Archive for October, 2011

I am a Green, Sam, I am. I do not like the ‘Man’

Monday, October 31st, 2011

How environmentally-friendly is the extra dimension from 2D to 3D?

Who would’ve thought the man behind green eggs and ham would be fighting against the man?

A new trailer for a film made by the same company who put together Despicable Me takes on one of Dr Seuss’ books about the environment.

While it’s not a direct book-to-film (added characters and storylines), it feels right at home to the fun and imaginative Horton Hears a Who! world (except Zac Efron and Taylor Swift are the voice actors, and not the highly comedic Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell, so fingers crossed it all works out!).

But I’ve missed the only ingredient that may save this film! Danny DeVito, the loveable short fellow from Twins, will be The Lorax.

With climate change being the highest on environmental issues, the thought of deforestation has been completely wiped from our minds. Cartoons as a kid like Ferngully, Captain Planet and Widget the World Watcher were there to make sure kids were getting more of a message delivered through the medium.

And Dr Seuss was no stranger to discussing issues of race, environment and consumerism either. Who would’ve thought there’d be more to nursery rhymes than scaring little children to not trust wolves when they come knocking at your door?


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Christmas sales come early

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

My ears caught a snippet of music playing from the overhead speakers of a shopping centre: Christmas carols. I checked my watch to see the date, and it struck me: Christmas is two months away.

Nevermind that I haven’t even begun to think about presents for everyone, but the mere thought that Santa Claus is coming back to town already is just crazy.

Soon we’ll be looking back at 2011 and summing up the best in entertainment, but for some reason it just doesn’t feel like the end of October. I’ve been catching up on missed TV shows, spent countless hours on new video games, and even started reading books in large chunks at a time (a few chapters instead of a few pages).

And even now, I refuse to let go of the year. Why? Because it’s 2012 next year, and we all know what that means (haven’t you seen the movie?). That, or I’ve spent too much money buying DVDs and CDs for myself.

Lucky that we’ve had our Christmas Sale running at the moment. Until 30th October, we’ve got a whole bunch of awesome gift ideas from £2.99 up.


And if you miss out on our sale, then you’ve got our list of Christmas Gift Ideas.

We can find the right gift for each one of your family members, or my personal favourite, Christmas on a Budget.

Doogs’ List of Sales to Scoop Up

Films:
The Fighter – £6.37 (Great flick with a solid cast)
The Sandlot Kids 1 & 2 £2.99 (How long’s it been since you last saw these movies?)
John Hughes High School Year Book
– £8.79 (Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club)
Going The Distance £6.74 (Ever gone through a long-distance relationship? Raise your hand)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy £11.04 (9 hours of brilliant entertainment, which is like a pound per hour. Bargain)

Games:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC) £28.79 (Just recently finished this. Amazing game)
Portal 2 (PC) £23.09 (Hilarious and challenging puzzle game, all in a first-person format)
Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
– £12.32 (Please tell me you’re ready for Mass Effect 3 for next year…)
Crysis 2 (Xbox 360)
– £27.99 (So pretty and explosive)
Infamous 2 (Playstation 3) – £38.62 (So explosive and…shocking?)


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New Harold and Kumar trailer packs NPH!

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Aww, he's so happy.

Anybody who watches How I Met Your Mother will have an opinion of Barney the womanizer. Some will look at him and think: “What a legend”. Some will watch and shake their heads in digust, most likely because they dated that kind of jerk. And some would look at him and think: “Doogie Howser!“.

Yes, Neil Patrick Harris, proud, married gay father of twins and Tony host extraordinaire was once a boy genius/doctor. The blonde kid actor with a charming smile was quite the popular young chap in the late ’80s to early ’90s. That show earned him a Golden Globe nomination (not to mention his other nomination for Clara’s Heart).

He somewhat faded off the rader for a while, and while I remember him vividly in Starship Troopers, it wasn’t until a film by the name of Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle came along that Neil Patrick Harris became ‘NPH’. This alter-ego portrayal on the nice guy image Doogie Howser had going for him as a hedonistic drug-addicted party animal was the right amount of self-satire to put him back on everyone’s minds.

People were ecstatic finding out that in the second Harold and Kumar movie that NPH was making a return. Not knowing his full repertoire of Broadway musical appearances (for I did not live in New York City at the time), he was a busy man, and soon was picking up gigs here and there (including a spot on Glee) until his cushy job as Barney the womanizer.

Now seeing the recently released trailer for the third Harold and Kumar movie puts a smile on my face knowing he’s there.


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I’m not dead yet!

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Even HE's confused.

You’re gonna hate me for bringing this up, but it’s another Star Wars-related story. The strangest thing is I’ve waned interest in the franchise since the new films, which is terrible considering my love for the originals. But I don’t understand why I’ve gotten more upset with every change George Lucas has made. For those who absolutely HATE Star Wars, read on as well.

When a character is killed off in a TV show, film, video game, whatever the medium, usually that means that character is…dead, right?

