Featured Stories
LTE: Is It For You?
For the past few months, the two telco juggernauts in the country have been touting their LTE plans and capabilities. By now, a lot of the non-techies in the market would likely know about it, but I'm not really sure if they know what it is exactly. In this post, I'm going to try to explain how it differs from other mobile connections, and when you should consider getting a plan for it.
Parents, Be Aware of ESRB Ratings
While there has been no proven direct correlation between violent crime and video games, it's still your responsibility as a parent to know what the hell your kids are playing. There are video games that aren't made for kids and you, as parents, are ultimately the custodians of the kind of media your kids consume.
Masterpiece Optimus Prime
Okay, so I started a new job and find myself with a lot less "disposable" income than I had before. I've had to cut back on my vices in order to, well, eat. To celebrate my new found sense of fiscal responsibility, let's take a look at something that cost me more than I should have probably spent: Hasbro's version of the MP-10, otherwise known as Masterpiece Optimus Prime.
Games Everywhere, Nowhere
In movies, we see visuals growing steadily more realistic that we no longer question the imagery on the screen (this holiday, we finally saw Gollum cross the uncanny valley) and yet our storytelling techniques still tug at the same heartstrings with the same cinematic drama that we have honed for a century.New Stuff
The Beauty of Good Things Unexpected: Arrow Season Finale Review
At its heart, Arrow's entire story involves a guessing game on multiple levels. Detective Lance and the rest of the Starling City Police Department, as well as Roy Harper, are still trying to guess at who the Vigilante really is, for different reasons. Up until last week's episode (“Darkness On the Edge of Town”) Oliver and the rest of the good guys were still trying to guess who was behind the Undertaking. Laurel's trying to guess at whatever it is Oliver's hiding from her. Everyone has questions, but the best they've got are guesses. But for the season finale, almost all...
Romeo Moran in Idiot Box Hits:195
Star Trek Into the Darkness Contest
I bet you Trekkies have been creaming your jeans in anticipation of J.J. Abrams' Into the Darkness. I love me some good sci fi, too, and if early reviews of Star Trek: Into the Darkness are to be trusted, then we're in for a treat. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes rated it 87% and the audience gave it an 89%. Metacritic gave it a 73 and user ratings gave it an 8.3 out of 10. Those are pretty solid scores. Now, what if I told you, Ayala Sure Seats and GeekOut.Ph have partnered up to give out some cool stuff? Sounds brilliant,...
Bim in Cinemabuzz Hits:268
“Doctor Who: Nightmare in Silver” Review
For the record, I really, really loved Gaiman’s first time writing Doctor Who, the sublime The Doctor’s Wife. It dives deep into the show’s 50-year old mythology and adds something to it and takes the Doctor’s relationship with the old sexy TARDIS into another level. That episode isn’t just the best of New Who, it’s one of the best episodes of the show, bar none. With that in mind I had really high expectations coming in to Nightmare in Silver.
Ade Magnaye in Idiot Box Hits:223
RAW Thoughts: This Is What You Must Believe In
There's an interesting moment that happened on this Monday's RAW which some viewers may have missed. After the match between the Shield and Kofi Kingston and the Usos, where the Shield is celebrating after Ambrose just spiked Kingston's face into the canvas like they were out of timeouts, Ambrose lets out a lingering look at the United States Championship on the referee's hands. This moment doesn't last long; in fact, that look is only on camera for about three seconds, and the title is not in the frame. If your eye for detail needs a little more sharpening, you would have...
Romeo Moran in Idiot Box Hits:398
Tony Stark Three: An Iron Man 3 Review
This is not the superhero movie you expected. Consider an early scene at a local diner: we find Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) having a beer with his buddy Rhodey (Don Cheadle) as a little child approaches Stark for an autograph. The girl hands him a drawing of Iron Man fighting the Chitauri aliens, the last we saw of him from The Avengers (2012). The picture, however, triggers ill memories of him being whisked off into space and back - helplessly falling into the abyss - causing the one thing we would not expect of our brazen hero: a frightful, demented...
John Oliver Go in Cinemabuzz Hits:308
Quick Iron Man 3 Review
Pretty sure by now, most of us have seen Iron Man 3. It did, after all, break Philippine box office records by raking in Php 62.6M on opening day and breaking bank at Php 306M in its first five days. Who would have known Filipinos had that much money on 'em for movies? You know what I found surprising? It beat The Avengers. And I saw that bad boy 5 times. I can confirm that Iron Man 3 does not have that re-watch-in-the-cinemas charm that Avengers had. I got bored with it on my 2nd viewing. But why was it...
