Film Geeks

True Grit (1969) - Review

2011-01-07T00:29:00.001-08:00

True Grit (1969)

Kirk Vs. Picard. Mike Vs. Joel. Twilight Zone Vs. Outer Limits. In the media field, you can have a face off with just about every aspect of really anything. In the western genre, it seems to be Clint Eastwood Vs. John Wayne. Personally, I think that each offers something different and unique. Where Eastwood offers more the dark and antihero type character, John Wayne embodies more that all American who helped to tame the West. The tall and larger than life man who stood for law and order was hardly ever viewed as an antihero. Even in “Stagecoach” (which is my personal favorite John Wayne movie) where he played Ringo Kid, he was more the misunderstood outlaw. Every other movie he was in, he was the hero. However, in “True Grit”, Wayne becomes an antihero who is a slob and drunkard and who is almost a bumbling fool. It's a different role for “The Duke” which adds to his showcase of a career that was more than just a one trick pony.

Tomboy and girl older than she should be, Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) is seeking justice, and maybe a little vengeance, on the man that murdered her father, the coward Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey). After claiming her father's body, Mattie searches for a US Marshall who has “grit”...”true grit”. She finds her man in Marshall Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne). He's a rough, unsavory, whiskey drinking, slippery morals, old, and fat stature of a man. However, if anyone is going to track Tom Chaney into the Indian territories, especially when he throws in with the rough and wild Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) gang, it's Rooster. Mattie is going to have a heck of a time with everything. She has to settle her father's affairs, talk Rooster into taking her with him, try and keep the Marshall sober enough. Plus she has to contend with a Texas Ranger by the name of La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) who wants to take Tom Chaney back to Texas to hang for the murder of a senator. Mattie only has her families money, her wit, and her brandishing the name of a prominent lawyer, J. Noble Daggett to help her in her quest. With good dialog, some good humor, and gunfights and horses; “True Grit” is a credit to the Western genre.

Grade – A

This is such a good movie. This is more of a character driven Western than an action one. Mind you there is some good action in it, so this balance of action and characters makes for a good Western. One of the most surprising aspects of the script is how much humor is in it. John Wayne tends to carry most of the great lines but young Kim Darby gets her licks in. Darby as Mattie is wiser and older than she should be and I love those types of characters (see “Juno”). Mattie is a strong willed woman who doesn't let her age or her fear get in the way; or lets anyone else try to muscle her over. She is still lady like in that she knows she's a woman, or at least a teenage girl who has to grab at womanhood quickly. Mattie's age is never revealed to us and her appearance does make it difficult to tell; this does add to a rather creepy scene with La Boeuf though. She's always out to prove to others, especially Rooster, that she can ride and muscle through with the men.

John Wayne plays a very interesting characters in Rooster Cogburn. Rooster comes from a checkered past and carries some scars to prove it, along with a patched eye. He's a drunkard and not always the most honest man. I think this is where the movie probably faults the most. Barring one scene, Rooster seems to be able to function just fine, especially with weapons, with the most sober characters. I don't think the movie did enough to portray Rooster as such a lush. Yes, he drinks a lot and there is that one scene, but he doesn't seem to let what should be clouded judgment and skills take hold. I don't know if this is due to the script, director, studio, or actor; but Rooster seems to be doing alright for himself. The biggest thing Wayne brings to the table here is just how funny he can be. The script is smart and the jokes are funny. Cogburn gets a lot of zingers in and is also subject to a few. Wayne doesn't seem to mind being made fun of his age or weight (not that he was obese by any means) and considering this movie was made about ten years before his death he's really quite in his element. It's no wonder he won an Oscar for his role here.

The biggest annoyance comes from Glen Campbell as La Boeuf. He can be annoying at times, but he seems to be there just to be made fun of. With exceptions to a few scenes, if you took him out of the movie altogether, you'd never notice it. I think the fault comes in the choice of actor. Campbell doesn't seem to be able to take on the qualities that the character is described of having. For example, Mattie tries to convince Rooster that La Boeuf will cheat him and for proof he's got a smirk on his face. Campbell is void of any smirk whatsoever. Originally, Elvis Presley was considered for the role but turned it down, and I don't think he really could have done better. Throughout the movie, he's always coming off as the guy waiting to take advantage of the situation if Rooster or Mattie let their guards down – at least that's the impression I get from every character but Campbell's. He's not without his good moments and the character is a fun target for Rooster and Mattie to poke at.

Tom Chaney doesn't really have much screen time here but towards the end of the movie, he does something which is very out of character to him and seems to come out of nowhere just for the ending to have a small twist. Duvall as Ned Pepper does a decent job too but there isn't a lot of time spent with him also. It's an odd character because in one scene he is leaving one of his young followers who helped saved him behind and in the next he's keeping a promise to Rooster and protecting Mattie. Be on the lookout for a young Dennis Hopper too!

This is such a fun movie. The scenery of Colorado make for a great picturesque backdrop to a well written Western. Rooster and Mattie have great chemistry and whit in their characters. It's fun to see a strong female lead on top of a young lead. Rooster's grizzledness and by-any-means-necessary attitude lend to some great action with a fun character. On top of that, the ending is very good. I was surprised at what exactly happens at the end. It has some joy, some sadness, and overall resolution. It makes for a very believable ending in a genre where many people seem to repel bullets. When watching, see which character really does have “true grit” and you'll find yourself watching a very enjoyable Western.

Another Fun Movie Review

2010-04-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

DON'T SCROLL DOWN YET!

Like my “Glitter” review (wow, I actually wrote that), I’m going to do this review in a different format than usual. I will describe the plot and you will guess the name of the movie. Ready?

There is a young man who happens to be a farmer who does not know his father or mother. He lives in a universe with an evil empire that rules through might. The boy is restless with his life and dreams to join the resistance against the evil ruler. The boy comes into possession of something that leads him to a wise, outcast, old man who is hiding from his past. The old man tells the boy that he needs to come with old man and joy the resistance group. The boy is hesitant but after the death of his uncle he ends up leaving. Along the journey, the boy learns how to fight with a special sword and how to use a type of magic that flows through nature. The old man teaches the boy to use special skills that were taught to him when he fought in a great and legendary war. Before getting to the resistance, they stop off in an area that has danger lurking around every corner. After a run in with the some incompetent foot soldiers, they continue on their way. The evil ruler learns of the boy’s existence and his special attributes and sends his right hand man to capture the boy for his own use. The right hand man has extraordinary magic powers that make men tremble before him. He captures a princess for the rebellion who was sent for help for the rebellion. The boy learns of the princess’ capture and decides to divert from the original path to attempt a rescue. The boy meets up with an outcast ruffian who helps in the rescue in order to get payback from a past failure. The evil magician ends up killing the old man who sacrifices himself in order to protect the escape of the young boy and his new friends. They escape and while the boy is sad over his mentor’s death, the princess consoles him. The three end up making it to the rebel base but the bad guy’s army is very close on their heels. The rebellion makes ready and the boy prepares to use his abilities to take out the evil magician’s flying death vehicle. Putting his recently learned powers to the test, he ends up defeating the magician and puts a hurt on the army of the evil ruler. As the evil ruler lays out a new plan to defeat the rebellion, the young boy is heralded a hero and is honored by the rebellion.

Now, what movie am I talking about? That’s right, I’m talking about none other than that classic motion picture…

Eragon

What? Wasn’t that obvious? What did you guess? Star Wars?! Why? Only because I didn’t have to stretch too many of my explanation points for you to think that? The sad thing; there are probably more parallels that I’m just forgetting. Let’s just go through the cast of characters to give credit where credit is due.

Luke Skywalker is played by Eragon (no, not Dragon..that’d be stupid!) acted by Ed Speleers.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is played by Brom acted by Jeremy Irons.

Princess Leia is played by Arya acted by Sienna Guillory.

R2-D2 is played by Saphira (the dragon) voiced by Rachel Weisz.

Uncle Ben is played by Uncle Garrow acted by Alun Armstrong.

Han Solo is played by Murtagh acted by Garrett Hedlund.

Darth Vader is played by Durza acted by Robert Carlyle.

The Emperor is played by Galbatorix acted by John Malkovich.

And I’m not even going to try point out the comparisons with Lord Of The Rings!

Grade – D

Re-read my initial description above as fast as you can. That’s how quick this movie moves.

This movie has a lot of character it introduces but doesn’t tell us who they are. The only somewhat fleshed out character is Brom. Jeremy Irons is so cool but I feel sorry for him being in this. Ed Speleer as Eragon is abysmal. He seems like a character from the year 2000 and not from Ye Old Dragon Age ero. Murtagh is a joke character who suddenly shows up, is quickly given a reason to stay, and leaves. There is a start of a romance between Arya and Eragon but that is completely forgotten about. It’s probably because they are brother and sister. Saphira is also hurt by the hurry up storytelling. Like “Reign Of Fire”, it seems like the movie ABOUT DRAGONS, wants to show them as little as possible. This movie ends up being boring because it tries to cram so many characters and so much story into a very little time frame. The visuals aren’t horrible but again, once you focus on them you find yourself quickly thrust into another scene. I think I went cross-eyed watching this movie move so fast.

Cocktail - Review

2010-04-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Cocktail

When creating a romance movie, or romantic comedy as IMDB wants us to believe this is, it is best to put in just one likeable character. On top of that, we should have at least the main character be someone the audience roots for. Sure he/she/it can have foibles and personality obstacles to overcome, but I shouldn’t wish that a rapid flesh eating virus comes along and devours him/her/it. Then again, maybe “Cocktail” is that one movie that says to heck with likable characters and development that would make sense or at least make for an entertaining movie!

Brain Flanagan (Tom Cruise) comes out of the military and tries to make a million bucks. After quickly failing in ‘80s montage fashion, he gets a job at a TGI Fridays as a bartender. His Mr. Miyagi in bartending is crotchety and nihilistic bartender, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Doug is a guy that would drive a man to drink with his level of sleaze and wallowing. Brian and Doug team up to try and make it rich. Doug through the attempts of marrying rich New Yorker socialites and Doug through bartending in Jamaica where I guess they don’t have taxes. After constantly wrecking the good things Brian is going for Doug comes back into his life to, surprise to no one, does it again! Doug is like one of those professors in college who want to be “hip” with the kid-os but ends up failing in every way. Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue) quickly falls in love with Doug in Jamaica because she is attracted to bartenders who grin all the time and have no personality. Doug gets Brian to cheat on Jordan. Jordan finds out, leaves, and now Brian has to decide what to do with his life and with Jordan.

Grade – D+

BLAND! Boy is this movie bland. The movie should be called Bland Tom Cruise Grinds Like He’s Getting A Chlorine Enema. No one is likeable in this movie. Brian is a jerk and a spaz; Doug is just sleazy; and Jordan, easily the most likeable character, is kind of air heady and becomes unbelievable and naïve in the movie’s third act. Brian and Doug aren’t amazing bartenders. Sure they can flip the bottles and catch them and whatnot, but it’s all just so bland. For example, in Jamaica, Brian is pouring a daiquiri and he puts the stirrer in the blender so that it falls into the glass. Doug calls this “feat” impressive! Seriously?! They also take part in bland, white people dancing with tightened faces and moves that appears their backsides are just as tight. There’s no sense of realism in either characters or plot. The ending is laughable, especially with the scenes with Jordan’s father. The only solace I found through the whole thing was the ending. No one lives happily ever after. Brian becomes stuck in a marriage that he’s only in for one reason. He doesn’t make a million dollars. He doesn’t do anything with his life but pours drinks. Doug, on the other hand, he was such a slime ball that he decides to kill himself from being bankrupt using money that he married into to. Boo hoo! Either that, or he was trying to get out of the movie as much as I wanted to.

Crossroads (2002) - Review

2010-04-08T05:49:00.001-07:00

Crossroads (2002)

Listen, I’ve always been an honest reviewer. I watch movies all the way through before I comment on them. I don’t favor popular movies; I was critical of “Citizen Kane”. I admit to crying in movies, even ones where you wouldn’t expect it (“Charlotte’s Web (2006)”). So it pains me to admit that I’ve watched “Crossroads”…twice…completely…and only one of those times was with the Rifftrax’s commentary (http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/crossroads) …and that was on the second time. This is going to be painful.

Britney Spears (*hard swallow*), plays Lucy who goes on a road trip to not have sex with her boyfriend of three years Justin Long and get away from her over barring, issue ridden father, Dan Aykroyd. Joining her is Zoe Saldana who must have paid her penitence early in her career for being a part of the process of ruining the “Star Trek” 2009 movie. Also Taryn Manning and Anson Mount “star”. I only mention these folks so that when the robot apocalypse happens…we’ll know who to get SkyNet first. Believe it or not, this was actually written by someone who was not a 400lb baboon with an addiction to very cheap whiskey. Shonda Rhimes is another person to add to your SkyNet list. The director, or should I say the person who told the camera guy to film this holocaust, Tamra Davis, must have been still buzzing from her work on “Half Baked”. Also, let’s mention David Gale. Why? Because not only was he a producer (one of eight!) on this movie, but he also helped produce “Pootie Tang”…Come on SkyNet! Get on with Judgment Day!

Grade – F

This movie should be called “Britney Spear Tries To Get Laid And Girls Squeal And Giggle On An Annoying Car Ride” the marquee could just read BSTTGLAGSAGOAACR for short. There is no point to this movie. I found myself throwing my glasses off my face at least three times to stop from being embarrassed…and I was the only person in the room! Britney, surprise surprise, can’t act. She barely sings well yet during the karaoke scene they make a bunch of money on the blandest songs I’ve heard. Half of this movie is Britney being mad at the lower half of her shirts and tearing them from the upper part. Anson Mount is the love interest but I kept mistaking him for a brick wall, which was ironic because I wanted to throw bricks at him during the whole thing, except I think his and my cycles synched up. This movie wasn’t as self-masturbatory as “Glitter” was but at least Maria Carrey is hot in it. This movie is literally about Britney Spears being a rooster-tease (yes, I went there) and then trying to get laid. This is the female equivalent of “Road Trip”.

Again, I have come up with a list of five things I’d rather do than watch this movie…for a third time.

1. Punch a baby in the head

2. Run my crotch through a pitching machine

3. Lick Robin Williams arms until he is without hair on them

4. Listen to N’Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” on repeat until my head explodes like in “Scanners”

5. Watch “Glitter”

…well ok…not the last one.

The Fourth Kind - Review

2010-04-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

The Fourth Kind

“The Blair Witch Project” started it, “Paranormal Activity” perfected it, “The Fourth Kind”…tried to abuse it. The fake documentary offers itself to some interesting possibilities and plots. “Blair Witch” was crotch-punching boring (yes crotch-punching!) and “Paranormal Activity” executed itself almost perfectly with the mixing of a little “Cloverfield” shaky cam with the fake documentary style. This movie comes out right at the beginning and says it is real and the scenes witnessed with the actors are fake…I mean literally. Milla Jovovich comes out from a hazy forest and tells us this! Even director and writer, Olatunde Osunsanmi takes part in the charade by being an interviewer of the “real” main character.

The movie is about the actors acting out the main story mixed with “real” audio and video accounts of the actual events. The main story is about Dr. Abbey Tyler (Milla Jovovich), a psychiatrist, treating people who, we come to find out, have been experiencing abductions by aliens. As Abbey starts treating the people of Gnome, Alaska who are experiencing this phenomenon, she starts to find out that she is having her own experiences. To delve any deeper into the plot would give a lot of it away. However, I think the movie does a good job at self destructing without my spoilers.

Grade – C+

This isn’t a “bad” movie but it is poorly done. I was constantly pulled out of the movie by seeing “Milla Jovovich as Dr. Abbey Tyler” and other credits pop up to remind us that we are watching a movie within a movie. Mixing that with the fake “real” clips just led me to boredom with the whole set up. It would have been better if you had the movie mix the “actual” video into certain parts to kind of get the “actual feel” of the events. For example, when the footage of the abduction happens through the cop’s camera, it would have been great to see that cut into the movie. You add realism by having the footage grainy and realistic rather than through the great resolution of Hollywood cameras. The best scene with one of the most amount of tension is the hostage situation. The “real” footage is kind of more cut into the movie and adds a greater sense of realism to it. The only other high tense scene involves the abduction scene which does a good job with soft lights, shadows, and surreal camera shots. The ending is pretty decent and somewhat realistically believable. However, the biggest flaw is the motive of the aliens. SPOILER: The whole point of the abductions it seems is to create floating conduits for the aliens to speak to people who are placed under hypnosis. So pretty much their philosophy is the following: Step 1: Screw With People. Step 2: ???. Step 3: Profit! The reveal that they are either gods or demons pretending to be gods is completely lost in the absurdity of the movie as whole. If shot differently, the subtlety of the reveal probably could have been more acceptable. END OF SPOILERS. Also the “real” Dr. Abigail Tyler is Charlotte Milchard and it’s sad that she is probably contractually obligated to not list this movie in her acting credits because she is easily the best actor in this piece. Elias Koteas is pretty unlikeable here and is not even remotely believable. However, I really like him as an actor and he’s always willing to play in weird movies like “The Mothman Prophecies”. Not a bad movie, but poorly executed. The aliens from “Signs” had a better plan and they were killed by dihydrogen monoxide on a planet and people made up of it!

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

2010-04-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Jason Voorhees. This slasher star ranks up there with the great ‘80s movie murders like Michael Myers (“Halloween”), Freddy Kruger (“A Nightmare On Elm Street”), and Leatherface (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”). Arguably, he is more liked because of the more realistic attributes than those like Freddy.

It all starts all the way back in 1957 with the drowning of young Jason at Camp Crystal Lake. The following year, two counselors are brutally butchered after breaking the horror movie rule of having sex in a horror movie. The camp closes and after trying to reopen a few more times without success, a new owner comes in cut off shorts to reopen the “cursed” camp. Before the camp starts, the counselors show up early to get the camp ready. Among them is Jack Burrel (Kevin Bacon!) and Alice Hardy (Adrienne King). Either not realizing they are in a horror movie or thinking they can get away with breaking the rules, they engage in all sorts of bad behavior. They do drugs, drink alcohol, have sex, and even play strip Monopoly. To be fair, that’s probably the only way to end a game of Monopoly without wanting to become a psychopathic murderer as well. Directed by Sean Cunningham and written by Victor Miller, we are treated to some interesting murders and mayhem; and with some of these teens being grossly annoying at times…it turns out to probably be one of the most fun times you can have at a summer camp.

Grade – B-

While considered an iconic movie, it does have its share of flaws. The teens are pretty annoying but except for the cook in the early part of the movie, they seem pretty believable characters. The cinematography is pretty good. The best bits are when you experience the movie through the eyes of the killer. By no means the first time it being done, the forest setting mixed with the iconic score lends to some very creepy moments. You might find yourself immersing yourself deeper into the killer or twisting in your seat to try and get the camera to turn around. While some deaths tend to happen a bit too quickly or zany (archery range scene), there are some really splendid ones like the bathroom scene and Bacon’s is good. Considering that the master himself, Tom Savini led the special effects department, it’s hard to be disappointed. While there is violence, there isn’t a ton of gore and blood today’s horror fans have come to expect. It’s almost a “tasteful” slasher film. The twist in the film is done pretty well, however I do have a problem with what happens after the reveal. SPOILER: after Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) is revealed, she has to put way to much effort in finishing off the last survivor. While she does have the element of surprise on her side for the others, she seems to be very weak with Alice and is constantly getting knocked unconscious. END OF SPOILER. The horror is definitely done well, especially compared with the “horror” films of today. It rarely relies on jump scares (like Crazy Ralph in the pantry scene) but the suspense is built for most kills. The exception, being probably one of the most well done slasher scenes in horror movie history is Bacon’s scene. The mix of rest and calm at first with the surprise and confusion of the end result is awesome. The hockey mask doesn’t come into play in this movie but we do get to see zombie Jason which is a treat. Probably the best of the series, well at least they don’t go into space. That’s when you know the series is doomed!...crap.

From Beyond (1986) - Review

2010-03-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

From Beyond (1986)

For true horror fans, you know you will at the very least be entertained when the names Jeffrey Combs and H.P. Lovecraft are involved in the same movie. Combs has been a cult horror actor since his work on “Re-Animator” and as for Lovecraft, well his stories have seem to be a default set for cheesy horror movies for sometime. Combs; reteaming with “Re-Animator” director, Stuart Gordon, provides another interesting horror movie with some equally interesting special effects.