Well not for the Jedi Sith that was cut in half in Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace. According to the trailer below for the Clone Wars cartoon, Darth Maul is still alive.

How he’s alive, I don’t know. But if you can throw things with your mind and shoot electricity from your fingertips, something tells me not to take Star Wars as a physics lesson.

The idea of resurrecting a foe for the sake of continuing the story lessens the effect of the original death. For example, if Sigourney Weaver’s character in Alien 3 died, you would think that it would be the final end to the kick-ass woman that couldn’t be beat.

Well why would you kill off a character that could potentially make more money? Another would be looked at as a carbon copy, and because of it, they made a clone of her in the fourth film (with ‘resurrection’ in the title, finny enough).

Samples of this resurrection process include Jason Statham’s character in Crank 2, or Crank: High Voltage, where the main character falling out of a helicopter on to a car, then rock hard cement that killed him, didn’t. The kind of movie that Crank is doesn’t really need to be used as a continuation. Creating a new film where a similar man with a raspy voice and no-bullcrap attitude is brought back to life would’ve worked even better.

What character do you remember being alive suddenly in the sequel, with little-to-no explanation as to how?


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Joss is boss with The Avengers

Monday, October 17th, 2011

They're assembliiiiing.... *Eee!*

I know this trailer’s been out for almost a week, but I blame not responding sooner purely on the keyboard’s lack of handling drooling situations such as this:

It’s the first glimpse of The Avengers film, directed by none other than comic book writer/film and TV director extraordinaire Joss Whedon.

Joss is known more for his TV work, most notably Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly (my favourite). Considering he is also a huge comic book geek (enough to create his own with great acclaim), chances are this film is going to be the best we’ll ever get when it comes to franchises coming together.

You’ve got your Iron Man, your Captain America and Thor, but you’ve also got the other characters that haven’t been in the limelight (or more than 3 seconds on the trailer).

Sure, we’ve already had two Hulk films recently that have soon after been snubbed right off the radar of ever existing, but Black Widow and Hawkeye are still unknowns to the general public. Fingers crossed they get to shine as well.

This one trailer isn’t enough to get the jist of the film, which I find releiving. Of course it’s an action film. You’ve got the hyperactive cuts with editing, the thumping rock music and such, but I have high hopes that Whedon’s witty banter between any two characters he writes will be just as good as the special effects attached.

If Joss can make something like Firefly with such little cash, imagine the goodies to come out of this?

Come back to this blog once it comes out. I may also be quivering in the corner like a baby.


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Blood and gore, or just a bore?

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

Rarr!

A lot of the time when movies are announced to be made the fans of the original (whether it be comic book, video game or TV show) will start to cringe. It boils down to the medium they are being moved to.

For example, when you think of a video game like Mortal Kombat, those who know it will most likely reference the violence first. It was extremely violent for those times when games were still gaining traction for having more than 256 colours. But when the movie was announced to be made, fans started to worry.

Well, let me rephrase that: A young, obsessed Doogs was super excited to see the film adaptation. I was expecting blood, gore and fatalities galore. And what we all got instead was a tame, limp version that became more of a joke than a jolly.

The reason for this softening in terms of adult content was to cater for a mass market. This downgrading of what made the game a hit in the first place takes away the most important part, and leaves with it a shell that looks nothing like the original.

But now there’s rumours about the next Wolverine movie about to be made having a PG rated version and an R rated version. The filmmakers must be totally aware of the limitations of movie-making in Hollywood these days, and even Hugh Jackman when being interviewed by MTV mentioned how “there’s such great temptation to make an R-rated Wolverine. I’ve always felt that. I know a lot of fans would like that. I totally get it. If there was ever a superhero that was going to be R-rated, it’s Wolverine.”

But he goes on to say that he’s also come across many young fans of the character. While that’s not a deal-breaker (yet), he goes on:

“There’s even a talk of us doing two versions, as in finding a way for us to do both while you shoot it, which could be really cool. But you need to have a really good reason to exclude those fans.”

It’s the idea of having two versions which is interesting. On the one hand you have films that are made, then edited down to access a lower rating. Then you have films edited from the beginning to make sure everything is A-OK.

Knowing how smart kids are these days to see things they shouldn’t, I personally rather they made the film that (let’s face it) everyone wants to see.

A man can dream though…a man can dream.


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I hear the steel a’comin’…

Monday, October 10th, 2011

No scrappy hits in Real Steel

Hugh Jackman’s newest movie out now is Real Steel, which combines the love of robots beating each other up with a ring. Instead of New York City being destroyed by space alien robots, you have the not-so-distant rock-em-sock-em robots that I’m sure with an astronomical budget, could be achieved.

What makes you amped up for films nowadays can’t just be the trailers. In fact, some would argue that the trailers ruin the whole film, as the plot gets pretty much unravelled in that 30-60 seconds.

But what I find more fascinating is the behind-the-scenes stuff. I can remember sitting through countless hours of behind-the-scenes footage for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The amount of detail in the props alone was immaculate, and I wouldn’t have known with how quick some scenes were cut.

