Pat's Movie Reviews: Transformers 2 - Revenge of the Fallen

 

I will admit that when the first Transformers film came out, I was pleasantly suprised.  While it was by no means a great film, it was at least enjoyable to watch and was entertaining.  Sure there was a lot of stupidity to it and you couldn't really tell most of the robots apart, but it had cool special effects and pretty robot fight scenes and enough explosions to cement it's place as a classic summer big budget action film.  I actually ended up liking it for the most part, especially when one considered how bad it could have turned out.

 

The first Transformers also made a bajillion dollars (actual amount, I checked) at the box office, so the fact that a sequel was made was an absolute no-brainer.  And as with all big summer blockbusters, the job of the sequel is to somehow take all of the action and adventure from the first film and find a way to make it even bigger.  Much like how most superhero films have one villain in the first film and two in the second, so too did Transformers have to deliver more of what people loved from the first film.  That means more robots, more fight scenes, bigger explosions, and a better story. 

 

After having seen the film, I would have to say that Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen delivers on three of those four criteria.  I guess that's not too bad, right?  Let's break it down:

 

1.) More Robots:  There are indeed a lot more Robots in Transformers 2 than there were in the first film.  In fact, there are a crapload more.  While some of these new robots are fan favorites like Soundwave, Ravage, Jetfire and Arcee, the vast majority of them are either nameless robots shown in the background whose sole purpose is to die.  However, there are also a handful of new robots that are brand new Transformers who are making their first appearance here.  These robots though are all thoroughly annoying and stupid characters that will make you want to punch Michael Bay in the face for having included them at all. 

 

The worst, by far, of these new robots are the Ghetto Twins.  I call them the Ghetto twins because they are two of the worst inner city African American stereotypes I have seen on the big screen in a long time.  They both speak in ebonics and one even has a gold tooth.  A ROBOT WITH A GOLD TOOTH!!!  My friend Brian referred to them after the film as "robot versions of the Wayans brothers" and I can't really say that he's wrong in that comparison.  Personally, I see them as the robot equivalents of two people doing a blackface routine.  It's really bad.

 

Also, Transformers 2 still suffers from the same problem that plagued the first film so badly.  You can't tell any of the damned robots apart.  Aside from the main players like Optimus and Bumblebee and Starscream, all of the other robots look the same.  It gets really annoying when the fight scenes start and you can't tell who's fighting who and who's dying.  I swear I thought I saw Megatron get killed about three times before I realized that it was just some other random shmuck robot that happened to look exactly like Megatron.

 

2.) More Fight Scenes:  There's more hot robot-on-robot action in this film than you can shake a piece of rusty metal at.  This was by far the strong point of the film.  ILM really outdid themselves here with the special effects.  The Transformers themselves looked absolutely gorgeous (when you could tell them apart) and when the big fight scenes got going, it was pretty much bonafide badass!  About halfway through the film there is that big fight in the woods that you see in all the trailers where Optimus Prime is fighting a group of Decepticons in a forest, and that fight scene is absolutely amazing.  The final battle is also pretty damned epic and is a joy to watch.  Now if only the parts of the film that had talking in it were as good.

 

3.) Bigger Explosions:  Absolutely.  We get to see more explosions than I can count in this film.  We seen an Aircraft Carrier get sunk, we get to see what feels like half of Cairo's suburbs get decimated, we get to see a pyramid ripped apart.  The explosions were definitely bigger this time around.

 

4.) A Better Story:  Oh, if only this was true.  As awesome as all of the fight scenes and pretty explosions are in this film, they are made null and void due to the god awful giant steaming pile of poo that is the plot of Transformers 2.  Michael Bay is sort of infamous for being a hack action film director who wouldn't know what a well written film was if you beat him with the script of one.  Transformers 2 is like the epitome of a Michael Bay film.  Almost every single scene in the film which involved a human character or even just had characters talking was torture to sit through. Most of the scenes that handled the plot development of the film had at least one mind-bending moment of stupidity in it.  The humor in the film is so low brow it can't even be called potty humor, the characters and the acting are more robotic than the giant robots they are surrounded by, and there's so many holes in the story that to say there's plot holes is an inaccurate statement.  It would be more accurate to say that there's one giant hole with occasional bits of plot strewn about it in a random fashion.

 

It amazes me that this film was written by the same two guys who wrote the Star Trek film.  While I admit that the plot of that film was by far it's biggest weak point too, at least Star Trek had a story that sort of made sense and was able to be followed without having to completely turn my brain off for fear that it would be turned to jell-o if I left it on while watching it.  This isn't really the case with Transformers 2.  At over 2 hours in length, the story here drags on interminably.  It takes forever to get things going, there's some awesome fights at about the one hour mark, and then the film drags and drags and drags its way to the climax fight (which still isn't as cool as the fight from an hour earlier).

 

On the plus side though, there were some cool plot points that were included from the original TV series which should make fanboys rather happy.  Energon as the Transformers power source is mentioned for the first time, and factors heavily into the story (although sadly not in cube form).  Also, the Matrix of Leadership plays a key role in the latter half of the film.  It was really nice to see these little touches and nods to the original source material.  It was almost enough to make me willing to put up with watching two dogs humping near the beginning of the film. 

 

Almost, but not quite.

 

In the end, I will say that I walked out of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen having enjoyed the film far more than I had expected to.  I think this is mainly due though to the fact that I had lowered my expectations of the film so much that it would have been a rather large accomplishment to disappoint me.  I walked in expecting this thing to be the worst piece of crap that I have seen all year.  As it turns out, that honor still goes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. 

 

Transformers 2 is a perfect summer action film.  It has wicked cool special effects, gigantic explosions, over-the-top action and vast sweeping shots from far off places all over the world.  It also has a a story and dialogue that feels like it was written by retarded monkeys, wooden acting and characters that I would pay good money to see killed just so they can't return in the sequel.  The film is full of what I call "Bayisms" in which the audience is subjected to some of the stupidest, least common denominator levels of humor (an example of which includes a tiny transformer humping Megan Fox's leg).

 

If you are looking for a pretty film to veg out to for two hours, this is the film for you.  If you want something that's intelligent or at least has something resembling a decent narrative, avoid this film like the plague.

 
Final Score: D

 

P.S.  Without trying to give away any major spoilers, let me just say that I'm really (and I mean REALLY) pissed off at the use of Devastator in the film.  Or should I say the lack of use of Devastator?  They could have done so much more with that character, and he was utterly wasted.  And then, when he gets taken out, he gets taken out like a pussy.  Fucking stupid!

 

P.P.S.  Oh, and as for The Fallen himself . . . total fucking wuss.  Megatron was still the main villain as far as I'm concerned.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Tim Burton Taught The Bat To Play

 

It was on June 23rd, 1989 when a rather unknown director by the name of Tim Burton released a film that would forever change the way comic book films are made.  He took one of DC's icon characters, the Batman; a character that had been played as a campy adventurer for about 30 years at that point, and turned him into a film version of Frank Miller's Dark Knight.

 

Gone were the blue and gray tights of old.  In it's place was solid black leather.  This Batman didn't crack jokes or drive around during broad daylight or hang out with a funny kid sidekick.  No, this Batman only worked at night, he was dark and tortured and he beat the living hell out of any criminals dumb enough to operate in his city.  This was Batman as he's known now.  Sure, people today may be all up in arms about how awesome Batman Begins and the Dark Knight are, and they are (I'm not going to knock them here), but those films would never have ever been made if it wasn't for Tim Burton making one of the best god damned comic book films of all time.

