So, yeah, the thinly veiled secret was that Tequila made a cameo in the MACHETE film fighting Jessica Alba in a fake Wii Punch-Out/Lucha Libre game. How the hell did that happen? Well, it all starts HERE (Extra Spicy Tequila's appearance in the GRINDHOUSE art book). As fate would have it, Jerry and I crossed paths and became friends with writer/editor/filmmaker Aaron Burns. Aaron used to work at Troublemaker Studios. We mentioned the picture in Troublemaker's Grindhouse art book. Aaron said the dude in the picture with Tequila was his mentor, Mr. Rod Brunet. What a small world! A couple of months later, we get an email from Rod via Aaron asking if we'd be interested in having Tequila cameo in MACHETE. Uh...HELL YES!

I had no clue that Rod meant a fully animated computer rendered Tequila fighting Jessica Alba (okay, it's in a video game... but that's still beyond cool!). Thanks and shout outs to Aaron Burns for bringing us all together, Rod Brunet for the love and energy spent bringing Tequila to life, and Robert Rodriguez for letting it all happen!

Having seen Tequila evolve from a sketch by Gobi to a comic book (published by Humanoids) and designer toy (manufactured by Muttpop) it's surreal to see him "alive" as he fights Sartana (Jessica Alba's character in MACHETE).

As I continue revisiting many of the games in my collection, I've been spending quite a bit of my free time playing GOD HAND on the PS2. GOD HAND was a beat-em-up made by Shinji Mikami, creator of Capcom's super popular RESIDENT EVIL series, that was released in 2006. It's a game with a very passionate cult following that sold miserably. Many of the initial reviews for the game complained about it's ugly graphics, extreme difficulty, and Resident Evil-like "tank controls".

It saddens me that more people have not played GOD HAND as its one of the most entertaining times to be had playing a videogame. It's true, there are better looking games out there... but the character designs BENEATH the mediocre polygons is consistently clever. Also, from a utilitarian standpoint, the game models flow smoothly enough to make the fighting dynamic and intuitive. More than any of the recent batch of beat-em-up games, it's the most satisfying to play. There are tons of moves to purchase and modify your character with. That alone would make for a fairly satisfying experience. But when you add the superhuman roulette moves and zany finishing moves, it takes the experience of fighting to a level rarely seen in videogames.

Probably the wrongest and most satisfying move in the game is the spank. When male characters are tired, you are encouraged to use the special "o" button to "pummel" the opponent. Repeatedly pressing "o" makes your character do a rapid-fire sequence of punches, kicks, or stomps that wear down the enemy until they explode. If you're fighting an exhausted female enemy, the "o" becomes a "spank" button. When you press "o" you take the female enemy over your knee and spank her until she explodes. Yes, it's sexist and wrong... but it's absurdly funny and fits in with the quirky comedic tone of the game.

In general, I'm starting to feel that people have a hard time comprehending things that are violent and comedic. That's a damn shame. For me it's tough to beat something the deftly blends intense action with comedy. Video game wise, there's few that do it better than GOD HAND.

Below are some nice clips from GOD HAND showcasing it's tone. The MAD MIDGET FIVE is what the POWER RANGERS are like in the GOD HAND universe. I also HAD to include some spanking... and two of my favorite bosses in the game.

MAD MIDGET FIVE:

SPANKING:

GORILLA BATTLE:

LATINO ELVIS:

NEVER in a million years did I imagine a film with a cast that included Robert Deniro, Don Johnson, and Steven Seagal. It's great to see Robert Rodriguez and Troublemaker Studios go back to doing a spiritual successor to EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO. What I love about the character posters included below is that you can easily imagine each character as the star of his/her own film. Tomorrow could not come sooner!

The last two or three weeks I've been listening to Eminem's latest album, RECOVERY. One of these days I'll give you my detailed thoughts. All in all, Eminem's back to bringing his A-game lyrically. For all of you long-time Eminem fans that thought he got soft and pop based on the Radio Singles... you've obviously haven't heard the album. It's contains some of Eminem's most ambitious rhymes (in a variety of ways). To me, it's the best Eminem I've heard since his 2nd Album (The Marshall Mathers LP). I'm glad he's back!

My favorite track on the album is NO LOVE guest-starring Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne starts things off very strongly. Then Eminem slays EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. You feel like Lil' Wayne brings his 'A' game (and it's a very solid 'A') and then Eminem follows it up with such lyrically dexterity and intensity that convincingly proves that, at his best, Eminem is Super Saiyan levels higher in his MC skills than anybody else in the rap game. In many ways this is like Jay-Z's song RENEGADE guest starring Eminem off of the Blueprint 2 album (look it up if you haven't heard it!).  

Enjoy!: