Excite Truck Sequel is Coming; Nintendo Nerds Rejoice

One of the best games at launch for the Wii was the crazy fun Excite Truck. Featuring tons of vehicles, great motion controls (you steer by tilting the Wiimote), and a really fun and rewarding tricks system, it's actually one of the more memorable racing games of the last few years.

While game sales were apparently disappointing and Nintendo had been mum on the possibilities of a sequel, it looks like one is coming: Excitebots: Trick Racing.

I have no idea what an Excitebot is, but as the Excite series has quietly become a solid home for frenetic arcade racing -- including the original Excitebike, Excitebike 64, and the aforementioned Excite Truck -- this is definitely something to be EXCITED about. (Funny? No? Hehe...sorry.)

Late to the Party Review: "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

When the first Hellboy film came out, I was kind of surprised at how much acclaim it received. Everyone seemed to love it, but I was very "meh" about the whole thing. I thought Hellboy himself was kind of a snooze; Ron Perlman's zero-energy delivery was bo-ring, and with his cliched cigar chomping, beer guzzling and heart-of-gold, Hellboy just seemed like a Wolverine-lite. Plus, I thought the main human character -- the young agent assigned to watch HB, whatever his name was -- actually had negative charisma, if that's possible. Added to that was the weird humor that wasn't funny, boring villains, and a predictable story. Sorry, but I just didn't like that movie.

So, it goes without saying that I am shocked at how much I enjoyed Hellboy II: The Golden Army. This film seemed to correct all the wrongs of its predecessor: the annoying dude from the first movie is gone; Hellboy is actually kind of interesting; the villains are awesome and you even feel for them; the effects are fantastic; the humor works. The blend of the real-world with the fantastic -- trolls under the Brooklyn Bridge, fighting a monster in Manhattan -- made this a bit more fun than most superhero films. And there is a real feeling that every one of the main characters could die. Hellboy II raises the stakes, and just about everything else, over its predecessor. A really fun, weird and overall excellent film.

Now the real debate: was it better than The Dark Knight?

RS Grade: A

Own the Holy Grail of Movie Memorabilia: Clifford's Suit

For those people who've seen it, they know of its brilliance. For those who haven't, they have a nagging sense that their lives are missing something. I'm talking, of course, about the Martin Short comedy, Clifford.

The premise: Martin Short plays a 10-year-old boy and drives his uncle, Charles Grodin, crazy. That is all you really need to know. The result is movie magic.

While checking ebay for a DVD copy (I suddenly realized that I NEEDED to own this, after not having seen it in about 14 years), I found something even better: the actual suit -- complete with shoes, shorts, jacket and shirt -- worn by Martin Short in the film. Here's the item description from the ALL-CAPS-WRITING seller:

THIS ITEM FOR AUCTION IS THE ORIGINAL OUTFIT WORN BY MARTIN SHORT IN THE MOVIE "CLIFFORD". THE OUTFIT WAS ORIGINALLY PURCHASED FROM HOLLYWOOD RANSOM AUCTION FROM PROFILES IN HISTORY AUCTION HOUSE AND STILL HAS ALL THE ORIGINAL TAGS. THIS IS A VERY RARE PIECE OF HOLLYWOOD MEMORIBILIA THAT WOULD BE A GREAT ADDITION TO ANY COLLECTION. VERY RARE TO FIND A COMPLETE COSTUME SUCH AS THIS. IT WILL ALSO COME WITH THE R+R COA WHICH READS-MARTIN SHORT COMPLETE COSTUME FOR HIS ROLE IN THE TITLE CHARACTER IN THE 1991 MOVIE CLIFFORD. THE OUTFIT CONSISTS OF A CUSTOM-MAD RED WOOL JACKET WITH GOLD PIPING; GRAY WOOL SHORTS; A WHITE COTTON SHIRT; A GRAY WOOL BOW TIE; WHITE COTTON SOCKS; TWO PAID OF RED SOCKS; AND BLACK PATENT LEATHER SHOES. THE PANTS HAVE A CENTER THEATRE GROUP LABEL HANDWRITTEN "MARTIN SHORT" AND A COSTUMER'S TAG ATTACHED WHICH READS "MARTIN SHORT AS CLIFFRD CHANGE #6." ACCOMPANIED BY A PHOTO OF SHORT WEARING THE COSTUME. IN VERY FINE CONDITION, WITH NORMAN WEAR. PLEASE SEE PICTURES OF THE ITEM BELOW. SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM IS $18. THANKS AND PLEASE CHEC OUT MY OTHER ITEMS FOR AUCTION!

