Tag Archives: YouTube

Random Film of the Week: “X”- The Man With The X-Ray Eyes

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X-TheManWithTheX-RayEyesMPOhhhh-kay... I’m having a SERIOUS case of déjà vu here. I know for a fact that I’d written up a review of this great 1963 Roger Corman “B” flick a few years back and posted it either on the old blog, here or somewhere else, but it’s nowhere to be found as far as I’ve checked. Crazy! Or perhaps I had such a vivid dream about writing this up that I merely THOUGHT that I’d run a review. Hey, it happens. But only to me, it seems…

Anyway, I despise rewriting stuff, so it could be that I did a draft that was close to completion but somehow was deleted or accidentally overwritten thanks to that oddball WordPress flaw where if you have two “Add New Post” tabs open and make the mistake of using them for new posts, you overwrite the first post with the second. Anyway, this is one of those really surprising low-budget films that, thanks to some great casting and some genuinely tight direction, manages to be much better than it should be… Continue reading →

BandFuse: Rock Legends Update: Say Hi-yo To Laiho!

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With only a week left before the game hits retail, I’ve been seeing some music game fans suddenly perk up the discussion about BandFuse: Rock Legends in a few spots. Realta Entertainment’s innovative guitar school on a disc is an open book of a music “game” experience that lets you hop in anywhere you choose and learn like a beginner or jam like a pro, something a certain other guitar game doesn’t. Between that, the legends on board to show you the ropes, the no-lag gameplay which should please every player and more, this one could be the music game of the year when all is said and done. Granted, some still want millions of TV ads to drop left and right just so they have an idea of how popular the game is or something. But expensive TV spots and building-sized billboards don’t mean anything other than a game’s PR department has a lot of money to work with and the game being advertised so heavily might or might not be any good at all. BandFuse doesn’t need some multimillion dollar ads running endlessly to sell it at all – it needs YOU to pick it up and learn you some killer guitar. THAT will help sell copies more than anything, I say…

Official PlayStation 4 Unboxing Video: Say, Does Mr. Yoshida Make House Calls?

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Okay, usually I’m not fond of unboxing videos, but this one? I absolutely LOVE IT. because it;s funny as hell to me. Sony has been riding on a big (and next-gen looking) wave of goodwill ever since they announced the PS4 and the steamroller of game trading the good old fashioned way in that hilarious short clip from this year’s E3. The company’s official unboxing video continues the amusing tone set by Shuhei Yoshida in that older video and it’s funny enough that I think it needs to be shown in retail locations all this week until the big day hits this Friday the 15th when the PS4 officially rolls out. Now, I can’t be one of those lucky ones to get a day one console (my finances are hurtin’ at the moment), but I’d not mind at all if Mr. Yoshida and his white gloves would drop on by with a special package at some point. I’d not turn him away at all. On the other hand, if someone from Microsoft rolls up in a white van, I’ll be calling up the proper authorities and pronto.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know… but it’s NOT system bias on my part. I’ll more than likely get a Xbox One at some point… the day I can play it offline without getting an Xbox Live Gold account or having to log on for a mandatory update (which I can’t do from home anyway).

Need For Speed Rivals Gameplay: PS4 Versus Xbox One, Round 1…

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SO, it seems that resolution is the BIG thing for many gamers and journalists out there rolling around on the ground fighting with each other and it seems that the PS4 has an advantage on SOME titles over the Xbox One, which is the reverse of how it was on many third party titles throughout this past generation. While those folks fight it out in clouds of dust and misspelled diatribes, I’ll just post these two trailers from Criterion’s upcoming racer and let you decide which looks best. The BEST way to see these videos is at their highest resolution (1080p), so hopefully you know how to do that with YouTube videos.

Anyway, Here’s the PlayStation 4 version below:

Annnnd below, here’s Rivals on the Xbox One. Oh wait, look at your HAIR! Ha! Next time close the window and fasten that seat belt. Sorry, I forgot to warn you we were going to go FAST. Anyway, ready? Good:

Did you notice anything different? Do you even care? Are you wearing socks right nor or are they stuck to the wall on the other side of the room after being blown clean off (and if so, I’m SO sorry if you were wearing expensive panty hose!)? I guess the sales figures will tell at the end of the day, but system bias will rear its head even more as both consoles roll onto shelves and the knives come out once again. Hell, they’re ALREADY out and have been since before each new system was announced. No one wins in that war, by the way… but sitting on the sidelines with a load of popcorn makes for some fine entertainment for me before I get bored and go back to playing some of those games everyone else is nitpicking over because of a few flaws or whatever that some won’t even notice because they only have one console at home and just don’t care what the competition is up to…

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 Developer Diary #1: Going Out In High Style…

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The first Castlevania: Lords of Shadow game was a pretty solid mash up of old and new school elements that while not perfect, made for a pretty thrilling game with some very lovely visuals. Developer extraordinaire MercurySteam is pulling out all the stops with this sequel and as this seems to be their final Castlevania game, the team is making sure they go out on a high note. Yeah, yeah, the Igarishi-only and 3D-only wails from the rear of the room are loud in some spots, but that’s only when I leave the window open too long. I don’t care who makes a game as long as it’s GOOD at the end of the day and it’s also important to broaden one’s horizons every once in a while (and DAILY, if possible). MercurySteam’s expertise with current gen hardware is pretty phenomenal in my book, so I can’t wait to see what they’re working on for the newer consoles (or heck, any other platform)…

And yeah… that music is spectacular, isn’t it? February 27, 2014, people. You do know you can pre-order the game if you like, correct?