Dr. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffery Combs) and Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) are experimenting with a machine that taps into the pineal gland to stimulate the sixth sense. As one would expect with this kind of movie, unexpected results occur. Tapping into a biological state somehow open up another dimension where weird creatures exist. A creature who is only referred to as ‘He” or “Him” kills Pretorius who goes crazy right before hand. Tillinghast also goes a bit crazy and cuts power to the machine. Crawford is arrested for the murder of his colleague. He is thought to be schizophrenic because talking about flying worm creatures and monsters eating people’s heads sound a bit far fetched to some people. But not to Dr. Katherine McMichaels (Barbara Crampton)! Dr. McMichaels, who looks like she is just once step from “if she only tosses off her glasses and lets down her hair in slow motion she’ll turn into a buxom beauty, works on trying to cure schizophrenics by experimenting on them and she believes Crawford and Pretorius might have found the cause of this mental disease. The science is at least there and a bit interesting. Heck, it’s more convincing than the effects of drinking man pineal juices in “The Leech Woman”!

Katherine convinces Crawford to recreate the experiment to prove to the DA that he didn’t murder Dr. Pretorius. Escorting them on their adventure to 666 Benevolent Street (of course!) is a cop named Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree who you might know as the black cop from “Dawn Of The Dead”). Officer Bubba loves to make really unfunny jokes and laugh annoyingly at them. However, it’s nice to see a character in an “everyone but the audience thinks he’s crazy” be open minded about the main character’s innocence.

Not to give too much away, but the trio recreate the experiment, meet the creature who has taken on the personality of the S&M junkie (sure why not?) Dr. Pretorius, start to transform their own third eye which makes you see is pixilated Predator vision, and begin changing.

Grade – C-

The story is good, but not great. There is some decent science but there is definitely no common sense with any of the characters. Crawford can be forgiven somewhat since he has gone through a traumatic experience that has left his mind a little fragile. However Katherine and Bubba don’t have any excuses. Combs isn’t as fun as he was in “Re-Animator”, being demoted to more of a second banana who looks like a pouting puppy dog. Crampton has a Dr. Christmas Jones (“The World Is Not Enough”) meets “She’s All That” vibe going on and her development as a character is not very believable, especially when she breaks out the skimpy leather S&M suit (which fits her perfectly). Foree is a little annoying at first but at least he’s not a stereotypical “what the heck was that?!” cop-in-a-horror-movie character.

The visual effects are what makes this movie though. The unsung visual artists and puppeteers are wonderful. The main bady is definitely creepy and sticky looking. The appearance is definitely reminiscent of “The Thing” (1982). The transformation Combs undergoes is well done and creepy. Probably an overlooked effect that is very well executed is the third eye symbiot. It is very organic and doesn’t feel too puppet-like. The creatures and visual effects definitely are the driving force of the movie.

I would probably call this movie the poor man’s “Altered States”. Good but not great. Somewhat likeable but annoying characters. Creepy monsters, good practical effects, and a lot of blood, slime, and other goo. A good movie for a cheesy creature feature movie night.

Film Geeks - Episode 46 - Omega Geeks

2009-09-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

EPISODE46 - The Omega Geeks

Episode Notes: The final days of the late, great planet Earth. The Hollywood have doomed us all with their crappy movies. Two men...two LEGENDS of geekdom arise from the fog of war and destruction. They shirk off damnation and with a harsh breath, whisper, "No more." Join us on Skype as your geeks put trepidation aside and cover the gambit of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies.

Listen to the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-273451.mp3

Listen to other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movies Discussed

Mad Max / Road Warrior
Waterworld
Postman
12 Monkeys
Battlefield Earth
Children Of Men
I Am Legend
Terminator 4 - Salvation
The Stand
Reign Of Fire
Escape From NY/LA
Planet Of The Apes
City Of Ember
Nausicaa And The Valley Of The Wind
A Boy And His Dog
The Day After
Omega Man
Damnation alley
Tooth And Nail
The Happening

TV
Jericho
Jeremiah
Threads (BBC)

Upcoming Movies
Book Of Eli
The Road

Film Geeks - Episode 45 - Inglorious Geeks

2009-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE45 - Inglorious Geeks

Episode Notes: Tonight, our geeks talk about..."the B word"! That's right a whole show dedicated to Quentin Tarantino's newest flick, "Inglorious Basterds". What do the geeks think? Obviously it has to be good if a whole show is dedicated to it right? Oh crap, these are the same guys that watch "Battlefield Earth" for fun! That's it! I'm leaving! *feet clomping/opens door/slams door/gets in car/and speeds off*.

Listen to the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-264684.mp3

Listen to other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Show Notes

http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/26452/the-boondock-saints-ii-all-saints-day/videos/boonsaints2_trlr_090209.html
Boondock Saints 2 - All Saints Day Trailer

Movies discussed:

Plan 9 From Outer Space - Rifftrax event - www.Rifftrax.com
Ed Wood
Inglorious Basterds
Avatar Trailer - Good...or not?

Adventureland - Review

2009-08-25T20:10:00.001-07:00

Adventureland

At the time of this writing I have ruminated on this movie for three minutes. This movie has put me into a mind set where it is the 1980s and I am a character of this movie. I am also very, VERY grateful that I don't have some old fashion razor blades at my disposal to slit my wrists.

The writer and director for this movie is Greg Mottola who also wrote "Superbad". The trailer for this movie made it look like a teen R comedy/coming of age like "Superbad". "Adventureland" could be classified as a comedy the way Dante's Inferno is classified as a comedy. The movie stars James Brennan who plays Jesse. Jesse needs to make some money for college and has to resort to the summer job of a carny. There he meets a couple of friends played by the very lovely Kristen Stewart and the very funny Martin Starr. Also thrown into the mix is Ryan Reynolds and Bill Hader. For a cast so filled with comedic talent like Starr, Reynolds, and Hader, you'd be led to believe this movie would be a lot more funny. I almost took up hard drinking and drug use because of this movie.

So Jesse gets this job and falls for Em (Stewart), but Em is seeing an older and married guy named Mike (Reynolds). Everyone's life is falling apart but the story is a classic coming of age story. To tell more than this would ruin the depressing storyline. Although that might get less people to want to throw themselves off a bridge after seeing it.

Grade - C-

For being so depressing this movie really isn't horrible. However, I'd watch "Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist" if I wanted a similar story but with a more upbeat story. That movie made me want to have all-nighter in the city again. This story makes me wonder how much a bottle full of amphetamines would taste like. Ok, Kristen Stewart is just gorgeous in this. She's one of those people who is so cute and normal she's hot and she's probably the best actress in here. Martin Starr is the big comedic relief but I didn't laugh once through the entire movie because of the cloud of dread this movie produces. Another flaw is Ryan Reynolds not being his typical character. Being type cast as the smooth and slick guy probably isn't the worse thing in the world and he should stick with that. He wasn't even cool in this movie...ok he was a little cool but still. Jesse Eisenberg is awkward in this film and I felt jealousy in watching him kill Stewart so many times. This movie just makes me glad I was only a little kid in the 1980s and I missed how depressing it all was. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go watch "Schindler's List" to cheer up after this movie!

BloodRayne - Review

2009-08-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

BloodRayne

Bleh. Phe. Neh. Ib. Coo. Nuh. Derm. And Phu. These are all words that are acceptable to utter after sitting through this movie. I don't try to jump on "oh So-And-So is a bad _____" trains too often. However, when the global collective is stacked against you, you have to wonder if they're on to something. Uwe Boll is not the worse director I have ever seen...so he fails at that too! Is there anything redeeming about this movie? Let's find out.

So Rayne (Kristanna Loken) is a half vampire/ half human who is different from other vampires because...well she's not really different at all. In fact, the only difference between vampires and humans in this movie is that vampires die easier and quicker than humans and they have a lot more blood in them. Rayne joins an order led by Michael Madson against Kagan (Ben Kingsley...yes another role taken by Kingsley to pass his time as he slowly fades into the abyss). Somehow Michelle Rodriguez fits in there with Billy Zane but you shouldn't look that deep into that.

Grade - F

I wish I had something nice to say. Hmm. Kristanna Loken and Micelle Rodriguez are good eye candy and they're in leather a lot. Ooo I get a RAM chip!

I have created what I hope is a fun list of things that stood out to me and I hope it provides for some entertainment.

Every weapon in this movie could not cut through melted butter. There is no attempt to hide rounded "points" or edges. I don't know why they just didn't fight with Nerf(TM) swords.
Dialog is cliche' terms strung together without semblence of thought or care for the audience. An example of this is the practice fight between Katarin and Rayne in the food hall. Also who has a fighting session with possible blood and sweat in a food hall?!
There is an unnecessary sex scene with no sexual tension before hand. Heck there's no real tension during the sex scene. However, I could not help but think how a scene like this might have saved "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines".
The gore used in this movie reminds me of '70s shot-on-video horror movies. I was expecting the vampires to squish ketchup and hamburger through their fingers in a few scenes.
Meatloaf, the singer, not the nasty "food", is in this movie.
People are always giving Rayne necklaces. Men and women alike are trying to clothe her more in anyway possible.
Michael Madson is to Bloodrayne as Burt Reynolds is to Dungeon Siege. I think the internet just collapsed in on itself with two Uwe Boll analogies.
I don't know where Michelle Rodriguez's accent is suppose to be from and I don't think she knows either...or remembers to use it throughout the movie.
Gunpowder does not explode...nor is it capable of breaking down a castle's huge wooden doors.
Epic music should never be played when your main character pretty much says about your movie's climax, "...but I've really got nothing better to do." (not a direct quote).
You can't say vampires hate sunlight, show vampires standing guard outside a fortress in midday, and then use sunlight to kill vampires a few scenes later.
It should be illegal to use the same flashback six times in one movie.
If you can flashback through the major parts of your movie in four minutes and 37 seconds you're movie sucks and even you didn't like it the first time. WHAT MADE YOU THINK WE'D LIKE IT A SECOND TIME!

I've never played the video game so I can't compare it with the movie. I can say that a movie that makes me log in to Microsoft Money and hit "Update My Accounts" every five minutes to see if I am magically getting money that I don't expect to get...is a sign of a bad movie.

Film Geeks - Episode 44

2009-08-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

EPISODE44 - The Geeks Find A Good Movie For 2009!!!

Episode Notes: That's right, you read it right! Finally, after more than half of 2009 leaving us with not just a bad taste in our month, but no taste at all because NOTHING came out, we have found one movie! However, which one is it?! Our geeks will be discussing "The Ugly Truth", "G.I. Joe - The Rise Of Cobra", and "District 9".

Remember, we conduct the show on Skype under the username "agentx216". We ask that you mute your microphone and use the chat option to request to be heard.

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-257685.mp3

You can download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Lucky Number Slevin - Review

2009-08-22T11:58:00.001-07:00

Lucky Number Slevin

There are relatively few good mystery movies made these days. The few exceptions being "Snatch", "Se7en", and maybe "Brick"; among a few others. However, with the exception of the last movie, most are movies where the mystery isn't the main story's focus. If a movie is a mystery the story and/or the characters are uninteresting, unrealistic, or just poorly executed.

Directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Jason Smilovic, "Lucky Number Slevin" hosts an impressive cast. Josh Hartnett, who plays the lead, Lucky Lu, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley make this movie even more impressive. It's always hard to review a mystery movie. You have to be careful to not reveal too much but the description has to be good enough.

Slevin has been having a rough couple of days. He's lost his job, his house is condemned, his girlfriend cheated on his, he's been mugged, and, oh ya, two mafia bosses believe he's someone else and if he doesn't do what they says...he's a dead man. One boss wants Slevin to kill the other boss' son. The other boss wants a large sum of money the man who he thinks Slevin is owes. What unfolds is a series of interesting events that is both interesting to watch unfold and entertaining to see what Slevin says.

Grade - A+

Yes, this is a really good movie. The writing of the plot is believable and entertaining. There are a few serendipitous moments but they don't feel like they're outside the realm of possibility. That's trouble that today's mystery movies have. The writing for the characters is also impeccably done. Josh Hartnett as Slevin some comedic lines that Josh delivers really well. I would love to see Josh play another type of character like this. Slevin reminds me of a character Ryan Reynolds would play, but Josh does a great job with the role. Lucy Lu is a delight to watch as well. She is spontaneous and charismatic. This is really outside the norm for the roles she plays. Usually she's uptight and high strung and controlling; not here she isn't and I would love to see her in a similar role. I do believe this has to be her finest acting role I have ever seen her in; and she's absolutely adorable in this. The only person I wasn't really hot for is Ben Kingsley. However, I've always had a problem with Ben. He usually tries to take just about any role offered to him in a way that reminds me of Christopher Walken. However, Kingsley has a lot of "misses" more than he has "hits". When he's in a movie, I usually groan at his appearance and character. The plot unfolds nicely, however, the wrap up tends to be a bit longer than usual. However, this isn't like a Riddler's riddle from the "Batman" TV show. You know, one of those riddles where you'd have to live in Gotham to actually get the answer. You are given all the clues and it's pretty straightforward. It's not a "Fight Club" ending shock, but it is executed perfectly. Watching this movie was a real pleasure and I was sad to see it over as quickly as it felt. I would almost like to see a sequel made.

Spies Like Us - Movie Review

2009-08-05T00:23:00.001-07:00

Spies Like Us

1985. The Cold War is still going on with no end in sight (we just had to wait about five more years). American’s view of the Soviet Union has turned into a more laughable state and a less serious tone is taken with respect to them. There’s the socio-political-economic factors that led to this new view sure. However, I blame media! In the ‘50s you had movies like “The Day The Earth Stood Still” and probably the best parallel to “communists among us” McCarthism paranoia, “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers”. Yet, times changed and with it both countries grew. Late night hosts found out it was ok to make jokes about “the Reds” and you also had more and more movies look at Russia in a new light. Not one of fear and treachery, but something that could be parodied and made fun of. A popular, more softer look at the USSR made the Iron Curtain look more like the Velvet Curtain. “Spies Like Us” is one of those movies that help end the Cold War!

This film is directed by genius director, John Landis, who I believe had his hand in everything ever made. On top of that you have two ‘80s comedic superstars, Chevy Chase and, the comedicly underrated, Dan Aykroyd. What’s that? You want more stars? Well how about directors Michael Apted, Martin Brest, Joel and Larry Cohen, Terry Gilliam, Frank Oz, Sam Raimi? Also there’s Ray Harryhausen, Robert Paynter, and Derek Meddings, B.B. King, and Bob Hope! Like I said, Landis had his hand in everything!

Two CIA agents, Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chevy Chase) and Austin Millbarge (Dan Aykroyd) are set up by rouge elements of the government to be decoys for two other agents whose mission it is to hijack a Soviet nuclear weapon. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the almost “Odd Couple” pair thwart every attempt to carry about what they believe is solely their objective. Does zaniness happen along the way?! Is “Rocky IV” the best Rocky? You betcha!

Grade – B-

Classic Landis directing and classic Aykroyd writing. This is on par with “Stripes”. You have some classic bits including the “Doctor doctor” scene. On top of that this movie is just classic ‘80s funny. The story kind of lags in the middle and almost makes you forget that the two spies are on a mission but it picks right back up again pretty quickly. It doesn’t matter that the storyline, ultimate goal, or events don’t really make sense or couldn’t really happen. This is just great fun and still good to watch today. It might be a bit dated for anyone who wasn’t alive in the ‘80s even a little, but it’s still a classic comedy. Oh, also for you “Weird Science” TV fans, you can thank this movie for starting Vanessa Angel’s career. She was the hot Russian woman Dan Aykroyd gets with! Now go listen to some Soul Finger!

The Abandoned - Movie Review

2009-08-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

The Abandoned

This movie is part of the “After Dark Horrorfest” of 2006; “One Of The 8 Films To Die For”. When I first saw the trailer for the eight films, I thought that maybe I would finally get some decent horror movies that would scare me, a combination of horror and thriller. However, the commercials promised what the product couldn’t produce. Since the start of these movies, they have shown only to be B grade horror movies. Usually there are maybe one or two that are good or decent, but the rest are just rubbish and bollix. So the question is, is this Nacho Cerda’ horror movie to die for or should this movie be abandoned?

The story is pretty simple. An adopted woman, Marie Jones (Anastasia Hille), sets out to Russia to find who her family was. Once there, she finds out who her mother was and where she lived. When she sets out to see if she can further uncover what happened to her mother, strange things begin to happen. Along the way she runs into people who act freaky around her and don’t answer her questions. She also runs into her brother, Nicolai (Karel Roden), that she never knew she had. Together, they try and find out what is going on.

Grade – F

This starts out as pretty much a typical horror film. Things go bump in the night, a car runs out of power in the middle of nowhere, and the main character goes out into woods and to an old house shouting, “Hello?!”. However, once you find yourself halfway through the movie and there’s not much happening, you don’t know what’s going on, you don’t know who the characters really are, and you don’t really care about anything in the movie you’re pretty much screwed. You’ve already wasted 45 minutes on the movie, you might as well press on. The editing of this movie is just awful. Jump cuts, freeze frames, unnecessary shaky views of household items permeate this picture. For example, Marie hits a guy with a big log and runs away from him. He catches up to her, she asks, “Who are you?!”, he gives her an evilish look…and then cut and all is calm and they’re sitting down talking calmly.

There are two main problems with this movie. First of all, none of the characters are built up. This sounds like there might be a slew of character this movie focuses on, but there are really only two people in this whole movie. You aren’t given what drives them, who they are as people, any background, or really even what kind of personality they have. There is one scene where Marie starts to freak out and she starts rambling about her freaking out but her character isn’t hashed out at all for you to understand what the heck she is talking about. About two thirds of the way through the movie, right as you’re about to get to the so-called climax of the film, the movie tries to build background for both characters in a jump shot of five minutes. Yet, there is no building up of the characters for us to care or even understand what they are going through. I found myself rooting for whatever was trying to kill them because I thought maybe it would be more interesting than our main characters!

The other thing this movie fails at is having a coherent plot. The storyline tries to unfold like M. Night Shyamalan of “The 6^th Sense fame” but ends up unfolding worse than M. Night Shyamalan of “The Happening” fame! Nicolai is trying to find out what happen to his parents and is just as in the dark as Marie. Then with freaky stuff is coming to a head, he suddenly knows what the heck is going on. How?! I don’t know! He seems to just be there to advance the plot. Also, the “reveal” is utterly confusing and I really have to say it makes no sense whatsoever. They’re dead, but not really, but they are, but they’re not, yet their ghosts, but their haunting themselves, but they….*sizzle, fry, burst into flames*. Captain Kirk just needed to show the androids in “I, Mudd” this movie for them to destroy themselves. This movie also has one count of unnecessary nudity. Flag on the field! Ten yard penalty!

This movie is just abject failure. Characters who are almost one dimentional, you don’t care anything about go on a mission that they think they will just happen upon only for stupid things to occur to them until they find out what’s going on which you won’t know yourself. Good job, Horrorfest, way to let me down. However, I can’t really blame them. After watching this dreck, I really felt this was a film that was going to kill me, or at least, make me kill myself from its stupidity.

Film Geeks - Episode 43

2009-07-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE43 - So This Is What's It's Like When Geeks Cry

Episode Notes: The geeks talk about all the movies that came out this week at the box office!!!...oh..no wait...the geeks talk about what were the saddest movies they ever saw. But, some movie news is back!

Sorry about the audio quality, Briney was experiencing some technical difficulties.

Listen to the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-246428.mp3

List to other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2009/07/prepare-to-have-childhood-memories-crushed-gi-joe-could-years-worst-movie.html
GI Joe - Dud?

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=57151
Ghost Rider 2 and Nick Cage looking like a huge douche!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i30319b161b10e5dcc3666148772f6d4f
Thor movie update

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/10/ryan-reynolds-is-the-green-lantern/
Who will be Green Lantern?

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/07/14/the-ultimate-3d-movie-preview-and-release-date-schedule/
3D up the wazoo!

http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/Comedy/RiffTrax.aspx
See Plan 9 From Outer Space...ON THE BIG SCREEN!

Saddest Movies

- Saving Private Ryan
- E.T.
- Passion Of The Christ
- The Notebook
- Pay It Forward
- American Beauty
- The Elephant Man
- Old Yeller
- A Beautiful Life
- Field Of Dreams
- Brian's Song
- Joseph - The Bible Series
- Never Ending Story
- Click
- Charloette's Web
- Ladder 51

Film Geeks - Episode 42

2009-07-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

EPISODE42 - Geeks Of Oz - Terminators, Transformers, And Treks...Oh My!

Episode Notes: This week the geeks talk about Transformers 2 and their thoughts. Also they will be going back to two of the most talked about movies this summer - Star Trek and Terminator 4.

Listen to the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-240686.mp3

Listen to other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Film Geeks is also listed on iTunes and they even have a Twitter account...before it was cool!

Check the right side of the page for other links!

