posted by Chris on July 7, 2008 5:58 PM in Podcast
This week's podcast is weird. If you thought The Weekly Geek was already a crazy, mixed-up sort of video game blog, this podcast will re-enforce that astute observation. Your hosts Chris, Qais, Ross and Jinny discuss what they think is going to be shown at this year's E3 and if the event even matters anymore. They also talk about geek rites of passage, such as Chris' revelation that he just saw Blade Runner for the first time. A new book on nerds is discussed, dissected and judged for its cover, and they introduce a brand new geeky obsession: sous-vide cooking. Enjoy this week's podcast, for it is delicious.
posted by Chris on June 11, 2008 11:12 AM in Movies
Pop quiz! Is this A: A promo poster for a Robocop CGI remake coming in 2010 or B: A promo poster for a Robocop CGI remake coming in 2010 as seen in the original Robocop? Considering the original Robocop was set in "an indeterminate future time" either option is possible.
As our escapist futuristic fantasies finally catch up with us, we seem to be looking at retro-future-nostalgia for comfort. The future is pretty weird, you guys.
Every once in a while, Woot has a Photoshop contest that really brings out the funny. This week the subject was "an especially inappropriate franchise (an old TV show, comic book, classic novel, ancient myth, cartoon, movie, etc.)" Here's my favorite (and the winner!)
posted by Chris on April 28, 2008 6:02 PM in Podcast
It's Grand Theft Auto week and Chris, Qais and Ross express various levels of excitement at the prospect of hijacking cars and shooting hookers. Love it or hate it, the internet is atwitter with GTA coverage and we shamelessly feed into it in this week's podcast. But this week isn't just about GTA, no! Also discussed is the prospect of awesome crashes with motorcycles in Burnout, whether or not the Guinness Book of Records Gamer Edition is worthwhile, how movie directors can use misdirection to their advantage, and Qais reveals he has a horrifying disability: Stupid fingers.
Subscribe to the feed here to get updated on new podcasts as they are posted! Show notes after the jump.
posted by Chris on April 21, 2008 6:19 PM in Podcast
This week Chris is joined by Mack and Ross to talk about those playground perpetuated secret levels we all remember from childhood, the Iron Man/Hulk movie crossover, the Mortal Kombat vs. DC crossover, and our frothing demand for GTAIV. These and other geeky discussions can be yours this week, for the low, low price of zero dollars! Will these geeks ever get over the childhood trauma of finding out there's no cow level? Find out by downloading this podcast!
Subscribe to our feed to get these updates automatically! Show notes after the jump.
Perhaps there are others amongst you, dear readers, who felt the familiar, icy grip of The Fear when, upon watching Sin City you saw Frank Miller's name listed as a "director". Perhaps, like me, you may have shuddered at the thought of the horror that would be wrought by giving this man such a lofty title and, perhaps, you too felt ill when it was announced that he would be "directing" the film adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit.
It is unsurprising that Miller would choose The Spirit for his first solo project; after all he has a history of gallantly and self- righteously attaching himself to comics's old guard, like a vampire, riding their accomplishments and championing their causes as if they were his own and I'm sure it's been difficult now that Jack Kirby is gone.
The Spirit, then, is a gift from the gods. Here is an opportunity to take the work of one of the medium's greatest contributors and, due to the average movie-goers ignorance, shamelessly co-opt it. Congratulations Mr. Miller, they may never name an award after you, laud you for expanding the breath of what comics could accomplish, or stand in awe of your storytelling abilities, but fuck 'em right? Judging from these posters it is better to have made Sin Spirit instead. That's a legacy you can be proud of.
posted by Chris on March 17, 2008 5:56 PM in Podcast
It's just Chris and Qais on the podcast this week, as the duo discuss the Weekly Geek t-shirt contest, how St. Patrick's day sucks, free Guitar Hero DLC, and how Dreamworks sucks. But not everything sucks! We also talk about the MMO documentary Second Skin, and how we think that it would be nice to see a documentary paint gamers in a kind light, but how it's not likely to fill seats at the theater. Ok, that kind of sucks. All of these topics and more await you!
posted by Chris on March 10, 2008 6:40 PM in Podcast
This week Chris, Qais and Mack exchange audibly awkward glances this week while discussing how dreamy Shia Lebouf is, Spore on the iPhone and the release of new apps on that crazy little device, how dreamy Iron Man is, how crappy Sci Fi channel is now and how guilty we feel for leaving our Animal Crossing towns to ruin. A new contest is also announced, so be sure to listen to the podcast to find out how you can win something! Something neat, maybe!