 

Honestly, I think that most (if not all) of the great comic book films that we're enjoying today all owe a great deal to Burton and what he did with Batman.  He proved that a dark hero could work and could make a ton of money at the box office.  He proved that you can make an edgier, more adult themed hero and audiences would line up in droves to see it.  You didn't have to make every comic book superhero into a kids film.  It's a lesson Hollywood took to heart, and it wasn't too long after this that we started to see more and more comic book getting turned into big hollywood blockbusters.

 

Yes, Heath Ledger's version of the Joker is cooler and is closer to the comics version of the character than Jack Nicholson's is, but you absolutely cannot say that Nicholson's Joker isn't a great villain in his own right.  He's got so much style.  He's more of an artistic version of evil than Ledger's force of pure chaos.  And I'm sorry, but I'll take Michael Keaton's Batman voice over Christian Bale's anyday.  As as far as cool Bat-Gadgets go, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) is cooler in my mind than the Batmobile from Tim Burton's Batman.

 



 

Just look at that thing.  No Batmobile before or since has ever come close to looking even remotely as cool as that thing.  It's got a fucking jet engine for god's sake.  That there is pure beauty in automobile form.

 

The impact of Burton's Batman film on my own life cannot be overstated.  This one film is solely responsible for my getting into Batman comics as well as DC comics in general.  Before this movie came out, I was a huge Marvel Comics fanboy.  All I read was Spider-man, Captain America, the X-men and stuff like that.  As far as the 11 year old Pat was concerned, DC comics was crap.  Then I saw Batman, and suddenly I couldn't get enough DC comics.  I started with the Bat books, of course, but that eventually led me to Superman and the Justice League and many others.  If it wasn't for this film, I may not have found the greatness of the DC universe until a much later time in my life, if I ever found it at all.

 

The 1989 Batman film is one of those important steps in my life that led me down the path to be the Geek that I am today.  While I may not care for Burton's recent work, I can never and will never deny the fact that his career has had a powerful affect on my life.  Burton's Batman film was also my introduction to the Director as well, and it is because of this film that I followed his career and was introduced to things like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands and the Nightmare Before Christmas which helped to develop my sense of self as I was going through middle school and high school.  I'll admit it, I basically became a goth for a while during high school due to Tim Burton and that other comic book film The Crow.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.

 

It's hard to believe it was 20 years ago this week that young Pat was going to the theater with his brother to go see this amazing film.  It really was a lifetime ago, and it feels like it.  There's not much else I can say here really other than . . . Thank you Tim Burton for making one of the greatest comic book films of all time. 

 

Oh, one more thing.  Tim Burton's Batman also had the damned coolest soundtrack of any comic book film ever.  The entire thing was done by Prince, and it led to the most bizarre and insane and awesome music video ever . . . The Batdance.

John Hodgman = Nerd Hero

 

 

I love John Hodgman.  Aside from being the PC (and the only good thing) in the Mac vs PC ads, he's a great writer and is the Resident Expert on The Daily Show.  He's also a blogger and an all around funny guy.  And now . . . he's a true geek hero.

 

Over the weekend, Mr. Hodgman spoke at the White House dinner for Radio & TV Correspondents and he did one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.  None other than the President of the United States himself, Barack Obama was sitting a few feet away from him and he took him to task on his geek cred.  It's been mentioned many times before on the interwebs by myself and many other people that Obama is our very first ever Nerd President and John Hodgman had the balls to quiz the President on exactly whether this belief is true or not.

 

What follows is one of the most amusing speeches I've ever seen.  This is almost as good as Stephen Colbert's roasting of George Bush at the White House Press Correspondent's dinner from a few years ago. 

 

Well done Mr. Hodgman.  Nerds everywhere salute you and your awesomeness.

The GT Podcast: Episode 06 - The Summer Extravaganza

 

The brand spanking new episode of the Geek-tastic Podcast is online and is ready for your listening pleasure.

 

 

You can stream the podcast by clicking HERE.

 

OR

 

You can download an MP3 copy of the podcast by clicking HERE.

 

 

In this episode of the podcast, your host Patrick is joined by Matt, Ned and Johann as they take part in the Geek-tastic summer extravaganza.  They discuss their favorite summer films and games and also take a look at this summer's upcoming summer films and discuss which ones they think are going to kick ass & which ones are going to suck.  There is also a brief review of Terminator: Salvation near the end of the show.

 

And now for some show notes:

 

Here are the films we discuss during the podcast:

• Batman


• Bruno


• Dark Knight


• District 9


• GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra


• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


• Independence Day


• Inglorious Basterds


• Jaws


• Moon


• Mutant Chronicles


• Pandorum


• Pirates of the Caribbean


• Public Enemies


• Star Trek


• Star Trek 2009


• Star Wars


• Star Wars: Episode I


• Star Wars: Episode III


• The Sandlot


• Time Bandits


• Transformers

 

Here's the games we mention:

 

• 221B Baker Street (I couldn't find a video for it, sorry Johann)


• Assassin's Creed 2


• Beach Spikers


• Beatles Rock Band


• Crazy Taxi


• Final Fantasy


• Goldeneye


• Grand Theft Auto


• Heavy Rain


• Left 4 Dead 2


• Legend of Zelda


• Mario for the Wii


• Street Fighter


• Super Mario Sunshine

 

And here, finally, is the trailer for the new Metroid game from Team Ninja (as promised):

 

 

 

 Here's the link to ThinkGeek.com where you can buy a brand new Sega Dreamcast.

 

And for those of you who don't remember, this is what Skeletor looked like in the live-action He-Man film.

 

Guess Who's Not Going To Be Dead Much Longer

 

Yeah, this is so totally not a shocker.  It turns out Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, isn't dead afterall.  Exactly how he survived being shot . . . in the throat . . . I have no idea.  I'm going to love hearing how they explain this one away though.  The guy was shot and bled to death in front of a group of people.  That's sort of hard to fake. 

 

It's not like it matters though.  No one ever stays dead in comics forever, so I can't even say I'm annoyed at this.  We all knew when Cap was killed that it was all a big publicity stunt, and that he'd be back sooner or later to once again done the mask and shield.  And besides, who wants to read anything where Bucky is running around as Captain America anyways.  Hmmm, Bucky.  There's another guy who didn't stay dead.

 

I know I may sound bitter or something here, but I'm really not.  I like Captain America, and I'll be glad to see the original Cap back in action.  I just would have liked to have seen Marvel play out his death for a little longer than 2 and a half years.  The longer a hero is gone, the more important their comeback is when it happens.  In comic time, 2 and a half years is nothing, so by bringing him back now, it's like we haven't even really had the right amount of time to miss him yet. 

 

Oh well, whatever.  At least Cap is coming back.  Now if only we can undo that stupid Spider-man: One More Day storyline.

Even Lego People Aren't Immune From The Zombie Plague

 

BREAKING NEWS:  Dead Lego people have risen and are devouring the plastic yellow flesh of the living.  It appears as though even the constantly happy and nice people from Lego Land are not immune to the plage of the walking dead that have so revently been walking our streets too.

