My son tells me that I have to be a friend of Santa because I keep going to the malls and return with bags filled with what he is certain is toys for him. Never mind that his five year old mind is focussed upon stuff, he knows. He knows more than Santa is said to know. He knows. But I won’t foist upon my readers the GI Joe and Star Wars figures that people my son’s imagination.
Movies
“Adventures of Indiana Jones” DVD Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade) (Widescreen)
This DVD Collection contains all three films from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas's Indiana Jones Trilogy, in which Harrison Ford portrays the globe-trotting archaeologist. Titles include INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. The 4-disc DVD set includes a bonus disc featuring over 3 hours of bonus features, including never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives. All films are restored frame by frame, digitally remastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality and presented in 5.1 Surround. List price $69.99
Along with Star Wars, Star Trek and Indiana Jones the Alien series is an important multi-chaptered Science Fiction saga. This DVD set captures all four of the original movies, adds additional footage and a bonus disc so that the viewer can learn the most important to the least important piece of information regarding the series. If you like you Science Fiction stories that are gritty and your space to be horror filled, this series is for you. List price $99.99
"some trouble of a SeRRious nature." Deluxe Diamond DVD
Produced and Directed by Billy Tucci, starring Brian T. Finney
You will believe a moron can fly.
Delighting festival and comic-convention audiences around the country, Billy Tucci's award-winning short film is now exclusively packaged for Previews customers in this "Deluxe Diamond DVD Edition." The DVD features a "Festival Cut," an "Extended Director's Cut" with commentary, deleted scenes, a memorial mini-doc on late star Joe Tobul, Special Effects, pages from the comic book edition and more! Don't miss this hilarious tale detailing WW2's final days, one unfortunate Corsair fighter plane and the hillbillies who are determined to fly it. Limited to 5,000 editions, is signed and numbered by director Billy Tucci and comes in a full color shrink-wrapped plastic case Deluxe Diamond DVD (70 minutes) $24.99
Books
Heroes and Monsters
By Jess Nevins
$18.95
Monkeybrain Books
Did you watch the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? And you no doubt noticed that I did not include that film in the Christmas Movies to buy. The movie was derived from the source material collected and retold as if his own by Alan Moore. Collecting a variety of legendary folks, Moore created a comic that needs a reference guide to fully appreciate. Welcome Heroes and Monsters. Jess Nevins writes a book that is absolutely necessary to the fan of Moore’s comic, as it enlightens the reader as to the reference and the context of the work. It fully adds to the enjoyment of the comic series. But I am sorry, the movie will still stink.
Dial M for Monster
By Steve Niles (with cover art by the most excellent Tim Bradstreet)
$16.99
IDW
A collection of short stories featuring Cal McDonald, legendary among the monsters he hunts, and PI. There is no better writer for the fusion of crime and horror than Niles. Here in this collection he places McDonald directly in harm’s way and makes the reader twist in the wind while awaiting the end result. In this work especially interactions between humans and monsters are memorable and I fully and wholly recommend this.
Star Wars: The Approaching Storm
By Alan Dean Foster
$6.99
DEL REY
Are you like me and you are waiting for 2005 because of George Lucas. With the final chapter in the very successful epic Star Wars coming in a year and a half those who wait seek out books and comics to fill the gaps of time and story. With Approaching Storm Alan Dean Foster demonstrates that he is still a master writer, knowing how to create scenes and masterful plots. Despite the fact that these are not his own creations, he does them more than justice and pays deep respect to them in his presentation.
This is a great stocking stuffer!
The Slab
By Jeff Mariotte
$16.99
IDW
This book is definitely hard to describe as it requires much back story to illuminate. But... place three men in the California desert and give them a series of murders to deal with. This book echoes with the horror of darkness of the human soul and desolation of the desert. In some ways I am reminded of Woman of the Dunes by Kobo Abe, wherein a single woman was forced to keep the sands away from her collapsing home and lived only to do so. This work is not so metaphysical but allows for a deep look at the depths off the soul. This work succeeds on most every level.
Games
As previewed here previously I think that Lord of the Rings by Decipher is an awesome card game and one that remarkably recreates the actions and events of the movies of the same name and of course, the series of books by the architect of Middle Earth, JRR Tolkien.
Video Games
GODZILLA “Destroy All Monsters” for X-Box and Game Cube.
While this game has a “T” for teen my wife and I found it to be similar in tone to Godzilla movies, and appropriate for my five year old son to play with me. Inappropriately, he pounds the crap outta me. He is an intuitive and quick player. I might have greater strategic skills, but I am turtle slow.
Legendary monsters battle among earth’s cities to determine the planet’s fate. Attempting worldwide domination, aliens have gained control over Godzilla’s longtime rivals - the kaiju must be defeated. Participate in a spectacle like no other by combating the greatest beasts on a colossal scale, as the world’s future hangs in the balance.
Features:
Fight as one of 11 monsters in 8 different arenas. Destroy all monsters with hand-to-hand, close range and special moves. Dominate with specialized projectile weapons. Each monster has specific physical attributes to be used as an advantage or a weakness. Level each city with real building destruction and physics. Huge sense of scale puts you in control of a 180 ft. 80 ton beast. Take on all four modes of play as any of the monsters: Adventure, Destruction, Melee and Versus. Watch as the human army of each city fights off the monsters with advanced weaponry. 4-player fighting mayhem! List price $19.99.
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