Bim in Cinemabuzz Hits:232
Play Arts Kai Kazuya Mishima - Tekken Tag Tournament 2
If you're a gamer this past generation there's just no way you haven't heard about Tekken or Kazuya Mishima. If not, seriously, Google it, man! Used to be a big fan of the franchise and though my "fighting" days are far behind me now I still wouldn't miss the chance of getting one of the icons of one of my favorite video game franchises. The Play Arts Kai Kazuya Mishima figure is certainly well-made, though definitely wanting accessory-wise. The figure made up for it with excellent sculpt and paint apps. Kazuya's face is very exceptional also, one of the "dead-on" to...
Jeri Reyes in Toy Rack Hits:197
Playing Mantis
You know what a 3D printer is? Yeah, those things that make things out of... powdery things. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but when I first saw it being demonstrated a few years ago, my first thought was "you can totally make awesome toys with that thing." Every tiny detail can be printed out and that's exactly what Playing Mantis did. They're a group of budding toy designers and game developers based in the Philippines. I know one of them; does that make me awesome by association? No? Okay. Anyhoo, they've done some pretty impressive things so far and seriously,...
Bim in Toy Rack Hits:303
RAW Thoughts: Feed Me A Lot More Of That Flavor
In the closing minutes of Iron Man 3, Tony Stark categorically sums up the events of the entire trilogy by making note of a particular pattern that had occurred to both himself and Aldrich Killian, one of the film’s antagonists. He describes it like this – and don’t worry, this spoils nothing – and I paraphrase: we start out with something new that is pure and exciting, but pretty soon we make mistakes. Those mistakes have consequences; some of which are minor, some of which are lasting. And those which last end up changing you as a person, whether for...
Romeo Moran in Idiot Box Hits:304
Mark Millar's Jupiter's Legacy Kick-off Party in Manila
Have you ever wondered how it would feel to eat food bought with the money of a superstar? Wonder no more! Manila's own National Bookstore and Comicx Hub are going to host the first leg in Mark Millar's Jupiter's Legacy kick-off party! There will be 9 parties in total all over the world. The other cities are Glasgow, New York, London, Dublin, Madrid, Chicago, New Hampshire, and Los Angeles. Just knowing that Manila is part of that list is making me all sorts of happy. It shows that Mr. Millar thinks Manila is a good enough market to invest in; and...
Bim in Comicology Hits:674
Iron Man 3 Premiere Screening
April 24 is but a few days away from now. If you think yourself a Marvel Cinematic Universe fan worth your salt, you must have booked your tickets by now. If not, you really can't go around claiming to be one. If you go "OMG I love RDJ! I am the biggest Iron Man geek ever!" and you book your tickets a week after launch week, then no, you've lost your fangirling privileges. Don't worry, though. I think I may have a solution to that.
Bim in Cinemabuzz Hits:460
Play Arts Kai Tomb Raider Lara Croft Review
Last time I played a Tomb Raider game was a few good years ago and to be quite honest, I didn't appreciate it that much back then. A few years later, I ended up liking games where you can freely roam around a certain map -- sandbox games, appreciating details a bit deeper, gameplay and definitely the most important thing, the story. We have an existing review of the game written by Bim Barbieto. You may refer to that if you want to have an idea about the game. Here, I'll share to you my review of the official action figure by...
Dominic Dimagmaliw in Toy Rack Hits:880
Free Comic Book Day 2013 List
As May 4 draws near, GeekOut takes a look at the goodies we'll possibly be getting this Free Comic Book Day 2013. I've always thought that FCBD was a good mix of comic book publisher marketing and community building. The event brings in more people into the comic book world, as well allow comic book fans discover great reads from publishers that aren't just the big two. Here is the list of the titles that make up the 4.6 million free comic books open to all our grubby hands at the annual event.
Bim in Comicology Hits:569
Marvel Select Venom Review
I grew up hating villains as a kid and I love seeing them get defeated by my favorite characters. Spider-Man has a great number of foes and there are iconic ones among them. I grew up looking at Venom as Spidey's main rival though. Through the years, there have been notable hosts for this sentient alien -- the first one was Spider-Man until he realized its true nature. After separation, Eddie Brock became the next host. There are other hosts that followed like Ann Weying, Patricia Robertson, Angelo Fortunato (love the face insignia!), Mac Gargan (Dark Avengers) and the latest...