 

Be sure to safely secure any Lego figures you own ASAP or you will run the risk of them catching the infection as well.  There has been no word yet as to whether the zombie virus can be passed from Lego person to Human or vice versa.  Just to be safe for now though, try to avoid all contact with questionable Lego figures until more information is known.

 

Consider yourselves warned.

 

(Via BoingBoing)

New Geek DVD Day - 06/16/09

 

The Good:  Transformers - The Complete First Season

 

Why It's Good:  Just in time for Michael Bay's new (and probably horrible) live-action film to hit movie theaters across America and suck beyond belief, the original and awesome animated Transformers series is being released on DVD.  As much as I'd like to be excited by this, I can't help but feel that only buying the one season makes no sense when there's this uber amazing complete series 25th Anniversary Box Set coming up around the corner.

 

Do me a favor Transformers fans.  Save your money for the big set.  You'll thank me.  Trust me.

 

 

 

The Badass:  Spaceballs on Blu-ray

 

Why It's Badass:  It's the greatest Star Wars parody of all time.  It's Rick Moranis at his best.  It's Mel Brooks being amazing.  It stars the late, great John Candy.  It has Mega Maid.  It even has a Winnebago with wings. 

 

Spaceballs is one of the most quotable films I've ever seen.  Not a week goes by where someone I know doesn't make at least one reference to this movie.  Whether it's people calling for Ludacris speed, or saying "We ain't found shit!" or one of a million other great lines from this film, it's never long before some aspect of this film shows up in my daily life.  And this can't be just me.  Spaceballs is one of those required films all geeks must know and love.  If you're a fan of Star Wars, this is just sort of required watching.  And now it's available in high definition glory. 

 

Let it be known though, your schwartz will never be as big as mine. 

 



 

The Awesome:  Friday The 13th (Extended Killer Cut)

 

Why It's Awesome:  The Friday the 13th remake is a pitch perfect example of how a remake should be done.  It was done with obviously loving care from a filmmaker who adored the original source material, but at the same time it effectively brought the franchise into the 21st century.  It managed to walk that thin line between being true to the originals while at the same time adding enough new stuff to make it both engaging and entertaining to the young audiences of today.  It served as a jumping on point for a new audience of fans yet still gave enough nods to the original to make old-school fans happy.

 

Plus, it's a film about Jason Vorhees killing a bunch of horny teenagers.  When is that ever NOT an amazing time?  All of the required elements were there.  Big dude in a hockey mask?  Check.  Horny teenagers out for a weekend of drinking and doing drugs?  Check.  Machete?  Check.  Creepy cabin altar to the big guy's dead mother?  Check.  Lots of gratuitis nude scenes?  Check.  Annoying frat boy douchebags being killed in creative and original ways?  Check.

 

Seriously, what more could you ask for in a horror film.

 

Plus, this new extended cut of the film comes with nine minutes of new scenes added to the film.  And if the product description from Amazon is to be believed, almost all of those nine new minutes contain either more sex or more blood and gore than the original cut of the film had.  How could more sex or blood possibly be a bad thing in a horror film?

A Geek-tastic.com Update

 

Don't you just hate it when the real world gets in the way of doing the things you love most?  That's what's been going on with me lately.  I apologize for the lack of posts here at the site this week.  Two major events have contributed to my being unable to update the site as frequently as I would like two.  One, thankfully, is a temporary situation.  The other, sadly, will be something we're going to have to put up with for a while.

 

Let's deal with the bigger one first.  As I've mentioned before here, I am not quite fortunate enough to have somehow found a way to get someone to pay me for my massive nerd-blogging skills.  As such, I have a regular 8 to 5 office job that I attend every Monday through Friday.  Previously, I have been able to find some time here and there between doing my work to post a small item here and there.  Last week though, the IT people at my job finally caught on to what I was doing and have banned Geek-tastic from my workplace computer.  This pretty much negates any and all contact I can have with the site throughout the day.  From now on, I am only able to update the site in the evenings on those few evenings a week when I'm actually home.  As a result of this, my postings here at the site will most likely become less frequent than they were before and I cannot guarantee that I will have something new to post every day.

 

I will do my best to post when I can, and will try to have at least an average of two posts a day or so, but that may not alway be the case.  Due to this decrease, I shall do my best to make sure that the few posts I do make are of higher quality for you, my awesome readers.

 

The other thing that's going on is that I am in the process of moving to a new apartment.  The actual move itself will be at the end of next week, and there may be a couple of days period where my internet is screwy as I set stuff up at my new place and get everything unpacked.  So expect the postings to be especially light late next week and the early part of the first week of July.  After that, hopefully, things will return to normal.

 

Again, I'm very sorry that I won't be able to post as often going forward as I have been doing for the  last year.  I feel really bad about that.  I love posting stuff to this site for you to read.  I just need to find a way to get paid to do this.  If you by any chance happen to be an editor for a newspaper that is looking for it's very own nerd blog, or work for a radio station looking for a good nerd show, drop me a line.  I'd love to talk to you.

 

- Patrick

Girls' Guide to Comic-Con?

Are you kidding me right now? I think I just vomited a little bit in my mouth!


The Los Angeles Times decided to do all of us females a favor and put together a nice little slide show to let us know exactly what us girls, who are of course only going to San Diego Comic-Con International for the uber hot guys, would like to see.



You can find it here Girls' Guide to Comic Con if you are so inclined.



Now I full on understand that good amount of females nowadays who go to Comic-Con will only be going to see things like the hot guys from this show or the hot guys from that movie (or hot girls if you are into that). Or god forbid anything Twilight oriented. And don't get me wrong...I like the hot guys as much as the next person, but how about putting together something a little more...I don't know....comic booky or even remotely oriented to a geek-girl audience!


This is the type of piece that makes big assumptions as to why girls attend Comic-Con in the first place. This will be my 16th year attending the convention and believe me even 16 years ago SDCC was a vastly different place than it is now. It wasn't quite the media blitz it has become. And while I do attend a few panels that include stars and creators from some of my favorite shows, and I also look foward to seeing people like my favorite fantasy writers and artists, the real reason I started attending was for the comic books and the comic book artists.


So, my point is that if you are going to put together a "Girls' Guide to Comic-Con", why don't you make it about things that maybe said "girls" won't be so quick to discover on their own instead of the "23 things that will already be thrown in their faces". Make it about the comic books, make it about the indie artists, or the newest and hottest anime that they will be able to discover. Because obviously Comic-Con doesn't have a problem selling out anymore and I don't know about everyone else, but I tend to see just as many girls as guys on the floor and in the panels every year.


But, then again, I guess I shouldn't expect too much since this is the LA Times we are talking about. The same paper that I am sure gets most of their advertising revenue from the shows and movies that they are currently promoting in their little slide show.

Friday Happy Hour

 

Vulcan Death Grip

 

Recipe:

• 1 oz Sailor Jerry Rum


• 1 oz Galliano

 

Sailor Jerry just so happens to be one of my favorite rum drinks ever, so you can imagine my happiness when I saw it as the main ingredient of a shot called the Vulcan Death Grip.  I was so happy that I was even completely willing to overlook the fact that Vulcan's don't actually have a "death grip".  They have a nerve pinch.

