Angry Puppy

Post-Razor-blues got you down? Don’t know where to put your eyes until season four’s March 2008 premiere?

The Razor DVD went on sale earlier this month, so the commentary, deleted scenes, and season 4 sneak preview have probably all been watched by now.

After December 31, you’ll be able to get some really cool hexagonal propaganda posters over at Quantum Mechanix. The whole soviet-realist-looking set is available for $29.95. I don’t need all five, but I know at least four people who want one poster. Too bad they weren’t available before Christmas.

“This officially licensed set contains five full-color, 17″ x 22″ prints on 100-pound, satin-finish paper. These original works of art were all created by Adam Levermore-Rich, well-known designer of the recently issued How To Spot a Cylon special-edition poster, also available from QMx.”

I’m afraid of two things in this world: clowns and creepy children.

The creepy children thing has been played to death, but don’t let the press pictures of The Orphanage, a new suspense film produced by Guillermo del Toro, fool you. This is not a schlocky film about Satan’s son or a village full of demon-children.

I think the filmmakers might reject the assertion, but this is a classic “haunted house” story - an exceptionally well-crafted ghost story in the tradition of The Devil’s Backbone (directed by del Toro) or The Others (by Alejandro Amenábar).

The less you know about the plot going in, the better. Although there are no new themes here, they’re very well put together, and knowing what to expect would ruin some of the suspense, a suspense heightened by the gorgeous sound design. No, it’s not like the gurgling of those ghosts in the Grudge films (which I suspect gives Marc nightmares to this day), but rather the house itself, the former orphanage that gives the film its title, seems alive - shuffling and breathing around the actors.

All in all, I think it’s a good film, but if you’re looking for hard-core horror or gore, look elsewhere this holiday season. If you want to be seriously creeped out for 100 minutes with a big helping of emotion on the side (provided by Belén Rueda’s outstanding performance as Laura, the former-orphan turned mother-in-distress) or if you’re a fan of movies like The Innocents or The Haunting, then this is definitely a film for you.

In limited release on December 28, 2007. Rated R for disturbing content. In Spanish with English Subtitles.

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

Producer: Guillermo del Toro

Starring:
Belén Rueda as Laura
Fernando Cayo as Carlos
Geraldine Chaplin as Aurora
Montserrat Carulla as Benigna
Mabel Rivera as Pilar
Andrés Gertrúdix as Andrés
Roger Príncep as Simón

The last of the previously announced downloads for Rock Band hit this week:

• “Brass in Pocket” as performed by The Pretenders (i.e., it’s a cover)

Great song even as a cover, but not that much fun for the guitar. Unless your band’s singer really wants this one, I’d say it’s a pass.

• “Buddy Holly” by Weezer

Very satisfying, and heavy on the downstrokes. If you’re sick of “Say It Ain’t So”, get your Weezer fix here.

• “My Iron Lung” by Radiohead

The best of this group (with a nice guitar solo finale). While this isn’t one of my favorite Radiohead songs, it’s great for Rock Band. You get variety with some really tricky parts interspersed with long whammy notes. There are also several distinct segments, so as soon as you settle into autopilot, everything changes.

These three aren’t available in a pack, so you’ll need to lay down 160 MS points for each (but that’s not real money, right?).

You may remember from last week that Activision, the makers of Guitar Hero III, blocked a patch from Harmonix which would have allowed GHIII controllers to work with Rock Band on the PS3. Activision spokesperson Maryanne Lataif is quoted in the Boston Globe as saying:

“We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology.”

While she tries to spin it as being in the best interest of gamers and their “high standards”, the fact that Xbox 360 GHIII controllers are compatible with Rock band out of the box belies the argument.

The Rock Band Community site is live once more.  There are some new features like blogs, and it might be fun to see other bands’ names, but do you really need yet another social network in your life? I was able to connect my Xbox 360 gamertag in just a few steps, and it imported my rockers and bands, including Þór, a Swedish punk whom I had deleted on the console.  Apparently once you create something, you can’t really ever delete it fully.

On a personal note, I’m still working toward that Goat Head Guitar and spending no hard-earned gig money. Luckily, you can earn instruments as well as clothes or I’d still be stuck with the default guitar. I admit that I might get tired of the game before ever reaching the $66,666 mark, but if they release some Heart, I’m in for at least another couple of tours.

And number one on my we’ll-get-it-when-hell-freezes-over list: “Shameless” by Ani Difranco!

In Episode 7 of the Angry Puppy vlog, we commented on some of the ads we found when searching for “gay geek” on the NYC Craigslist site. You’ll also see some, err, interesting posts in the m4m section using the search query “xbox”.

Over on the LA Craigslist, there’s a casting call of sorts for gay geeks:

“Are you a socially awkward guy who is also gay? Would you like to improve your social skills?”

Or here:

“if u have a hard time “fitting in” not b/c u r gay but because you are a geek of sorts, then this show will teach you how to have “game” with other guys. and you’ll have the chance to compete for 125,000! think Beauty and the geek having a gay guy who has had to face the same stereotypes”

I’m not sure if these are the same post or even if they’re on the up and up, but I’d love to hear if any of you respond.

Via GayGamer.net

Episode 8 of the Angry Puppy vlog is up at AfterElton.com.

Topics:

• Gaming News (Sonic on iPod, Transgender characters in gaming)
• The Blade Runner Final Cut edition is available now.  Do you need it or do you just want it?
• Peter Jackson and New Line have resolved their differences over The Hobbit. Now we just wait until…2010.
• Marc adds a forgotten gay action figure to his collection.