SWEDE FEST – A film festival for SWEDED films!

SF13_Flyer_OL_FINALSWEDE 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.Retrenders - Be Kind Rewind - Michele Gondry - Melonie Diaz - Jack Black - Mos Def - Danny Glover

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

bigwowcomicfest2014This 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:

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Future Flick: Ping Pong Summer

pingpongsummerOkay, I’m sucker for 1980s films or flicks that take place in the 1980s and I can’t wait to see this movie – “Ping Pong Summer.”  The year is 1985 and 13-year-old Rad Miracle is on summer vacation with his family and finds a ping pong mentor in Susan Sarandon’s character.

And I’m a sucker for any-type of ping pong movie!

Release Date:  June 6, 2014.

For more info, go to:  Facebook – Ping Pong Summer.

The Search for General Tso

searchgeneralchickenAnother 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.

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Viral Video Friday: A Corgi Dog in a Zombie Apocalypse

stanleycorgiThis story of a young boy and a dog separated in a zombie apocalypse will leave some tears at the end of this animated short.  “Steadfast Stanley” is animated by CalArts film student John Cody Kim.

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Crayon Carved Mini-Scupltures by Hoang Tran

caryola coverRemember all those Crayola crayons you had as a kid, where you would not just color drawing books with, but also mark-up the walls and rooms in your parent’s house?  Well there is another use for them now, discovered by local Bay Area artist Hoang Tran.  The San Jose native was going to dental school, but figured out he can carved mini-sculptures using wax crayons instead.

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Target Style – Summer Surf Collection

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Target’s Mossimo Supply Co. is dropping their limited-edition beachwear with a San Francisco touch.  Artist and avid surfer Jeff Canham spins his surf-inspired designs in this Mens and Womens beach collection from graphic t-shirts, tank tops, shorts, towels and bags.  Target takes us inside Jeff Canham’s SF office – The Woodshop for the inside look.

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Global Accessibility Awareness Day

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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.

 

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For more info on the event, please check out:

GAAD

Gamejolt

and follow them on Twitter at @gbla11yday.

Best U2 Tribute Band – Zoo Station The Complete U2 Experience

Retrenders - Zoostation The Complete U2 Experience - Band3If 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.

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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

Cute Pandas taking over Hong Kong

panda 00It may just look like a cute Panda project and a nod to urban art, but it’s also to raise awareness about Pandas.  French artist Paulo Grangeon partners with WWF, PMQ and allrightsreserved plan to launch 1,600 Pandas in papier-mâché form onto the streets of Hong Kong.

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VANS x Star Wars x Funko Kicks

vansstarwars 00Here’s a way to sell some kicks!  Buy a shoe and get a cool limited edition Funko Star Wars figure.  When you buy a VANS Star Wars shoe on Journeys.com – you will get a random figure (no choice here!) – either Boba Fett or Darth Vader.

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Hamburger Sneakers by END. x Saucony

burgersneakersSneaker-heads and burger fans can rejoice with this yummy sneaker collab between UK’s END Hunting Co. and kick’s label Saucony.  The END. x Saucony Shadow 5000 “Burger” dropped this past weekend in the UK.

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This weekend Photography Open Studio: Monica Denevan

Monica Denevan - Retrenders - Anchor Burma        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.

Monica Denevan - Retrenders - Burma
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

 

 

 

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy Art Show

hellboyevent20Are you fan of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy?  If you are, Hellboy celebrates 20 years with this awesome art event in SoCal.  The 20th Anniversary Art Show kicks off tonight – May 2, 2014, from 7pm-10pm @ Hero Complex Gallery (HCG) in Los Angeles, CA.

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Marvel Puzzle Quest Review

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I was never a big fan of mobile games so naturally I’ve never heard of Marvel Puzzle Quest. Even though this game had been out since October 2013, it wasn’t until a week ago when I was persuaded to try the game for the first time. Here’s a fun fact about myself: I’m not a fan of Marvel Comics – I’m more of a a DC man myself.  At first I didn’t want anything to do with this game; my friends then compared it to Bejeweled which didn’t help their case either, but in the end, I gave in and ended up downloading it on my phone. And lo and behold, in just a matter of minutes, I got hooked on the game. I guess the features of leveling up your characters and having hit points for each really got to the RPG fan in me. Since each of your characters have HP, and it takes seconds to restore just one hit point, this is not a game that you are going to be stuck on for hours and hours. If your character(s) get beat down at the end of the match, it may take them hours to regenerate back to full health, causing you to take a break from playing if you have no health kits to cure them – so at least you’re not going to be spending your whole day playing this game non-stop.

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Random Objects Turned to Art

domenic01Aussie artist Domenic Bahmann takes everyday random objects like a carrots, banana peel & crackers and turns it into something humorous and fun to look at.

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Food Knitted Art by Jessica Dance & David Sykes

foodart 00Classic American food made from knitting and photographed.  The project series “Comfort Food” is by Jessica Dance & David Sykes.

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Paper 3D Art Pieces by The Paper Pony Place

papercraft banner 00Are you looking for some neat geeky art for your boring work cubicle or apartment bedroom?  Look no further, check out The Paper Pony Place.

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Retro LEGO Builds for ALL!

lego retro building coverIf you ever feel nostalgic about past technological wonders like old video game systems, CRT tube TVs, rotary telephones and what not, and you are a LEGO builder, then check out – Chris McVeigh’s site Building Guides.  I admit I am not a LEGO mad-genius builder, I’m like a Emmet who needs an instruction booklet and details before I can build anything.

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Disney Store Star Wars Toy Exclusives

disneystoreThe likes of Kenner, Hasbro and various third party companies have made action figures, plush dolls and other Star Wars-related merchandise, now the Disney Store will take its turn with their own new exclusive line of action figures, plush toys, mugs, PVC figurines and die-cast vehicles.

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10244 LEGO Fairground Mixer

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At the recent Sydney Brick Show (April 24-27, 2014) in Australia, LEGO announced a new release the LEGO 10244 Fairground Mixer.  If you like county fairs and like to build LEGO cities, this is another wonderful LEGO addition.  The Fairground Mixer will cost around $150 bucks and look for a June 2014 release date.

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Frankie’s Garage: Drifting Sedans!

v8 sedansThe 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.

Mickey D’s Hello Kitty Bubbly World

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It seems like everybody wants in on Sanrio’s iconic Hello Kitty.  Well, this is Hello Kitty’s 40th Anniversary and McDonald’s in Singapore has released a limited edition plush doll 6-piece set – Hello Kitty Bubbly World Collector’s Set.

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Luxury Food Packaging

eggs by versace

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

Flour by Prada

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Alien: The Official Movie Novelization by Alan Dean Foster

aliencoverWhen 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.

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