posted by Mack on December 21, 2007 8:34 PM in Movies
The first episode of the MST3k-alike project Cinematic Titanic Goes on sale tonight. Cinematic Titanic, if you recall, is a collaboration between the original MST3k cast members Joel Hodgson (Joel), Trace Beaulieu (Crow/Dr. Forrester), J Elvis Weinstein (Tom Servo/Dr. Erhardt/Gypsy), as well as later MST3k writer/performers Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester) and Frank Conniff (TV's Frank). For their first venture they're taking on The Oozing Brain, a cinematic turkey that looks so bad it could even give Manos a run for its money.
If you're an obsessive geek and you can't wait until midnight to get your grubby hard-drives all over the digital downloads, you can check out the hi-res trailer here or head to their webpage for more information. I'm so excited I think I just peed a little!
posted by Chris on November 19, 2007 7:02 PM in Podcast
On this week's Weekly Geek podcast, Grant, Colette, Qais and Chris discuss whether or not Rock Band and Guitar Hero III are actually in competition with each other, gush about Mario Galaxy, lament the lameness of licensed games, discuss the intricacies of installing a George Foreman grill on your Wii, talk about how the Dragonball movie may not actually suck, how Cloverfield may actually suck, and Chris professes his undying love for Zooey Deschanel (Zooey, if you are reading this, call me). Download the podcast here or subscribe to the feed! The feed is what you need. As always, use the jump for show notez.
posted by Mack on November 11, 2007 9:23 AM in Movies
Welcome to the first installment of what I hope will be a weekly feature here on The Weekly Geek, Sci-Fi Sundays. This week, I’m going to be talking about the 1951 George Pal film When Worlds Collide.
When Worlds Collide opens, oddly, with a short reading from the Bible. The sermon today is apparently about Noah, which is what pastors usually talk about when they’ve got nothing really interesting to preach on. Following the sermon, we’re treated to a narration that informs us that “there are more stars in the sky than humans on Earth.” Gee thanks, narrator, I never would have known that.
You have heard the Wilhelm scream even if you don't know what it is. It was originally recorded for a movie titled "Distant Drums" in 1951, and brought back to cinema by Skywalker Sound for Star Wars. Since then, it's been used over and over again as a nod to the movies of yesteryear. Maybe it's also because it's a cheap stock sound effect. Some intrepid YouTube user has cut a bunch of instances of the Wilhelm scream into an easy to digest video for your perusal.
You know what awesome people do? Awesome people actively participate in their chosen form of entertainment and register in the forums. Why do they do that? Because that's where all the awesome people are, duh.
And what do awesome people talk about? I'm glad you asked.
One of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson (he of The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore fame) has announced he is going to be releasing a short film that leads up to his new movie The Darjeeling Limited titled Hotel Chevalier. It's slated to be released at Apple Stores across the country, and for free on iTunes.
While his movies may be a bit formulaic, it's a good formulaic in my opinion. Also one of the TUAW commenters is fueling a mini rumor fire by saying that Natalie Portman has a small nude scene. Win!
You either love it or you loathe it (for the record, I love it). Napoleon Dynamite is one of the great polarizing movies, splitting people between who enjoys awkward uncomfortable humor and those without a soul. While it's a great movie, it is a bit overhyped and now it's just plain confusing with the announcement of a Napoleon Dynamite video game.
Horrible thoughts enter my mind. A flurry of bad SNES movie and tv tie-in games - Beavis and Butthead, Addams Family, Eek the Cat... they were all horrible. Details of the game are slim (You can read the measly press release after the jump) but let's hope that since the movie has been out so long the company is making this game not necessarily to capitalize on the film's success, but because they have a great idea in mind. I am all for a point and click style adventure game, with minigames where you have to catch a delicious bass or build a cake (or something).
New Zealanders are going to get a sufficient dose of ovine rampaging come March 2007 with the release of Black Sheep, a new horror movie from WETA. You may know WETA as the effects house that created greats like Dead Alive, Meet the Feebles and The Lord of the Rings. If this trailer is any indication, we are certainly in for a treat. Zombie sheep ruling the countryside! Grandma getting a shotgun blast to the head! Blood everywhere! Guts! Carnage! Sheep!
Unfortunately it has to share the name of a Chris Farley pic, and is slated only for a NZ release at this point. Long live the DVD import. Click the link and check out the absolutely hilariously awesome trailer.