And here's the suit, in all its weird glory:





This is definitely up there in my Reasons I Love The Internet list.

Green Lantern Animated Movie Coming to DVD; I Am Happy

Methinks that Marvel and DC might be onto something with this newfangled adult-oriented direct-to-DVD animated movie initiative they've both adopted. Marvel just released the pretty badass Hulk Vs. disc, DC has already churned out the surprisingly violent and exciting Superman: Doomsday, and now Green Lantern: First Flight is on its way.

While I think the Sinestro Corp. War (review coming soon!) saga would make an amazing animated feature, I'm all for DC continuing to push Hal Jordan as one of their biggest icons. (He is a personal favorite of mine.) First Flight will essentially be a Hal Jordan origin story, rated PG-13, and hopefully feature a very creepy Sinestro. But who knows. Here is the official press release, courtesy CBR:

Official Press Release

The fabric of intergalactic justice is threatened – until Hal Jordan arrives for his initial mission – in the animated Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies. A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the illuminated hero’s first-ever full-length animated film is set for release by Warner Home Video on July 28, 2009. Green Lantern: First Flight will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def for $29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP). Order due date for all versions is June 23, 2009.

Acclaimed actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) fills the lead voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. Meloni is joined by fellow Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk, Titanic) as the villainous Sinestro, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as the voice of Boodikka, and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog.

Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is helmed by heralded director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).

Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.

Green Lantern: First Flight - 2 Disc Special Edition versions will include incredible bonus features such as:

Over three hours of extra content
Two Featurettes
Digital Copy Download
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Two Episodes of Justice League hand-picked by animation legend Bruce Timm

Green Lantern: First Flight Blu-Ray versions will include all the great extras as the 2-disc

Special Edition as well as an additional two episodes of Justice League picked by Bruce Timm.

“Warner Premiere along with our partners at DC and Warner Home Video has enjoyed great success with the DC Universe titles, and we’re proud to present this first feature-length animated Green Lantern film,” said Diane Nelson, President, Warner Premiere. “‘First Flight’ is a compelling story and a great vehicle to tell this iconic character’s story to both new and longtime fans.”

“In all of his incarnations, Green Lantern has stood as a fan favorite, and Warner Home Video is excited to provide fans with the character’s first full-length animated adventure,” said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation & Sports Marketing. “Green Lantern was the perfect hero to follow movies featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the entire Justice League.”

“Warner Bros. Animation is known for creating outstanding animated properties and has a legacy built upon some of the greatest characters ever imagined,” said Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth, who also oversees television animation for the Studio. “Producer Bruce Timm and his creative team continue that rich tradition with this terrific DVD feature.”

“As one of the true core DC Super Heroes, Green Lantern has captured the imagination of pop culture enthusiasts with his illuminatingly human approach to justice throughout the universe,” said Gregory Noveck, Senior VP Creative Affairs, DC Comics. “Alan Burnett’s script captures the essence of DC’s canon of Green Lantern tales, and provides a fine launching point for future stories with this character.”

Apart from this animated release, Warner Bros. Pictures is currently in pre-production on a new “Green Lantern” theatrical motion picture, to be directed by Martin Campbell, bringing the popular DC Comics super hero to the big screen for the first time.

Marketing Support

Green Lantern: First Flight Single Disc, 2-Disc Special Edition and Blu-Ray will be extensively marketed with a national TV, online, print, and radio media campaign.

BASICS

Green Lantern: First Flight - Single Disc
Street Date: July 28, 2009
Order Due Date: June 23, 2009
Languages: English and Spanish
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: Estimated 75 min.
Price: $19.98 SRP / No MAP
UPC: 882929069958

Green Lantern: First Flight – 2 Disc Special Edition
Street Date: July 28, 2009
Order Due Date: June 23, 2009
Languages: English and Spanish
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Rating: PG-13
Runtimes: Disc 1 – Estimated 75 min.
Disc 2 – Estimated 180+ minutes
Price: $29.98 SRP / No MAP
UPC: 883929069941

Green Lantern: First Flight – Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def
Street Date: July 28, 2009
Order Due Date: June 23, 2009
Languages: English and Spanish
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Rating: PG-13
Runtimes: Disc 1 – Estimated 75 min.
Disc 2 – Estimated 210+ minutes
Price: $34.99 SRP / No MAP
UPC: 883929070633

David Byrne crushes Radio City (at least once)... February 27, 2009

This is not my beautiful blog.

