Good Friday, and Hook for starters. Anyway, I think I’ll have a drink later as a toast to one more great actor lost to time…

Child of Light Out Is Out Today (So You’re NOT Reading This Post, Right?)

 
Nope, I wasn’t lucky enough to grab a Child of Light review code from whomever handles this stuff over at Ubisoft, but I don’t mind paying the $15 to play this game at all. My platform of choice will be the Wii U, as it’s a system that needs more love and it’s great that Ubisoft decided to bring this game to the console, although it’s no surprise given their support for it since its launch.

 
As you can see, reviews are indeed in from those who DID get codes early and yes, the game comes highly recommended. I’ll probably get to playing this early next week, as I’m working on a few things and my poor backlog is indeed killing me these days. I guess I can train a monkey or goat to play games and write about them, but that would cut into my budget something fierce (and the food? Yikes, I’d go broke with a pet here in NYC)…

You’ll Never Be As Loud As Godzilla, But Knock Yourself Out Anyway…

 
Nope. Not gonna happen, people. You try to join this over-sized hog calling contest and all you’ll get is a very bad sore throat, trust me. Of course, you’ll want to prove me wrong, but I’ll be right and talking about you while you’ll be home with a raw throat sucking down a bottle of honey with your nice chicken soup. Yeah, one of those cute bear bottles – whatever makes you happy. Anyway, I say let the monster itself do what it does best (well ONE of the things it does best) and stay the heck out of his way:

 
There, THAT’S more like it. May 16th is stomping up soon, isn’t it? Yes it is!

Game of Thrones S4 4 & 5: What Came Before, What’s Coming Next (And What’s In Between…)

It’s almost as if HBO wants to get you all spoiled if you’re not yet caught up on the show, so beware from this point onward:

 
I’d been thinking on and off about restarting my reading of the books (I didn’t get far into them years back thanks to too much to do and not enough time to read as much as I’d have liked), but I think I prefer waiting until the show is over and done with as I like where the arc is going. Granted, the White Walker reveal (see that episode for details!) might be a bit much in this extremely busy season.

 
Natalie Dormer looks like a cat. That is all I’ll say about that. Anyway, I think her character actually thought she was going to be the Queen and although it looks as if she’ll get a second shot at it, I say it’s not happening anytime soon unless Cersi is gone and not coming back. Of course, I’d say Cersi is too necessary to get killed off this season, but that’s a huge laugh if you think about it, Right George?

 
Oh, never mind. He’s still going on about that Purple Wedding incident, so I’ll let him talk. Hey, I bet anyone who tries to interrupt Mr. Martin ends up in a box at some point. Or just silenced for long enough that he gets his point across. Don’t mess withe author when he’s holding court or you may end up losing your head once he does…

 
And finally, here’s what’s coming next Sunday. I tend to only watch these teasers only once (after each episode) and try my best to forget about them afterwards. Why? As noted a few times, I prefer going in cold and having as few things spoiled as possible. That and I despise guessing which scene goes where and editing in trailers always makes it look as if stuff is happening that doesn’t (or won’t for a bit). Anyway, you know the drill – see you next Sunday, “same Bat time, Same Bat channel…”

Orphan Black Recap: Donnie Dumb Co. Is Going To Get It For Sure…

 
Spoilers galore! Or more like just a handful (if one is a “handful”, that means you have small hands). I was plenty ticked off at the end of last season when Donnie was revealed as Alison’s minder after all, so it’s great to see him getting his comeuppance slowly but surely starting in Episode 2 on Saturday and him not seeing it starting up. Hopefully, he’ll get what’s coming to him sooner than later, but we’ll see what happens as this season twists and turns. Well, next week’s show looks even more interesting, so you know where to find me next Saturday night…

Bound By Flame Updates: Combat And Music Looking And Sounding Quite Good…

 
So, Bound By Flame is looking to be your next epic action RPG experience and as seen in that work in progress video above, it’s coming along nicely, especially if you like a more arcade-like style of gameplay. This isn’t even trying to be “realistic” in the way some folks want, but to me, that’s the beauty of developers all doing different things. If every game played EXACTLY the same, I’d be one bored stiff gamer looking fora new hobby, that’s for sure.

 
As for the music, composer Olivier Derivière (who did the fantastic score for Remember Me) has whipped up a beautiful, varied score that features a chorus and some wonderful “vocal textures” as you’ll hear above. Developed by Spiders and published by Focus Home Interactive, Bound By Flame hits stores for consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) and lands on PC via Steam on May 9, 2014. Back with more if there’s more coming before it ships – I hope so, as this one’s looking very interesting indeed…

Gallery: Tales of Xillia 2

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Elle&Lulu LudgerThe past year plus has been quite good for fans of Namco’s Tales series here in North America as we’ve been getting some nice games and more on the way in a relatively “speedy” manner. Granted, not ALL of the games in the long running franchise have made it stateside, but Hideo Baba did promise last year at the Namco event I attended that fans would see some nice surprises over time from the eternally busy Tales Studio.

Tales of Heart R is one big surprise for Vita owners and here, Tales of Xillia 2 is the other, as it coming this August exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Screens below the jump and that $129.99 Collector’s Edition is below. Yes, pre-ordering this or the plain vanilla standard edition is probably a good idea as some retail locations will only stock what their customers have actually put down some money for and Tales games have the tendency to sell out rather quickly.

ToX2_CE_ShotAugust isn’t really that far away, you know…

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