 

Spock doesn't kill people when he pinches their necks.  He knocks them out for a short while instead.  Why this is named the Death Grip then makes no sense to me.  The choice of name is completely illogical.  Of course, I'm sure that won't really matter in the long run.  Afterall, If you have enough of these in one night, I'm sure you're bound to start acting rather illogical too.

I Do So Love The Ladies In Spandex

 

This great bit of superhero art was created by the very talented artist Tara McPherson.  According to her, the painting was created for "an inside project for Warner Bros".  I don't know what that project is, but I certainly do like the result.

Of course, I may be totally biased due to my lifelong crush on Batgirl.

 

Be sure to check out the rest of Tara's art on her website, she has a very interesting and unique style.

 

Thanks go to my good friend Billie for pointing this out to me.

If There Was A Single App That Would Make Me Want An iPhone, It Would Probably Be This One

 



 

I don't own an iPhone.  I"ve never really had any desire to own an iPhone either.  However, upon finding out about this incredibly amazing iPhone app that turns your phone into a classic 60's Star trek Communicator, I suddenly find myself with a strong desire to own this phone.  If only it wasn't for that annoying AT&T contract you have to sign.

 

Seriously though, hot damn this thing looks awesome.  Just imagine how cool it would be to have to flip your phone open in total Kirk style when your friends call.  Damn you cool app makers for making me want to buy a stupidly expensive phone just so I can pretend I'm getting calls from the USS Enterprise!

10 Ways To Provoke A Geek Fight

 

For the most part, we geeks are peaceful people.  We're typically fairly open minded and don't generally go out of our way to cause confrontations.  However, even we have our limits.  Sometimes, when interacting with others (both geek and non-geek), something will get said that just has to be responded to.  Usually it's an idea that is completely and utterly against our geeky way of seeing things that we have to point out the error to whomever had made the faulty point.  When it's a fellow geek that said the erroneous statement, then it's a full on geek fight. 

 

The things that set us off vary greatly depending on the geek in question, but the folks over at GeekDad have put together a rather accurate list of things that will start most of us off on a geeky rant.  They've dubbed this list the Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument.  Be warned though, even the act of just reading the list was enough to make me angry.  Especially items #1 and $4.  Them's fighting words.

 

Also, the more I think about it, GeekDad left a couple of important items off of the list.  Here's some other things that I think when said aloud are pretty much guaranteed to start a geek argument.

 

• Aren't Star Trek and Star Wars the same thing?  I can never tell the difference.


• The "Dark Knight" was totally overrated.  I think  "X-Men 3:  The Last Stand" was a much better film.


• The Muppet Show was just a stupid kids show.


• Science Fiction and Fantasy novels aren't real literature.

 

Can you guys think of any more?

Geek Item Of The Week - 06/11/09

 

Robots In Disguise T-Shirt

 

I absolutely love this shirt.  Of course, with such a perfect disguise on, no one will ever know that you are actually wearing a Transformers T-shirt, and you'll probably have to explain it to all of your friends.  After all, that moustache is just so convincing.  If it wasn't for the fact that I'm so incredibly observant (seriously, I'm like Sherlock Holmes only cooler), I wouldn't have noticed it either.

That's A Lot Of Smurfing Smurfs!

 

Apparently, there's a ton of Smurfs fans in the Welsh city of Swansea.  I say this because, as you can see in the above photo, there's a lot Smurfing people dressed up as Smurfs there.  In fact, that photo was from a gathering that broke the world record for the most number of people in one place who are all dressed up like Smurfs.

 

I didn't even know that such a record existed, but it does, and now the city of Swansea holds the record at 2,510 Smurfs all hanging out together.  This completely blows away the previous record holder, held by the city of Castleblayney in the county of Monaghan, Ireland.  That Irish Smurf gathering had gotten 1,253 Smurfs together. 

 

If I was one of the Irish Smurfs, I'd be pretty pissed off right now.  Just who do these Welsh upstarts think they are, stealing a pointless world record from the people who invented it in the first place?  It's only inevitable now I suppose that we'll see an escalation in this Smurf gathering contest.  It's your turn Irish Smurfs.  I want to see 3,000 of you little blue people running around the Irish countryside.  Don't let me down.

Yeah, This Is Pretty Much How I See Him

 

This lovely little image comes to us courtesy of Worth1000.com and their great contest called Putting the Star In Star Wars.

 

If you've never been to Worth 1000 before, you should totally check the site out.  They do photoshopping contests all the time, and some of the topics are incredibly geek friendly, like this particular contest in which you had to photoshop random famous people into the roles of the major Star Wars characters.  Of all of the entries I saw though, this was hands down my favorite.  I'll admit it, I would have been completely ok with Lucas if he had cast himself as Count Dooku in the prequel films.  Afterall, he looks pretty good for the role, don't you agree?

The Assassin's Creed 2 Demo Looks Oh So Pretty

 

I really enjoyed the first Assassin's Creed game.  It was an interesting mix of sandbox gameplay and superhero style rooftop jumping.  It was like a cross between a Batman game and Grand Theft Auto game.  Since it was set in the middle ages during the Crusades, I couldn't help but call the game Grand Theft Auto: Jerusalem.

 

And of course, due to the smashing sales success of the first game, the sequel was inevitable.  This one look's like it will be taking place in the 1400's right at the height of the Renaissance, but what I really want to know is whether this game will properly continue the actual Sci-fi future story that is really driving the game.  Most likely, that will be kept a secret until one plays the game.  I'm pretty sure it will though, and this trailer sure is pretty.  Let's hope the game lives up to this great cinematic cutscene.

Two Very Great (And Very Busy) Posters

 

I always love these kinds of posters that show a thousand different things going on all at once.  I don't know why, but they just always amuse me.  So imagine my excitement then when I found not one, but two different posters like that today.  And to top it off, they're about two of my favorite things in the world . . . video games and zombies.

 

The video game poster is pictured above.  You can see a larger version of the image HERE.  It was made by artist Gary Lucken, and it contains references to just about every video game ever made.  Don't believe me?  Just check it out for yourself.  From Starfox's Arwings in the top left corner of the image to Parappa The Rapper throwing down some mad rhymes in the bottom right, this poster has more cool gaming references than I ever would have imagined could fit onto into a single image.  It's amazing.

 

Not to be outdone though, cartoonist Lucy Knisley has created this incredibly adorable image of the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

 

 

 

To see a bigger version of this great zombie cartoon, click HERE.  Who knew that an army of the walking dead could be so . . . cute?

 

(Via Joystiq and BoingBoing)

Six Years After Being So Wrongly Cancelled, Futurama Will be Getting Brand New Episodes

 



 

There were rumors of this last week, but I absolutely hate to report rumors here at Geek-tastic.  If the rumors end up not being true, then I feel guilty for having gotten people's hopes up only to have them so cruelly dashed by the harsh realities of life.  But now the rumors have been confirmed, so I am totally free to report on this awesome news.

 

Futurama is getting a new season of brand new episodes!!!  You'll have to excuse me here as I let my feelings on this matter known.

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  Holy god damned bananas this is awesome!!!  There is justice in the universe afterall!!!  Life is worth living!!!  Philip J. Fry and Bender"Bending" Rodriguez and Leela and Dr. Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth and the rest of the Planet Express crew are coming back!!!  Did I already say WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!?

 

In case you couldn't tell, this has me a little excited.

 

As rumored on Collider.com, Futurama will return to TV on Comedy Central six years after being axed by Fox, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reported.