I had the opportunity to see jack-of-all-trades (but most notably a jack of music) David Byrne. What haven't I heard about this guy? He's a painter, a photographer, and the founder of his own internet radio station and world music label Luaka Bop (and this is the "less interesting" section of his resume). I think we can all agree we know David Byrne best from his days as frontman for the band David Byrne and the Hibyrnians. Wait,that's not right -correction: The Talking Heads. Personally, I remember being mildly creeped out by David Byrne first by his "She's Mad" in which David Byrne is CGI'd and made even more creepy than usual as he's both bashed by a giant hammer and had numerous objects broken upon him and then his big-suited self in Stop Making Sense. Musically, you can't much better than the already critically-acclaimed collaborations with Brian Eno. And I'm a critic... and I acclaim them even more!

Byrne put on a terrific show Friday night and earnestly emphasized "show" as part of the concert: Between the backup dancers, the choreographed dances he participated in himself, the light show, the color scheme, and the ridiculous encores in which both an army of tutu-d kids flooded the stage, only to be followed by a Rockettes-esque tribute dance act (there was one actual Rockette in the line), you really can't get much more for your forty bucks (cheap, right? I was up really high. In fact, if it wasn't for my lightweight spacesuit, I wouldn't have been able to groove at all). Byrne also delved into his Talking Heads catalog as you can see below. And while the crowd made collective eye-contact with one another in approval as he launched into the memorable hits, it was more important to note the recognition that songs like "Once in a Lifetime" were more than appropriate in a year like this.

Unfortunately, my pictures aren't nearly as good as others from the internet so just look at them later on better, richer blogs at your own leisure. Here is some video I took with my Canon PowerShot - while it's a little murky, that hasn't stopped me from showing every single person I've encountered since the show.





Setlist:

Strange Overtones
I Zimbra
One Fine Day
Help Me Somebody
Houses In Motion
My Big Nurse
My Big Hands (Fall Through The Cracks)
Heaven
Poor Boy
Life Is Long
The River
Crosseyed and Painless
Born Under Punches
Once In A Lifetime
Life During Wartime
I Feel My Stuff

Enc. 1
Take Me To The River
The Great Curve

Enc. 2
Air
Burning Down The House

Enc. 3
Everything That Happens

Sort of a Review: Noby Noby Boy

Describing the concept of Noby Noby Boy for the Playstation 3 is similar to describing what it is like to watch Unicorns making love with Leprechauns video taping. It just isn’t possible until you see it first hand. While I will try my hardest to explain what the hell is going on (at least from my point of view), you will want to plunk the five bucks down and actually play the title in the long run.

Created by Keita Takahashi, creator of the sleeper hit turned big time sellout hit Katamari Damacy, you find yourself in a world with a similar flat polygon style. You take the role of BOY, a four legged creature that seems to be made up of two pink balls. With the front half being controlled with the left analog stick and the rear legs controlled with the right analog stick, you are able to move each half independently to stretch out as far as possible. (picture the old snake cell phone game, but you get bigger just by walking in opposite directions).

Now here is the game: you stretch out as far as possible on the map. Go wild, wrap around objects (be careful not to snap) climb through buildings, weave your way through windows. Your goal is to stretch out, submit your length stretched to SUN who then delivers it GIRL who is stretching in space with the length scores submitted to everyone playing the game on PSN. As girl stretches, she reaches new planets (as of this moment, the MOON was reached in 4 days) which unlock new randomly generated levels to be created with new objects to interact with. Oh and you can also eat the people, plants, random objects you come in contact with and fart them out with the R2 button.

Now keep in mind this is all I have figured out so far. I am still not sure if that is the concept of the game.

What really is going to pull you in or push you as far away from the game is the style. As someone who is sick and tired of photorealistic textures, mutli-arcing storylines, extravagant controls and learning curves, Noby Noby Boy comes as a welcome relief (yet I still play those other games). Simple non textured, colored polygons: check. A lot of crazy stuff going on at once: double check. Twisted soundtrack and effects: triple check. The ability to eat things and then fart them out: we have a winner here. Fans of Katamari’s simple shaded/colored polygons and character designs (me) will feel right at home here. The style is so similar that you may even see some crossovers from the game appear in BOY’s world.

Controls are primarily your two analog sticks for movement and the L2 and R2 buttons for eating, farting, jumping. You can also lift objects but I haven’t figured out how to do it yet. Some pretty slick physics and gameplay techniques are used to allow BOY to interact with just about anything on the screen. The camera is controlled primarily with the L1 and R1 buttons and SIXAXIS controller movements to turn or zoom (and these controls aren’t super sensitive like in other games).