Film Geeks - Episdoe 41

2009-06-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Film Geeks - EPISODE 41 - The Geeks Vs. Hollywood

Episode Notes: THE GEEKS ARE BACK! A tale of where they have been, what's been going on, a re-introduction...and then they blast Hollywood for the lackluster line up!

Listen to the podcast here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-237943.mp3

Listen to other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Nosferatu (1922) - Movie Review

2009-06-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

Nosferatu (1922)

Ever since the advent of movies, filmmakers have loved making horror movies. One of the first most influential horror movies was “The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920). If you believe that filmmakers back then just shot anything because it was a new technology to make money, then you haven’t seen some of these old classics. Where this movie launched a generation of horror movies to follow, “Nosferatu” took a more realistic and therefore scarier look at what the horror genre could do for the budding movie industry.

Trivia note: “Nosferatu” was so scary, that in Sweden it was banned for “excessive horror” …until 1972.

While I can’t say I completely understand the mindset of people in the 1920s on what they would actually consider “excessive horror”, because honestly there isn’t a scene showing Nosferatu feeding anyone or anything really that would be considered violent. However, that’s the beauty of this horror flick.

The story is pretty simplistic really. Count Orlok (which was the change from Count Dracula because director F.W. Murnau couldn’t obtain the rights from Bram Stoker’s widow) is looking to acquire a new residence in Wisburg. He contacts one of his henchmen to send a realtor to his castle in Transylvania. Enter Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim. This young man believes he will make a large commission to provide for his wife (Greta Schroder) better if he travels to the far land and sells the Count the rundown properly across from his place. His wife begs him to stay as her women’s intuition is tingling. However, Hutter is very adamant about wanting to show his wife how much he loves her. He travels over the Carpathian mountains where he stays the night with some Gypsies and they beg him not to go and warn him about the evil that resides in the castle. This is probably one of the first signature mistakes of a horror movie ever filmed! Of course he doesn’t listen to them and is flippant about the whole thing. After meeting with the very creppy Count Orlok (Max Schreck), Hutter presents the claim to the deed. Orlok notices of picture of Hutter’s wife and comments what a beautiful neck she has…would you call that neck-rophilia!!! HA HA…ah…umm…

Hutter cuts himself and Orlok can’t help but to suck his blood. This freaks Hutter out a little bit but he still decides to stay in the castle. As Hutter sleeps, he is visited by Orlok who has shown himself to be a vampire and feeds on Hutter, even though you never see it.

The Count, through the night, loads up coffins filled with dirt on a cart (sleeping in the dirt from where he was buried allows Orlok to travel wherever he may like) and leaves Hutter.

Hutter must escape the castle, the mountains, and his own weak body to try and stop Orlok from feeding on his home city…and his wife!

Grade – B+

This truly is a eerily scary movie. Orlok is only on screen for about eight minutes but his presence is always dramatic and terrifying. Heck, even the shadow scenes are scary.

F.W. Murnau did a wonderful job shooting wonderful scenery, using practical and special effects of the time. What are the most powerfully shot scenes are those of Nosferatu. The door opens on its own and in walks Nosferatu, the coffin’s lid is raised and Nosferatu rises as stiff as a board, even Orlok carrying huge coffins with one hand is eerie.

There are three points that I can show some negative on, however I do not know if it’s the movie’s fault or if it was just the style of acting and movie making back then. First, I have a problem with how extreme Hutter acts. He is rather a hyper character who I didn’t really root for. I didn’t feel like he was the hero or that he could even do anything to save his wife. Next, his wife, Ellen, also acts like a schizophrenic when she tells him not to go, sees him off, waits for him, and causes a ruckus at her sister-in-law’s place where she is staying. Her actions probably should have gotten her committed as she wails and runs to and fro over how much danger Hutter is in. Finally, the film really peters along. It is a slow moving film and could have been shortened about twenty minutes. Again, this might have been the style of filmmaking back then, but editing did exist back then.

Overall, the atmosphere and the vampire make this silent movie a jewel to watch. This movie helped to spawn a generation of horror flicks that still entices our imagination with the phantasmagoric and helps us imagine a land of vampires, ghosts, and monsters.

The Invasion - Review

2009-04-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Invasion

How many times have we seen “The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” remade? What was once considered a perfect analogy for the infiltration of communism in America during the “Red Scare” during the McCarthy era, has been made, remade, rehashed, updated, tweaked, re-released, and any other kind of euphemism since ever since the original 1956 movie. If I may be so forward, I think the story has played itself out. Without the back drop of the ever impending communist who can blend in with the capitalistic society in the United States, who can act like us, talk like us, go to the same schools, walk through our church doors, and who can drink anything other than vodka, the real meaning of the story has been lost on us. Even taking the story in the strictest Sci-Fi sense of “anyone could be an alien”, this storyline is about as tired as the Mutant Registration Act is to the Marvel universe.

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (“Downfall”) and written by David Kajganich (hasn’t done anything else), “The Invasion” feels like a cross between a zombie movie, “War of the Worlds”, and I’m sorry to say that it has just the hint of “The Happening”.

After the crash of US space shuttle “Patriot”, people start becoming infected with an organism that takes over their body during their sleep. Of course, no one really knows about this until it becomes so out of control. These “body snatchers” are devoid of high levels of emotion that we humans feel. As the invasion increases in the number of infected, we see that the result of it being a new era in peace and prosperity. Carol Bennell, played by Nicole Kidman (“Eyes Wide Shut”) wants to screw all that up. With the help of her doctor friend; Ben Driscoll, played by Mr. Pouty himself Daniel Craig (“Layered Cake”) they want to try and stop the take over of the human race by this outside alien force. The two discover that some people are immune to the virus and it just so happens that her son is one of them. Carol must find her son who is being held by her ex-husband, who also just happened to be the first infected, and rescue him to take him to a military lab. The aliens, however, are trying to root out people who are not infected yet. The aliens are bland and emotionless creatures so they resort to things like throwing people off buildings to see who in the crowd react. Carol must walk through the city and try to hide her emotions to get to her son. I do have to say, if you need someone to act emotionless and with as little passion as possible, Nicole Kidman is the perfect choice for the role.

Grade – B-

It almost begrudges me to say that I kind of enjoyed the movie. It was nice to see a modern alien invasion happen that doesn’t involve huge space ships blowing up everything. The aliens do feel like an opposite zombie-like creature. Of course there is a lot of running involved. The action is really decent for the flick which is kind of surprising seeing the Nicole Kidman is in it. This is also probably the best role Daniel Craig has been in. He can pout all he wants without destroying everything that makes James Bond James Bond. Of course there is a message in here but it’s not as smack-you-in-the-nose obvious that “The Happening” was. Mankind can only be mankind with the possibility of violence and war and all the bad things we do. I guess the final message of the movie is “Is it worth it?”. If that’s the case, I don’t think this movie really made it enough. You see news clips throughout the movie of the changes like President George W. Bush meeting with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the end of the Iraq War, and other peace in our time events. One of my main problems with the movie is that you cannot really tell how much of the world has been infected. You have Bush infected but there’s a military lab/outpost that is still trying to find a cure. You have a whole, large city infected but there is a quarantine/road block established. The main ending is kind of nice to see but it’s a complete departure from the source material. To summarize, a bland, emotionless Nicole Kidman must act bland and emotionless, aliens want to take us all over, and mankind sucks. Now go have fun at the movies!

Abraham - The Bible - Review

2009-04-24T23:09:00.001-07:00

Abraham – The Bible

The Bible Collection has been a personal favorite of mine after watching “Joseph – The Bible”. Even the lesser ones have a decent amount of drama and a well written and well paced storyline. Also, for the most part, the story stays with the source material. That’s The Bible for all you heathens out there. Believers and non can enjoy these movies for being well produced, dramatic stories that at least make you appreciate what these real life people may have went through. However, one of the main problems I have with this series is that the writers seem to make the central figures a bit too human. What I mean by that is that by taking a lot away from the “religiousness” of what makes these people inspirations, the writers tend to weaken the characters to a point where it’s almost laughable that central points and peoples hinged on what they did and what hey stood for. “Abraham – The Bible” probably illustrates this point most of all.

Directed by Joseph Sargent (“Miss Evers’ Boys”) and written by Robert McKee (“Mrs. Columbo), the story follows Abraham, played by Richard Harris (“Gladiator”) from his days before being called by God to father “a great nation” that would become known as Israel and goes through leaving his home to establish a new one. Along the way he and his wife; Sarah, played by Barbara Heshey (“The Right Stuff”) must deal with forsaking the old, false gods, the birth of the Arab nation with the birth of Ishmael, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and building up a people that would be counted like the “grains of sand”.

Grade – C-

The visuals of this movie are very banal. Usually this series has a certain “olden day” like feel to it. Abraham taking his people through the desert and meeting Mekhizedek feels like they just took twelve people and made them wander just outside the deserts of California. On top of that, the number of people in the cast lack any impressiveness. Yes, it is suppose to be Abraham’s early days but the feel to the movie is that there’s an old guy who wants to leave his home and takes about a dozen people with him and that’s about it. There are no impressive cities or landscapes that other “The Bible” movies have. It’s a very lackluster visual exercise.

Abraham is also a very boring character which is sad because with talent like Richard Harris, I thought I’d feel more…well, feeling for this important figure head of a great people. Abraham appears just as a crazy old coot when he is smashing the false idols in his original home. His visions when God is talking to him makes him to be more a mad man than someone who the Almighty had conversations with and who was so impressive that the Creator made him this patriarchal man. Both Lot and Sarah feel like very distant secondary characters even though they play a huge role in the real story. The acting of everyone in this movie just feels off from what it should be. In fact, the best acted and most interesting character in the whole movie is actually Mekhizedek; and he’s really not in The Bible all that much! The almost sacrifice of Isaac did not invoke a lot of emotion. Usually with this specific series I usually shed a tear or two. However, this movie made me yawn more than inspire me or fill me with awe. If I knew nothing about the real Abraham I would have had a really poor view of him after viewing this movie. This is probably one of the movies in the series you might want to skip.

Film Geeks - Episode 30 - Geek Movie Rundown III

2009-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Title: EPISODE40 - Geek Moive Rundow III - Rise Of The Geeks

Episode Notes: For this installment of the Geek Movie Rundown we talk about a whole slew of movies. Gran Torino, Slumdog Millionaire, Once, Resident Evil Degeneration, Into The Wild, The Graduate, Vertigo, The Nines, Sunshine, Empire Records, The Anarchist Cookbook, and 187. Wow, do we even have a life?

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-183020.mp3

Download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/12/03/j-michael-straczynski-on-world-war-z-the-scale-of-what-were-doing-here-is-phenomenal
World War Z - The Movie

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/01/17/heath_ledger_was_offered_spider_man_role
Heath Ledger was not Spider-man which means Toby McGuire was not The Joker..PHEW!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39797
Foundation Series brought to you by a guy who hasn't made a good movie in over 10 years

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2079648bd224e2c8075db99d3217979a
Settlement for Watchmen...FINALLY!

Movies Talked About:

- Gan Torino
- Love And Other Disasters
- Resident Evil - Degeneration
- Once
- Vertigo
- The Nines
- Empire Records
- The Anarchist Cookbook
- 187

- Into The Wild
- The Graduate
- Sunshine
- Slumdog Millionaire

Film Geeks - Episdoe 39

2008-12-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

Title: EPISODE39 - You Are Geeking Kidding Me!

Episode Notes: Movie news, Is The Spirit worse Battlefield Earth?, and a really fun gripe session.

Download the episode here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-176930.mp3

Download other episodes here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081219/film_nm/us_ryan_1
- Next Jack Ryan movie will NOT be based on a book

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081229/ap_en_ot/film_watchmen_suit
- Watchman stopped from release...for now

http://www.moviemake-out.com/2008/12/19/two-women-named-as-first-cast-for-tron-sequel/
- New Tron movie already started casting

http://www.moviemake-out.com/2008/12/19/stephen-chow-no-longer-directing-green-hornet/
- Green Hornet movie on hold

http://www.moviemake-out.com/2008/12/20/frank-miller-may%E2%80%94or-may-not%E2%80%94have-next-sights-set-on-buck-rogers/
- Frank Miller may write Buck Rogers movie

http://www.moviemake-out.com/2008/12/21/judge-dredd-returning-to-theaters/
- Judge Dredd might return to theaters

Follow up:
The Spirit

Unbelievable Movie Moments
- Harriers still work - Battlefield Earth*
- 1024 bit encryption broken in 1 minute - Swordfish*
- Monkeys hate commiest - Indy 4*
- Run from the wind - The Happening*
- Aliens that die from water come to Earth - Signs*
- Send a blind woman to get help - The Village*
- Underhand toss strikes out pro player - Rookie Of The Year*
- No one on a train in NYC will tell who Spider-Man is - Spider-Man 2*
- Aliens are some chick's father so as to not scare her - Contact*
- You can jump anything over anything - Speed*
- You can beat a raptor with gymnastics - The Lost World*
- 666 is 999 in your dreams and if you add a 1 to it you get the year 1999 - End Of Days*
- What happens when a frog gets struck by lightning? Same thing as everything - X-Men*
- The definition of "pain" changes - Roadhouse*
- You can survive explositions - War of the Worlds (2005)*
- Aliens travel in lightning - War of the Worlds (2005)*
- Julia Roberts plays Julia Roberts - Ocean's 12*
- Immortals are aliens - Highlander II (Original Cut)*
- Flying car - Grease*
- "evil" Peter Parker - Spider-Man 3*
- Captain doesn't fire on the Black Pearl - Pirates 3*
- Walking from PA to NYC in the snow on foot - Day After Tomorrow*
- Knock off a bomb with a car flip and a crane hook - Transporter 2*

- Housewife is old superhero - Hancock*
- Fridge nuke - Indy 4*

Film Geeks - Episode 38

2008-12-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

Title: EPISODE38 - Geek Movie Rundown II - The Geeking

Episode Notes: Our heroes talk about Transporter 3, The Punisher - War Zone, Blood Diamond, The *shiver* Happening, The 10 Commandments, and a few more...plus movie news!

Download the episode here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-173226.mp3

Download other episodes here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Show Notes

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39336
What's better than zombies? Nazi Zombies

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39450
The Spirit <>

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/12/the_black_list_2008_the_full_l.html?fark
Stupid Scripts

Movies

Transporter 3
The Punisher - War Zone
The Happening
Day Of The Dead
Land Of The Dead
Tin Man

Blood Diamond
The 10 Commandments

Film Geeks - Episode 37

2008-11-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

EPISODE37 - A Real Geek RocknRolla By Twilight

Episode Notes: This week the geeks discuss RocknRolla, the new Guy Richie flick; Twilight, as well as other movies they've seen throughout the week and some new trailers.

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-166958.mp3

Download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

2012 Vs. 2012...Bay Vs. Emmerich

Trailer Run Down

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/race-to-witch-mountain/trailer

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/che/international-teaser-trailer

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/thetaleofdespereaux/

Movies reviewed
- RocknRolla
- Twilight
- Leatherheads
- 300
- The Bank Job

Film Geeks - James Bond Show

2008-11-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

Title: EPISODE36 - Double-O-Geek

Episode Notes: Geeks...Film Geeks. We'll take our Mountain Dew stirred, not shaken. Quantum Of Solace review by Patrick. Plus we'll discuss other Bond films of yore. Join us for the guns, chick, cars, explosions, chicks, and one liners.

Download this show - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-164997.mp3

Download other shows - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=50392
New The Spirit Trailer

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/2012/teaser-trailer
2012 Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EradGWJNsl4&eurl=http://cgi.fark.com/cgi/fark/vidplayer.pl?IDLink=4022188
Star Trek Trailer

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/11/14/action_reaction/
Boston Globe's review of Quantum of Solace

Show Notes:

Quantum Of Solace review

What makes James Bond good?

Favorite James Bond movie? Worst?
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Goldfinger

- Goldeneye

- Use to think On Her Majesty's Secret Service was
- Casino Royale 1st; Quantum of Solace 2nd

- Moonraker

Favorite James Bond villian? Worst?
Goldfinger - he's a thinking villian but still a classic Bond villian
Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd - just so weird

- Jaws

Mr. Big - Live And Let Die
Anyone - Casino Royale/Quantum of Solace

Favorite James Bond gadget? Least favorite?
Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger - bulletproof glass, bullet shield, revolving license plates, smoke screen, oil slick, machine guns, tire shredders,...AND EJECTION SEAT or the briefcase from From Russia With Love

- Laser watch

Least - Pen from Goldeneye

- Car from Tomorrow Never Dies

Film Geeks - Episode 35 - Geek Movie Rundown

2008-11-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

EPISODE35 - Geek Movie Rundown

Episode Notes: This week we are covering a plethora of movies! "Zach And Miri Make A Porno", "Role Models", "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines", and "Total Recall 2"! Yes...there was a sequel to "Total Recall".

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-162600.mp3

Download other Film Geek shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://www.sffmedia.com/films/science-fiction-films/247-leaked-terminator-salvation-clips-bale-battles-10-terminator-models-.html
T4 - Update and Time Travel discussion from the Film Geeks....again!

http://dlisted.com/node/29187
Will Beyonce Be Spiderman 3 for women superheroes?

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/jackson%20plans%20busy%202009%20as%20nick%20fury_1086051
Sam Jackson likes money

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/mccartney%20to%20voice%20shrek%204%20character_1086044
British Beatle in Shrek 4? Why another Shrek? *Patrick misreads the story and makes an even bigger fool of himself*

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/11/67369/
Sad news...why not just get some DNA?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/up/
Briney sits up for Pixars new movie...."Up". Ooo I made a funny.

Movies reviewed:

Zach And Miri Make A Porno
Role Models
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Total Recall 2070
T3

Email show ideas or movies to review to us! film.geeks@yahoo.com

Film Geeks - Halloween Special

2008-10-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE34 - You Scared The Geek Out Of Me!

Episode Notes: Yes, All Hallow's Eve is upon us and while some of us are anticipating hot chicks in sexy costumes, others are planning for an entire horror movie fest, when the sun sets and the lights go out. We're discussing horror movies of all varieties. Also Patrick shares his review of Max Payne.

Download this show - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-158723.mp3

Download other shows - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

http://geeksofdoom.com/2008/10/24/the-doom-dispatch-payne-vs-payne-great-games-terrible-movies/
Max Payne - Game Vs. Movie

http://movies.ign.com/articles/922/922515p1.html
Doctor Strange movie

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/gran-torino/trailer
Clint Eastwood's new movie - Gran Torino Trailer

Patrick's Review Of Max Payne
* due to the seething and bad words like "hiney" and "sucks" Patrick used in the written review you're going to have to listen to the show to get his take on the movie.

Scariest Movie Ever Seen
- The Exorcist
- Texas Chainsaw Massacrew (2003)

Stupidest Scary Movie That Was Trying To Be
- The Blair Witch Project
- Teeth
- The Ring

Scary Movie That Was Fun
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space
- Evil Dead Series
- The Gingerdead Man
- Trolls 2
- Santa's Slay

Most Creative Scary Movie
- Scream
- Saw

Scary Movie That Shouldn't Have Been Good But Was
- The Stand
- Carrie

Best Remake Of A Scary Movie
- Dawn Of The Dead
- Texas Chainsaw Massacrew

Worst Remake Of A Scary Movie
- House On Haunted Hill
- 13 Ghosts

Classic Scary Movie That Really Isn't That Scary
- Halloween
- Nightmare On Elm Street
- Interview With The Vampire

Old Scary Movies
- Them!
- House On Haunted Hill
- 13 Ghosts

Film Geeks - Episode 33 - Geek Smorgasbord

2008-10-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE33 - Geek Smorgasbord

Episode Notes: We are going to be covering a variety of topics including movies we're ashamed to admit we've seen, movies we liked when we saw them but don't know what we were thinking, and movies that would make the jockiest jock cry.