Not being a movie review site, this is a little unorthodox, but I just wanted to talk to you guys about Little Miss Sunshine. Probably one of the best movies I have seen in a while, it successfully takes the completely overdone cliche` movie device of the family road trip and turns it into something unique, original and hilarious. Steve Carell is in his element as a morose, depressed Proust scholar and pulls off his lines with excellent delivery. Who really steals the show, however, is the little girl who plays Olive, Abigail Breslin. She is an incredible actress, never once do you get that creepy little-kid-being-trained-by-their-parents-to-act vibe. She is really Olive, the little intelligent optimistic girl who wants nothing more than to be in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.
That's what is so great about this movie, is that no one is fake. You have the stale archetypes, the overbearing dad, the hippy mom, the crude grandpa and the bored teenage brother. But everyone in this movie takes their role and makes it interesting to watch. They mix tragedy and comedy in a way that is so incredibly refreshing to someone like me who absolutely loathes going to movies these days. It's not the generic man-gets-hit-in-balls laughs, and it is never predictable. You see these very real people in very real comic situations and that makes them very relateable. This is everyone's crazy family.
A movie that makes you think is one thing, a movie that makes you cry is another. A movie that is genuinely funny and makes you do both of those things and still delivers the usually cheesy message that being yourself is the best way to go about life is a movie worth watching. Go see it! It's depressing! It's hilarious! It has Steve Carell as a gay man! DO IT.
posted by Chris on September 12, 2005 7:34 PM in Rant
You may have heard reports that Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, the 100 minute long Square Enix movie based in the Final Fantasy 7 world, was leaked onto the interweb earlier this week. Yes, indeed, a very high quality DVD rip of the final version was leaked by a Chinese group called BiEN, and shortly thereafter English subtitles were created. Use your magical internet resources to find the torrent (I won't link it for fear of smiting and other nasty reprocussions from various allmighty sources). You'll be happy you did.
Remember the crap that was Final Fantasy Spirits Within? It was a fully CGI movie with big name voice actors set in a pseudo FF world that made no sense, wasn't very plot-heavy and nobody liked. This is not that movie. Square has become an entirely different company now that Enix swooped them up, and their new obsession with creating various Final Fantasy 7 spinoffs and turning them into movies, cell phone games and action shooters seems to be paying off. That is, if this movie is any indication of how well the other spinoffs are going to be, we fans are in for a treat.
If you aren't a fan of Final Fantasy 7, however, you may not like this movie. Much. The CGI is beautiful enough for anyone to look at, but that's just eye candy. So are the impressively choreographed fight scenes. Pure eye candy. It's the plot that drives a movie, and FF:AC is a bit thin unless you know what's going on. The movie itself starts out with a brief primer, but it is so filled with little treats and references (both musically and visually) that you will definitely be missing out on what is really good about this film if you hadn't played the original game.
Because that's what it's all about, really. It's fan service. Fans have been drooling at the bit, and getting more and more frothy as trailer after trailer was released. After the More Friends concert at this last year's E3 they even played a new, updated version of the main villain's theme One Winged Angel, making every fan wet their pants a little. I did, and I am not even a very big fan of FF7. Advent Children was filled with enough little treats for me that I found it highly enjoyable, even as a casual fan of the game. Granted, I am an FF nut anyway, so when a Moogle or a Chocobo is mentioned my head basically explodes. This is a condition that I have.
I won't spoil it for you, but the plot basically takes place two years after the events of the video game, and follows Cloud Strife and friend's journey to discover how to cure a deadly disease, and how to defeat a mysterious gang of Sephiroth look-alikes hell-bent on gathering pieces of their "Mother", JENOVA. The plot is well fleshed-out and never boring, with plenty of twists and surprised to keep your mind occupied. Especially for fans.
SE was smart to release this straight to DVD and PSP, and not go for a wide release, as FF:AC won't appeal at all to mainstream audiences. It might, however, create a couple of Final Fantasy converts, and it will definitely please hardcore fans who may have doubted FF:AC's credibility following the FF7 storyline.
Download it, or wait until next week to buy it. Either way, it's a good watch for any Final Fantasy, CGI film or action movie fan.
You either love it or you loathe it (for the record, I love it). Napoleon Dynamite is one of the great polarizing movies, splitting people between who enjoys awkward uncomfortable humor and those without a soul. While it's a great movie, it is a bit overhyped and now it's just plain confusing with the announcement of a Napoleon Dynamite video game. 
