In revamping the successful Tomb Raider franchise – we got a re-boot! Just when we thought Lara Croft would move forward from her ninth adventure to another artifact finding mystery, we get to find out about her – the origins of Lara Croft. We’ve all read her back story, but where was the episodic adventures that led to the skilled, acrobatic, and duel pistol-drawing heroine – Tomb Raider?
Our very own Tomb Raider @ Big Wow! Comicfest 2014
June 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Cosplayer and Actress – Vegas PG @ Big Wow! Comicfest 2014
June 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Meet the Power Girl from Vegas – Vegas PG! We swung by her booth and asked if she could give our Ramen and a Half crew a shout out – Mary Jane Watson style! She happily replied, “Well of course I can”.
If Vegas PG is not enjoying the comic convention strip, you can find her being as spokesperson for events and entertaining the world commercially or artfully as an actress.
The Art of John Harris: Beyond The Horizon
June 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
If you read lots of science-fiction books from authors like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ben Nova, Orson Scott Card and John Scalzi, there is usually a beautifully painted cover book art of the galaxy, outer space world or spaceship and that artist is John Harris. The Art of John Harris: Beyond The Horizon is a collection of his many works since the 1970s.
The Art of Watch Dogs
June 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The video game media went bonkers when Ubisoft unveiled Watch Dogs at E3 2012. The much anticipated and delayed game is now finally out and does it live up to the hype? I don’t know yet, but will get on my hands on a copy for my Xbox 360 soon. Just a quick note, you can also look for our review of Watch Dogs by our Retrenders video game guru Ramon Angel soon. But for now, I’m reviewing the release of The Art of Watch Dogs published by Titan Books.
In Watch Dogs, the GTA-type game, you play hacker anti-hero Aiden Pearce. Now on the path of revenge he uses Chicago’s Central Operating System (ctOS) to hack into security cameras, lock doors, control traffic lights, locate targets of interest and grab information on his enemies. The city of Chicago is now your playground.
The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi
June 4, 2014 by 2 Comments
“Fossils are evidence of prehistoric life written in stone.” Dr. David C. Evans
Dinosaurs and extinct animals have always captured my imagination as a child. I’ve played with dinosaur toys, pretended to be a dinosaur, drew dinosaurs and read lots of dinosaur books. Plus I’ve spent many hours watching dinosaur specials on National Geographic and Animal Planet. The kid in me always wondered how an artist can draw extinct animals so realistically and prehistoric landscapes? This is where Paleontology comes in, the merging of art and science to paint an ancient environment. “The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi” collects the top works of Paleoartisan Julius Csotonyi.
A Mike Hammer Novel – King of the Weeds
June 4, 2014 by 1 Comment
I enjoy reading Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins crime/pulp fiction books. Just like Dirty Harry, shoot first and ask questions later, that’s the Mike Hammer way.
In “King of the Weeds,” Mike Hammer and long-time partner Velda Sterling look to ride off into the sunset with marriage and retirement, but an decades old murder case looks stir things up with his old buddies Captain Pat Chambers and Army pal Marcus Dooley.
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola @ Big Wow! Comicfest 2014
June 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I know I was just the camera operator at the scene, but after Ramen and a Half’s host Eddie Ballar interviewed Mike Mignola, I started to pick up on some very correlating personality traits between Hellboy and it’s Creator, Mike Mignola. Here, we find out what’s in store for Hellboy after it’s 20th year anniversary and if there will be another upcoming film on the comic superhero?
Los LINKS: Art of Mike Mignola facebook/MikeMignola twitter/MikeMignola
Godzilla – The Official Movie Novelization by Greg Cox
May 28, 2014 by 1 Comment
The iconic Japanese monster Godzilla created by the Toho Company is back with a vengeance (let’s forget that Roland Emmerich directed Godzilla film in 1998!). The new flick by Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures looks to bring back the classsic Godzilla with an all-star cast starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen and Juliette Binoche. Titan Books sent me the “official” novelization of Godzilla a few weeks back and I’m now able to have time to read the book by author Greg Cox.
Frankie’s Garage: WekFest Japan 2014 in Nagoya
May 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Our Retrenders team have been to many WekFest events here in the States, but not in Japan. Check out this mini-tour of WekFest Japan 2014 – Port Messe, Nagoya by BOWL Films.
Power Rangers @ Big Wow! ComicFest 2014
May 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
“Who hasn’t grown up with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – and what parent hasn’t dealt with their kids mimicking an acrobatic Power Ranger?”