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star: My Brain Just Turned To An 8-Bit Alderaan

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tiny DSOh, don’t get me wrong, people. This new Google Play game IS stupidly super cute and all, and yes indeed, I laughed while watching it. But yeah, the 1977 part of me rolled over and died inside seeing this trailer and realizing that pretty much everything about the original release has now been vaporized and swept under a dirty bantha hide rug. Ah well.

Granted, it was pretty obvious the Star Wars franchise was going to end up parodying and satirizing itself harder than anyone else has in the past, so expect more of the same as Disney looks to monetize every aspect of the series from now on. Business is business after all, the new fans coming in won’t care at all about the original three flicks in their unaltered versions and everyone’s happy that they’re finally seeing more films and merch roll out on a regular basis. Ah well… back to work for me and my soul needs to find that box of ethereal Kleenex so it can go cry in the corner.

Hi-Yaaa!! Shout Factory Hits You With TOO Many Bruce Lee Clips!

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Bruce Lee The Legacy Collection Set So, my day ends like this: I come home, turn on the computer to check my email and started laughing as soon as I saw the crazy amount of Bruce Lee fight scenes and other fun stuff from the folks at Shout Factory. It would seem that they’ve released Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection last month (October 22, to be exact) and are now in the process of heavily promoting this nice-looking 11-disc(!) Blu-Ray/DVD set that comes with a great photo-packed book and hours of special features. But yeah, I know you… you’re just here for the fights. OK, then:

Now, should YOU buy this box set? Come on, now… you KNOW I’m going to answer with a big, wet sloppy YES. If those two awesome (and yes, hilarious) fight scenes above aren’t enough to convince you, well… there’s more where that came from. Below the jump with you, NOW! (*boot!*) Continue reading →

Humor? Recovering From Defeat Isn’t Hard, Folks. It’s Just A One-Step Dance…

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Like everyone else out there, I sometimes fail miserably at stuff. But being old and stubborn and cranky yet willing to learn fast is actually a darn good thing if you put it into practice. Like you, I used to get upset at a setback and sink into something soft with something edible to squeeze as I planned revenge on what wronged me (although in many cases it was those three idiots me, myself and I doing the dirty work). What one learns over time is not to dwell on the not so good parts of life and focus on making oneself a better person even if it costs you a few brownie points with your dark side. Hell, letting that part have all the fun is stupid anyway, as all that does is make your nicer side pissed off and plan revenge (meaning you’re setting yourself up for a fall even faster than you can run out to the supermarket and stock up on crow pies and chocolate ice cream)… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Somewhere In Time

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(thanks, famousmichigan!)

Somewhere in TimeAs much fun as it was and still is, frankly speaking, Superman: the Movie had a really TERRIBLE time travel sequence that breaks the film and manages to always get a tiny bit under my skin each time I see it. Fortunately, Somewhere In Time is a much better film overall about time travel, love, loss and quite probably the worst long distance relationship ever. I saw this upon its initial release back in 1980 and it’s stuck with me since.

Now, I’m not deep into the romantic fantasy genre at all, but SoT has a compelling pull to it that makes it one of my favorite science fiction films, bittersweet finale and all. It’s not for every taste, but if you decide to give this one a shot, you’ll find Jeannot Szwarc’s fine direction, the lovely John Barry score, intentionally languid pacing and solid performances from the cast (I think it’s Reeve’s best film work, period) make this one truly memorable… Continue reading →

Valdis Story: Abyssal City – Your Side-Scrolling 2D Fix of the Week.

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Frankly speaking, I completely despise the term “Metroidvania”, as it smacks of laziness on the part of people who’ve adopted it to mean ANY side-scrolling platformer with gameplay and/or visuals that are common and familiar to those who might not even like either of those two storied franchises. Granted, it also confuses those who’ve NEVER played either game, as I once heard some kid in a GameStop seriously ask a clerk for a copy of Metroidvania (eek!). But I digress (as usual). Indie developer Endless Fluff has a rather fun-looking game out now for PC called Valdis Story Abyssal City and yes indeed, if you’re a fan of those old 8 and 16-bit classics (yes, such as Castlevania and Metroid) and happen to remember a seemingly now forgotten series called Valis, with a dash of Ys and a few other old games from back in the day, you’ve stopped reading this post already and are on the game’s gog.com page and buying it. And good for you, this is, as the game is on sale for $11.99 ($3 off its original price).

And hey! What do you mean “That’s TOO much!” you big cheapskate? Back in my day, we had to pay fifty bucks or more for a game like this and WALK to the damn game store UPHILL. BOTH WAYS. Darn kids and your “Why can’t everything be free or a dollar, but free first!” mentality. Good hard work deserves to be PAID for, I say. You’ll figure this out once you get to work on something awesome (or not so awesome) and no one wants to pay you for doing anything other than giving you a pat on the head or a hearty hand clasp (and not both because you work for a cheap-ass who thinks “intern” means “SUCKER” in big neon letters). If you don’t support indie games, you’ll be playing and paying through the nose on your phone and not any wiser about that wallet draining scheme…