This video here is a great look inside of how modern-day blockbuster flicks come up with their sound effects.

In this case, you’ve got your laundry list of metallic machines smacking fists together, joints echoing and crowds going nuts for the fights. While I’m sure the storyline isn’t as deep as Million Dollar Baby, I didn’t watch Rocky for the dialogue (no wait, maybe I did).

“WOLVERINE!”


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Embracing creativity

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Remember how you felt after watching Jurassic Park?

You may know his name very well, or have heard it for the first time, but Steve Jobs, the face of Apple and all its iProducts, passed away.

This is not going to be an eulogy of the man, but rather of what the man did very well: to inspire.

A lot of the time, we’re consumed with critique when it comes to innovation. When a world is offered everything nowadays, nothing can be the next big thing.

Steve Jobs loved to talk a lot about being ‘revolutionary’, and as much as it felt overused and a little too much for what he was talking about, it was that passion that got people so interested in every Apple product.

Thinking about creativity within any category brings up the ability to imagine, or to think outside of the boundaries. A lot of film and television directors have been given great acclaim for this, as well as scriptwriters.

It’s not often enough that we celebrate the act of being creative. You must have heard it a million times before at work by your boss demanding that whatever you’re doing, double that with a dash of ingenuity, which is unfair to say the least.

Remember the last time you truly went “Wow!”? Was it when you saw Avatar because of the amount of detail it had? Was it a twist in a story you never saw coming?

I remember watching Jurassic Park with such jaw-dropping awe that I instantly wanted to become a movie maker. The details of the dinosaurs, the amazing work of digital technology andsheer excitement of it all was amazing.

Far too often we are consumed with embarassment for acknowledging we could not forsee an event coming, and thus throw away any ingenuity as a simple shrug and a passing, when really we should be amazed by it.

We often watch television shows without wondering why we reach for that remote at the same time every week, or search for the link online.

Some movies inspire us in such a powerful way, that the bright lights of the outside world feels like a new beginning as the cinema doors shut behind you.

Video games encapsulate long periods of time with their stories, keeping our attention just as it starts to wane. Entertaining someone for 40 hours is no easy task.

We do love our entertainment here at CDWOW!, and we love to share that passion with you because at the end of the day, it’s more enjoyable to feel like someone else out there appreciates the same details in everyday enjoyments that sometimes are left out of the Oscars speech.

If you feel like giving a shout out to anything you’ve recently been absorbed in, whether it be an album that makes you close your eyes and daydream, or a simple line of a television show that kept you in stitches simply because they were able to reference something you hold dear to you.

I’ve watched and listened to some fantastic albums and seen some great flicks lately, and I will go in detail about them, because frankly we want to hear your thoughts.

Let us know what’s on your mind, and what’s recently inspired you. We’d love to know what we can do to make your entertainment needs better than you expected (a “wow” would be perfect, in fact).


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Oh, the warm glow of new TV shows

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

AMC's Breaking Bad

It’s been a joyous couple of weeks. And no, it isn’t because I’ve discovered the amazing wonders of Oktoberfest (in fact, that’s only made things better having an excuse to drink litres of beer and singing out loud).

No! It’s because September was the month of TV shows coming back to treat us after being so obedient and patient (not like we had any say over it). TV RETURNS! HOO-RAH!

The flux of TV shows back to entertain us is actually overwhelming for the first time. Breaking Bad’s back, and almost incinerating our minds from the get-go. Chemistry’s never been so bad-ass.

The Big Bang Theory’s right on track with the same ol’, but it’s the good same ol’ that made us watch in the first place. Though every time I watch this show I just miss Futurama, and think back to a time where nerdy jokes didn’t have to be spelt out and laid out in front of you.

Of course Glee’s back. They’ll be in high school until you’re retired, so get used to it. Bah-bah-baa-dum! Wait, let me tell you something from a future episode: They win something. Or lose something. Honestly, I’ve got a 50/50 chance of guessing how that show goes (unless they break it off into a spin-off with Rachel and Kurt called ‘Brokenhearted on Broadway’). I jest…yet point my finger at Ryan Murphy!

Gossip Girl’ll be doing the rounds of making you jealous you weren’t born into a ridiculously well-off and in-the-know family (though inheriting the drama could be just the right amount of pesticide to that dream).

Speaking of gossip, America’s Next Top Model is back (again), this time throwing all the loud-mouthed girls from the previous seasons together. Considering Alexandria was the best at being a personality without being expletive about it, if she doesn’t win, it’s a travesty.

Two and a Half Men have still trucked on, but that’s not a big surprise considering 2/5 of the total men on that show walked off, and the producers shrugged their shoulders and added a dude.

See how I went from the great shows all the way down to Two and a Half Men? I’m trying to be nice to those who love these shows, but…there’s no Charlie Sheen! I watched the Comedy Central Roast of Sheen and it made me want to see him act!

What is WRONG with me…? *sobs in corner*

Oooh, Phineas and Ferb season 3′s on!


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