 

A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox Television confirmed the pickup to Ausiello, who reported that the cable network has ordered 26 new episodes of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's animated series, to begin airing in 2010.

 

Fuck yeah!!!  Futurama is basically one of my all time favorite TV shows ever.  After it was originally cancelled by Fox (those bastards) I was heart broken.  I only managed to get by due to the greatness of the folks over at Adult Swim who dilligently played reruns of the show every weeknight at 11pm.  Those reruns helped me get through college.  Then came the straight-to-DVD movies and live was good again, but it was only for a short time.  Now, once again, we will be honored with the greatness that is weekly installments of new Futurama episodes. 

 

Good god I can't wait.  When will these new episodes air???  Don't leave me hanging!  I need to know, and I need to know NOW!!!

New Super Mario Brothers? Yes Please!!!

 

I really wasn't too impressed with much of what Nintendo had to offer at last week's E3 show in Los Angeles.  The new Mario Galaxy game looked exactly like the old Mario Galaxy game, the Zelda concept art for the new game that was shown looked exactly like the art from Twilight Princess and the new Wii Fit health sensor stuff just bored me to sleep.  Sure, the new Metroid game from Team Ninja looks pretty sweet, but I haven't played any of the last few Metroid games really so this isn't big news to me.

 

However, the above trailer for the new side scrolling Super Mario Brothers game for the Wii definitely caught even my bitter and jaded fanboy eye.  It looks phenomenal!  It's just like the great and classic mario games of old.  It looks like Super Mario World for the SNES.  And you can play it with up to four people???  Fucking Awesome!!!  I'm sold.  When can I buy one?

New Geek DVD Day - 06/09/09

Ok, so this week has almost no good Geek DVD releases at all.  This week's selections are really stretching the term geeky, but it's the best I could do folks.  Sorry.  Not every week can be a geeky entertainment goldmine.

 



 

The Good:  The International

 

Why It's Good:  Ok, so The International is just your standard Hollywood action/thriller.  But it stars Clive Owen, and he was badass in Sin City and Children of Men, so it's probably worth a viewing.

 



 

The Badass:  Predator 2 on Blu-ray

 

Why it's Badass:  Sure, Predator 2 wasn't nearly as cool as the original predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger was, but it was at least a hell of a lot better than the first Aliens vs. Predator movie was.  Plus,  watching Danny Glover take on a Predator is thoroughly entertaining because you just know he's "too old for this shit", but he still manages to whoop ass.  And now you can see it all in high definition glory.  That's gotta make this worth seeing again at least once.

 



 

The Awesome:  Macho Madness - The Ultimate Randy Savage Collection

 

Why It's Awesome:  Ok, not everyone is a fan of professional wrestling.  That's ok, nobody's perfect.  Yes, I happen to be a fan of Wrestling.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I prefer the classic wrestlers to most of the modern guys, but I still watch the shows on occasion.  Regardless of whether you've ever enjoyed two oiled up muscle bound men pretend to beat the crap out of each other though, you'll have to admit that the Macho Man Randy Savage is at the very least a highly entertaining character.  Aside from being an awesome wrestler, he's well known for being the Slim Jim guy and he even had a cameo in the first Spider-man movie as the wrestler Bonesaw McGraw. 

 

This set collects some of the Macho Man's greatest matches ever.  You know you want it.  Oooooooohh yeeeeaaaahhhhh!

Achievement Unlocked: 1,000 Posts Made

 

A little over a year ago, out of a desire to do something creative, I decided to share my love of all things Geeky with the world at large and went about making plans for a nerd news blog.  Then, July 23rd, 2008 . . . Geek-tastic.com was born. 

 

The site's first post was a simple welcome message which promised great things to come in the following months.  Now here we are, 1,000 posts later and Geek-tastic has definitely grown from it's humble beginning.  Earlier this year we started the Geek-tastic Podcast which now has 5 episodes for your listening pleasure.  We've also started up the Geek-tastic web comic which is drawn wonderfully by our resident artist Mattman (pictured above in the Evil Dead T-shirt).

 

I look forward to bringing you more great posts and features in the months and years ahead.  Next month is the San Diego Comic Con once again, and I'll personally be covering the event once again for Geek-tastic and will be uploading photos daily to the Geek-tastic Flickr Account.

 

I'd like to take this opportunity to also thank those of you who have helped contribute in some way, shape or form to the site over the last 1,000 posts.  In no Particular order, my thanks go out to . . .

 

• Josh Lander - For hosting the site and helping me set it up.  I really am technically retarded, and without his help this site would never have gotten off the ground.


• Gustavo Ayon - For creating the original Geek-tastic guy and girl, and for making them look so awesome.


• Matt Jeffrey - For co-hosting the podcast, for drawing the web comic, and for his always enjoyable Batman updates.


• Wes Strawther - For his posts and the long lost Wednesday Wes Rants which I hope will someday return.


• Ned Cato Jr. for allowing me to join in with the good folks over at the GeekRoundTable and for inspiring me to want to create my own site and podcast.


• Johann Joseph and Robert Magness for joining in on our Podcasting goodness.

 

And finally, a huge thanks to everyone who has read the site and has supported it up to this point.  Thank you all so much for reading and commenting and being so great.  I really appreciate it.

 

Here's to another thousand posts!  I'll do my best to make to make them great.

Peter Jackson Is Coming To Comic Con. James Cameron Might Show Up Too

 

 

If you have any hope of seeing them at all, you'd better get in line right about now.

 

Filmmaker Peter Jackson has done many things in his life.  He has built himself an incredibly successful career as a director, he accomplished the impossible and made live-action Lord of the Rings films cool, he even tamed King Kong.  However, there's one thing the fan favorite director has never done.  He's never come face-to-face with his fans at the annual Mecca of geekdom . . . San Diego's Comic Con International.

 

That's about to change though. According to the NY Times, Jackson has announced his intentions to take part in this year's convention. He'll be appearing with fellow Director Neill Blomkamp to promote the latter director's new sci-fi film District 9.

 

“I’m thrilled that I finally have the opportunity,” Mr. Jackson said in an e-mail message. “Neill is a tremendously talented young director, and he’s made an extraordinary film, so it was important to me to come to San Diego to spread the word.” He added that attendees will be in for “quite a ride,” but did not elaborate.

 

“District 9,” starring a cast of unknowns, is about an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slumlike conditions on Earth. The aliens find help in a government agent sympathetic to their plight.

 

“We are overjoyed that the stars have aligned for this,” said David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s director of marketing and public relations. Mr. Jackson “has a huge fan base here and is notorious for listening to his fans,” he said, “which should make for a really interesting panel.”

 

Interesting is an understatement.  The fact that Jackson couldn't make it to Comic Con during the height of the Lord of the Rings films' popularity was a suprise and a disappointment to fans who wanted to personally thank Jackson for doing the novels justice and for making such entertaining films.  That he's only just now making his presence known at the biggest entertainment convention in the United States means that Hall H is going to be a full on madhouse the day he arrives.  I don't even want to think about how long that line is going to be.

 

If there could possibly be one line longer than Jackson's though, it would be if filmmaker James Cameron were to show up to promote his own upcoming sci-fi film Avatar.  And just such a thing might happen too.