At Big Wow! Comicfest – “The Eddie” interviews two of the most down to earth Power Rangers, Alison MacInnis – Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue and Steven Skyler – Power Rangers Samurai. We wanted to know what they loved best about being a Power Ranger… and of course, if they knew anything about Lionsgate‘s upcoming production of the reboot Power Rangers movie?
Greg Rucka Interview @ Big Wow! ComicFest 2014
May 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Over the years reading comics, you begin to find writers you like to read from, and one of them for me is Greg Rucka. I really enjoyed his Oni Press comics Whiteout and Queen & Country and Greg’s various Batman runs over at DC Comics. Our Ramen host Eddie Ballar interviews Greg Rucka at Big Wow! ComicFest.
Guardians of the Galaxy Nick Bradshaw @ Big Wow! ComicFest 2014
May 22, 2014 by 1 Comment
We interview comic book artist Nick Bradshaw this past weekend at Big Wow! ComicFest. Nick talks about working on the Guardians of the Galaxy, the new team line-up and of course the upcoming live-action Guardians flick.
Beyond the Brick – A LEGO Documentary
May 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary made it’s debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this past month and I look forward to watching this on the film festival circuit. The documentary is not just about “Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs)”, but about LEGO company itself, the kids and fans of bricks.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Life’s Lottery
May 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Bram Stroker Award winner Kim Newman is known for his witty vampire series Anno Dracula has another book you might want to take a look at. Kim Newman ponders one of life’s questions in “Life’s Lottery”: Is our human life “predetermined or can we really choose our own path in life?” If your were a kid growing in the 1980s, you might remember those Find Your Fate: Transformers and G.I. Joe books that I made my mom buy for me. Those kiddie books had you making the decisions, like if you think Optimus Prime should do this go to page 6, or if you think Optimus Prime should do that go to page 25. Now instead of playing a Hasbro toy character, you play a real-world fictional character and help him make decisions that will alter his life from the ordinary or to the extra-ordinary.
In “Life’s Lottery” you are born into the world as Keith Oliver Marion, a British Caucasian male, and you’ve luck out, you come from a middle-class background. You are stuck in the middle with an older sister Laraine and younger brother James. As I approached page 20 where I would make the first life’s decision for Keith as a 6-year-old boy in school, I really had to reflect how I would come to these decisions and choices for Keith. Do I make the same choices as I did as a kid in my own personal life growing up, which was the kid that got picked on and then bullied others? Do I then make choices from my Christian-American cultural upbringing? Do I just make the common sense decisions as the adult I am now? Do you I use rationalization or just go with it? How about I make the decisions like George Costanza in that episode of Seinfeld where he picked the opposite of everything he would do? Man, this book had me using my brainwaves.
New FLASH TV series
May 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Grant Gustin all suited up but not too flattering they say? I honestly love the suit. It’s retro, real and I’m sure the show has nothing to worry about. If you ask me, the suit makes for a gritty look. The only thing I would worry about for a new television superhero series is how well they will tell the storyline about the Flash and his episodic adventures. Oh, and how well the special effects will be when they come into play.
Click HERE for the rest of the review on Screencrush.com
SWEDE FEST – A film festival for SWEDED films!
May 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
SWEDE FEST will be held in Fresno, California, this Saturday, May 17th at the Tower Theatre. The venue was launched in 2008 by Roque Rodriquez and Bryan Harley and is now held in three locations, Fresno, Tampa Bay, and Palm Beach.
The idea to re-make a Hollywood hit film with video production essentials (literally just with a camcorder) and a great deal of far-fetched imagination came from Michel Gondry’s 2008 comedic hit movie, Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover and Melonie Diaz.
Now if you haven’t seen the film that sparked this craze – this is just a partial spoiler. The owner of a video store (Danny Glover) reluctantly has to take a business trip, leaving the video store in the hands of his less-in-reliable employee played by Mos Def, who promises nothing will happen while he’s gone. In short, an accident erases every video tape in the store which obviously becomes problematic for business, so Mos Def’s character along with his friends played by Jack Black and Melonie Diaz, creatively find a way to re-film the movies for their customers- and calling them SWEDED!
Popular SWEDED scenes in Be Kind Rewind were the remake of Hollywood hits: Robocop, Men in Black, Ghostbusters and The Lion King.
Click SWEDE FEST for more information about this upcoming event.
Big Wow! ComicFest May 17-18, 2014 San Jose
May 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This upcoming weekend here in the SF/Bay Area is one cool geek-fest – the Big Wow! ComicFest. The two-day convention kicks-off May 17-18, 2014 weekend at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA. Unlike other comic-book conventions I won’t name that have gone super Hollywood, Big Wow! remains the same as the headliner is all about comic books, the artists and writers in the industry. Many notable artists will be there like Frank Cho, Neal Adams, Mike Mignola, Greg Rucka, just to name a few.