Dominic Dimagmaliw in Toy Rack Hits:452
A Case for World-Building: An Oblivion Review
It seems very tricky to tell an original science fiction film. Generally, in movies, you have to make sure that the audience is in on the joke. The films have to establish that (a) the world it inhabits is believable and (b) the story it tells is plausible... before it finally gets the ball rolling. The former is a particularly important yardstick for sci-fi, given that this kind of film needs to establish rules before it could build a convincing world; after all, a story set in the future doesn't have the inherent comfort of realism to establish its own...
John Oliver Go in Cinemabuzz Hits:380
Yotsuba To: Danboard Mini Model Kit
It's been almost four years since I bought my Revoltech Danboard. Ever since then, I've been wanting to make my own Gestalt Danboard, but since 2009, the price on the RT Danboards have skyrocketed. When I first got mine, I got a quote for 6 pieces and it was something like Php 6,000. Nowadays that would run you well into Php 15,000 for the same quantity, depending on which version you got. Even the RT Danboard Minis were too expensive for my blood.
slangards in Toy Rack Hits:406
WrestleMania XXIX: The Official GeekOut Running Diary
It’s early April once again, wrestling fans, and you know what that means: it’s time for WrestleMania! Of course, I don’t have to tell you that it is the biggest wrestling event in the world, the Super Bowl of Wrestling, the Showcase of the Immortals, and all that jazz. I hope you remember me as you join me today in my epic recapping of the show. Questions will be answered. Will the Shield continue their reign of terror over their perceived injustice in the WWE? Will Alberto del Rio turn back the conservative, xenophobic wave of Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter?...
Romeo Moran in Idiot Box Hits:498
Jeremy Whitely on Molly Danger
It's not really news that a lot of talented comic book artists come from the Philippines. A lot of them work for the big two publishers, but there are also a bunch who work in the indies and the smaller publishing companies. Romulo Fajardo, Jr. is one such guy. He works primarily with colors and has done a bunch of awesome stuff, including Star Trek, G.I. Joe and the new KISS series. He also worked on FCBD's Molly Danger! He'll be at National Bookstore, Quezon Ave on May 4, for our FCBD! In the meantime, here's an interview with Jeremy Whitely, writer...
Bim in Comicology Hits:286
4.6 Million Comic Books!
Free Comic Book Day is annually celebrated by a number of participating countries all over the world. And this year, their respective comic book stuff retailers ordered a ridiculously record-setting…
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Back in June of 2012, when Paramount first announced that they were going to be delaying the release of the sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, I…
Play Arts Kai Batman from The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy
The Dark Knight has returned, this time as a member of the excellent Play Arts Kai line. "Bale-Man," as I fondly call him, is actually the 6th version of Batman…
A Clash of Swords and Philosophy: A Metal Gear Rising Review
There is a powerful sequence in Hideo Kojima's sprawling masterpiece Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008) where we guide our aging and dying hero, Solid Snake, as he fights through a…
Tomb Raider Is Bloody Good
When Tomb Raider was first announced, I was immediately excited. Tomb Raider was one of those first generation PlayStation games that really made the system the best in its class.…
Iron Man Legends Classic and Bleeding Edge Armor Review
2 more sets of armors from the first wave of Marvel Legends/Iron Man Legends line! Finally got the chance to make a video for these figures after graduation practice (hoozah!).…
Iron Man Legends Distribution Today!
Hey, guess what? Today's the day that the first half of the 6" Iron Man 3 figures come out! If you can stop by Toy Kingdom, Megamall today, do so. You'll be…
Free Comic Book Day 2013 - Setting the Record
When you're going to do something, you might as well do it right. Like I always say - go big or go home. Castle Geek, National Bookstore and Neutral Grounds…
On Emergent Storytelling
I love Peter Jackson, particularly at the exhilarating peak of his career when he exploded with King Kong (2005), the very film that he had always wanted to make ever…
Iron Man Legends Iron Patriot Review
This was first rumored to be released last month but it was postponed to later this month. Luckily, I was online around midnight and I saw GreatToysOnline's post regarding their…
Marvel Legends Archangel (2013)
It's ridiculous how much I paid for this toy, but let me tell you right up front, that I don't care. The near perfectness of its design just kills all…
Play Arts Kai Dante: A Comparative Review of DMC 3 and 4
I made this review back in late-2012 when SQEX backtracked a bit to give us a new figure incarnation of that beloved demon-slaying, wise-cracking, gun-slinging, sword-wielding, (ironically) half-man/half demon mercenary…
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