Download This Episode Here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-157066.mp3

Download Other Episodes - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081014/en_nm/us_ironman
Terrance Howard out, Don Cheadle in for Ironman 2

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/spidermansequels_blog.html
Update on Spiderman 4 and 5

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/efron%20to%20star%20in%20pirates%20of%20the%20caribbean%204_1083892
Another Pirates Of The Caribbean movie

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38764
No more He-Man

Smorgasbord

Patrick's Picks are first, then Briney's are after the space

Movies You Don't Like To Admit You've Watched
- Glitter
- Bring It On
- Crossroads
- Power Rangers - The Movie

- Bring It On
- Serendipity

Movies You Don't Like To Admit You Like
- Wing Commander
- Signs
- Pride And Prejudice
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin
- Legally Blonde
- The Animal
- Hudson Hawk
- High School Musical 1 + 2

- Wing Commander
- Signs
- I, Robot
- Blades Of Glory (mindless comedy movies)
- Zoolander

Movies You Saw Before And Liked But Now You Ask Yourself, "What Was I Thinking?!"
- Willow
- Water Boy
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3

- Pearl Harbor
- The Hulk

Movies That Made You Cry
- E.T.
- Passion Of The Christ
- Saving Private Ryan

- Passion Of The Christ
- Saving Private Ryan
- Pearl Harbor
- Click
- What Women Want
- October Sky
- Band Of Brothers

Movies With Amazing Music - Either Score Or Soundtrack

Scores:
- Star Wars series
- The Passion Of The Christ
- Gettysburg

- Lord Of The Rings
- 300
- Gladiator
- Transformers
- Troy
- 28 Days Later

Soundtracks:
- Matrix
- The Punisher
- Little Nicki
- The X-Files

- Ocean's Series
- Crash
- V For Vendetta

Movies You've Walked Out On Or Just Couldn't Finish
- Time Bandits
- Magnolia
- Fantasia

- Fight Club
- The Good Shepard

Movies That You Didn't Think You'd Get Through But Did
- Spiderman 3
- Pirates Of The Caribbean 3
- The Castle Of Fu Manchu
- Little Nicki
- What Dreams May Come
- Man Of The Year

- Pirates Of The Caribbean 3

Film Geeks - Episode 32 - Sports Night

2008-10-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE32 - Geeks And Jocks Collide

Episode Notes: Geeks talking about sports movies?! Someone's getting stuffed into the locker at the end of this episode. Which ones did we think hit a home run and which one made us throw a flag on the play. Tune in for even better sports puns!

Download the episode here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-153266.mp3

Download other episodes here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/harrison-ford-s.html
Indy 5?
South Park rape.
Indiana Jones Meets Han Solo
http://theonewhereindianajonesmeetshansolo.blogspot.com/
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4358/3120/1600/SWT_19_6_Unknown_10.0.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4358/3120/1600/SWT_19_6_Unknown_09.jpg

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Christopher-Nolan-Signed-For-Batman-3-10427.html
Nolan on for Batman 3
http://stars.ign.com/articles/916/916194p1.html
IGN's - Characters We Don't Want In Batman 3

http://www.hecklerspray.com/steven-seagal-under-seige-3-space-really/200816505.php
Under Siege 3....IN SPACE!

Sports Movies
* = ones we talked about

Good:
- Rookie Of The Year*
- The Sandlot*
- Bryan's Song
- A League Of Their Own*
- Cool Runnings
- Cutting Edge
- Invincible
- Rocky series - Especially IV and VI
- Hoosiers
- Mighty Ducks 1 - and 1 only
- Eight Men Out
- The Bad News Bears (1976)
- Field Of Dreams
- Remember The Titans*
- Major Leauge
- Facing The Giants*
- Rudy*
- Angels In The Outfield*
- For The Love Of The Game
- Pride Of The Yankees
- Brian's Song*
- Happy Gilmore
- Miracle
- Chariots Of Fire
- Victory
- Friday Night Lights

Bad:
- Waterboy*
- Any Given Sunday
- Rollerball (2001)
- Kingpin
- Bring It On
- Radio
- Varsity Blues*
- Million Dollar Baby
- Wimbledon

Just okay:
- We Are Marshall
- The Replacements
- White Men Can't Jump
- Space Jam
- The Natural
- Caddyshack
- The Big Green
- Little Giants
- Mean Machine
- Any sports movie involving Will Ferrell
- Tin Cup

Film Geeks - Episode 31

2008-09-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

Title: EPISODE31 - Geeks Behind Bars

Episode Notes: We didn't do it! It was the one armed man! After a week off we're back...this time we're going to discuss prison movies. From those who are innocent, to those who aren't, and to even the POW camps. (NOTE - The reason for the last posting is exactly why we record in Skype. Talkshoe fails at everything it every attempts to do)

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-151227.mp3

Download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080925/en_top_eo/30975
A new Batman for JLA movie

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/27/paul.newman.dead/
Paul Newman dies at 83

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86486
- Useless MPAA
- Marky Mark - kid friendly?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-09-25-fireproof_N.htm?csp=34
Kirk Cameron's new movie accounts for 41% of movie tickets being sold on Fandango

http://www.avclub.com/content/cinema/fireproof
A review finding the movie bad - showing you why Hollywood and the typical crew of critics are out of it

BONUS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSjP2GBTr9U&
Mark Hamill's Star Wars audition tape (a taste at how much the script changed)

Movie Reviews:
- Burn After Reading - C- for Patrick
- Eagle Eye - B- for Briney
- Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder
- The Fall

Prison Movies:
* = talked about
- The Shawshank Redemtion*
- The Last Castle*
- The Great Escape
- Stalag 17
- Escape From Alcatraz*
- Death Race
- Cool Hand Luke*
- Bridge On The River Kwai
- The Green Mile*
- Alien 3
- Andersonville
- Sleepers
- The Rock - close enough!
- Escape From New York/L.A.
- American History X
- Schindler's List
- The Count Of Monte Cristo
- Brubaker

Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder - Review

2008-09-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder

There was a lot of talk going on about this movie before it even came out. It's almost unheard of for movies that go straight to DVD would get any ink. It's even more unheard of that any movie that is a sequel to the abomination that "Starship Troopers 2 - Hero Of The Federation" was. That movie was so bad it almost didn't make it into my collection of bad movies it was so bad. The biggest theory I heard about this installment was that it would follow the book, written by Robert A. Heinlein, and that it might just start all over again - another re-imagination movie. The other rumor was Casper Van Dien would come back to reprise his role as Johnny Rico. Only one of these rumors came true. As you can tell from the movie cover, Johnny Rico is back!

The one good thing that can be said about this installment of the series is at least this sequel has a semblance of a plot (unlike two). The never ending war with the bugs is still ongoing. Both sides have made advances and suffered setbacks. Colonel Johnny Rico is in command of a battle with the bugs on a farmer's planet. The site is overrun and it just so happens that a beloved singing Sky Marshall, Omar Anoke (played by Stephen Hogan) must flee from the planet causing the Sky Marshall and his crew to crash lands on a bug controlled planet OM-1. Johnny Rico is blamed for the loss of the planet and the Sky Marshall's MIA status is kept under wraps. The Sky Marshall is accompanied by his ship's pilot, Captain Lola Beck (played by Jolene Blalock who you might know for playing Sub-Commander T'Pol in "Star Trek - Enterprise"); cook, Jingo Ryan (played by Cokey Falkow); flight attendant, Holly Little (played by Marnette Patterson); and another marine, Chief Bull Brittles (played by Stelio Savante). The planet seems a little too quiet and the Sky Marshall seems to be loosing it. Although it appears that this crew didn't just happen upon this planet. Maybe God or bug, chose them to crash land on OM-1. Meanwhile, Johnny Ricco is saved from the noose by his friend General Dix Hauser (played by Boris Kodjoe) and is recited to the super secret Marauder program to go and rescue the Sky Marshall.

Grade - C+

First off let me say that this movie is NOT "Starship Troopers 2". In fact, it is on par with the cheese factor that the original movie had going for it. However, I do not understand why we cannot have another big battle with man and bug rather than an outcropping of people being forced to try to get off another planet where the bugs seem to have more in store than just to kill them all. The fake commercials show up a lot more in this one and add to the storyline. They are a lot cheesier which make them kind of more fun to watch than the actual movie. The main story is a bit too far fetched to me but comparing to movie two this is Casablanca with bugs! I have to say the biggest disappointment is the relatively few scenes with Johnny Rico and his character feels more like a cameo appearance than a real character. Jolene Blalock is not hard on the eyes and she turned me into putty holding various weapons and wearing a flight suit. Don't worry either, there is a scene dedicated to naked people that has no purpose to the movie; this is a constant staple that runs throughout all the movies.

With the animated version of this series it should come to no surprise what the Marauder program is. The Marauder program is the typical progression of the technology in these movies. They're mechs; clear and simple.

A little light on Rico and action, a decent subplot involving religion, more use of cheesy fake commercials that actually moves the story along make this installment an average movie. At least this one isn't number two. When the question was asked in that movie if I "want to live forever?", I would have taken my own life rather than watch that movie. With number three, I wouldn't mind watching more installments with Jolene Blalock, Marnette Patterson, and Cécile Breccia in it. That is, as long as I don't have to watch them in "Starship Troopers 2" director's "enhanced" cut.

Film Geeks - Episode 30

2008-09-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE30 - Geek Riff

Episode Notes: The Geeks Riff this week on movie news, movies they've seen this week, and whatever else comes up

Download the show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-147299.mp3

Download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2008/09/david-boreanaz-and-carla-gugin.html
"Angel" as the Green Lanter

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/director%20bays%20apartment%20burgled_1080252
Briney has Michael Bay's underwear collection

http://mst3k.booyaka.com/mimosa/the_hand_that_time_forgot.html
Manos: The Hands Of Fate back story

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/12/future.cinema/index.html
3-D Movies Making A Come Back

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/09/oscar.outlook.ap/index.html
No Dark Knight, No Oscar For You

Film Geeks - Episode 29 - 12 Angry Geeks

2008-09-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE29 - 12 Angry Geeks

Episode Notes: And the father of the baby is... With my dying breath, the money's location is... The killer is *lights off, a scream, and a shot*... the detective is...DEAD! This week we'll be talking about the most dramatic movies we've seen and why we go so wrapped up into them. We cover some movie news and where the technology is going to take us and where WE want it to go.

Remember we now record on Skype for betting audio quality. The username is "agentx216" and we ask you to mute your microphone and if you want to come in an talk just type it in the chat.

Download the show - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-145163.mp3

Other shows - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://www.variety.com/VR1117991656.html
Big Budget Chances

http://www.businesssheet.com/2008/9/christopher-nolan-not-making-another-batman-movie
Batman news

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rosemary-s-Baby-Remake-Confirmed-8144.html
Jessica "Rosemary" Alba?

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/exclusive-sony-sets-sam-raimi-studio-may-shoot-4-and-5-at-same-time/
Spidy 4 and 5 Suck-a-thon

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3id9a975e26c8545c58af3176ddf00e637
Inside Man 2?

Dramatic Movies:

* - movies talked about

- 12 Angry Men*
- A Few Good Men
- Apollo 13*
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)*
- Casablanca
- The Shawshank Redemtion
- The 6th Sense
- The Young Mr. Lincoln
- Crimson Tide
- Do The Right Thing
- Failsafe
- Martian Child
- Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
- Rear Window - pretty much anything by Alfred Hitchcock
- Phone Booth*
- To Kill A Mocking Bird
- 25th Hour
- Inside Man*
- Cube
- The Mothman Prophecies
- The Never Ending Story*
- Star Wars - Episode IV - A New Hope
- Signs
- Right At Your Door
- Shooter
- John Q

Film Geeks - Disaster/End Of The World Movies Episode

2008-09-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE28 - Every Geek And Sexy Scientist For Themselves!

Episode Notes: Ever been involved in a Twister or at the End Of Days? Aliens invade your Independence Day party or you live in Kansas and a nuke goes off and you have to survive the Day After? Have you ever had to sit through Battlefield Earth? Then you will enjoy our show about disaster/end of the world movies!

Download the specific show here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-142220.mp3

Download other shows here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://io9.com/5042831/on-the-set-of-crank-2-whose-script-is-the-most-offensive-stathams-ever-read
Crank 2 star bashes the script

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080831/ap_en_mo/film_dark_knight
Dark Night surpasses 500 million

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/26/india.harry.potter.ap/index.html
India Harry Potter rip off?

http://www.allfacebook.com/2008/08/more-details-on-the-upcoming-facebook-movie/
Facebook movie

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/27/buy-a-role-in-spider-man-4/
Buy a role in Spider-Man 4

End Of The World/Disaster movies

* = ones we talked about

- Deep Impact*
- Right At Your Door*
- Armageddon*
- When Worlds Collide*
- Day After Tomorrow*
- Dr. Stranglove
- Left Behind
- Independence Day
- Mars Attack*
- Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
- Volcano*
- Failsafe*
- The Day After
- A Boy And His Dog*
- Mad Max
- The Core*
- 12 Monkies*
- I Am Legend*
- Omega Man
- Dante's Peak*
- Waterworld*
- Towering Inferno
- The Andromeda Strain
- Outbreak*
- End Of Days
- Twister
- Cloverfield
- War Of The Worlds - 1953
- War Of The Worlds - 2006

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - Review

2008-08-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

This movie is a staple of not only classic film noir but is also an example that Hollywood use to make good movies once. Filmed over a two month period and for the extravagant price of $300,000, the movie hosts smart directing, crafty writing, and a gala of talent that is not seen today. Of course, this is one of the first movies to be a remake of the original (the original being only ten years pervious in 1931, which was directed by Roy Del Ruth and starred Ricardo Cortez as the principle character). This is a movie which earns its accolades and is an enjoyment to watch in an age where extreme violence and nudity are a "must have" for you mystery/action/thriller movie.

Private detective, Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) finds himself hounded by police and ruffians after his partner, Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan), gets gunned down on a case they were working on. Spade must find out what the real motives of the beautiful dame, Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor), who hired them was really up to, who killed his partner, and find out just exactly what he's in the middle of. He comes to find out that the object of everyone's desire is an ebony falcon from Malta that is suppose to be covered in gold and jewels and from the ancient past. Sam's loyalty to the job and to the memory of his old partner is tested against the girl he might be in love with. He must also battle wits with the men; Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet), Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), and Wilmer Cook (Elisha Cook, Jr.); who aren't afraid to kill him if Spade doesn't have the leverage of where to find the sought after bird.

John Huston not only directed this movie but he wrote the screenplay from the novel by Dashiell Hammett. The movie is pretty much scene-for-scene and line-for-line exactly like the novel. Huston used storyboards that allowed him to focus more on camera movement and how a scene is set up which anyone looking can really tell the class that John Huston shows in his first directorial role. This film helped to define him not only as a bankable director/writer but also as an artist and credit to his profession.

When watching the acting in this you have to take in the fact that acting styles have changed since the early times of the industry. When a mystery movie wants to add tension you have the actors hold position and time almost seems to stand still. Lines today are delivered slower and are weighted to add tension. In this film, the acting is excellent when you watch it with an eye of the time. Sam Spade is your heartthrob character who makes it by the skin of his teeth but tries to put it out there like he knows exactly where everything is going. From the slight smile Bogey puts on his character you believe he has the case wrapped up - he just hasn't put all the puzzle pieces in place yet but he knows what the picture is. I bet you George Raft kicked himself for turning down this role later. Mary Astor in here delivers her lines very nicely and you can never get a handle on who she really is, which is the point of her character. The first acting job of Sydney Greenstreet is done marvelously. His character, Gutman (what else would you call a close to 400lb man?), has an err of gentlemen gangster. You just don't find that breed of criminal anymore. Not quick to anger and wanting people to take him at his word, even after he drugs you and has his henchmen kick you in the face. The characters deliver their lines a little bit too fast, but as I said, this is a different acting style that we are use to. Of course, it could be that Huston wanted Spade smarter than the audience watching it which is a gamble, especially in today's world of Stallones and Schwarzeneggers, where you don't have to worry about moving faster with their intellect.

Because Huston didn't change much to Hammett's novel (hint hint Hollywood of today), the story is amazing. You never really can figure out what happened until the Spade figures it out piece by piece and then he figures it all out at the very end and you feel as if you're only a step away with him talking out what happened. This type of mentality makes you feel a bit like Spade's Dr. Watson to his Sherlock; he's a little bit smarter and faster than you but you're right on his heels. The range that Spade has to go through lends a testament to the greatness that Humphrey Bogart was as an actor. Spade must act for the different people he meets to find out what he can but he also struggles with duty over love. The final reveal of who the killer of his partner had me in a tizzy and it's great to watch this classic movie in high definition for content and acting. I do have one little gripe, the audio quality is not as it could be. I do not know if it was a compression fault or just degradation of the film. Still, the writing of a great novel comes through in the three fold dimensions of directing, writing, and acting.

Grade - A+

There are some movies that are popular because people are told they are good. There are some movies that are popular because they are, indeed, great. This movie is the latter. John Huston shows himself to be a credit to his trade not only as a director but also a writer. He allows the original work to speak for itself and he only adds the pictures. Bogart is still the man as ever and he's still charming for today, even he does use "sweetheart" and "darling" that seems to almost diminish the female characters. Mary Astor does a great job of keeping you guessing to what her character is really all about and whether or not she is lying and when. Greenstreet's Gutman wonderfully portrays the old romantic gangster image of a gentlemen criminal. The cinematography shows the classic film noir style and it's a sadly missed style, in this reviewer's humble opinion. In today's crapfest of Hollywood rehashed and unoriginal dreck, this movie is "the stuff that dreams are made of".

Fido - Review

2008-08-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Fido

Recently, it seems as if the zombie genre has been teaming up with an unlikely partner - comedy. With the recent success of "Shaun Of The Dead" zombies can now be seen in a comedic light, and not just unintentional comedy either. "Shaun" is not the first movie to mar the two elements into a movie, Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive" is not only a zombie comedy but I think it's one of the most disturbing and just plain weird movies ever made. You also have "Army Of Darkness" lend a bit to the two genre combination. This movie is attempting to follow in the footsteps of movies like these.

This movie is a bit odd. The time that it takes place in is never revealed but it appears as if it's the future but we've reverted back to the 1950s. The movie even opens up with a 50's style newsreel about the zombie war. So mankind had fought against the zombie horde and pretty much won. They have developed communities that shelter themselves from attack and ZombCo has developed a control collar that stops a zombies craving for flesh and will take orders from the owner. That's all back story to a young Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray - seriously that's his name) who befriends a zombie he names Fido (Billy Connolly - yes Il Duce!). Fido is Timmy's only friend and his home life seems as if he more gets in the way of his parents, Bill (Dylan Baker) and Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss - she not butch or in leather in this one!). Fido's collar has problems one day and he eats part of the next-door neighbor. The story is about Billy protecting Fido and Fido learning his place as an undead person. Imagine it a bit like "Old Yeller" but instead of a dog it's a zombie!

Grade - C+

I really liked the 50's feel to this movie but there just wasn't enough plot for me to really get interested. The mom seems to switch character stance half way through the movie without explanation. Timmy also quickly changes from not liking zombies at all to loving one. It's the lack of caring about anything else that's really going on in the movie that hurts it. I would have liked to seen a focus on Timmy and Fido but you don't really get that. The scenes we do see are kind of sporadic in what the movie is trying to focus on but it never really stays with one for too long. My least favorite part is Fido doesn't end up needing his control collar...for some odd reason. This was the turning point where I just cared a lot less about the movie because it made no sense. The mother becomes my favorite character when she starts caring about her son (again for no reason whatsoever) and it's fun to see Carrie-Ann Moss pull off a 50's mom. Billy Connolly as a zombie is hilarious to see but his character changes from being a zombie to being a zombie who can control his urges. I wanted to like this movie more but without more of a plot and the constant changes of the character it's really hard for me to like this one a whole lot.

Film Geeks - Episode 27 Is Up

2008-08-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE27 - Geek Fan Fiction

Episode Notes: Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself, "Wow, this movie could have been better if it ended like this..." or "It would be better if it had this in it...". Join us for our picks and plots. Then we'll be hitting up the audience for their plots. You can even email them to film.geeks@yahoo.com. Remember we are recording on Skype now (username = agentx216) and we just ask that you mute yourself until you're called on.

Download This Show Here - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-140031.mp3

Other Show Can Be Found Here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

SHOW NOTES:

Movie New

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2008/08/04/arkham-asylum-scribe-grant-morrison-opens-up-heath-ledgers-joker-diary/
Heath Ledger's Joker Diary

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Wheel-Of-Time-Movie-Coming-9810.html
Wheel Of Time Movie - Geeks and Half Elves Rejoice

http://www.hecklerspray.com/venom-movie-pushed-forward-on-a-wave-of-unoriginality/200815624.php
Venom movie

http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=7598
Will Watchment get released?

http://movieblog.ugo.com/index.php/movieblog/more/campbell_talks_evil_dead_4/
Bruce Campbell and Evil Dead 4

http://gawker.com/5037992/robert-downey-jr-fuck-dc-comics
RDJr. says that Dark Knight is too smart so "f it"

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1593180/story.jhtml
Did Harvey Dent Die?

Fan Fiction

- Independence Day - The crashing attack ships at the end up taking out more people than the aliens killed. A new rush to use alien technology is sought after and Zimbabwe becomes a superpower after getting surviving aliens to build them weapons. American, China, and Russia join forces but are wiped our. President Whitmore drinks himself to death after downing two kegs by himself while playing Spaceballs on repeat and commenting how much of a hack Lonestar is. Meanwhile a crazed induced Capt. Miller decides that aliens have launched a secret war by impersonating humans and after killing his new wife and stepson, launches the entire nuclear arsenal of the US. Thus blowing up the world.

