Star Wars: A New Hope as Performed by Two Geeks and Some Toys

This video is the latest release from Can Of Nothing Productions. The ratio of annoying to entertaining sometimes threatens to cross into the danger zone, but the frequent pitch-perfect line readings and imaginative use of props really won me over.

Those with a low tolerence for shakey-cam and offstage giggles may wish to cut to the chase at 8:23.





As Degan pointed out, the vid also becomes a sort of anthropological look into the average American kid's toy collection. And by kid, I mean college student. These guys are at least 19.

If you're into this kind of low-fi mayhem humor (I know I am), you'll want to check out their similarly ad-libbed, illustrated version of The Lion King. Or just visit their website at CanOfNothing.com - I recommend the second episode of the original animated series, Subcultured. Featuring a guest appearance by Stan Lee!

Weekanerd NYC: Mario Strikers, Movies, and Super Secret Science Club

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2007

• Mario Strikers Charged Released
  
• Available wherever games are sold, or order online at the link above.
  

I kinda hated the GameCube version of this title, and the Wii doesn't exactly seem made to simulate games played with your feet, but...uh, Albo, why should people be excited about this again?

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2007

• http://summerscreen.org/home.html
• 8pm (with music @ 7) @ McCarren Park Pool. Lorimer btw Driggs and Bayard Ave, Brooklyn (Williamsburg)

Sci-fi punk mayhem, starring everyone's favorite Mighty Duck. Free!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2007

• Super Secret Science Club: William Schlesinger
• 8pm @ Union Hall, 702 Union Ave, Brooklyn (Park Slope)

The Super Sceret Science club meets once a month for guest lectures and science nerd fun - this month, the presentation is on everyone's favorite terrifying topic, global warming. Also included in the evening are "low-impact tunes", a video, Q & A, and "Eco-Cocktails". Free!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2007

• NYC Noir: A Double Life and The Seventh Victim
• Various times @ The Film Forum, 209 West Houston St, Manhattan.

Two examples of classic NYC film noir for the price of one. Get your film history on.

Dark City - The Directors Cut or: Shell Beach, Revisited?

Looks like 1998's most badass sci-fi film noir (I call it SCIFNOIR) will finally be getting it's due. At some point. In the somewhat near future. Hopefully.

TwichFilm reports that Alex Proyas is currently working on the Director's Cut of Dark City, which will include new and improved sound and special effects.



"New and Improved", eh? A new sound mix is always welcome given the constant advances in home stereo tech, but does Dark City really need better special effects? The film's strengths lie in the gorgeous 1940s-style production design, stark lighting, and twistalcious plot. Not to mention Keifer Sutherland's highly eccentric performance. I hope Proyas resists the Lucasian temptation to stick a bunch of show-offy CG where it doesn't belong.


Cinematical has noted that this DVD has been in the works for years, and since no release date has been announced I'd advise fans not to hold their breath. Still, it's great to know that this project is still alive and kicking, as a new DVD release should bring more attention to this excellent and overlooked film.

Weekanerd NYC: Buffy Sing-A-Long, Head Trauma, and Comedy All-Stars

FRIDAY, JULY 13

• Buffy At Midnight: "Once More With Feeling" Sing-a-Long
  
• Midnight @ The IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave, Manhattan
  

This weekly midnight screening of Buffy's classic Musical Episode features gift bags, karaoke, a Rocky Horroresque live cast performing along with the show, and the other sorts of crazy crap that you expect from Whedon fans. $15 bucks at the door.

SATURDAY, JULY 14

• Head Trauma - New York Premiere
• 6:30pm @ The Museum of The Moving Image, 35th Ave at 36th Street, Queens
  

The official site of this event describes it as "a collision of movies, music, gaming, and theatrics". And the website is decked out with great looking comic book style graphics, so this may just be the perfect Weekanerd event. Filmmaker Lance Wieler does Q & A after the show. Tickets are $18 bucks for non-members.