 

Comic-Con is still finalizing its schedule, and it is entirely possible that Mr. Jackson could be upstaged by another science-fiction heavyweight: James Cameron (“Aliens,” “Titanic”). A 20th Century Fox executive said the studio was weighing whether to screen footage from Mr. Cameron’s coming behemoth, “Avatar,” his first narrative film since “Titanic” became the all-time box office champion 12 years ago.

 

Fox Pictures would be absolutely retarded not to have James Cameron show up at Comic Con to promote Avatar.  If there is one event in the world that is absolutely positively 100% guaranteed to get your upcoming movie some major buzz, it's Comic Con.  Sure, some people would say that event would be a commercial during the Super Bowl, but those people are idiots.  Super Bowl commercials are forgotten about a week after the game.  Comic Con moments though are remembered for months and years afterwards.  Even to people who can't make it to the Con will either see or hear something about the film from one of the millions of news and media organizations that covers every seconds of the event LIVE nowadays.  To have a headlining panel at Comic Con these days basically guarantees you tons of free press.  For Fox not to have Cameron show up would be one of the most bone headed things the company could possibly do. 

 

Well . . . other than make X-Men Origins: Wolverine as crappy as it was, of course.  That was pretty boneheaded too.

Oh God, My Eyes! I've Gone Blind!

 

Talk about your buzzkill.  I guess if there was ever proof that the universe demanded that all good and amazing things be countered by something equally horrid and vile, this Jabba the Hutt Halloween costume is it.  After the pure and unadulterated beauty that was The Beatles: Rock Band game trailer, I was convinced that the universe was a perfect and happy place where only good things happened.  Then along came this costume to remind me that the universe is actually a dark and cold place where existence is harsh and beauty only comes in rare doses.

 

Behold the awfulness that is the Jabba The Hutt Supreme Edition Costume.  I can only assume that by supreme, they are referring to the level in which it sucks.  This thing is so ugly it can make grown men cry and children run screaming in terror.  If you've already pre-ordered this costume, please do me a favor and shoot yourself.  If you really spent $70.90 on this thing, you've proven to me that you don't deserve to live.  For god's sake, the damned thing doesn't even come with gloves!!!  Just look at how pathetic Jabba looks with normal human hands sticking out of his crappy plastic-skinned arm.  And don't even get me started on the face.  And how exactly does one move around in this thing?  Do you have to shuffle around all night?  Or hop?

 

That's not the worst thing though.  No, if this costume was just horribly ugly, that would be ok.  What truly has me worried is the knowledge that somewhere out there in this world there is a die hard Star Wars fan who is also a Furry . . . and that person is wetting themselves right now in excitement over this costume.  Soon, they'll be wearing their Jabba suit with a special little hole cut out in the crotch and then they're going to go to one of their frightening Furry parties and will commit dispicable acts while wearing the suit.  The good name of Jabba will forever be ruined, and now I'll never be able to see the character the same way again.  After getting a vivid mental image of Jabba fucking a Unicorn, there's just no going back.  Jabba is now officially dead to me. 

 

Thanks a lot Lucasfilm licensing department.  How this got approval to get made before the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag did is something I'll never understand.

Sweet Zombie Jesus This Is Beautiful

 

This is the intro to the upcoming Beatles: Rock Band video game, and Holy Mary Mother of God if this isn't one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  I am actually stunned speechless . . . . well . . . . almost.  This game cannot possibly come out soon enough.  I like the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games and all, but in all seriousness, after this game comes out, what's the point of ever making other version of the games.  The ultimate level has already been achieved.  Anything released after this will only be downhill from here.

 

Please, do this video the proper respect it deserves and make sure you watch this as a full screen video.  It is truly gorgeous.

Friday Happy Hour

 

The Erect Wookie

 

Recipe:

• 4.0 oz. Apple Juice


• 1.0 whole Cherry


• 2.0 oz.  Vodka


• 3.0 oz. Zima


• 1.0 whole Cherry


• Stir it all up, add a slice of kiwi and a cherry on top, and wahlah, wookie is erect.

 

 I can't think of a better follow up to the awesomeness that is Han Solo P.I than this lovely Wookie-centric drink.  Although I do question the inclusion of Zima into this drink, I definitely cannot question the erectness of the wookie pictured above.  That sure is one erect Wookie.

New Geek-Tastic Web Comic: The Zombie/Steroids Connection

 

A new comic has gone up for the Geek-tastic Web Comic series.  Be sure to check it out.  To see the full comic, just click on the above image.

 

Any Resident Evil fans out there should definitely get a kick out of this one.

I have A New TV Hero. His Name Is Han Solo P.I.

 

If this were to ever get made into an actual TV show, it would instantly become my favorite TV show of all time.  Nothing else ever made could even hope to compete with the amazing awesomeness that is Han Solo P.I. as he wanders the galaxy solving crimes with his friend Chewbacca.

 

God damn, why isn't real TV this good?

Geek Item Of The Week - 06/05/09

 

Zombie Jello Mold

 

The perfect thing for the corporate party or summer pot luck where everyone has to bring some sort of food item.  The zombie jello mold is sure to be the talk of any such gathering, especially if you make a green and red jello like the one pictured above.

 

Just look at that tasty zombie and tell me you aren't even slightly tempted to tear off his arm or part of his head and chow down.  You know you are.

I Have Seen The Future . . . And It Is Awesome

Everyone wants to be the Wii, apparently.  One of the big things that was shown off at E3 this week by both Microsoft and Sony were new motion controllers for their Xbox and PS3 systems.  It looks like the Wii's massive success has made the other two systems green with envy and now it's beginning to look like motion controlled gaming could very well be the future of gaming. 

 

Let's start by taking a look at the Xbox's new motion controlled system, which they're calling Natal.

 



 

Ok, first thoughts . . . it looks really cool.  But then after a few seconds reality sets in and I remember that this is a very nicely produced promotional video starring annoyingly attractive and fake family members in their annoyingly attractive and fake home.  Also, the video comes complete with pretty special effects like when the kid scans his skateboard, so the accuracy of the device and how the graphics of the games would look on a real screen are questionable at best. 

 

Still though, some of the concepts shown here look really cool.  The idea of a fighting game where you're actually fighting and kicking and punching and your movements are being captured in real-time and are translated into movement in the game is pretty awesome.  For things like fighting games and sports games, that's an amazing concept.  However, I'd be worried about things like shooter games or things that require you to hold a prop like a gun or a sword or something.  Not everything is great when you are miming it out.  Take that game show thing they showed in the clip for example.  Personally, I'd much rather have an actual buzzer in my hand that I got to press.  But maybe that's just me.

 

As a last thought though, being able to navigate through the Xbox live dashboard using only hand movements is a thing of pure beauty.  When they showed the clip of the girl scrolling through her netflix queue with a wave of her hand, I think my heart skipped a beat.  I can't wait to do that.

 

Ok, now for the PS3's new motion control stuff.

 



 

Ok, this one has some positives and some negatives too.  Let's start with the positives.  As opposed to Microsoft's overly produced and super slick looking promo video, this was actually two normal looking guys testing out their software and hardware in front of a live audience.  Instantly this gets more credibility in my book because this hasn't had post production work done to it to make it look pretty.  This was more real.  Secondly, they pointed out that this thing does motion capture of the controller, not you.  As if they had read my mind, they point out that for things like shooter games and things like that, you really do need a controller in your hand.  You need a trigger to pull and buttons to push sometimes to make things seem more real.