Donnie Darko - At the end Donnie decides not to die but instead see the Matrix and meets Brandon Routh's Superman. After Superman breaks down crying because of his not knowing his sexual identity or even why he's such a wussy Superman. Donnie Darko gives Superman a wedgie and boots him in the butt, sending Superman face planting into the moon.

The Matrix Revolution - Neo and the original Agent Smith square off surrounded by an entire world of Agent Smiths. The two titans stare each other down and sprint towards each other. A glint in Neo's eye stops him and Agent Smith at the same time right in mid stride. Five other Agent Smiths pull out a washboard, a banjo, a jug, and a jews harp. Neo and the Agent Smiths perform every musical number from Clint Eastwood's musical "Paint Your Wagon". Then they grab a beer at a nice Tex-Mex bar and grill and recount their tales of screwing around with the Matrix.

Alien Vs. Predator - The aliens don't kill all but three humans within the first three minutes of exploring the temple. Instead 3 scientists and 7 Marines are left to battle the Aliens and the Predators. The humans fight both the Predators and the Aliens. There are casualties on all sides. Two humans remain. The black chick scientist after getting marked for honor by the last surviving Predator waits until his back is turned and stabs him in the back killing him. She then dons on his armor and is taken to the Predator home world were she just go psycho and kills as many of them as she can until they elect her ruler over them and she sets up her throne on a stack of Predator skulls like Conan. Meanwhile, a crazed Marine sniper hollows out an Alien creature and uses the skin as armor. The Aliens can't tell the difference and they make there way to a ship and to the Alien home world. The Queen of all Queens is there in the middle of the city surrounded by billions of Aliens. He makes the mistake of sneezing. The Aliens attack him and present him to the Queen. Before she has a chance to eviscerate the Marine, lightning sends a few dozen Aliens from the middle of the party. A glowing ball expands and smoke clouds the object. A slow rising camera rises from the feet of the creature who came from the orb. It's a woman who's human name was Ripley, her eyes glow red, and we fade to black. Alien Vs. predator Vs. Terminator shows up on the screen.

Anchorman - In the last quarter of the movie, everyone stops making jokes and it quickly becomes an intense and exhaustive study on the effects of the main stream media being controlled by corporations and being in league with the federal government. People would not know what to do with the just drastic change in the story and tone and genre of the movie.

Back To The Future III - Doc Brown asks Marty to go on one last wild adventure with him on his time traveling train. Marty smiles at his girlfriend and they hop on. Marty asks where they are going. To which Doc replies, "well I've got to take these over due library books back so they won't be over due." Marty's grin widens and he says, "And thennnn?" Doc stares at Marty blankly. Marty stares back. This goes on for 3 full minutes. Then Doc breaks out laughing saying, "Ha ha nahhh, we're going to go to the future and punch the fire Morlock in the nether-regions!" There is cheering all around.

Spider-Man 3 - I would write the story so that it didn't suck.

Batman & Robin - Mr. Freeze makes one too many cold, ice, freeze jokes in the beginning of the movie. Robin dodges the freeze ray and snaps Mr. Freeze's neck as Batman screams "Noooooo!" Batman goes over to the lifeless body only to find out that Mr. Freeze is really his thought to be dead father and Mr. Freeze was told by the Joker that Batman had killed Bruce Wayne. Batman then turns into a crazed bad guy after breaking out of Arkum and slaughtering and eating all the villains he has put in there. Robin teams up with The Punisher and they hunt Batman.

Big - Josh tells the police that he the chick touched him and made him touch her and she gets arrested for child pedophilia.

The Bourne Identity - Jason Bourne really isn't a spy but after hitting his heading and loosing his memory he is accessing all the spy films he's seen in his previous life as a zoo keeper.

Ratatouille- The cook kills the rat and after hearing the final confession of the talking rat decides to begin his life as a drug dealer. Still keeping his job as a cook, he devises a food item that is like mixing every kind of drug together into one. The code word for ordering it is Ratatouille. You watch the young cook's rise in the drug trade business and putting a hit out of his short, annoying boss and making an addict out of the hot girl he worked with. You also watch his fall as an INTERPOL officer attempts to track him down. The movie ends with the INTERPOL officer and the cook holding guns to each others heads and saying "one of us needs to put our gun down first and we'll just walk away from it all." to which the other replies "it's hard to trust an enemy after being enemies for so long." the final words in the film are "it sure is" and fade to black. Now THAT'S a Pixar movie I want to see!

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - The military pulls a fast one on the aliens and kidnaps them. The aliens are then bred and harvested after finding out their meat is the most nutrious and long lasting meat in the universe. World hunger is abolished and the planet grows prosperous. A galactic war starts and it looks like we don't even have a chance at winning until the birth of a small child that his parents end up calling, Ender Wiggins.

Cloverfield - Destruction and anarchy reign. The monster makes his way to LA where he picks up the director of Donnie Darko and forces him to explain every part of the movie to his satisfactory. After that he calls Gammera, he's a friend to children, and they return to their home planet of Venus where the only channel they get of Earth's is somehow when Donnie Darko is on HBO. Cloverfield and Gammera are given a ticker tape parade and victory is declared and answers are only shared with their planet and those that agree to serve them as indentured servants.

Crank - The only thing I would change is that when he falls from the plane he lands in a pillow storage facility that is getting a new roof put on and the force of the impact forces the poison to his stomach where the mixture of the drugs, energy drinks, caffeine pills, etc. makes him expel everything out. He lays there dazed, shakily stands up and says, "I need a car" and at that moment Frank from The Transporter slides to a stop in front of him and says "Get in. They have your girlfriend and my son." BAM! Spinoff

Die Hard 3 - Willis shoots Jackson, thus making DH3 a better movie.

Do The Right Thing - Spike Lee comes on after the credits and calmly states, "And that's why I think slavery should be started again."

Enemy At The Gates - The two snipers have each other in their sites. It's the first time actually seeing each other. The tension is thick. Who will fire first. Nothing happening. A piano corus occurs and the last half hour of the movie is Romeo and Juliet meets Brokeback Mountain. Enemy at the Gates 2 an Ang Lee picture.

Reign Of Fire - The Americans tear the bare arms off Matthew McConaughey and team up with the Brits. The two forces inspire the last remnants of humanity to fight dragon after dragon. Around the world mankind teams up and struggles using weapons of a forgotten war. Sages find caches of books on old magic and they travel the globe teaching magic to humanity. What you have now. 1) a dragon movie 2) magic and modern weaponry 3) a story about mankind vs. dragons and not about man vs. man where there's only one male dragon and somehow he was able to create another dragon to make with and there is no genetic decay from that one male dragon producing offspring with his own offspring

Ghost Rider - After Nick Cage makes a deal with the devil, he falls off his bike after staring at himself in his bike's mirror. Thus breaking his neck and he's never allowed to make another movie again. Oh and Mark Wahlberg is assigned by the courts to be his 24/7 caretaker after Marky Mark's acting ability is found by the international courts to be crimes against humanity.

Mrs. Doubtfire - At the end, the parents get back together and Mrs.Doubtfire comes on the screen and says, "Children, through deceit and trickery you too can get your divorced parents back together again. After all, it worked in the "Parent Trap" tee hee".

Lord Of The Flies - The Goonies meet Stand By Me group

LOTR - Return Of The King - Frodo asks Gandolf, "Hey, Gandolf, why couldn't we have used the giant eagles to take us to Mount Doom?" Gandolf stares blankly. Fade to black and fade up from black. The hobbits are sitting around a table eating Sam asks Frodo, "Mmmm, Frodo, can you pass another thigh this way?" Merry says to Pip and the rest, "Who knew the old wizard had so much meet under those robes?" They laugh and freeze on that shot and play "Don't You Forget About Me". Credits.

Jurassic Park III - Completely new script. John Hammond is broke and on the brink of insanity. INGEN gets taken over in a hostile take over. A solid SNAP! can be heard in Hammond's head when told the news. He then unleashes dinosaurs throughout the country and the rest of the world and he won't deactivate them until he's paid. Military fighting dinos. In the end, Native American save us and reclaim half of the eastern hemisphere. Hammond makes his way to Jupiter where intelligent dinosaurs rule. We find out that dinos didn't go extinct, they just left us low brow humans behind.

Saving Private Ryan - Private Ryan grows up to be even a bigger meanie than Hitler.

The Happening - Mark Wahlberg and Julie Roberts plan a wedding and get married. The twist is...there is no twist!

Signs - We find out that the aliens are on the wrong planet and they should have made a left at Albuquerque

Submit your own fan fiction in the comments section or email them to film.geeks@yahoo.com

We'll read them on the air!

Any ideas for next week's show?

Hellboy Animated - Blood And Iron - Review

2008-08-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hellboy Animated - Blood And Iron

This is the second Hellboy animated movie I have seen. The animation style is the same, the main characters voiced by the same actors are great to have back, and the story seems as promising as "Hellboy Animated - Sword Of Storms". I did like the first animated movie which had a decent storyline, some good writing with classic Hellboy lines, and some knockout action. Will this one hold up to the last one?

There are two stories that combine into the main plot in this movie. The first is shown in flashback form where we watch a young Professor Bruttenholm in 1939 hunt a female vampire who uses the blood of many young women to keep herself looking young and beautiful by bathing in it. The other story takes place in modern day where the BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) are sent to investigate a haunted house. Later we find out someone, or something is trying to bring back the female vampire that Professor Broom destroyed long ago.

Grade - D+

There are many problems I have with this story over the other animated movie. First of all, there is little to no action in the movie. Hellboy just ends up fighting some snakes and an iron tomb towards the end. There is no huge battle of ancient gods like in "Sword Of Storms". Abe is tortured in one scene and is later Willey Coyote healed enough to run to help Liz. Liz doesn't do anything in this one except burn some phantom wolf pack that I have no reason why they where there or what their motives were. Second, to get all the main characters into the haunted house story line boarders on horribly written 1930's sci-fi dialog. The Professor says he "has a feeling" and that Abe, Liz, and Hellboy all must go with him. Third, the body count in this is low with only one human death. Finally, the best character in the movie is the Professor. The movie is called Hellboy, not Professor Broom. Yet, he has some of the better lines whereas Hellboy just says "crap" one too many times. A big pet peeve I have with this movie is the title itself "Blood and Iron". Okay, I get the "blood" part; vampires and all that jazz. However the only thing remotely "iron" is some iron maiden device (used to drain blood from women) gets turned into a fighting monster from an hellish god that wants Hellboy to join her and the rest of Hell's legions and stop fighting for the humans. This storyline has nothing to do with anything else in the movie and is just out of place overall.

While there are a few good things about this movie, nothing stands out like "Sword Of Storms". I'd pass on this one and watch the other one.

Gathering Geeks - Episode 12

2008-08-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Gathering Geeks - Episode 12 - The iFire

Main page here - http://onegeekandamicrophone.com/gg

Main download here - http://media.libsyn.com/media/og/gg0012.mp3

In this episode we discuss:

3 alarm fire @ Apple
Hives=BAD
95 iPhones per store/per day
CK's new job @ National Geographic
Weird Google Streetview captures
Big Brother is watching you!!!
and more......

This Week’s Movie Pick-
"Evolver"
Rent this movie and many more, and take half off your first month of service when you visit onegeekandamicrophone.com/blockbuster
Check out Patrick every week, Live Sundays at 7 PM EST on talkshoe.com. Also, check out Film reviews and other geeky stuff at filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST
Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

An Evening With Kevin Smith 1 + 2 - Review

2008-08-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

An Evening With Kevin Smith and An Evening With Kevin Smith 2 - Evening Harder

I'm a big, big fan of Kevin Smith's work. His writing and story settings are genius; not to mention he's a geek. "Clerks", "Mallrats", "Chasing Amy", "Dogma", "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back", "Jersey Girl", "Clerks 2", and the soon to be release "Zack And Miri Make A Porno" make up the body of his directorial work. I love each film and his commentaries for all the DVDs make owning one DVD seem like you're getting two. My writing of these two movies is more directed at the casual fans who like some of Smith's films but haven't watched everything else he's done.

This will be a somewhat shorter review because these two movies are about Kevin Smith, with guest appearances by Jason Mewes and a few others, standing in front of a group of college kids (AEWKS 1) and a Canadian and English audience (AEWKS 2) and answering questions and sharing stories.

For most any other director this would be dull and an episode of "Inside The Actor's Studio" would be sufficient. However, with a writing genius that Kevin Smith is whose movies are based mostly around dialog, this is a fascinating set of films.

The worst part about these movies are actually the fans/questioners themselves. You have to give Smith a lot of patients not to choke a few of the people out who act like complete morons. Instead, he uses witty banter to make fun of the really bad ones.

All that aside, Smith is able to steer the conversation into some very interesting and hilarious stories. If you know Kevin Smith and are a fan or listened to his podcast he does with Scott Mosier called SModcast, you know Smith holds nothing back from his fans. He has an opinion on most things and if there is something Smith believes is sacred I have yet to hear him utter, "I won't talk about that" or "That's pretty private". The man will talk about anything and it's amazing how some of the really perverted stories or items of knowledge you might not want to know about a person let alone a very talented director are incredibly funny.

The following are just A FEW topics covered on AEWKS 1 and 2 that make it a must watch:

AEWKS 1
- Writing a Superman script and why "Wild Wild West" sucked so much
- A story of singer Prince that makes you thankful you are not famous like that
- The first time Kevin had sex with his hot wife
- How Smith writes and how he finds material
- Protesting your own movie can be fun - we need more glitter!

AEWKS 2
- There can be only one Holy Trilogy - "Star Wars" Vs. "Lord Of The Rings"
- Backlash received from the first "An Evening With..." DVD
- How becoming a father has/hasn't changed Smith's life and the shows kids watch
- Shooting his wife for Playboy
- Kevin Smith Vs. The Media and how Hollywood really works

For me to quote anything from the DVDs would be taking things out of context and not fun at all. Smith uses his golden potty mouth and sexual references to tell very interesting stories and jokes.

Grade - A+

I have watched both 1 and 2 multiple times now and I still laugh just as hard. I can't wait for the third DVD to be released. Kevin Smith has the patience to deal with the audience questioners where as I would have to smack a lot of them. He does a great job steering the conversation but also expanding and digressing into other stories. How he has so many funny stories and how he can tell them so well is a testament to just how good his film are. The Prince story told in the first movie is, I think, the best story so far. Also the crude humor that I usually don't go for is hysterical. The only negative thing I can say about 1 and 2 is that Jason Mewes is almost a worthless surprise guest. He misses both his cues to come out on stage for both movies and he seems like he doesn't want to be there or add anything worthwhile at all. That aside, if Kevin Smith taped every Q&A he did and put it out on DVD, I would own every single one of them and watch them multiple times. Pick these movies up to be entertained by a talented director, a funny storyteller, and a Hollywood director that will tell anyone, anything they want to know about him.

A Bullet For Joey - Review

2008-08-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Recently I've unexplainably been on a kick of Film Noir themes in my life. I've been replaying Max Payne for the PC, I've started adding a bunch of Film Noir movies to my Netflix queue (become a fan and see), and I've even started writing my own Film Noir-esk detective story in my spare time. When I get the rough draft finished I will be posting it on here by chapter to see if you geeks and geekets like it. Soon I expect to be having soliloquies in my daily life if I'm not careful. They didn't know. They would never know. How could I live with the secrets waiting to break the blockade and the deluge of truth flow into the light? ... I'm sorry, what was I saying? Well to get me in the mood to write I play some Max Payne and watch a Film Noir movie. So if you are a regular reader of the movie reviews don't be too surprised if you start seeing a bunch of Film Noirs get posted.

A Bullet For Joey

When he wasn't being hulled in front of McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, Edward G. Robinson somehow decided to star as the hero in this film. You can tell Hollywood has changed a lot since 1955 because Robinson is not the heartthrob that a Ben Affleck of today is. It would be as if William Conrad from "Jake And The Fatman" TV show were to have a very intimate love scene with Angelina Jolie. I know, it's almost as bad as seeing Dennis Franz butt and I apologize for both mental images you might now have. Although Robinson doesn't have a love interest in the film it is still odd to think that he was one of the main characters thrown on the screen. You have to remember too, I was watching this on a smaller screen then the people who went to the theater in 1955 and decided to watch this movie on the big screen. Robinson's big round face and big sucker fish lips must have pushed the audience back into their seats with a feeling that they would get sucked into those lips of his.

Lewis Allen directs this movie and while many label it a Film Noir, it's hard to recognize it as one. I'll get into that more below. Joey Victor (George Raft), a former crime boss, has been exiled from the US and is living in Europe. He is trying to survive but he misses his life of luxury he once knew. He is contacted by a group of people who ferry him over to Canada where they pay him $100,000 dollars plus expenses to do a job that a lot of money back then. He gets his new employer to "get the band back together" and he is reunited with his old gang. He also strong arms his former lover, Joyce Geary (Audrey Totter) to help him; there's always a dame involved. His job is to kidnap atomic physicist, Dr. Carl Macklin (George Dolenz) and smuggle him out of the country. However Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Raoul Leduc (Edward G. Robinson) is following the bodies left by Victor and his men and his employer. All the murders revolve around Dr. Macklin and Leduc and the RCMP try and track down the killers. Joey finds out the men he is working for are communists and he might have to tell Hell to prepare for an ice storm because he might have to work with the police to save his beloved America from the Russians and their nefarious plans.

First of all, this movie struggles to be called a "film noir". The typical thought is either some detective who walks the fine line of right and wrong or some anti-hero you're suppose to root for. I don't know if Joe Victor is even the main character let alone someone you are suppose to care about and root for. From the description of the film's plot, it made me think that Joe and Leduc would team up to stop the Ruskies once he found out who they were. That doesn't happen until the last seven minutes of the movie. Also, the movie doesn't make it clear that the people who hired Victor are Russian, let alone communists. This movie has several glaring plot holes on top of this, as well as some fine '50s cheese.

The movie doesn't tell you what Dr. Macklin actually does or why he is so important to the Russians. Also, if Dr. Macklin is working on atomic technology for the Americans why is he in Canada and why doesn't he have military protection surrounding him?

Mobsters of the '50s must have attempted to be smarter in their capers than those of today. If you want to kidnap someone today all you need is about four men and a van. Heck, with the protection that the Mounties provide Dr. Macklin in the film all you need is a .22 and a car.

"Get in the car, Dr. Macklin." brandish the .22. Dr. Macklin gets in the car. Drive to docks. Get paid.

Here, Joe and his gang devise some elaborate plot to earn the doctor's trust by having hard-looking blond, Joyce, seduce him and one of his other men seduce the doctor's secretary to find out what he is working on and where. His handlers aren't in a rush at all either and the amount of time they spend goofing around with this cockamamie plan takes so much time that the Iron Curtain could have fallen by the time he carried out his kidnapping plan.

Let me talk about how idiotic this plan is by wrapping it up. Dr. Macklin falls in love with Joyce who tells him she's leaving to go back to America. He offers to drive her to the airport. He comes over and because Joyce isn't ready to leave yet, the housekeeper offers him a drink which knocks him out. The person pouring the drink is the same guy who is hiring Victor and his men for 100 G's! Why didn't the guy just invite the doctor over for a glass of sherry and pocket the money?

I will say that Inspector Leduc isn't the typical movie inspector who knows way too much or comes up with the answer just by thinking it through on the first clue.

Typical Hollywood detective: "Yes, this murder of the Mounty was probably done by the work of a monkey organ grinder who is in league with the communists to try and kidnap Dr. Macklin!"

So at least Inspector Leduc is a believable detective and it's nice to see that he is limited to normal talent of regular detectives. However, when he gets captured he suddenly turns into a man trying to sow distention in the ranks of the crew, is able to freely roam around instead of being rubbed out right then and there, and he has a smarmy way about him. His character completely changes in the last part of the movie and it's a tough sell to do so with the character; Robinson's pudgy and roundness doesn't help the transition any better.

The most glaring plot hole in the movie is even after Dr. Macklin is kidnapped. Leduc and one of his men pose as truck drivers who are transporting Dr. Macklin's secret experiment/device/blender? I have no clue what it is because the movie never tells you. To make matters even worse, the hardest transition I've ever seen happens in this movie. The bad guys have Dr. Macklin and I'm thinking, "Ok, now's the time that Inspector Leduc starts pulling the clues together and figures it all out in time to save Dr. Macklin." Not at all, because the very next scene is Leduc and lackey getting into a truck and you have no clue why. Only much, much, MUCH latter that they are posing as truck drivers transporting Dr. Macklin's secret device to lure the mobsters to capture them and take them to Dr. Macklin and the show runners. All that I wrote after "MUCH" is nothing you find out until after everything I wrote happens. My brain almost exploded from the leap the movie made.