SUNDAY, JULY 15

• Tearing at the Veil of Maya - Anniversary Party
  
• 6pm @ Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Brooklyn
  

This is the 1 Year Anniversary celebration of Michael Showalter and Eugene Mirman's live comedy show. There will be music downstairs and comedy upstairs, courtesy of guests such as Janeane Garofalo and David Cross - it's only $10, so are you there, or what?

Albo Plays Some [adult swim] Games

Nine Billion Miles From Earth is a classic side scrolling space shooter with 50's sci-fi style (very Flash Gordon). The attention to detail throughout is tremendously exciting, with visible strings holding up most of the spaceships you encounter, and spot-on full motion video of the hero and his nemesis Dr. Cadmus. However, there are a lot of non-spaceship foes like balloon poodles and invincible space sharks that are a little too silly for the generally straight genre humor.

The gameplay itself can be a little frustrating. It's an exercise in patience as you spend life after life (you have unlimited) learning the enemy's attack patterns. There are nine levels in all (each one a billion miles) and it'll take about 45 minutes to play through 'em. It's definitely worth it to see all the great design work.

VERDICT: Well-designed and kinda fun! 4 out of 5 STARS!

Four more quick reviews after the jump!


Bible Fight is a fighting game with an all-star cast: Eve, Noah, Moses, Mary (complete with Baby Jesus), Satan, and adult Jesus. They and their corresponding stages are so beautifully rendered that the game is worth playing just to see them all in action. Once you've gotten an eyeful, though, there's not much to stick around for.

There's a reason there have never been any decent fighting games for the PC: keyboards are teh suck for controlling a game that requires quick reflexes and complicated button combinations to pull off special moves. If I had a gamepad I might feel differently about this game, but as it is... Most special moves are impossible to pull off with any useful consistency. Which isn't so bad when you give up and realize how effective it is to just trap your opponent in a corner and tap the kick button as rapidly as you can.

VERDICT: Beautiful, but gameplay's rotten. 2 out of 5 STARS!


5 Minutes to Kill Yourself is a really great concept. A dark twist on Office Space, this game finds you controlling a nine-to-fiver who has sat through one too many meetings and would rather kill himself than attend the one that starts IN FIVE MINUTES! You frantically run around an isometric pixel-arty office harming yourself any way you can: shoving your face in a paper shredder, stabbing yourself with scissors, blowing up the microwave in your face, eating urinal cakes, etc etc etc. You can also pick fights with coworkers by navigating dialogue trees trying to offend them.

It's really a blast to discover fun new ways to harm yourself. It won't take long to exhaust all these methods, however, and unless you care about beating your own high score there's no reason to keep playing. It doesn't help that the game generally doesn't run very smoothly, doesn't look great in action, and is a real pain in the ass to navigate. The perspective from which you view the action means that up moves you up-right, right moves you down-right, etc etc. I kinda got used to it after a while, but my non-gamer girlfriend never could get it straight.

VERDICT: Great in concept, a little unpleasant in execution. 3 out of 5 STARS!

Look Alive! should be called "Look Out! Avoid This Game!" It's a simple clicking game based on the funny funny Home Movies. You play as Brendon, trying to kick sockerballs at other kids while Coach McGuirk talks your ear off. The dialogue is funny, but not enough to endure the uninspired, deadening gameplay. Would be more at home on a banner ad.

VERDICT: Boring and boring. 1 out of 5 STARS!


Squidbillies Floor It! is a simple game that's easy to play and extremely addictive. You start out in a car, where you shake your mouse to rev the engine and click to race ahead. You don't get far before you hit a stump and Early shoots out the windshield and high into the air. The game becomes about bouncing off objects on the ground, creating explosions and propelling yourself as far as possible.

The backgrounds are beautifully hand-painted and the character art is straight out of the show. It feels surprisingly good to fly through the air, barely controlling your trajectory. There's some dialogue that is kinda funny but gets repetitive.

VERDICT: Novel, attractive, addictive! 5 out of 5 STARS!

Play all these games at ADULT SWIM DOT COM.