 

On the downsides here, this is just a tech demo so we have no idea how closely this will resemble the finished product in comparison.  Also, there's no actual games to play that can show what the system can do.  It's just tech demo game stuffs too.  And as opposed to the Xbox's system, there's no mention of this being able to help you navigate the PS Network or doing any of the cool menu browsing we saw in Microsoft's video.

 

However, the creativity with the types of weapons they used in the demo really has me excited.  A nerf dart gun?  A real gun?  Swords and shields?  Spinning maces?  Whips?  Soooooooo awesome!  And the ability to actually draw an arrow from a quiver, nock it, draw it back and then fire it is absolutely amazing.  I would kill for a fantasy archer game where I got to shoot orcs doing that.  And let's be honest here folks, what's the one thing we were all thinking of as we saw him demoing that force whip?  That's right, a lightsaber!!!  If Lucasarts were to make a lightsaber game where you got to run around and cut Stormtroopers up in real time with full motion capture accuracy, I think I'd play that game until my heart exploded from sheer unadulterated joy!

 

This is the future of gaming people, and it's looking pretty damned awesome.  Let's just hope that when these things come out, they'll live up to all this hype.

Total Recall To Get A Total Remake

 

Go ahead and add the great film Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger to the long list of popular sci-fi or action films from the 80's and 90's that is currently getting either rebooted or remade entirely.  Columbia Pictures has hired a writer by the name of Kurt Wimmer (who wrote the admittedly cool film Equilibrium) to pen a remake of the awesome Arnold film about possibly fake memories and ancient civilizations on Mars.

 

The movie will be a contemporized adaptation of the science fiction saga based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale."

 

Total Recall was resurrected for remake earlier this year by the studio and producer Neal Moritz and his Original Films banner. Columbia secured remake rights from Miramax, which has the option to co-finance the film when it is ready to shoot.

 

I'm just going to say this right now.  If this new version of Total Recall doesn't have a topless three breasted woman, a scene with the hero pulling a huge glowing red ball from out of his nose or a deformed baby thing sticking out of some dude's belly, then it won't be worth a damn.  As we all know, those are the things that made the original Total Recall kick so much ass.

The NES (Nintendo Entertainment Shoe)

 

Yesterday at E3, Nintendo did their big keynote address where they showed a bunch of games and other stuff that they'll be putting out in the next year or two.  Admittedly, some of their news was really cool like a new 2D Super Mario Game, a new Metroid game, more Wii Fit stuff, etc.  However, not a single thing that they talked about yesterday could possibly hope to rival the utter coolness that is the fan made NES in a shoe.

 

Just look at it and behold its glory.  I don't think there is a single person who grew up playing this system that wouldn't go out immediately and buy this shoe if it were to actually be made for sale.  Talk about your portable gaming systems . . . the NES in a shoe would be the highest selling shoe/console combo of all time.

 

It would also be the only shoe/console combo ever made, but that's besides the point.  What I'm trying to say here is that this thing would sell like hotcakes.  Just look at the awesome design that uses the controller cord as the shoe laces.  If they ever actually make these things, I'll be pre-ordering mine on the first day.

 

(Via BoingBoing)

Marvel Releases The First Of The Coming Onslaught Of Avengers Movie Propaganda

 



 

We've known since last summer that Marvel Comics was planning a big buildup to their gigantic Avengers live-action film.  Over the next two years, they'll be releasing a bunch of inidvidual hero films that will all be tied together to form the uber hero film The Avengers.  It's not suprising then that the marketing campaign for this mega movie crossover is starting really early. 

 

To kick things off on what is looking to be a two year long marketing campaign, Marvel has just released the above image giving the names and the details of the next string of superhero films they're releasing.  None of the names or dates are news we didn't already know, but I did think it worth noting that this is the first piece of promotional material I've seen thus far that is combining all of the upcoming films into one image.

 

Also, I'm totally digging the Captain America portion of the poster.  It just looks really cool in my opinion.

A Suprisingly Hard Star Trek Quiz

 

Mental Floss has once again created an absolutely hilarious quiz entitled Star Trek Character OR Over-The-Counter Erectile Dysfunction Pill in which you have to determine if the name given is for some strangely named alien from Star Trek, or is a pill to make men's junk hard for long periods of time.

 

The quiz is actually suprisingly difficult too.  I only got 4 out of 10.  Being a big fan of Trek, I thought I would do better.  I guess it just never occured to me how much some Trek names sound like Erectile Dysfunction pills.  Or maybe the people who make the pills have purposely named their pills in a Star Trek fashion in an attempt to subconsciously win over Trek fan boy customers.  Hmmmm, this could go either way.

 

As for the headline I wrote for this post . . . I'm sorry.  I couldn't help myself.  It was just too easy.

From Terminator To Titan

 

This is the first released pic of actor Sam Worthington (the guy who played Marcus in Terminator: Salvation) in costume and on the set of next year's big sword swinging action flick, a remake of the classic Clash of the Titans.  Worthington will be playing the starring role in the film, that of the heroic Perseus.  For those of you who have never seen the original film (shame on you), here's a handy breakdown of the story.

 

Helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

 

Rounding out the cast is Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) as Io, Perseus’ mysterious spiritual guide throughout his journey; Mads Mikkelsen (”Casino Royale”) as Draco, who takes up his sword to join Perseus’ quest; Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Acrisius, a one-time king-turned-hideous beast; and Alexa Davalos (Defiance) as Andromeda, a princess doomed to lose her life if Perseus does not succeed.

 

Liam Neeson as Zeus?  Ralph Fiennes as Hades?  Kickass!!!  I do love me a good sword & sandal flick and it's been a few years now since we've had a really good one.  If this turns out to be decent, it just could be one of the best films of next year.

New Geek DVD Day - 06/02/09

Wow, talk about your slow weeks for geeky DVD releases.  There's not really anything of major excitement this week.  Seriously.  Nothing.  The big items this week were things like Prison Break, sports DVD's and romantic comedies.  If you're looking for cool geeky things to watch this week, it looks like you'll be better off renting or hitting up netflix for some older geeky goodness.  Unless of course you really want to see Navy Seals on Blu-ray.

 

Due to this lack of quality geek titles this week, I'm only really making one solid choice here and two random picks that I've never heard of before but which just sound pretty cool.

 



 

The Good:  The Hunger - The Complete First Season

 

Why It's Good:  I don't really get any of the movie cable channels you have to pay for, and since this show is on Showtime I'd never even heard of it until today but the product description on Amazon has me definitely interested in checking it out.  The show is a horror anthology series that is influenced by the classic Tony Scott film The Hunger.  The series is presented by both Tony and Ridley Scott and it has some amazing cast members listed such as Daniel Craig, Lena Headey and Margot Kidder.

 

I don't know about you, but any show that features James Bond, Sarah Connor and Lois Lane in it is something I definitely need to see.  Especially when the show's premise is described as, "each episode will draw you into a mesmerizing world of horrific characters and erotic encounters, where demons feed on the weakness of men and temptation consumes reason."

