Lance Aue (1953-2017)
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 15, 2017 at 8:42 PM in Tributes
(circa 2011, from the NassauARES.net website)
The person I will be memorializing today has no connection to the Ghostbusters fandom, though I'm sure he loved the original movie almost as much as the rest of us.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Official PlayStation 2 Strategy Guide Review & Corrections
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 12, 2017 at 12:00 PM in Books
This review was originally written on May 22, 2007
The PlayStation 2 Guide Needs To Be RECALLED, REVISED, REPRINTED, And REPUBLISHED!
The PlayStation 2 Guide Needs To Be RECALLED, REVISED, REPRINTED, And REPUBLISHED!
The BradyGames Grand Theft Auto PlayStation 2 guides have had errors in the past. For example, the Grand Theft Auto 3 guide is missing information on some of the side jobs and non-mission tasks; the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City guide has numerous errors; and the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas guide has incorrect screen shots and information on the Photo Ops. However, the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2 (ISBN-10 #0744009162 - First Printing) is the absolute worst I have ever seen. It seems that the only difference between the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) versions of the guide is the text at the bottom of the front cover and the controls listed on pages 3 and 4.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official PlayStation 2 Strategy Guide Corrections
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 10, 2017 at 12:00 PM in Books
The Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2 contains a vast amount of errors in regards to the Photo Ops and Horseshoes. I don't think that BradyGames has ever published a corrected version, which they could offer in exchange for the flawed version. However, they have released corrected information on their website a long time ago. It's all been deleted by now, but thankfully, I saved all of the original text, images, and PDF files, which I present to you.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official PlayStation 2 Strategy Guide Corrections
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 8, 2017 at 12:00 PM in Books
Although the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2 is probably the least error-ridden volume in BradyGames' Grand Theft Auto strategy guide series, it does contain a few errors. BradyGames hasn't (to my knowledge) released a corrected-version, but they have released some corrected information on their site (which has since been deleted):
Grand Theft Auto III Official PlayStation 2 Strategy Guide Review & Corrections
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 6, 2017 at 12:00 PM in Books
This review was originally written on July 14, 2004
Stay Away From The PS2 Guide, Get The PC Guide Instead
Stay Away From The PS2 Guide, Get The PC Guide Instead
The Grand Theft Auto III Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2 is one of the worst Official strategy guides you could ever buy. Sure it covers all of the missions, but some of them are not covered any more fully than what you get from playing the game itself. It briefly covers SOME of the side jobs and non-mission tasks, but an Official guide should cover ALL of them! There is no detailed information on the Rampages and Unique Jumps, and the Hidden Packages are only covered with a map and short sentence. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE GOOD REVIEWS THIS BOOK RECEIVED, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DESERVE THEM.
Wanted Blu-Ray Easter Eggs
By Paul Rudoff on Jul. 4, 2017 at 12:00 PM in Home Video, Easter Eggs
Here is a detailed list of all of the Easter Eggs found on the Wanted Blu-ray (also sold in a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack and a Blu-ray Gift Set). I found a lot of these on the DVD and was able to re-find them, without any help, on the Blu-ray.
The Fairfield Company Target Wrestling Mystery Repack Box Review Break
By Paul Rudoff on May. 27, 2017 at 11:30 PM in Wrestling, Mystery/Blind Bags
Undoubtedly, if you've been to a Target store, you've seen the "cards and collectibles" section at the end of the checkout lanes. It's where you'll find all of the sports cards, Garbage Pail Kids, Wacky Packages, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and all of that other overpriced junk. I almost always look at what's there, but rarely every buy anything as I can't justify the prices - especially considering the "blind bag" nature of these things. If I'm gonna spend $4 to $5 on a few measly cards, I at least want to know what I'm buying.
On a recent visit to my local Target, I saw these red Wrestling mystery repack boxes from The Fairfield Company (a division of Excell Marketing), which I expected to be priced at $15 or $20 each. Imagine my surprise when the price checker showed them to be a mere $4.99 each. I bought all four boxes that my local Target had, as well as another box at a different Target. So, five boxes in total, at a total cost of $25.00 (plus tax). The big draw for me were the Teenymates packs, which my Target was also selling individually for $3.99 each. Getting TWO packs for $4.99, PLUS three packs of cards, and two packs of erasers was a much MUCH better deal than just one pack of Teenymates for $1.00 less. (Note: The photos accompanying this review were taken at different times, so they may not show everything I mention in my text.)
Each one of these boxes contains the following:
- 2 packs of WWE Teenymates (2015) (regularly $3.99 each)
- 2 packs of WWE Eraseez collectible puzzle erasers (2015)
- 2 packs of Road To Wrestlemania 2014 cards
- 1 pack of random WWE cards (2010/2013/2014 series, in my case)
WWE 2K17 Video Game Welcome To Suplex City Trailer Easter Eggs
By Paul Rudoff on Sep. 27, 2016 at 11:29 PM in Filming Locations, Wrestling
WWE and 2K released a new trailer for the new WWE 2K17 video game (due out in two weeks), and as I was watching it last night on Raw, I couldn't help but notice a bunch of Easter Eggs. I knew that I would have to get an HD copy from the web in order to even try to catch them, and BOY were there some good ones that you would miss unless you went through this sucker frame-by-frame like I did. I'm also tagging this as a filming location article because I actually identified one of the central locations used in the trailer. That was completely unintentional. Sometimes I'm just that damn good. Lots of images after the jump, click on them to enlarge.