Another problem this movie has is that it only hints that the handlers are communists or even Russian. The movie never tells you where the doctor is being taken to after the kidnapping and there is no speech about how communism is the "cool thing" and a counter speech about how it's "suxorz".

Robinson, as I said, is a pretty good detective for the most part. I do find it funny that a few years after he stood in front of HUAC, he is cast in an anti-communist film. Joe Victor started out as someone you could root for but quickly fades from your fandom. On a side note, no one in this movie refers to Joe Victor as "Joey" so if you're going to stick with the title it should be "A Bullet For Joe". Am I wrong that I expect the person who the bullet is for to be referred to that name at least once if you're going to use it in the main title? So Joe kind of drifts in the background halfway through the movie, but he is smart. He doesn't take chances of being caught. He knows not to use the telephone he's staying at to call any place he doesn't want traced back and he knows when to leave his hiding hole and move on. This along with the normal knowledge held by the inspector, make the two main characters good characters but the plot holes and the quick changes in the characters behaviors made me rooting more for Dr. Macklin to come out with guns blazing and save himself.

There is some fun classic cheese in this film that always tickles me. People who are shot, grab from their midsection where there is no bullet hole. People who are shot, always stop when shot and fall in the spot they are standing. The best death scene in here is the organ grinder towards the beginning. He is force to kill a Mounty and his boss grabs him by his shoulders and throws him out of the camera view. You later find out the organ grinder is dead. That kill rivals on the worst one since the UN officer in "The Omega Code".

I will say this. There are some really great lines given in this film.

Dr. Macklin to a monkey - "Do you know what fools we mortal be? Huh? Do you? Well I think you do. Well don't tell anyone. Let it be our little secret."

Nicky - "It's old Saint Nick himself."
Joyce - "Well climb back up the chimney. I don't like your brand of toys."

There are a few others that I enjoyed as well so it did have some potential of being a good script. There is also a really good scene that has a hitman snipe out one of Joe's crew when he screwed up. It bordered on the feeling like the end of "Godfather" and it had a classic Noir feel to it. Cloaked in shadow the gunmen sat, a long angled shot makes the audience feel as if they were the ones who pulled the trigger. Bang!

The really funny thing about this movie is that I've never heard a mobster refer to using sex to make someone trust you or even refer to sex as "making love". The phrase is used a few times in the movie and it made me giggle. Watch a show like "Sopranos" then watch this movie and it will make you giggle a bit too. Although for 1955, "making love" might be akin to using the "s-word" on TV today. It must have been so taboo.

Grade - C-

Don't let this film discourage you from the great genre that is film noir. While this movie isn't full on noir, it isn't necessarily all that bad. The biggest thing that hurts the movie is the plot holes. The movie gives the audience both sides of the story but slaps them in the face if they ask questions about why something is happen or what is happening. Leduc's undercover scene with transporting the doctor's secret "whatever" threw me so far out of the movie that I found myself on the other side of my viewing monitor. The complexity the mobsters went through to kidnap the doctor is absurd and the final outcome of the kidnapping is just random. The final scenes of the movie are decent enough and Joe has a good last line. I wish they would have spent more than the last seven minutes with Joe and Leduc working together. Sadly, the flaws outweigh the positives in this film. It's not a bad movie, but not a movie I would suggest that people watch who are looking for a good film noir movie. There is a monkey in it however. The title delivers on its name but that fact leaves no guess work as to what the ending in. Plot holes abound so watch out and enjoy the few good lines this movie has to offer.

Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - Review

2008-08-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

So this really isn't the type of movie I go for. However, on the advice of a friend I watched the first one, and to my surprise I didn't hate it. It wasn't the funniest movie I ever saw, but it was just so random and zany. That's right - zany. So when I saw that Harold And Kumar would be back for a sequel I knew I'd be watching it. While I didn't go out to the theaters and watch it, I did bump it up on my Netflix queue (Follow My Netflix Activity). Then I had to wait a little bit after receiving it. For movies like these, I have found that I must be in the right mood in order to get any enjoyment out of it. For example, this movie is not one that I would ever watch after just waking up from sleep. It's also not one I'd watch right after church. The best times for movies like these to be enjoyed is to watch it late at night after a bit of Mountain Dew. Wow, I'm a plugging whore today.

This time Danny Leiner, who directed the first installment of H&K is gone. In his place are the writers for the first one, as well as this one, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. John Cho reprises his role as Harold Lee, Kal Penn reprises his role as Humar Patel, and how can you have a Harold and Kumar movie without Neil Patrick Harris as Neil Patrick Harris? A few of the other people from the first movie are back as well but don't really play that big of a role this time.

If I give away some of the plot here it won't matter since the entire story is about the journey rather than the destination. It's the following day after Harold and Kumar come back from White Castle and they are set to travel to the weed capital of the world, Amsterdam. Yet, they don't quite make it on this trip as the passengers of the plane mistake Kumar's crazy antics for terrorist activity. This makes government agent, Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), giddy enough to throw them in Guantanamo Bay without a trial or phone call or any such basic rights. Once there they escape, travel with some Cuban refugees to Miami where they must make their way through the south in order to reach Texas and appeal to an old college friend who's friends with the President and can get them out of trouble with the law.

Grade - C-

This one doesn't quite have the charm of the first movie. Although with the first movie I can put my finger on where the movie somewhat looses me (the riding of the cheetah), this one never got a hold of me like the first one did. There are some funny parts but it fails to hit my funny bone enough to make me laugh out loud. It will be strange seeing John Cho play Sulu in the new "Star Trek" movie and take Kal Penn's character in "House, M.D." as serious. NPH doesn't surprise me as he did in the last movie. Although he does get the "ride a weird animal" scene this time. Yet the last time we see his character, it's just - odd and not enjoyable. You can tell this movie was going to be a straight-to-DVD movie (which it was at first) because it makes you feel as if you are watching any of the "American Pie" movies after number 3. This movie is a mix of that along with "All About The Benjamins" in that it seems like an excuse to through in some nice cars, a few hot women, and smoke weed. It's nice to see a look back at H&K when they were in college without having to resort to a "Dumb and Dumberer - When Harry Met Lloyd" deal. This movie is just a bit too boring and fails to excite. Probably the worst part about it is that it tries to make a point towards the end. They should have really warned me that I was suppose to be paying attention for things like that. H&K 2 better be careful or it will fall into bad B movie territory if it's not careful. If I can say one good thing about it, it's this - I can say two good things about it. There is a really funny spoof on President George W. Bush and second there's a really cool poem (cool if you're a math nerd) about the square root of 3.

"I fear that I will always be / A lonely number like root three / A three is all that's good and right, / Why must my three keep out of sight / Beneath a vicious square root sign, / I wish instead I were a nine / For nine could thwart this evil trick, / with just some quick arithmetic / I know I'll never see the sun, as 1.7321 / Such is my reality, a sad irrationality / When hark! What is this I see, / Another square root of a three / Has quietly come waltzing by, / Together now we multiply / To form a number we prefer, / Rejoicing as an integer / We break free from our mortal bonds / And with a wave of magic wands / Our square root signs become unglued / And love for me has been renewed."

Definitely be in the right mood to watch this, and don't expect this to compare to the fun you might have had with the first one.

Film Geeks - Episode 26

2008-08-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE26 - I Laughed So Hard I Geeked Myself

Episode Notes: Get that duct tape ready so you can close up your sides after they burst with laugher. Join the Geeks as they talk about the funniest (intentionally) movies they have ever seen. It'll be a hoot for the entire family unit!

Direct Link - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-137766.mp3

Link To Other Shows - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-kevin-conroy-christian-bale-batman-080404-ht,0,2707715.story
Batman does the Silly Voice

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=96499&catid=14
Michigan's booming movie industry

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/08/04/9-11-conspiracy-movie-to-open-on-9-11/
9/11 movie on 9/11

http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSN0651691820080807
Kevin Smith beats the MPAA!

Movies that made you hurt from laughing:

- Assume The Position With Mr. Wuhl
- The Big Lebowski
- An Evening With Kevin Smith 1,2, and his complete works
- Eddie Izzard stand up collection
- Airplane
- Jeff Dunham - Arguing With Myself and Spark Of Insanity
- Juno
- Keeping The Faith
- The Mask
- Office Space
- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
- Robin Hood - Men In Tights
- Super Troopers
- Superbad
- South Park The Movie
- Team America - World Police
- Van Wilder
- Death To Smoochie
- Great Outdoors
- Noises Off!
- Liar Liar
- Kung Pow - Enter The Fist
- Knocked Up
- The Jerk
- Hot Fuzz
- Shaun Of The Dead
- Drop Dead Fred
- Canadian Bacon
- Bruce Almighty
- Dumb And Dummer
- Army Of Darkness
- The Boondock Saints
- What Women Want

Twitter link - http://twitter.com/filmgeeks

MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/filmgeeksshow

If you have a Netflix account you can follow me and my reviews, what's in my queue, and what I'm currently watching. Go here to be added - http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/P641MQl2n9rztvg0RUxi

Film Geeks - Episode 25 Is Up

2008-08-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Title: EPISODE25 - The Geeks Get Stuffed Into A Locker
Episode Notes: This week we'll be covering movies that take place in high school. Get ready for a throw back to a lot of 80s classics! Also, because of Talkshoe's problems we recorded on Skype (username = agentx216). If you notice the difference in quality and have been a listener to past shows you can tell how sucky Talkshoe is and why compressing over the bridge makes a lot of people sound bad. We'll be doing the same thing again next week so if you want to join us on Skype all we ask is that you mute yourself and we'll be using Skype Chat instead of TS.

Direct Link - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-136443.mp3

Link to other shows at TS - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie news - brought to you this week by Jason Briney

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_en_mo/box_office
Dark Knight on top again

http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=1201&item=5
4 minute Clone Wars Clip

High School Movies

- Breakfast Club
- Fast Times At Ridemont High
- Dazed And Confused
- Rebel Without A Cause
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Say Anything
- Mean Girls
- Donnie Darko
- Carrie
- Dead Poets Society
- Grease
- High School Musical
- Brick
- Back To The Future
- Charlie Bartlet
- Kids In America
- Elephant
- Not Another Teen Movie

If you have anymore...add them to the comments section. Also if there's a topic you wish the Geeks would cover...leave a comment or email us at film.geeks@yahoo.com

Love and peace!

Gathering Geeks - Episode 11

2008-07-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

Gathering Geeks - Episode 11 - Cesare 2.0

http://onegeekandamicrophone.com/

Download here - http://media.libsyn.com/media/og/gg0011a.mp3

In this episode we discuss:

Sirius and XM merge

Microsoft's Mojave "Experiment"

an accidental peak into the iPhone factory

Steve's health....is it a public issue?

Scrabulous gets pulled

The OpenID coalition

More focus on the Wii

Another Bill Gates retrospective

Caesar Gets Better....Soon

Ted Stevens indicted, anyone need a dump truck?

Links to these stories and more on our Del.icio.us page

This Week’s Movie Picks-
"The Rocketeer", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles"
Rent these movies and many more, and take half off your first month of service when you visit onegeekandamicrophone.com/blockbuster
Check out Patrick every week, Live Sundays at 7 PM EST on talkshoe.com. Also, check out Film reviews and other geeky stuff at filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST, for more info visit check12check12.com

We are taking a week off, we'll see you Aug. 15!

Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

Film Geeks - Episode 24 Is Up

2008-07-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

EPISODE24 - Creature Feature Geeksure
Episode Notes: The geeks discuss the new X-Files movie, review an older Hellboy 2, and come up with their top 10 creatures from the cinemas they've seen. You're invited on a whimsical, splendiferious, gore fest, and creep factor ride that will make you soil yourself...but only by a little.

***We apologize for the quality of sound. Talkshoe had been slapping us around for weeks now and I believe we are going to record the show on Skype (if you want to join, download Skype and add username "agentx216" and we'll post the show up at Talkshoe still. This is redicious that Talkshoe has gotten this bad and we want to give you a better quality show because we feel we can add a lot of good content to your movie going experience. Too bad some of that is hampered by Talkshoe's ineffecutleness to provide a decent service to its users.***

Direct link - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-134994.mp3

Link to this episode and others - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20080727/121719073700.html
Batman news - still not even close to Titanic. Come on guys, take vengence on the girls from middle school and high school who dragged you to see that movie 7 times in a row.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080727/ap_on_en_mo/comic_con_terminator_salvation
Arnold might have an appearance in Terminator 4 and other T4 news

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213067_20213068_20214910,00.html
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog info

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Comic-Con-Sam-Raimi-Planning-Evil-Dead-4-9644.html
Evil Dead 4 - hopefully it'll be done classic Campbell/Raimi style and not current Raimi style

http://geeksofdoom.com/2008/07/19/boondock-saints-2-plot-details-production-diary/
Boondock Saints 2 - News

X-Files - I Want To Believe
- Go into it with the expectation of watching a longer version of the TV show, not a blockbuster movie
- Fox sabatoged this film with no press
- It's not an alien ladened conspiracy film but a decent thriller with a hint of creepy and paranormal thrown in
- Muder and Scully are what you expect after 5ish years of being gone
- No Dogget or Reis - good, Skinner shows up - also good
- The major flaw is that it focuses too much Mulder and Scully and is just a tad too light on the story
- Billy Connolly has a great part in the film
- How did Xzibit get in this
- The great soundtrack X-Files is known for was non-existent
- Grade - B-

Hell Boy II - The Golden Army
- Better than the first
- The visuals are stunning and it's great to see that not every little thing is animated
- Troll market is the highlight of visuals
- Ron Perlman has gotten into his role even better
- Doug Jones shows his limberness even more in this and does the voice of Abe instead of David Hyde Peirce, kind of weird at first. They also tap him to play The Chamberlain and The Angel of Death
- Seth MacFarlane is the voice of Johann Krauss
- A lot of things in this movie are very mechanical and yet still fluid
- The cheesey singing part was awesome
- Gives Abe and Liz more action sequences, Selma Blair looking hot
- Luke Goss who plays the Prince is a good action star
- Would like to see a third movie
- Grade - B+

Top 10 - Creatures (Not Human)

10) Giant Ants - Them!

9) Klowns - Killer Klowns From Outer Space

8) Gollum - Lord Of The Rings

7) Godzilla - Godzilla movies

6) The Thing - John Carpetner's The Thing

5) The Shark - Jaws movies

4) Medusa, the Kraken, or just about anything Ray Harryhousen does

3) Predator - Predator

2) Zombies and Deadites - George Romero series and Evil Dead series

1) Alien - Alien series

*Briney added
- T-Rex - Jurassic Park

- Gremlins - Gremlins series

- Jabba, the Rankcor, and other Star Wars creatures

Top 5 Worst
5) Chucky - Child's Play Series

4) The Leprechaun - Leprechaun series

3) Mole People - The Mole People

2) Gamera "he's a friend to children" - Gamera series

1) Shrews - The Killer Shrews

*Briney added
- The Scorpion King - Mummy 2

Chaos Theory - Review

2008-07-26T16:28:00.000-07:00

Chaos Theory

Yes, I am a fan of Ryan Reynolds. He usually plays a swave and slick young chap who has a heart of gold for everyone he meets. His character's lives are usually lackadaisical but filled with excitement that makes you want that kind of life. To take an old adage, women love him and men want to be him. I am one of those guys. His characters are wrought with what I think cool is. He's not a jerk to anyone and he's got some of the best lines around.

I say "usually" because the character he plays in this movie antithesis of the characters he usually plays.

Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) plans his life using a series of lists. Everything he ever does is structured and plotted before it's done. His wife (Emily Mortimer) and daughter (Matreya Fedor) are the love of his life, but his wife makes his structured life hard one day by accidentally setting the clock ten minutes back making him late for his ferry. This little moment upsets Frank's life as he knows it. What Frank goes through after this small hiccup in his routine causes him to question not only how he is running his life but also the love he has for his wife, his friends, and even the daughter he's been raising.

Grade - C+

This really isn't the kind of role I usually see Reynolds in, and while I'm not one to say that a person should stick to one type of character, this one seems drastically different than the ones he tends to play. No one is really bad in this movie, but the writing could have been a bit tighter. The message of the story is that sometimes, you've just got to go where life takes you and hold on to your friends and family for support. Yet, coming away from this movie does not make me feel as if I need to reexamine my life to see what changes I could make. Also, the story is kind of slow paced and not told as well as it could have been.

For example, one of Frank's friends, Buddy (Stuart Townsend) is suppose to be there to show Frank what a wonderful life he does have, even though he hasn't planned all the things that has happened to him out. Yet, the character gets tossed back and forth from the jerk to the friend haphazardly that you can miss the point of who he is and what he's trying to do.

Overall, this isn't a bad picture and I'd even sit through it again. However, I'll look forward to Reynold's playing the slick guy with the great lines again.

Two For One Friday At Gathering Geeks

2008-07-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Gathering Geeks : Episode 10 - Huck it, or Chuck it?

Direct link here - http://media.libsyn.com/media/og/gg0010.mp3

Or go to One Geek Network here - http://onegeekandamicrophone.com/

In this episode we discuss:

"Man on the Street 101"
Talking about the ol' Shoe

MobileMe's issues

CK's new gear

This Week’s Movie Picks-
"They Live," "The Muppet Christmas Carol", "Spaceballs", "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and "Office Space"

Rent these movie and many more, and take half off your first month of service when you visit onegeekandamicrophone.com/blockbuster

Check out Patrick every week, Live Sundays at 7 PM EST on talkshoe.com. Also, check out Film reviews and other geeky stuff at filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST, for more info visit check12check12.com

Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

New Episode Of Gathering Geeks - Number 9

2008-07-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

From - http://onegeekandamicrophone.com/

Gathering Geeks : Episode 9 - Drinkin' The Kool-Aid

Download the show here

Show news links

Eric joins us to talk about his new iPhone 3G-Hit or miss?
A few news stories from this week

This Week’s Movie Pick- Right at Your Door
Rent this movie and many more, and take half off your first month of service when you visit onegeekandamicrophone.com/blockbuster

Special thanks to Eric for stopping by the show this week. You can find him Sundays at 9:30pm ET, on Cutting Through: Final Cut Studio LIVE
Check out Patrick every week, Live Sundays at 7 PM EST on talkshoe.com. Also, check out Film reviews and other geeky stuff at filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST, for more info visit check12check12.com

Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

Film Geeks - Batman Show Notes

2008-07-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Title: EPISODE23 - I Am Batman! Geek Translation - My Mom Made Me This CostumeTime:

Episode Notes: We discuss the Dark Knight. Does it live up to the hype? Is this a Batman movie or a Joker movie? Is Batman even a Superhero?

All our shows can be downloaded here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

This is the actual Episode 23 - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-132572.mp3

Show Notes:

Batman – The Dark Knight

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/20080720/121658682000.html

Earning $155.34 million in a weekend, beating out Spider-Man 3. It made close to $65 million on opening day.

Before the movie

Mostly saw and heard this was “the Joker’s movie”
Possible Oscar nod for Heath Ledger

Trailers

Terminator 4 – Salvation - http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/8841507/standardformat/
The Watchmen - http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/ - The song is “The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins.
The Spirit - http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809838857/video/8831867 - The song is “Choke” by Hybrid
Bolt - http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/bolt/trailer

Plot

Batman and Detective Gordon try and take down the mob. They must learn whether or not they can trust new DA Harvey Dent. Meanwhile, a character calling himself The Joker, with clown make up and a few facial scars that makes him appear to have a big smile, throws a wrench into everyone’s plans.
A multidimensional plot
A bit of storyline for everyone
The Joker is a big character but he doesn’t dominate it all
Batman did seem pretty light in the movie

Actors

Christian Bale brings his greatness and it’s refreshing to see an actor ok with having about equal time being behind a mask as he is as his alter ego, unlike other superhero movies
Michael Cane is great as always. I don’t know how to feel about this Alfred. This one appears to cross the line of butler more often and seems more boss-like than servant/helper-like.
Gary Oldman is fun to once again see him not play a homicidal maniac. He plays a great Jim Gordon.
Aaron Eckheart is a good Harvey Dent. Not sure about the courtroom punch scene. His Two-Face turn seems a little rushed (even considering this is a 2.5 hour movie). It’s nice to see a Two-Face that looks more real but there really wasn’t that split personality that Two-Face is known for. I still think they can bring him back. They could have him not really die but have him locked up in Arkum or whatever.
Maggie Gyllenhall is lovely as always. If she was in “Brokeback Mountain” I would have thought about seeing it. It’s nice to see her take the role for herself rather than playing it with the lackluster that Katie Holmes did.
Morgan Freeman has a bigger part this time and is more charming than what he was in “Wanted”.
Heath Ledger – what can I say? He’s great and he steals the show. The best Joker ever. All the mannerisms and just everything is perfect for what I envision the Joker to be. Just a little sad that Harley Quinn wasn’t in it, even as a cameo.
WTF?! – Detective Ramirez was bad? Where was Bullock? Anthony Michael Hall has a weird cameo. The Scarecrow is in one scene.