 



 

The Badass:  RetarDEAD

 

Why It's Badass:  It's a zombie film I've never heard of before.  It has absolutely no product description on its Amazon page, and there are no customer reviews for it either.  But it does happen to have one of the funniest movie titles I've ever heard, and it has zombies so of course I'm going to have to watch it.  This could either be one of the greatest films of all time or it could be one of the worst things I'll ever see in my entire life.  I'll never know for sure though until I see it.  This is being added to my netflix queue right now.

 



 

The Awesome:  Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children on Blu-ray

 

Why It's Awesome:  When the original Final Fantasy film entitled The Spirits Within was released in theaters, fans everywhere were vastly disappointed because all anyone really wanted to see at the time was a big CG movie of Final Fantasy VII.  Well, Square/enix eventually got their heads out of their asses and had just such a film made . . . and the fans loved it.  Continuing the story of Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children gave fans everything they could have hoped for.  It had all of the game's characters in beautiful CG detail, it had amazing fight scenes and just like the game it had a plot that made no sense whatsoever.

 

But really, who needs plot?  All we really wanted from this film was to see Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Vincent kick a lot of ass and look good while doing it.  And that we got in spades.  Now the film is on Blu-ray, which means the CG will probably look a lot better and the fight scenes will be that much prettier.

The Undead Walk The Streets Of Long Beach!!!

 

As promised last week, here are some of the photos from the Zombie Walk that took place in Long Beach, California last Saturday night.  THe zombie walk was part of a late night screening of Shaun of the Dead which was taking place at the Art Theatre in good old LB.

 

A great horde of the undead shuffled their way down 4th street as they made their way to the theatre.  It was at great personal risk of being infected myself that I dared to get these photos for you, my loyal readers.  I hope you enjoy them.  You can see the flickr set I created for all of the photos, but here's a few of my favorites.

 

And In This Corner . . . Darth Vader!!!

 

As a fan of both wrestling and Star Wars, it is with much giddyness that I bring you these insanely cool Star Wars Lucha Libre masks.  They are available for free to print over at the official Star Wars website so you can wear them yourself  or give one to your kids or whatever. 

 

I can honestly say that General Greivous has never looked cooler.

 

I do feel the need here to give major kudos to the folks over at the Star Wars website.  These are really cool masks that they're making available for free.  It's a rad move on their part and I have much respect for them because of it.  Keep up the great work guys!

 

(Via BoingBoing)

More Gaming Goodness Than You Can Shake A Joystick At

Ok, so E3 is going on this week.  It started today actually, and god damn if there hasn't already been more amazing gaming news than I know what to do with.  Seriously, Patrick is going to be a very poor, poor man come this fall due to the large amount of amazing games that are going to be coming out before Christmas.  There was way more gaming news today than I could possibly hope to cover, but if you head over to Joystiq, they've got all the awesome details coming out from the convention.

 

I have, however, taken it upon myself to share with you some of the highlights of todays news.  This is just a short list of some of the games that are going to ensure I'll have an empty savings account by Christmas.

 

Halo: Reach and Halo 3: ODST

 

We'll start this off with two Halo based games.  You didn't actually think that the Halo series was over just because Master Chief finished the fight, did you?  Of course not.  First up is a suprise from E3, Halo: Reach.  Seeing as how this was just announced today, not much is known about what the game will entail, but for those of us Halo fans out there who know the backstory to the games, the planet Reach was once the military hub for the United Nations Space Corps (UNSC) until the Covenant showed up and blew the entire place to hell.  It's also where almost all of Master Chief's fellow SPARTAN soldiers were lost.  My money says that this game will feature multi-player SPARTAN campaign modes galore.

 

The only downside, it does't come out until some time in 2010

 



 

Next up is Halo 3: ODST.  This game takes place during the events of Halo 3 (hence the title), but instead of playing the all powerful Master Chief you'll be playing one of the UNSC's highly trained Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST).  Since you aren't a SPARTAN in this Halo game and aren't blessed with super strength, an awesome super powered suit or the help of a sexy A.I chick named Cortana, you're going to have to be a bit more careful than you've been before.  Word has it that this game will focus heavily on multi-player based squad tactics in order to complete your missions.

 

As an added bonus, rumor has it that the purchase of Halo3 : ODST will grant you access to the online beta for Halo: Reach.  How's that for some added incentive?

 



 

Dead Rising 2

 

THe Original Dead Rising Game was a huge success for Capcom.  It was a simple premise really.  Stick a player in a shopping mall filled with Zombies, make everything in said mall available as a weapon to use against the zombies, and then let the player go to town on a zombie killing rampage.  It really is the simple things that work best, isn't it?  Well, for Dead Rising 2, take that same basic premise except this time replace the shopping mall with the downtown Las Vegas strip . . . complete with casinos, bars, nightclubs and more.  If you love killing the undead, this game is definitely for you.

 



 

Left 4 Dead 2

 

Speaking of killing massive amounts of the living dead, video game publisher Valve will not be outdone by anyone else and has announced the release of their own undead slaughtering game.  Left 4 Dead 2 is the sequel to the suprisingly huge success that was the original Left 4 Dead game.  Again proving that simple concepts work best, the game centered around four players who had to work together as a team to survives the hordes of fast moving undead that came at them from every direction.  This time around, expect a lot more of the same stuff that made the first game successful.  More characters, more maps, more new boss zombies . . . . the sky's the limit.

 

My favorite thing though, hands down, has to be the inclusion of melee weapons into the game.  Players will now be able to wield chainsaws, axes, baseball bats and even frying pans agains the legions of zombies that are attacking them.  I only have three words to say to this . . . . Hells Fucking Yes!!!

 



 

LEGO Harry Potter

 

If zombie killing isn't your forte and you much prefer games that aren't all about blood or violence, then I give you LEGO Harry Potter.  Made by the same people who brought you the wildly entertaining LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones games, this new game will be covering all of the events of the Harry Potter book series.  And of course, they'll be doing it in the totally adorable LEGO form.  I can't wait to see what LEGO Voldemort looks like.

 



 

And now I bring you the single greatest game trailer that I've seen in a long, long time.

 

Star Wars: The Old Republic

 

I'm just going to say this right now . . . thank God for Bioware!  Ever since the travesty of an MMO called Star Wars: Galaxies was overshadowed by the amazingly awesome RPG Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), Star Wars fans have been begging and pleading for Bioware to be given the chance to make a proper MMO based on the Star Wars universe.  Well, it looks like someone sold their soul to the right supernatural being because Lucasarts listened and Star Wars: The Old Republic was born. 

 

Coming out only on the PC, and probably not until the end if next year (if we're lucky), The Old Republic takes place thousands of years before the events of any of the Star Wars films.  It's back in the time when the Sith were as plentiful as the Jedi and the two sides were at war for control of the galaxy.  This video is the first cinematic trailer that has been released for the game which gives us any sense of the plot, and great caesar's ghost if this isn't the most amazing bit of  Star Wars fight scene I've ever seen . . . I don't know what is.

 



 

God Damn!!!  I just cried a bit.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  This video moved me to tears with it's awesomeness.  Now I am only left wondering why George Lucas didn't just hire out the guys over at Bioware to write the scripts for all three Star Wars prequels.  They would have made a set of films truly worthy of the mantle of Star Wars.

 

Oh well, at least I have this beautiful bit of video to fawn over.  I will watch it over and over and over again as I chant to my self, "There is no Jar Jar.  There are no Midichlorians.  There is only The Old Republic."  Maybe if I say it enough, it will become true.