Rest In Peace, My Mother - Linda Rudoff
By Paul Rudoff on Nov. 30, 2015 at 8:42 PM in Tributes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Page 1 - Introduction
* Page 2 - The Funeral
* Page 3 - A Life In Pictures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm going through a bad case of deja vu. Last year I lost my father, and last night my mother, Linda Joyce Rudoff, passed away at the age of 67.
I really don't even know how it got to this point. She originally took ill on September 9th, but was continually making progress every week, with the occasional setback. If anything, she seemed closer to death when this all started than she has been recently. This was completely unexpected. Those of you who follow me personally on Facebook will have been following along every step of the way these past eleven and a half weeks. In lieu of writing more to this blog post, I'll just repost all of my Facebook updates, which will show you the highs and lows of this whole ordeal.
Halloween Treat 2015 - Who Shot Roger Rabbit & Arcade Movie Scripts
By Paul Rudoff on Oct. 31, 2015 at 8:34 PM in Miscellaneous
For a few years now, I have done Halloween Treats on my Ghostbusters website, Spook Central. I started off this site/blog with a Halloween Treat last year. While I can't promise that it will be a regular feature on this site, I do have a treat for this year. In fact, I have two of them!
I have a small movie and television script collection, which is mostly Ghostbusters-related. However, two of my scripts have nothing to do with Ghostbusters, and so they wouldn't really be appropriate to use on Spook Central. I figured that I'd post them here as the Halloween Treats for this year. I scanned them in, and you can download the PDFs by clicking on the images below.
The first one is "Who Shot Roger Rabbit" (third draft), which later hit the screen as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". This script features a lot of elements that were dropped from the final film, making it a MUST READ for Roger Rabbit fans. The second one is "Arcade", a 1993 direct-to-video release from Full Moon Pictures starring Megan Ward, Peter Billingsley, A.J. Langer, John DeLancie, and Seth Green. It probably won't be of interest to as many of you as Roger Rabbit, but it's a fun little early-1990s "virtual reality" sci-fi flick. I rented the VHS from Blockbuster around 1993, and my friend Mark and I *loved* the film. I loved it so much that I actually bought the script direct from Full Moon for $20, signed on the protective cover by Full Moon head honcho (and the film's executive producer) Charles Band, and stored it in a binder with full-color cover art and a four-page sell-sheet! The cover art is included at the head of the PDF, and the sell-sheet is included at the end of it. The signed protective cover was irrelevant to the script, so it wasn't scanned in.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is available on Blu-Ray, 2-Disc Vista Series DVD (alt url), and the original letterbox 1999 DVD with the original "no panties" version of the movie. Arcade is available on individual DVD and in the Full Moon Classics Vol. 1 DVD Box Set. You can also read a plain text copy of the "Who Shot Roger Rabbit" script at The Daily Script.
Back in the late 1990s, I hand-transcribed the Arcade script, as well as the scripts for Men In Black and The Wizard Of Oz. I gave copies of them to one site and one site only - and that site is no longer online. However, other people have taken the three scripts and placed them all over the internet. The good ones kept my transcribers credit intact. The bad ones removed it. You should have no trouble finding any of the scripts using the Google search engine. Sci-Fi Scripts is one of the good sites for The Wizard Of Oz script.
For another Halloween Treat, check out Spook Central where you can read about the time that Spider-Man teamed up with the cast of Saturday Night Live.
I have a small movie and television script collection, which is mostly Ghostbusters-related. However, two of my scripts have nothing to do with Ghostbusters, and so they wouldn't really be appropriate to use on Spook Central. I figured that I'd post them here as the Halloween Treats for this year. I scanned them in, and you can download the PDFs by clicking on the images below.
The first one is "Who Shot Roger Rabbit" (third draft), which later hit the screen as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". This script features a lot of elements that were dropped from the final film, making it a MUST READ for Roger Rabbit fans. The second one is "Arcade", a 1993 direct-to-video release from Full Moon Pictures starring Megan Ward, Peter Billingsley, A.J. Langer, John DeLancie, and Seth Green. It probably won't be of interest to as many of you as Roger Rabbit, but it's a fun little early-1990s "virtual reality" sci-fi flick. I rented the VHS from Blockbuster around 1993, and my friend Mark and I *loved* the film. I loved it so much that I actually bought the script direct from Full Moon for $20, signed on the protective cover by Full Moon head honcho (and the film's executive producer) Charles Band, and stored it in a binder with full-color cover art and a four-page sell-sheet! The cover art is included at the head of the PDF, and the sell-sheet is included at the end of it. The signed protective cover was irrelevant to the script, so it wasn't scanned in.
 (Sep. 2, 1986) (6.2 Mb) |
 (Nov. 6, 1990) (6.7 Mb) |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is available on Blu-Ray, 2-Disc Vista Series DVD (alt url), and the original letterbox 1999 DVD with the original "no panties" version of the movie. Arcade is available on individual DVD and in the Full Moon Classics Vol. 1 DVD Box Set. You can also read a plain text copy of the "Who Shot Roger Rabbit" script at The Daily Script.
Back in the late 1990s, I hand-transcribed the Arcade script, as well as the scripts for Men In Black and The Wizard Of Oz. I gave copies of them to one site and one site only - and that site is no longer online. However, other people have taken the three scripts and placed them all over the internet. The good ones kept my transcribers credit intact. The bad ones removed it. You should have no trouble finding any of the scripts using the Google search engine. Sci-Fi Scripts is one of the good sites for The Wizard Of Oz script.
For another Halloween Treat, check out Spook Central where you can read about the time that Spider-Man teamed up with the cast of Saturday Night Live.