Visuals And Action

Practical effects should be used all the time. Do audiences respond more to real things and are put into the movie more rather than saying, “Wow, that almost looks real.” Or “Wow, look at those effects!”?
The Bat-cycle looks like it could break if Batman even thought about shifting his weight. When it climbs the wall and turns over, my audience was very impressed.
This movie seemed a bit light on Batman hitting people.
The mood was done well in every scene. The movie was not afraid to hide things in the dark or use darkness as part of the mood.

Grade - A from both geeks. Maybe an A+ with another viewing.

A New Movie Review

2008-07-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

My friends, if one day your children are sitting on your lap and they stare up at you with eyes of wonder and amazement and ask in the way only a child could ask, "Did internet movie critic Patrick really look out for his fans?" You can look down at your young offspring, pat the little one on the head with your hands that make the child's head look like an orange in size. After wiping away the single tear that forms and pools in the corner of your eye, you can clear your throat and with just a hint of hoarseness to it reply, "My child, make no mistake about it. Patrick was flawed. He sometimes had bad taste. He even liked some movies no one in their right mind should. However, you asked if he looked out of us? Son/Daughter, let me tell you, that internet movie critic did not only look out for us...he did more than that. He stood on the precipice of destruction for us. He looked into the bowels of Hell, and even though he was scared, he fought the worst of us to save the best of us. He saw what vile and loathsome acts we carried out on each other. He endured what few could. He was the beacon of hope, all alone in the dark. Yes, my child, internet movie critic Patrick found a way to endure the worst...and lived to tell us about it."

Glitter

It's really sad to say that I have watched this movie. So it stands to reason that it's even sadder to admit to actually owning this movie. Sometimes being a fan of bad movies makes you realize how far down you will go in order to be what you need to be.

I really did think about stealing this movie. However, images conjured up in my head about having to explain the reasoning behind my incarceration to friends, family, potential employers, and "Dale" the 350 pound Aryan Brotherhood convict who just got arrested for hacking up his entire family and then sitting down and finishing his salisbury steak. He would either laugh at me and tell me it was "Spoonin' time" or he'd say, "GUARD, GET ME OUT OF HERE! THIS GUY'S CRAZY!"

It's sad I'm going to have to go through the entire rigmarole of explaining the plot and actors in here. Luckily, for me, there isn't much of either to make it too long winded.

Mariah Carey plays a talented singer who comes up from nothing and is lavished in the music world after her talents are discovered. Unfortunately, she is too hot to NOT be taken advantaged of based off her looks more than her singing talent. Believe it or not, this is not a bio-pic. Ya, and Apocalypse Now was sooooo far off of what some soldiers went through in Vietnam. Anywho, Billie Frank, that's Careys character's name, must choose what she wants out of her career. The hard choice she has to make? Her explotive boyfriend manager who treats her like crap and exploits her and her body or her singing career where she has the talent to make a bajillion dollars. Because Billie is such an idiot, she actually has to take up a good deal of the movie thinking this through. I use the term "thinking" loosely.

Alright, that's all I'm going to cover with the plot since I've probably soiled your mind enough already. There are other actors in this who supposedly advance the plot like an always douchebag, Terrance Howard, and Da Brat who, I think, her friends call her "Da".

Also to add to your hate list is director Vondie Curtis-Hall who I am awefully ashamed to say, directed one episode of Firefly. Well I guess, it's the nature of the "biz" - you first have to direct a few pornos before you direct "Godfather". Also, this movie took two writers to make it suck, Cheryl L. West and Kate Lanier, who did the screenplay.

Grade - F

Please tell me you weren't surprised at that. I could surprise you and say there is one good thing about the whole movie...and I will tell you what that is...later.

Let's first talk about the *hard swallow* acting. Mariah Carey has a lovely singing voice. When she's not out of her head psycho (e.g., talking and not singing) she has a lovely voice. She needs to stick with her one good strength and just stay there...forever. Sometimes you hear critics call lackluster actors "two dimentional" which means that seem flat and have no life in their characters. I think Carey someone portrays "one dimentional" acting. She is a single dot on the Cartesian plain of acting ability. If this movie was a musical she could have had a chance to work her way up to a "two dimentional" actress. I really wonder if she really even read the script. Let us assume, and this is ONLY an assumption, that she picked to do this movie because it was her bio-pic. The movie's plot involves being real to yourself, following your dream, and not let you and your body be exploited for corporate gain........MS. CAREY, DO WE NOT NOTICE THE INACCURANCIES HERE?! For the gorgeous singer who has been known to wear bandanas as shirts and be "Ms. Diva" you'd think she would reexamine her lifestyle. It is my contention that Mariah Carey is, in fact, a robot. A robot controled by aliens to see how much power they can get from a really hot, talented singer. Stupid aliens, yes, but I can't rightfully say what happens if I met Ms. Carey and she was wearing a bandana for a shirt.

Carey acts flakey and with no energy whatsoever. She reads her lines like a senior with one day left of classes in high school sounds like when he's picked on to read "Wuthering Heights" in front of the class. I would hate to see what would happen if she ended up smoking weed. Her lethargic demeanor might create a black hole of dispair and the Goth community might have something to come together and worship other than at the alter of Tim Burton.

Da Brat and Tia Texada seemed to be picked to play Billie's friends because they are Mariah Carey's friends. Are we sure this isn't a bio-pic? Terrance Howard has that same effeminate quality about him that tells me I'd see more action come from him hangling at the potery barn than I would seeing him throw down as a sleezeball manager. Max Beesley, Mariah's love interest co-star, is someone I don't know whether the movie wants me to like, to hate, or to not care if my dog lifts his leg on him.

It should salso be noted as a point of trivia that this movie came out shortly after the events of September 11, 2001. Showing that bad things usually happen in 3's. 9/11 being one, the release of "Glitter" being another, and this movie making $4.3 million. I might have to blame $4 million of that on people being in utter shock after 9/11 and just needed something, ANYTHING, to escape real life even for a little while. The other 0.3 million I'm going to have to go with Mariah's friends and family, a few gay people, and the seedy over 50 sex offender crowd. I'll still leave room for people who I have no clue why the went.

Now let me tell you the one good thing about this movie. Not since "Wild Things" has their been a movie worthy of the title of "Masterbetorium Theater". A supposed message in this film is about Billie's explotiation using her looks and body. Yet, before and after learning her lesson, Mariah Carey doesn't try to dress down or classier. If I was 12 when I saw this movie I would have learned quickly about those "funny feelings" I had a lot quicker. With movies, there's always suppose to be some big message we, the audience, are suppose to relate to our own lives and take away from the movie. So it's funny when this movie's "independent woman" character "learns her lesson" about sexplotation of her talent that it just throws out that lesson right after it's learned. I'm serious, watch the scene where she's filing her photoshoot/music video and how she doesn't want to dress like a slut and not five minutes later she has on an outfit with a plunging neckline that has its own plunging neckline and tight enough that you could teach biology off her. The sad thing is, she'd probably get a lot more kids to pay attention, especially the young males.

Could this movie have been better? I don't think so. I don't think Mariah Carey's life is that important or motivating enough to warrent her own picture. Sure, she's got a great voice, but he hypocracy alone throws your head in a spin. If you are going to watch this movie, and I suggest you not eat for 6-12 hours before viewing, go over to Rifftrax.com and for $2.99 you can keep your sanity with the Rifftrax version of Glitter - http://rifftrax.com/rifftrax/glitter . It's the safest way I can guarentee your safety.

Someday, I wish to test my will again and view this movie for a second time, but that time won't be for a while. There are a few things I would rather do than watch this movie.

1) I would rather jump naked into a pool filled with razor blade and broken glass and find that blasted needle that was in the haystack.
2) I would rather test the theory that sharks are repelled by a swimmer swimming in a lot of blood.
3) I would rather clean the soars of leporacy and ebola patients until there is a cure for both.
4) I would rather watch Carrot Top work out in all but a thong and bronzer.
5) I would rather watch "Spice World"

...well okay...maybe not number 5.

Show Notes For Film Geeks Episode 22

2008-07-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Episode 22 - The Geeks Show Their Nerdy Side - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-131454.mp3

http://defamer.com/398417/where-the-wild-things-are-gets-new-release-date-never
Where The Wild Things Are - more money...more time

http://chud.com/articles/articles/15511/1/IT039S-ALWAYS-DARKEST-BEFORE-THE-RED-DAWN/Page1.html
Red Dawn remake

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2008/07/the-high-tech-r.html
WarGames re-release and sequal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JboQmDIdKWs&eurl=http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/index.php
- Max Payne Trailer

Movie Geeks

Good
- Hackers - Jonny Lee Miller - Dade Murphy / 'Crash Override' / 'Zero Cool'
Angelina Jolie - Kate Libby / 'Acid Burn'
Matthew Lillard - Emmanuel Goldstein / 'Cereal Killer'
Laurence Mason - Paul Cook / 'Lord Nikon'
Others
- UHF - Weird Al Yankovic - George Newman
- Revenge Of The Nerds - Robert Carradine - Louis Skolnick
Anthony Edwards - Gilbert Lowell
Others
- High Fidelity - John Cusack - Rob Gordon
- Charlie Bartlett - Anton Yelchin - Charlie Bartlett
- War Games - Matthew Broderick - David Lightman
- Back To The Future - Christopher Lloyd - Dr. Emmett Brown
- Clerks - Brian O'Halloran - Dante Hicks
Jeff Anderson - Randal Graves
- Donnie Darko - Jake Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko
- Office Space - Ron Livingston - Peter Gibbons
David Herman - Michael Bolton
Ajay Naidu - Samir Nagheenanajar
- Pi - Sean Gullette - Maximillian Cohen
- Searching For Bobby Fisher - Max Pomeranc - Josh Waitzkin
- The 40 Year Old Virgin - Steve Carell - Andy Stitzer
- Takedown/Freedom Downtime - Kevin Mitnick
- Galaxy Quest - The "not Star Trek" nerds
- Ghostbusters 1 + 2 - The Ghostbusters
- Grandma's Boy - Everyone
- Juno - Ellen Page - Juno MacGuff
- The Mask - Jim Carrey - Stanley Ipkiss
- Me, Myself, And Irene -
Anthony Anderson - Jamaal Baileygates
Mongo Brownlee - Lee Harvey Baileygates
Jerod Mixon - Shonte Jr. Baileygates
- Rocket Science - Reece Thompson - Hal Hefner
- Sneakers - Everyone
- Stargate - James Spader - Dr. Daniel Jackson
- Stranger Than Fiction - Will Ferrell - Harold Crick
- Weird Science - Anthony Michael Hall - Gary Wallace
Ilan Mitchell-Smith - Wyatt Donnelly

Bad
- Antitrust - Ryan Phillippe - Milo Hoffman
- Toxic Avenger - Mark Torgl - Melvin Junko
- The Core - DJ Qualls - Theodore Donald 'Rat' Finch
- Fantastic Four - Ioan Gruffudd - Reed Richards
- Film Geek - Melik Malkasian - Scotty Pelk
- Napoleon Dynamite - Everyone in the movie
- Swordfish - Hugh Jackman - Stanley Jobson
- The New Guy - DJ Qualls - Dizzy Harrison
- Italian Job (2003) - Seth Green - Lyle
- Rushmore - Jason Schwartzman - Max Fischer
- She's All That - Rachael Leigh Cook - Laney Boggs
- The Conversation - Gene Hackman - Harry Caul
- Real Genius - Everyone
- Superman III - Richard Pryor - Gus Gorman
- The Net - Sandra Bullock - Angela Bennett

Fillers Characters
- Die Hard 4 - Kevin Smith - Warlock
- Mission Impossible 3 - Simon Pegg - Benji
- Enemy Of The State - Jack Black - Fiedler
- Goldeneye - Alan Cumming - Boris Grishenko

Got anymore to add? Leave us your list under the comments section on this post!

Episode 8 Of Gathering Geeks

2008-07-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Gathering Geeks : Episode 8 - The EnPhyscopedia's

http://media.libsyn.com/media/og/gg0008.mp3

In this episode we discuss:

The long-awaited iPhone 3G
Chaz's AppleTV issues

Why Rogers Sucks

This Week’s Movie Pick- Pirates Of Silicon Valley

Check out Chaz's page, One Geek and a Microphone, for a bunch of other cool podcasts and information. -

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST, for more info visit check12check12.com

Show Notes For Film Geeks Episode 21

2008-07-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Other episodes of Film Geeks can be found here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Title: EPISODE21 - Animated, Action Geeks
Episode Notes: We take off a week and then start again this week covering Pixar's new flick Wall-E, Hancock, and Wanted. It's a triple feature! Tune In, Tune On, Geek Out.

http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-14391/TS-130326.mp3

Wall-E

- Animation had some good and bad parts
- Good - great use of film "flaws" (shaky cam and unfocus); Earth look is great and carries outt the "dirty feel" well and space has a real crisp look to it.
- Bad - not all of it looked animated and it appeared to change animation styles at time.
- Use of live action scene was a nice added touch
- Over-consumerism and extreme environmentalism was ALMOST over pushed (not as bad as "Happy Feet" though)
- It's definitely a cute movie with cute characters
- Appealed to a wide range of people who viewed the movie - a real knock out for Hollywood demographers
- Briney says the dust was well animated
- How did these blobous people have kids? What kind of robots were used to do that?! (only Film Geeks asks the hard question!)
- Patrick believes that Toy Story is still the best Pixar.

Grade - A-

Wanted

- Timur Bekmambetov is an excellent director and I am really excited to see what else he will do in the States. He will definitely give Michael Bay a run for his money!
- Lots of great humor - especially involving the main character quitting his job...and a keyboard
- Some really awesome gun play - almost rivals that of "Equilibrium"...almost
- James McAvoy was good and I'm excited to see what else he will do. He's almost the anti-hero version of Shia LaBeou.
- Morgan Freeman seems like he's out of place in this role. He doesn't seem to pull it off well.
- Angelina Jolie brings in some of her Laura Croft and definately the sexiness but nothing new; might appeal to strong female fans.
- The "loom of fate" was stupid and different from the comics
- Nice use of narration - just enough to add to the storyline (kind of Fight Club-like)
- A few nice twists - some are cheesy, others are good
- A real fun movie - a typical action/gun play movie but that's not always a bad thing and it's great counter programing to "Wall-E". "Tired of cute robots? Want to see a lot of bullets and blood?! Check out "WANTED"!!!"

Grade - B-

Hancock

- Definately not as bad as some of the critics have made it out to be.
- Good visuals and they don't use them a whole lot and in every scene
- Jason Bateman steals the show for me.
- Charlize Theron's character is not explained at all, seems random and appears to have been just thrown in there in a re-write. Could have been better without her or with her just being suspicious of Hancock possibly letting down her husband.
- Really wanted to see a few more crime fighting scenes - either with Hancock still screwed up or trying to redeam himself. Also wanted to see more funny scenes in the jail.
- I don't really understand why Hancock trusted Bateman's character so quickly.
- Smith doesn't knock this one out of the park like he wanted to. Maybe he's more known for doing dramatic roles instead of these action packed roles now?
- Too much was shown in the third movie trailer released and some scenes in the trailer were even taken out (Hancock dragging the prisoners in the chain gang)

Grade - C+

New Episode Of Gathering Geeks

2008-07-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

My apologies to all the fans who haven't seen any updates in the past week. We've taken a break this past week from Film Geeks, but not to worry! Our new episode will feature a triple feature of movies including "Wall-E", "Wanted", and "Handcock". So join us at 7pm EST at Talkshoe.

Also, because of massive computer trouble on my end, I haven't been able to get online to do more movie reviews. That will change soon as well, so bookmark the site, subscribe via RSS, or tell 50 friends to remind you to check out the site each day. Remember...only you can prevent forest fires.

I have been able to get a hold of the new Gathering Geeks episode featuring myself (Patrick), CK from Sound Check, and Chaz from One Geek And A Microphone. Enjoy this episode...I also hear the lost episode is going to be released soon....shhhhh.

Gathering Geeks : Episode 7 - Her Name was R.I.A.A.

In this episode we discuss:

Bill Gates retires
Why is Microsoft Hated?

Will Yahoo Survive?

The R.I.A.A. and it’s methods

Commercial Radio

DRM Hell

What is “Fair Use”?

The iPhone a “conspiracy”?

This Week’s Movie Pick- Charlie Bartlet

Gathering Geeks - Episode 6

2008-06-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Your host, Patrick, has his feet in the water all over. Not only does he co-host the critically acclaimed show "Film Geeks" but he has also been ask to help co-host a show called "Gathering Geeks". Other episodes can be found below. This is this week's installment:

Gathering Geeks - Episode 6 - The Orbiters

In this episode we tackle the FCC, satellite radio, and a few other topics that might make you think..."How geeky are these nerds?" Scared? You will be.......you will beeeeeee......

Episode 5 can be found here

Episode 3 can be found here

Where is episode 4 you ask? Well...Patrick was so controversial that Episode 4 will soon be released as a "Lost Episode". We geeks can get mighty riled up!

Show Notes For Episode 20 Of Film Geeks

2008-06-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

EPISODE 20 - can be listen to here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/captain-ameri-1.html
The people behind Captain America must really hate us. Leonardo DiCaprio has been RUMORED to be Captain America.

http://themovingpicture.net/zack-and-miri-vs-the-mpaa
Kevin Smith Vs. the MPAA

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080621/en_movies_eo/a0ffd43891f4_4f19_a6c0_769744631748
Spidy 4

http://themovingpicture.net/new-two-face-clip-hits
Two Face clip is out. You only see half of it though.

http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=185294&in_page_id=7&in_a_source=
Even Marky Mark thinks he sucks. M Night has even called his new movie a "B movie"

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/16/obit.stan.winston.ap/index.html
Stan Winston died on Monday - Terminator 2, Aliens, Jurassic Park, and many others.

Get Smart Review

39.2 million for the weekend - my predictions for the lines movie critics will use
If they like it - Get Smart is smart or Get Smart outsmarts the competition
If they didn't like it - Get Smart, missed it by that much

- Don't expect a lot out of this movie. It does have some funny parts but it's not the best American comedy
- Steve Carell does a great job of showing a lot of aspects that Don Adams brought
- Anne Hathway is mighty hot in this and she's got a lot more action scenes than I expected
- The Rock....is the Rock
- The story has a few gaps in it, most importantly what the motive of the main bad guy was
- Bill Murray has a nice quick cameo as Agent 13
- Not really a spy parody like Austin Powers is, more like an action comedy
- Alan Arkin really comes over the top and shows some great action bits
- There are some really great action sequences that are quite surprising
- Terence Stamp has that classic bad guy feel to him; he was still best as General Zod and in this movie too he's got a huge hulking underling too
- The script is decent enough with a good amount of really funny stuff, other times it's more miss than hit.
- Overall - B-

Over hyped movies:

These movies can be called over hyped or overrated depending on how you're talking about them. That means you hear a person or a group of people rant and rave over a film and then when you watch it you're like, "So what?" So with this list, it's going to be hard no stepping on anyone's feet or love for a movie since, by definitions, the movies we're going to be covering, for the most part, are loved.

- Talk about he use of trailers and how some trailers lie about what the movie is actually about (ex. Pan's Labyrinth, Proof, A Beautiful Mind, Reign Of Fire, 28 Days Later, Blair Witch, Man Of The Year, Pirates 3)

- Talk about the reliance of CGI in movies to get people to go see it (ex. Battlefield Earth, The Matrix sequels, Shrek 3, Jurassic Park 2 and 3, The Day After Tomrrow, Pirates 3)

- Cloverfield - stands apart. It's a good movie but not worth becoming a frickin detective over it

Over rated movies:
- Citizen Kane - maybe I'm not smart enough or I don't appreciate all that Orson Wells did for cinemtography, but I have to disagree with AFI's list every year that puts this up at number 1
- The DaVinci Code - the book was so hyped up that I don't think as many people read it as claimed to...why? Because it was horribly boring!
- Star Wars - Episode 1 - why George? why?!?!?!?!?!
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - this is just a boring, unintelligent, nothing happening movie
- Apocalypse Now - it's a good movie, but it's waaay to long for a war movie and uses a lot of symbolism
- Scarface - if you're a rapper than you have to own this by law. Really, there's not much here in the way of a coherent movie
- The Shining - some of it freaky, but there is not a lot of explination and a lot doesn't happen in it
- The Seventh Seal - it might have been good when no one knew which way to point a camera, but Ingmar Bergman didn't really write or direct anything special here.
- Fantasia - just horrible, not a good kids movie at all
- Dune
- Blade Runner
- Borat

Right At Your Door - Review

2008-06-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Right At Your Door

Thriller - noun - a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense. See also - this movie.

