Posts Tagged ‘cdwow’

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?)


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

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.


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

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.


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

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!”


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

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).


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

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!


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

Want to watch your dreams?

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Before and after

It sounds crazy, but it just might happen! Berkeley University has come up with a technology that can create images of what the brain sees. Using ‘functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)’ they can read the reactions to the brain. Read the full story here, or watch their findings here:

I’ve always dreamed of watching my dreams, and soon enough I could watch that Inception-worthy concept! While it’s nowhere near that capacity, it’s marvels of science such as this one that gets the imagination flowing.

Who knows, maybe we can record our imagination to explain movie concepts! It would’ve certainly shortened J.R.R. Tolkien’s books if he could just show them to you.

More importantly though it could help people with speaking problems, and those unable to physically move to speak.

Imagine all the money people could save on psychiatrists! Or better yet, recording an embarassing dream and bringing it out on your friend’s wedding night (you’d be a terrible friend, but it should be a great video).

Of course it all leads into the negative sides of this technology. Dreams are sacred videos of the deepest recesses of our mind. Unholy thoughts are kept well hidden from public knowledge (says someone who used to love Will Smith’s ‘Getting Jiggy With It’).

Could it be something similar to Total Recall, perhaps? If they can learn how the mind visualises, they can play it backwards. That’d be dangerous if used in certain ways.

What if your loved one caught a glimpse of what you were dreaming? That person you swore has nothing to do with who you really love could then become a non-existent enemy. But look on the bright side ladies -- At least men’ll know what you’re thinking now.

Or is that a good thing?

What do you reckon is the best or worth to come from this possible technology?


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

Don’t be afraid of foreign films

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

'OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d'Espions'

Every once and a while we see a film that really captures our attention, and makes us want to yell on top of the mountaintops, educating the masses on something they’re missing out on.

It becomes a little more difficult if the category is under ‘foreign’ or ‘international’, because people only read:

‘Subtitles’

Convincing your friend that there is another echelon of entertainment beyond your nation is a hard sell. Again, mentioning the reading part.

Take for example a French secret agent named Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, codename ‘OSS 117′. Based off of France’s version of a James Bond character (and created four years before Ian Fleming), OSS 117 went from novel from the ’40s to parodical portrayal of spy films. But it is only through the film OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d’Espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) that I found a comedy I wanted everyone to see, but got the ol’ eye roll.

Another French film titled Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), was one of the biggest hits in all of France. It had such an effect, that there were talks of Will Smith bringing an American version of it over to English-speaking audiences. But like most remakes, I’m sure the jokes wouldn’t translate well. Given the storyline made jokes about the people of Northern France, the comedy is still there to be seen, understood, and laughed with.

Amelie was another great flick (another French film, yes, but it was one of my majors in university, d’accord?), but also made its way to international shores with great acclaim.

I won’t go into the importance of international influences on cinema (unless you want me to), but as you might’ve come across at some point, trying to convince another to watch ANYTHING can be difficult.

So here’s what you do:
1. Find out the title in English (or an equivalent).
2. Invite them over, and set everything up.
3. Don’t mention it’s from another country.
4. Once the film rolls, your friends will feel either too rude to get up and leave, or too intimidated to look stupid in front of you.

Ever been faced with problems convincing friends to watch films? Any particular films you thought were amazing or hilarious, but fell flat on its face amongst friends (oh, I’ve been there many times before)?


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

What? Will and Jada? Now if you’ll excuse me…

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

What?

Donald Draper. He was nominated as most influential man by Time magazine (which sucked for the non-fictional people like Obama), and while he isn’t one to be dishing out relationship advice, he still gets shocked when something big breaks.

But even he can be at a loss for words. It was reported that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have gotten a divorce.

Don Draper, a man who has won the attention of ladies who will never have him (though Jon Hamm’s in luck), now has to compete with the recently-made single Will Smith. They had his reaction to the rumour here:

Alas, it was only prey to the rumours of the internet. Still, Don says “What?” a lot. In fact, there are a lot of cliche quotes in films that are used over and over again. So, here are Doogs’ Top Overused Classic Lines (click on the phrase to see the clip):

“It’s Showtime!”

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kanzas anymore.”

Wilhelm Scream (you’ll recognise the most used sound effect)

“Get out of there!”

“Let’s get out of here!”

“It’s gonna blow!”

“Now if you’ll excuse me…”


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.

Neigh, do not try this at home

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Mrs. Ed?

I went to see Captain America on the weekend. Late, I know, but I’ve been plowing through Mad Men and Community episodes for the last month (which I totally recommend you take up as your two new television projects).

It’s amazing how a film can inspire those few viewers who feel that some parts of a fantasy could actually be reality.

The first is a simple, straightforward attempt at a teenager who feels his Captain America-inspired (but not-so-inspired costume) shield can deflect an “artillery shell firework”.

The second is more concerning, but also makes me think how Charlie Sheen got his powers. In the name of art (which is a blanket to hide the ‘crazy’ in all of us), a French woman’s art project ‘May the Horse Live In Me’ involved injecting horse blood into her system.

This wasn’t a one-off kind of thing, as the human body isn’t made for this kind of interspecies blood transfusions (Keith Richards is different). She had to inject herself with “horse immunoglobulins and glycoproteins over several months”. You can read the rest of the story at WIRED (or wierd in this instance) here.

Apparently she was feeling superhuman (and a little bit horse), but I figure if you’re doing life-threatening procedures, and you survive, you’re more likely going “Holy sh** I’m not dead” all day.

I’d rather get shot at by fireworks, myself. Less work.


Check out CD WOW! on Facebook.
Check out CD WOW! on Twitter.
Join our RSS feed.