What A Slacker!

I Want It Wednesday: Life-Sized Cylon

Add comment October 1st, 2008

Sticking with previous I Want It Wednesday posts I came across this lifesized Cylcon from the new Battlestar Galactica and thought how cool it would be to add it to a giant robot collection alongside the Robby Robot and the B9 robots (if one could afford them all that it).

from the scifi.com item description…

The Cylon Centurion Robot is a highly-prized robotic masterpiece and only available in limited quantities.

Officially licensed for Battlestar Galactica and exclusively manufactured by the legendary ‘Robot Man’ Fred Barton, each Cylon Robot is hand-made, numbered and signed by him.

Standing 7-feet tall, each Cylon is carefully crafted out of sturdy fiberglass right down to the delicately spindled fingers.

The visor in the helmet displays a red LED light effect and the eerie whirring of the Cylon brings your robot to life!

Playing Summer Movies Catch Up

Add comment August 23rd, 2008

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was very good. Most people seem to have an issue with the fact that Narnia is not the same place it was in the first film. How could it be it is 1300 years later? For once I read the book first and this was a very close rending of the original. All but one scene, that is.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was pretty good. At first Harrison ford appears really old and you think how the heck is he going to pull this off. Surprisingly he does and you soon forget how Old he really is. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending (sorry spoiler alert)… I didn’t mind the whole alien thing or even the space ship leaving I the thing I did not like was how the 13 skeletons became one living breathing alien. They were dead and dead is dead even in alternate dimensions. A friend of mine did not like that Indy wasn’t on a search for a religious object. I beg to differ and say the crystal skulls are a religious object just not a Christian one. Perhaps after another viewing I’ll see past the resurrected alien and like it a bit better. Who knows.

Wall-e - This little robot will steal your heart. I just pretty much loved this whole flick. When I first heard the Wall-e soundtrack I couldn’t help wondering why they included the two songs from Hello Dolly. This becomes clear once seeing the film. The beginning is a little slow, but worth it. My only complaint (and not really sure it is a complaint] is that Wall-e did not affect more of the humans on the ship prior to the big final scene. I just think his presence on the ship would have caused more than two people to “awake” from their self-absorbed worlds before the big ending. Overall this is an excellent film worth both a big screen viewing and addition to my DVD collection when it comes out.

Hell boy 2 - I don’t usually get to say this, but this sequel was just as good as the first film. Had I not known this going in to the film I would have said the guy from Pan’s Labyrinth must of had something to do with this, and well, yes he did. Boy does it show, but in a good way. Visually stunning. But we get more than just new other worldly characters to look at, the story is good and our main characters are developed further as well. The scene that stands out the most for me has Hellboy and Abe singing to a Manilow song. You really have to see it. This film is well worth the big screen price tag.

Batman: The Dark Knight - Well here I go again this sequel is just as good (may even be better) than the first one. I tried to stay away from too many spoilers on this film before seeing it, which was a little hard to do after Heath Ledger died. It really is a darn shame too because he made one hell of a great Joker and it would have been nice to see him play the part again. The few glimpses I saw of the film before hand had me worried they were putting too many villains in one film like the last batch of Batman movies. But it is nicely done. Heck you don’t even need to see the first film to go see this one. We do get a glimpse of Scarecrow at the beginning, but the story is all about the Joker and Harvey Dent. By the end of the film I was getting a little tired of Christian Bale’s Batman voice. It actually started to grate on my nerves. I don’t mind his regular speaking voice too much even with his speak impediment, but when he lowers his voice for the Bat it just really bothers me. (And not just me but the two people that went with me said the same thing.) Since we saw the film it seems many other people have posted their reviews and have pretty much said the same thing.

I Want It Wednesday: Life-sized B9 Robot

Add comment August 20th, 2008

Even though this life-sized replica of the Lost In Space robot (also known as the B9 robot) is half the price of the Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet he is still $25,000 more than I have to spend on a giant toy. Although I would love to have him.  B9 is not just a static replica either. His torso moves, his soil sampler comes out of his foot (and tells you the environmental analysis).

Besides all that fun stuff the robot has a 240-w att audio system, and speaks 511 pre-recorded phrases performed by Richard Tufeld, the original voice of the robot from the television series (including such familiar phrases as “Danger Will Robinson!”) Pulling the robot’s power pack causes it to utter “Aaghhhhhh…” just as it did in the TV series when being shut-down; plugging it back in prompts it to say “Who turned out the lights?” SWEET!

B9 Robot is available at Hammacher Schlemmer. A store I came to love from watching Murphy Brown.

I Want It Wednesday: Life-sized Robby The Robot

Add comment August 13th, 2008

One of my all time favorite films is Forbidden Planet. I love Robby the Robot and I would love to have this life-sized version of this famous robot. But with a price tag of almost $50,000 I say only a few folks like the guy who owns the Science Fiction Museum could afford one.

Besides not being able to pay for the sucker where the heck would I put him? I wouldn’t mind sticking him right next to the sofa, but I do think my better half would have something to say about that. We can’t have too much of my sci-fi geek out in the open you know!

I Want It Wednesday: Lego Deathstar

Add comment June 25th, 2008

The Lego Star Wars Deathstar has reached new heights with the new Battle inside the Death Star™! This is not just a Lego model it is a playset to beat all playsets (and maybe it should at a $400 price tag). Look at everything this cool Lego set has to offer.

• Includes 25 heroes, villains, droids and creatures!
• Includes 6 new and exclusive minifigures and droids only found in this set: Luke Skywalker™ (Stormtrooper™ outfit), Han Solo™ (Stormtrooper outfit), Assassin Droid™, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers™!
• Also includes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi™, C-3PO™, R2-D2™, Princess Leia™, Chewbacca™, Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Darth Vader™, Grand Moff Tarkin™, Emperor Palpatine™, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Emperor’s Royal Guards™, R2-Q5™, and mouse droid!
• All-new Dianoga™ trash compactor monster!
• Movie-authentic Death Star environments include the Superlaser control room and target monitor, Imperial conference chamber, TIE Advanced hangar bay with moving launch rack, Emperor’s throne room, droid maintenance room, detention block, trash compactor, and much more!
• Rescue Princess Leia from the detention block cell, then escape through the secret hatch to the trash compactor below!
• Reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room!
• Death Star measures 16” (41cm) tall and 16½” (42cm) wide!
• TIE Advanced measures 3½” (9cm) wide!

Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars™ movies with the ultimate Death Star playset! This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser…plus much more! Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy!

Shop the LEGO Star Wars Collection

WALL-E Music Comes to Earth

Add comment June 21st, 2008

I just got the WALL-E soundtrack, well actually score, the other day.

WALL-E sound track is pretty good. I have always been a fan of musical scores while I work. The lack of lyrics is less distracting for me. Listening to this music, which is some times, interrupted by robo-speak and sound effects has really gotten me hyped up to see the film, I could live without the two songs from Hello Dolly, but perhaps once I see the film their inclusion on the sound track might make sense.

For more information on the WALL-E Soundtrack CD head over to ScifiSlacker.com

I Want It Wednesday: LEGO Mindstorms

Add comment June 18th, 2008

I love robots and I love Lego. So what better combo for me than a Lego Robot? I have the first version of the Mondstorms system and really need to get myself the new one. I love the new functionality and the new look (not such a fan of the technic sets so I was disappointed when this was first announced, but I guess there is only so much one can do with the good ole brick).