The plot of this movie is pretty simple but what it shows is simply amazing. Out of work musician Brad (Rory Cochrane) is passing the time at home while his wife, Lexi (Mary McComack), goes to work in Los Angeles. This is a day that starts off all too normal. Until....ALL HECK BREAKS LOOSE! Dirty bombs go off in the city, explosions ripple in the background, white powdery substance and ash fall from the sky. Choas insues, panic sets in, the dog eat dog world that we once knew just stepped up to a whole new kind of violence!

So what is this movie about? What does this movie show?

This movie shows one man as he attempts to survive in his home. No big budget shots of buildings in downtown L.A. collapsing, no massive amounts of military vehicles strollings through the streets, no sea of sick and dying masses of humanity in utter choas. What we see is one man, and his attempt to survive. Oh, we are introduced to a few other people here and there but when it comes down to brass tax it's about one man and survival.

Chris Gorak both writes and directs this saga that won him the cinematography award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for best drama. This guy, with the help of some really decent talent, can spin a tale using nothing more than the set of one house and the talent to shoot it in such a way that you are enthralled with what will happen next.

Grade - B

This really is an amazing tale. The setting kind of reminds me of what "Phone Booth" did in keeping pretty much the entire movie in one set location. While I liked "Phone Booth", I don't think it can even handle the amount of suspence that this movie has. Rory Cochrane does a great job at playing the everyday man who has to choose between self preservation and loving his wife enough to help her survive as best as possible. When someone asks me what movie I most got into and sent your system into shock with anticipation adrenaline, I point to this movie. I barely moved through this one and I know my heart rate wasn't normal resting pace either. The only flaw this movie has is that the pacing gets a bit bogged down at times and it just seems to kind of repeat itself after a while. Another small problem some might have, I know I did, was that the ending didn't make too much sense to me. I don't want to give anything away so I won't explain it further. I understand why the ending is the way it is, it just doesn't seem that logical to me. Still, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for a good suspence thriller movie, without hesitation.

Juno - Review

2008-06-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

Juno

I'm always a little leery of mainly two types of movies. The first are so called "great" movies that come from the Oscars and especially those that are "independent". The second kind of movie that I handle with caution are those that are so called "coming of age" stories. It seems like everything today is heralded as a "coming of age" story. "The Incredible Hulk" is that coming of age story of a man dealing with his inner beast. "Independence Day" is that coming of age story of a small planet...called Earth. The only real thing that made me watch was seeing that both Michael Cera and Jason Bateman were starring and most of you might know these wonderfully talented actors from the criminally short run "Arrested Development" TV show.

This coming of age story (ha ha) is the tale of a sixteen year old girl named Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) who finds she is pregnant from a one time sexual encounter with Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). After deciding against an abortion, she hunts the PennySavers to try and find the perfect, loving couple. Surprisingly enough, she finds a couple she likes right away, Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). Now she must deal with the problems that come with being not only pregnant but being a 16 y/o pregnant "unique" girl.

This movie has some really great things about it. Its has a great cast with a lot of young and adult talent, you have a great director who knows how to handle these types of stories that are very escentric, and you have the first work of a very talented writer. I'll cover these in reverse order as stated.

Diablo Cody has come from being a stripper and from working in an ad agency to being ranked number 38th on Entertainment Weekly's list of 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. I can't say much about where she ranks with others on the list but her writing diaolog and style is wonderful. Her characters talk with the adolence of teens but with the sophistication of older people. For example, a lot of slang that Juno and her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) use incorporate a lot more terminology than the "sucks", "whatever", and "as if" terminology we expect teenage girls to use in movies. Her characters have a lot of great warmth to them. From a dad (J.K. Simmons) who seems almost hip, to a snarky but whitty convinces store clerk (Rainn Wilson). However, Juno is really the most well written character out of all of them and you can tell this was written by a female in the sense that most of the dialog revolve around women, and they get the best lines too (other than a few lines the dad gets).

The director for this is Jason Reitman who is probably best known for "Thank You For Smoking" which has kind of the same feel to this movie. The way I describe it is that this movie (as well as "Smoking") could take place in our real world but the people are either too weird or too smart and witty to actually be in our world. The sad thing is, the characters in these movies are just far too interesting to actually exist in the clusters they seem to do here. I do think that Reitman added a lot to the story with his ability to not bore you with the same shots and he wasn't afraid to leave some characters out of frame or not in focus or concentrate on showing you the emotions to every character all the time in every scene. Reitman also has the knowledge of being not only a director but also a writer (as he was both for "Smoking") and so I think balancing those two things helped him a lot with shooting this movie penned by another person. It also helped that he has kind of the same style characters that "Juno" has and so he knows what to do with unique characters and a normal looking story but really not that normal at all. If you watch this movie that last statement makes a bit more sense than what it probably does.

As you can probably guess, I'm not going to say too many bad things about the actors in this. Ellen Page is the star and she gets the best lines and the most time on screen to see who she really is. Page does a brilliant job of being who her character is suppose to be, a 16 year old high school girl, while also being a well rounded, knowledgable woman. She seems to teetertotter on the brink of maturity and immaturity. J.K. Simmons, who plays her father, probably gets the second best lines and he seems to take a backseat at times in the story but then he also seems to be one of the major characters. He seems to be a "Leave It To Beaver" style dad for the 21st century if I can be so shallow as to say something that sounds like something a professional reviewer would say that'd make you want to gag on shards of broken glass. Michael Cera doesn't really play that big of a role in this film and I can't say it's a bad thing. Not to say that he isn't talented or that I wouldn't have minded seeing more of his character get fleshed out, but he really wasn't a major part of the story. His character is what his other characters have been, that nervous geeky, yet somewhat cool scrawny kid you don't know whether to beat up or hang out with. Jason Bateman is kind of in the same boat here. His character is kind of background material here and while he does play a main part in maybe two scenes you can't really figure him out completely before he's gone. The biggest problems I have are with two of the supporting female roles, Jennifer Garner and Allison Janney (who plays Juno's step mother). They are quirky and they have their strengths and flaws that you see come to light as the story progresses. However, a lot of their motives are either deeply hidden or they aren't brought to light in the movie. For example, you don't really know why Garner's character wants a baby and you can't really get a feel for where Janney's character wants to go. At least Garner has a decent role to work with and she does a much better job of being a supporting actress than she does in the mail roles she has been playing. Still, there is something big missing from her character.

Grade - A+

Alright, Hollywood, you win this round. I watched and adored a movie you picked for an Oscar. I'll call it a fluke this time and hope I never repeat this patern again. In all seriousness, the writing done by Diabol Cody and the wonderful acting done by Ellen Page make this movie. If Juno was the only character in the film, I probably wouldn't change my feelings about it. So with that said, when you have some great characters like Juno's dad, Leah, and Paulie Bleeker added to enhance the character, it can only help the story and character. I can't comment on whether this is a real coming of age story, but I do know that this is a really smart and hilarious comedy that not only tugs at your funny bone but also makes you exercise your movie mind. The characters seem out of place in a real reality but they are smart and at the same time flawed and not quite as mature as their dialog makes them seem. They seem too perfect at times but at other times feel so flawed. This is by far a bad thing to say, because this is what makes the characters so charming and the writing so funny and intelligent. If you like grown up comedies where you can't see an Adam Sandler or a Mike Meyers for miles around, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the show.

Patrick Guest Stars On Another Podcast

2008-06-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

There's a really great podcast that I've been going to for a few months now that has been a blast to listen to and participate in it. It's a true friend to the Film Geeks show.

The show is called Sound Check and it's hosted by one of the best on air personalities that'd I've listen to, Chris Kulturides (lovably know as CK). His show is current events, politics, and random topics that are really interesting (for example: what do you do when your new father-in-law invites himself and his wife on your and your new wife honeymoon cruise). The following are from the most recent shows posted and the links provided gets you to more shows. I've been a guest on this show from episode 34 or so. Have a blast listening to this really funny and interesting show. The show airs on Talkshoe, linked below, Thursdays at 9:35 PM.

Sound Check - Episode 45 - Troubled Time

"Episode 45 was filled with live callers and listeners and the jabs were being thrown. The debating was in full effect. We talk about so many topics in this episode that their are to many to tag. We do talk about the election, Iran vs. Iraq, MySpace and Facebook, the Red Cross in Nigeria and how it will effect gas prices, and some funny topics at the end of the show."

Sound Check - Episode 46 - SWAT Attack

"In Episode 46, the jabs keep coming and it was a great show. I went off on a hosting rant, a Talkshoe.com email from tech support, and many other topics."

Talkshoe link - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/45577

Sound Check webpage (WITH FORUMS!!!) - http://check12check12.com/

Show Notes For Episode 19 Of Film Geeks

2008-06-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

EPISODE 19 - can be listen to here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://io9.com/5014765/iron-man-2-will-have-more-armored-heroes-but-no-drunken-armor-

mastery
Iron Man 2 - War Machine/Terrance Howard, Demon In A Bottle storyline

http://www.hecklerspray.com/the-smurfs-movie-it-isnt-a-cartoon-any-more-be-afraid/20081

4663.php
Live Action Smurf movie

http://themovingpicture.net/robocop-remake-teases
Robocop Remake - Cylon?

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/12/punisher-war-zone-movie-trailer/
New Punisher Trailer

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/14/the-truth-about-edward-norton-vs-marvel/
Edward Norton Vs. Marvel - Fact Or Fiction

WARNING "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" NOTES MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

Hulk notes:

- no origin - greatness, only credits telling the backstory
- great man vs. monster/anger/inner self
- Hulk actually hits a bunch of stuff
- Great scene is when Hulk stabs Abomination with his own elbow bone
- Hulk is not emo at all
- So much action and great CGI; Hulk look/character is fluid and realistic and not plasticy

- Norton is a great actor; Liz Tylor is pretty decent for the most part
- General Ross is straight out of the comics; William Hurt is looking old
- Tim Roth, Emil Blonsky/Abomination, is decent enough
- Betty's b/f really has no real purpose or role

- Hulk doesn't show a lot of his strength that he does in the newer comics
- It rains A LOT, at the campus fight scene it suddenly starts raining after the battle even

though it was nice out before
- A lot of green stuff in the film - drinks, signs, etc.
- When the Hulk is first show, he's not shown completely all at first
- Transporter 1 & 2 director - Louis Leterrier
- Zak Penn wrote script and he's had some bad ones in the past with Behind Enemy Lines,

X-Men 3, Elektra, and Fantastic 4. After this he's set to write Captain American and the

Avengers Movie
- Inside jokes - purple pants, Hulk slow walk theme song, "Wouldn't like me when I'm

hungry", Captain America/Super Solider Serum, Stanleys' Resturant", and Stan Lee and Lou

Ferigno cameos (Ferrigno is the voice of the Hulk)
- great cameo by Stark and Avengers program

Two Green Thumbs Up - A for Patrick
B grade for Briney

Patrick Guest Stars On New Podcast

2008-06-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

Gathering Geeks is a new show hosted by One Geek And A Microphone masta' Chaz and Sound Check ruler Chris K. Oh, and it also stars me...but they are the real talent. It's a great show from the geeks' perspective. Check it out below.

Gathering Geeks - Episode 5

Show Notes For Episode 18 Of Film Geeks

2008-06-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Episode 18 - DocuGeeks - can be listen to here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Movie News

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/M-Night-Shyamalan--What.4121061.jp
No advance media for "The Happening"

http://www.variety.com/VR1117986790.html
Bruce Willis will play Kane Marcus in "Kane and Lynch" movie, based on the video game.

http://www.nj.com/hudsoncountynow/index.ssf/2008/06/audience_walks_during_postal_p.html
This just in...150 people watched a Uwe Boll movie! Of course, they walked out of it as well.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080530/en_movies_eo/4b83fcaa_d3d74861_973a_1cbfd7fa2730;_ylt=AgMD71XcynVJUGhWuovPNvcwFxkF
Donnie Darko 2 news

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080602/en_movies_eo/27df529d76da_495f_b0a6_0db2adf1c943;_ylt=AiKqISJxYDaodGxthmR0WnEwFxkF
Terminator 4 news

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080606/film_nm/dune_dc;_ylt=AtX9m6LOdg4HlkX4ccwd.ZQwFxkF
Another Dune take

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/iron-mans-repul.html
Iron Man Sequel

http://www.guesswhichmovie.com/news/390
Tony Stark WILL be in Iron Man - go to the blog to get the link to the new trailer!

From the people who did Planet Earth...When We Left Earth - Premiers tonight at 9 on Discovery.

Documentaries

* Talked About In Full

- Planet Earth*
- Ken Burns Civil War*
- Ken Burns Baseball
- Ken Burns The War
- In The Shadow Of The Moon*
- Born Into Brothels*
- Christianity - The First Two Thousand Years
- Freedom Downtime
- Global Warming Or Global Governance
- Who Killed The Electric Car?*
- Hacking Democracy
- Super Size Me*
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated
- Why We Fight*
- Waco - The Rules Of Engagement
- America - Freedom To Fascism
- The King Of Kong*
- An Evening With Kevin Smith 1 And 2
- Enron - The Smartest Guys In The Room
- How William Shatner Changed The World
- More Than Dreams
- Trekkies
- Steal This Film 1 And 2

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Review

2008-06-07T15:54:00.001-07:00

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

How come whenever I see a movie about 1980s New York I always get the feeling that people were always sweaty, loud, and full of hate and angst? You have movies like "Summer Of Sam" or "Do The Right Thing" or the other several dozen films about that time and place the portray these same type of people. I would have been more apt to believe in global warming if they said in the 1980s, global warming happened in New York City.

This movie has some of the same themes that "Do The Right Thing" had, but instead of racial issues this is a "coming of age" story. Written and directed by Dito Montiel, it is his own biographical story. He basically got to live the dream we all have of choosing who gets to play us in the movie about our life. He even gets to pick two! Robert Downey Jr. plays the older Dito while Shia LaBeouf plays the younger Dito. Other actors of note are Rosario Dawson, Chazz Palminteri, and Dianne West just to name a few.

The story is pretty simple. Dito keeps watching his friends get killed or acting bad and he's afraid he's going to stay in the same place all his life. He struggles to live long enough to travel to California (where supposedly there is no crime and all your dreams come true there). Being so young, however, makes it a struggle for him to cut ties and leave. This part of the story is told in flashbacks when the the older Dito comes back to his old homestead to take his bullheaded father to the hospital.

So ya, that's my take of the story. There is, unfortunately, not much of a plot here and there are certain things that don't make sense. Let me just tell you the best part of the movie first. All the actors used in the movie, both the young ones and their older counter parts are really good. I was very impressed with Shia LaBeouf's early acting ability as well as Melonie Diaz and Channing Tatum were good too. I also love seeing Robert Downey Jr. in pretty much anything and Rosario Dawson is not hard on the eyes at all.

The sad part of this movie is that I was waiting for the plot to emerge for so long that my brain got numb looking so hard for one. I don't really see how this story got made into a movie, considering that it's nothing out of the ordinary for the thousands of other people who left NYC for a place and time that wasn't sticky with sweat and in the 80s. The only thing that really carries this movie are the characters but without knowing what you want the final outcome to be or where it's going you kind of end up caring for them less.

The main plot point that made no sense to me was Dito questioning if his father ever loved him. In the flashback parts of the movie, you never EVER get a sense that his father doesn't love him. You see the father showing some affection to young Antonio, but that's clearly because Antonio's father beats him. Other than that, I thought it was quite clear that Dito's father loved him.

Another problem was that I didn't see why Dito wanted so badly to leave where he was. Either the movie didn't flesh that out enough or we're just suppose to guess. Either way, it really failed at that plot point.

I also have a couple of nit picks with this film. I don't understand the one scene where young Dito (LaBeouf) breaks the fourth wall to tell us he's the main character. I also don't understand why we read text of what is being spoken at certain points in the film. Finally, I don't understand what this movie is called "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints". I'm sure if I read the book this movie was based on, I would; yet, that doesn't help me when I only watch the movie.

Grade - C-

This isn't a horrible movie. However, without a clear plot and some plot points that are not explained or flushed out enough I was pretty lethargic about the whole movie. I loved the actors and the character they played, but without knowing where they were suppose to be going and the bits of random story elements thrown in, it really detracted from the whole story. I still don't know why anyone would want to live in the 1980's in NYC. Every movie that takes place there and in that time makes me feel like taking a bath afterwards because everyone is just dirty and soaked with sweat. If I could compare this movie to any other I'd say take one part "Angela's Ashes", one part "Kids", and one part "Do The Right Thing". Then take out all things related to a plot or social commentary and you have this movie right here.

Film Geeks

True Grit (1969) - Review

Another Fun Movie Review

Cocktail - Review

Crossroads (2002) - Review

The Fourth Kind - Review

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

From Beyond (1986) - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 46 - Omega Geeks

Film Geeks - Episode 45 - Inglorious Geeks

Adventureland - Review

BloodRayne - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 44

Lucky Number Slevin - Review

Spies Like Us - Movie Review

The Abandoned - Movie Review

Film Geeks - Episode 43

Film Geeks - Episode 42

Film Geeks - Episdoe 41

Nosferatu (1922) - Movie Review

The Invasion - Review

Abraham - The Bible - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 30 - Geek Movie Rundown III

Film Geeks - Episdoe 39

Film Geeks - Episode 38

Film Geeks - Episode 37

Film Geeks - James Bond Show

Film Geeks - Episode 35 - Geek Movie Rundown

Film Geeks - Halloween Special

Film Geeks - Episode 33 - Geek Smorgasbord

Film Geeks - Episode 32 - Sports Night

Film Geeks - Episode 31

Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 30

Film Geeks - Episode 29 - 12 Angry Geeks

Film Geeks - Disaster/End Of The World Movies Episode

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - Review

Fido - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 27 Is Up

Hellboy Animated - Blood And Iron - Review

Gathering Geeks - Episode 12

In this episode we discuss:

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

An Evening With Kevin Smith 1 + 2 - Review

A Bullet For Joey - Review

Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - Review

Film Geeks - Episode 26

Film Geeks - Episode 25 Is Up

Gathering Geeks - Episode 11

In this episode we discuss:

Sirius and XM merge

Film Geeks - Episode 24 Is Up

Chaos Theory - Review

Two For One Friday At Gathering Geeks

Gathering Geeks : Episode 10 - Huck it, or Chuck it?

In this episode we discuss:

New Episode Of Gathering Geeks - Number 9

Film Geeks - Batman Show Notes

A New Movie Review

Show Notes For Film Geeks Episode 22

Episode 8 Of Gathering Geeks

Gathering Geeks : Episode 8 - The EnPhyscopedia's

The long-awaited iPhone 3G Chaz's AppleTV issues Why Rogers Sucks This Week’s Movie Pick- Pirates Of Silicon Valley

Check out Chaz's page, One Geek and a Microphone, for a bunch of other cool podcasts and information. -

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST, for more info visit check12check12.com

Show Notes For Film Geeks Episode 21

New Episode Of Gathering Geeks

Gathering Geeks : Episode 7 - Her Name was R.I.A.A.

Bill Gates retires Why is Microsoft Hated? Will Yahoo Survive? The R.I.A.A. and it’s methods Commercial Radio DRM Hell What is “Fair Use”? The iPhone a “conspiracy”? This Week’s Movie Pick- Charlie Bartlet

Gathering Geeks - Episode 6

Show Notes For Episode 20 Of Film Geeks

Right At Your Door - Review

Juno - Review

Patrick Guest Stars On Another Podcast

Show Notes For Episode 19 Of Film Geeks

Patrick Guest Stars On New Podcast

Show Notes For Episode 18 Of Film Geeks

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Review

Check out CK’s Sound Check, Live Thursday’s at 9:30 EST
Special thanks to Derek K. Miller, who provided our theme song "Hotcake Syrup".

The long-awaited iPhone 3G
Chaz's AppleTV issues

Why Rogers Sucks

This Week’s Movie Pick- Pirates Of Silicon Valley

Bill Gates retires
Why is Microsoft Hated?

Will Yahoo Survive?

The R.I.A.A. and it’s methods

Commercial Radio

DRM Hell

What is “Fair Use”?

The iPhone a “conspiracy”?

This Week’s Movie Pick- Charlie Bartlet