A nice compliment to Noby Noby Boy are all of the PS3 specific features that the game takes advantage of. You already have the aforementioned SIXAXIS controls, but you also have the ability to take in game screenshots (I know for 90% of you that means absolutely nothing to you). Another cool feature is the ability to record in game videos of you doing stuff and save it to your PS3 or upload it directly to YouTube. The videos I have in this review are all taken using the in game recorder. It may not mean much now, but start thinking of the possibilities with this feature in other titles. The sooner it starts getting supported, the better. There are also 12 trophies that are completely unknown for you to unlock. Having the whole game be a collaborative project over PSN is a nice touch as well.

On the Playstation Network, thankfully there is a semi decent range of independent titles to buy. While sometimes it seems that it may not have the quantity of Xbox Live or even Wii Shop (Virtual Console titles are games too), it is nice to see unique, original titles like Noby Noby Boy become exclusives for the network. While it isn’t going to sell systems, it is definitely a nice bonus and at five bucks the game makes a great cheap diversion to Killzone 2 and Street Fighter 4.

Cinematic Titanic Live in Boston

Our love of all things Mystery Science Theater 3000 on this site is well documented, and that love definitely includes Cinematic Titanic, MST3K creator Joel Hodgson's new B-movie riffing venture. For Cinematic Titanic, Joel gathered several MST3K vets, including Trace Beaulieu (Crow, Dr. Forrester), Frank Conniff (TV's Frank), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester), and J. Elvis Weinstein (the original Tom Servo). It's been great to have them back, wits as sharp, biting and hilarious as ever.

Cinematic Titanic visited The Somerville Theatre in Boston on February 20th and 21st as part of a live riffing mini-tour; we deemed this Too Awesome To Miss, and made the trek from Brooklyn for the Saturday show. The movie being riffed, as we learned right before it began, was a '70s Kung Fu-sploitation wonder called The Dynamite Brothers. It was racist and nonsensical and features a scene where one dude handcuffed to another manages to somehow take his shirt off. 'Nuff said.

I was curious as to how it would feel to see movie riffing done before an audience -- after all, MST3K and Cinematic Titanic are relatively quiet shows -- and whether or not it would really work.

But I need not have worried; in short, it was hysterical and an overall awesome experience. The theater was packed (I'm guessing it was sold out), and the audience was among the warmest I've ever seen. We were laughing at the riffs and at the movie itself; best of all, we got to meet the whole cast after the show, all of whom were insanely nice and took time to chat, take pictures, and sign autographs. Photo report below -- but in case you were wondering -- Cinematic Titanic live scores an easy A.


The Somerville Theatre marquee. This was a beautiful, old fashioned theater with a very warm look and feel. It was just the type of place we were hoping it would be in our pre-show, overly-excited, geeky discussions.


Inside the lobby a few minutes before showtime. The place was packed.


Comedian David "Gruber" Allen -- you might know him as the guidance counselor from Freaks and Geeks -- warms up the crowd. Dave's not a member of the Cinematic Titanic crew, but has appeared in some episodes, and was awesome.


J. Elvis Weinstein took the stage, armed with a bass, and performed a routine with Dave about a radio station that only plays the catchiest moments of songs for our short-attention span culture. The name of the station? K-ADD, of course!


Next up, Frank Conniff -- who I think is possibly one of the funniest people alive -- greets the crowd.


Joel received the biggest ovation, and even brought with him an invention exchange: a small sampler that only plays "Happy Together," torn out of a Valentine's Day card. When played by one's zipper, it creates a "party in your pants." Genius. The Mads could never top that one!


The lights go down before the Cinematic Titanic crew does what they do best.


At the end of the show, the cast bowed to a standing ovation. But they weren't done! For an encore, they performed "a best of Cinematic Titanic" to clips of the show's funniest moments, with scenes taken from every Cinematic Titanic episode. Even watching them out of context, it was very, very funny.


The line forms, which I'm all but sure included the entire #$@%ing audience, for the post-show meet-and-greet. (It actually moved at a pretty decent clip, and everyone was really friendly.)


The aforementioned line keeps going.


We finally make it to meet-and-greet area, catch a glimpse of the cast...


...and are psyched.


Me and the great Trace Beaulieu. Trace was really, really nice, and took time to actually ask me about my shirt. Are all Minnesotans this cool? (We're not used to things like "eye contact" and "friendly conversation" here in Brooklyn.)


Joel and Frank with a very happy fan. The end!