Jurassic World Teaser: The Return of Barney, Rubble

Posted on November 24, 2014 by geelw

Oh… kay. Now, I was hoping Jurassic World was a joke, but nope. Looks like this one is a go, is getting done up as a big blockbuster and looks to rake in the big bucks when it’s released. Hmmmm. Given the law of diminishing returns hit the franchise hard the last time, I’m one of those with an arched eyebrow ready and set to stay arched. Yeah, yeah, it’s got super-hot hunk Chris Pratt in it and sure, CG technology has improved by light years so those damn digital dinos will look spectacular. But CG tends to be so obvious and all-consuming in these blockbusters that I’m betting now jaded audiences aren’t going to be as wowed as they were back in the day. Which wasn’t so long ago, mind you. Anyway, I can hold out for the cable premiere at this point, as nothing I’m seeing is floating my boat. Of course, that could change in the not too distant future. Well, Thursday is the day the longer official trailer gets released, so that’s the first… er, second chance the folks behind this get to grab my interest. I suppose I should be more excited about this one, but it’s a big “meh!” for me at this stage of the game.

Throwback Thursdays: I’ll Trade Almost Any Other Thursday For This One…

Posted on November 20, 2014 by geelw

Hee-ho! So, I find out that the now asbestos-free kitchen here won’t get that new wall and ceiling until DECEMBER. Over the course of four or five non-consecutive days, at that. Yaaaah. So much for the idea of even thinking of having anyone over for Thanksgiving. Who do I need to send a herd of elephants to run over to get a break here? Anyway, some good news comes in the form a a diversion this evening downtown thanks to La Maison du Chocolat inviting me to sample some of their Holiday Collection. hey, chocolate is good for you when you’re stressed! Okay, I’ll make sure to think of all of you while I’m at the event. I may end up oversampling because I’m thinking of all of you out there, so it’s your fault if I end up in a chocolate haze in some alley near La Maison’s NYC shops selling my coat and shoes for a fix.

Hmmm. I feel a song coming on… fortunately I’m NOT doing the singing:

(Thanks, DetroitLives313!)

Back tomorrow or perhaps later tonight if I’m not in a cocoa coma. I’m sitting on a ton of drafts and almost done stuff. I just need to get enough time to get away from the madness here to finish stuff up.

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Saves My Sanity This Week…

Posted on November 18, 2014 by geelw

Okay, between the kitchen ceiling and walls here STILL not being repaired (oh, it’s a comedy of errors on the whys and hows of that nonsense – worth a post in of itself, but I’ll do that tomorrow or Thursday) and me pulling what’s left of my hair out at other things, I’m glad to have one nice diversion today: Little Orbit’s Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom. WayForward Technologies has cooked up a very inspired top-down adventure with gameplay and aesthetics that are going to be VERY familiar to fans of a certain marquee mascot character. Okay, the game is a shameless homage to the sprite-based Legend of Zelda games, but I’d say that Link HAS to be jealous. Why? Well, he’s only in a big deal fighting game and a nice non-canon beat-’em-up this year on two platforms while Finn is in a game that’s actually a solid Zelda adventure with Adventure Time humor packed into it.

Okay, let me get back to it. Tomorrow, another wall gets partially knocked in and I hope to heck there’s not anything leaky behind it, grrrr… Oh yeah, a bunch of AAA titles arrived today, but I’m not playing any of them (yet).

A Rainy Monday Means It’s Bundle Time…

Posted on November 17, 2014 by geelw

Man, it’s pure unadulterated LOUSY outside. I went out early, so I missed the super soaker shower downpour that’s stopped, but is returning later this evening and dropping the temperature about 15 degrees or so. Blech. Anyway, today’s IndieGala Every Monday Bundle is a nice one for two bucks. Seven games in a mix of genres and all of them cheaper than a cup of coffee and a doughnut in most places? That’s a BUY, people. Unless you need that doughnut to munch on and that coffee to keep you awake in that soon to be spending too long in front of the monitor manner. Anyway, I like the kooky Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus in this week’s deal because the music in the trailer made my weary bones laugh:

(Thanks, William McDonald)

Ah, Tiny Tim must be spinning wherever he’s at. Spinning, I say! Still, I bet you laughed as well, so it’s all good. Anyway, go get some games and stay dry tonight!

Review: Rollers of the Realm (PC)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by geelw

Platform: PC (also on PS4, Vita)

Developer: Phantom Compass

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: ?