It’s safe to say Retrenders will be at Big Wow! ComicFest! Our Ramen & A Half team Eddie Ballar and Ramon Angel will grab interviews and highlights from the event. Look for our videos on the Retrenders YouTube channel.
Here our some of our videos we did last year from Big Wow! ComicFest 2013:
The Search for General Tso
May 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Another documentary that is on my watch list and is now hitting the film festival circuit is “The Search for General Tso” by filmmaker Ian Cheney. If you been to any Chinese restaurant in America you will find some-type of “General Tso” chicken dish. This dish is unheard in native China, a typical Chinese-American dish like Egg Rolls and Beef & Broccoli. This documentary tries to find the origins and effects of “General Tso” chicken.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day
May 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Global Accessibility Awareness Day will be happening on May 15th. The idea of the event is to explore how to make technology more available for users with different disabilities. The GAAD event will also run alongside an Accessibility Game Jam put together by indie game developers from Gamejolt.com which include our friends over at Nsomniart.
In person events will be held all other the world from different parts of the United States, Austrelia, Belgium, the UK, Tokyo, and the list goes on. For more info on the different in person events, you can see the list of them on the events tab of the GAAD website.
Along side the in person events, they will also be hosting online events as well. More info about those can again be seen on their webpage under the events page.
For more info on the event, please check out:
and follow them on Twitter at @gbla11yday.
Best U2 Tribute Band – Zoo Station The Complete U2 Experience
May 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
If you didn’t catch Zoo Station – The Complete U2 Experience at this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown San Francisco, I advise you to catch them at their next up-coming venue in Walnut Creek. I had the opportunity to catch this band play several times and have never been let down by how energetically and sound-fully they impersonate and simulate the real thing (U2). The band’s vocalist even calls himself Bonalmost (Bon-Almost), as if not quite, but pretty damn close to the real Bono.
Bass guitarist – Scott Schulman / Lead singer – Joshua Fryvecind / Drummer – Skott Bennett / Lead guitarist – Mike Horne
For more information about their up-coming performances click here: http://www.zoostationsf.com/gigs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zoostationsf
This weekend Photography Open Studio: Monica Denevan
May 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This weekend at San Francisco’s Hunter Point Naval Shipyard, Building 116, Monica Denevan is having an Open Studio for art lovers and collectors. So if your interested in viewing black and white photography with fantastically composed and captured aesthetics on culture, stop by Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for a visual delight.
TIME/LOCATION : May 3rd and 4th, 11 – 6 p.m.
Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Building 116.
Click here to go to her website: Monica Denevan and for her facebook : https://www.facebook.com/monicadenevanphotography
Frankie’s Garage: Drifting Sedans!
April 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Vauxhall VXR8 GTS versus the BMW M5 Competition Package, basically big V8 sedans going sideways in this episode of AutoCar UK. The cheaper VXR8 GTS uses a supercharged V8 pumping out 577 horses and the M5 Competition Package uses a twin-turbo V8 producing 567 horses. It’s all about drifting in this challenge battle between these two V8 brutish sedans.
Luxury Food Packaging
April 24, 2014 by 3 Comments
Eggs by Versace
Around the world over, many consumers like to buy “luxury brands” and it says many things about our consumer buying culture. Artist/Designer Peddy Mergui takes at look at trend with his “Wheat is Wheat is Wheat” exhibition at the Museum of Craft & Design San Francisco. The art series focuses on “What If” high-end companies made regular food item packaging.
Flour by Prada
Alien: The Official Movie Novelization by Alan Dean Foster
April 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
When the James Cameron’s ALIENS flick hit the theaters in 1986, it blew me away and it made go back to take a look at the first ALIEN (1979) film by director Ridley Scott. Now, if you don’t have the DVD or Blu-ray handy, or cannot find it streaming somewhere, then how about you go old-school and check out the official novelization of ALEIN with author Alan Dean Foster based on the screenplay by Dan O’Bannon.
Frankie’s Garage: 2015 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
April 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
From city blocks far away you can probably hear this car rumble and roar down the street. The sounds of the 2015 Aston Martin Vantage S sounds amazing. Xcar takes a look at this 6.0 V12 Vantage S beast of a machine.
For more great car reviews, go to: YouTube – Xcar Films.
For details, go to: Aston Martin Vantage S.
Edward Ballar
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