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

While it may seem like a super-easy casual game at first glance, don’t let the either the art style or offbeat hybrid concept fool you one bit. Rollers of the Realm offers up a serious challenge to pinball aficionados and is one of the bigger indie surprises of 2014. However, you really don’t need to be a pinball wizard to fully enjoy what’s here. The game offers up enough fun to get pretty much anyone who picks it up pulled into its unusual blending of genres. Developer Phantom Compass gets some decent mileage from its medieval fantasy epic setting, dedicated voice actors and yes, the all-important element of making the gameplay both fresh and rewarding… Continue reading →

Busy Bee-ing Busy. Results to Follow Shortly…

Posted on November 16, 2014 by geelw

Up for air and still buried? How about that? Anyway, just a quickie note to note that I;m working on some content for this and another site today and into the coming week, so keep an eyeball peeled for updates. I suppose I could tell you what’s coming, but I like to toss a surprise or three at you and see if you can juggle a bit. Anyway, let me get back to knocking out what I need to knock out, and I don’t mean myself. It’s a wee bit warm in here and it’s a wee bit cold outside, which is normally a good thing. Except I’ve not been out all day thanks to my needing to catch up on stuff. Speaking of catching up, still no new kitchen ceiling and wall, which has gotten old already. I think they’re waiting until after the 19th when the wall in the home office gets taken care of to kick off phase two. I suppose I’ll need to take some before and after photos as a document of some sort, but I’m expecting these clowns to just make the place look exactly as it looked before they busted it up.

(Thanks, dodgybizkit!)

Well, with a fresh coat of paint on the new walls they’re putting in, of course.

You’ll Find Out: Yet Another Oddball Film I Need to See!

Posted on November 15, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, Sleaze-O-Rama!)

Ha. I’d never heard of this 1940 comedy until about a month ago when someone asked me if I’d seen it. I hadn’t, noted to myself to look it up and forgot about it thanks to the stupid time I’ve been having on a few fronts keeping me from being very much entertained. Anyway, in my inbox this afternoon was the trailer above and I got pulled right into wanting to know more.

What a cast! Boris Karloff, Béla Lugosi, Peter Lorre… and Kay Kyser & his band? Yeah, I laughed a lot at the casting here. And if I’m not mistaken, the band and bandleader are the heroes here. Oh, this one’s going on the “gotta watch it!” list for sure. Well, I’m gathering I’ll need to haunt TCM and see when it turns up again. It’s usually the case when I hear about an oldie like this they have in their library that it runs less than a week or so later. Mood lightened considerably? You betcha.

Oh, My Aching Saturday…

Status

Well, today was the big moving day… but not for me. I’d be posting up a storm right about now, but I had to assist in the “getting a ton of stuff out of the elevator” part of a big move and I’m just about BEAT. I’m actually polishing up a quick post from yesterday evening now and it will hopefully get up in about half an hour or so, but if I decide to pass out on top of my keyboard, you’ll all hopefully forgive me. Okay, enough stalling – off to tweak and post. Someone want to pour a cup of coffee on me (room temperature, of course). Eh, I guess it could be worse… a LOT worse (cue the over-obvious movie clip):

(Thanks, Henrique Tomé!)

Uh-huh. We don’t need a bigger boat, that’s for damn sure. Unless it’s coming to store some of the stuff that’s packed in here, ha and ha…

A Day Early, A Dollar Short!

Posted on November 12, 2014 by geelw

GYAAAAAH. So, we were supposed to have a big asbestos abatement TOMORROW here, but guess who showed up A DAY EARLY? Yup. Anyway, no big posts today because I’m stuck here with a big box tent in the living room, no access to the kitchen (but stuff has been moved out, so the fridge is safe) and no wi-fi at all. Bleh. There were no posts yesterday because I was moving furniture around and had a meeting in the afternoon followed by CES Unveiled in the evening (where I got my pants ruined at the end when someone dropped a hot Sterno can and I got splashed from about ten feet away. Oh well, it was to be expected with the month I’m having so far. But I saw some fun stuff and will write about it soon.

Ha. I wondered why I couldn’t sleep well, popped up at around 2am and started moving more stuff around in the living room. It’s a good thing, too. Okay, off to banging my head against a wall as my kitchen gets the big work done. If I can get out of here later this afternoon or early evening, I’ll post something else, as my inbox is PACKED. Okay, back to the land of destruction. I could use a more productive week, that’s for sure. Hmmmm… I sense a theme here in these last few posts.

Show & Tell: On Ray Harryhausen’s Fairy Tales

Posted on November 8, 2014 by geelw

In regards to every well-worn fairy tale, “It’s not the tale, but how it’s told” is the order of the day. Parents and other creative adults well-versed in story time voices and acting have this mantra branded on their brain cells and know how to make any yarn they spin keep kids at rapt attention. Still, for many of his longtime fans, Ray Harryhausen’s incredible stop-motion versions of Mother Goose stories and five classic fairy tales are some of the most memorable versions ever created.

Save for The Tortoise and the Hare (which was incomplete until its 2002 premiere), I can recall some of these films along with his earlier Mother Goose shorts being shown during assembly hall sessions or in the occasional class where a regular teacher was out sick and the substitute called in hadn’t time to whip up a proper lesson plan. While most of these 16mm shorts were part of my childhood, I’d imagine plenty of today’s little (and more tech savvy) whippersnappers haven’t a clue who Harryhausen was or what made (and still makes him) him great and such a huge inspiration of countless filmmakers and visual effects artists to this day.

Continue reading →