Snap Judgments - Blue Beetle #19, Countdown to Adventure #2, Avengers: The Initiative #6

Blue Beetle # 19

Blue Beetle has been settling into a tidy formula over the last five issues - Jaime fights a guest villain, picks up a bit more wisdom on how to be a superhero, and the book wraps up on a personal note, often with single-tear inducing epilogues. This ish hits all the marks: Giganta is the baddie, and her Kaiju Big Battel style rampage is one of the most exciting action set pieces in months (drawn with gusto by David Baldon, who redeems himself for giving Tim Drake and Jaime the same face last month). Jaimie learns a lesson in horrifying pseudo-science of pressure points, and the emotional moment belongs to his gringa gal pal, Brenda.

These self contained stories work in the same way Paul Dini's recent run on Detective did - the dialogue zips the plot along, the resolutions are smart and satisfying, and it's easy for new readers to pick up. But as regular reader, I'd like to get back into the meat of the alien invasion plot line introduced way back in issue #13. And speaking of 13, rising star Traci 13 shows up for about three minutes in this issue to confirm that she and Jamie are totally hooking up. A- AHR


Countdown to Adventure #2

The only good thing about an alternate earth where Nazis rule the world is that when freedom-loving heroes from other dimensions show up, they have carte blanche to do as many head-severing superpunches as they want without fear of moral compromise. Here, it's Forerunner who gets to do a few laps of nazi-smashin' in the second half of this two-story issue - the first half concerns the dreadfully uninteresting 52 outer-space story, but does feature Animal stomping on a car and Starfire in civvys. I haven't been reading Countdown closely enough to fully understand the Forerunners complicated and tragic back story but I like what I do know: she likes to kick, hit, aaaaand KICK! B AHR



Avengers: The Initiative #6

I'm....I'm blind . Regular Initiative artist Stefano Caselli is MIA on this issue, and the jarring effect of seeing Dan Slott's script interpreted by young gun Steve Uy has caused my neural receptors to refuse the information my eyes attempted to relat. It's not as simple as a case of bad art - what drove me crazy is that the acting in this issue is terrible. Though the stiff body language and flat expressions seen here are not among the worst I've ever seen, artist Uy is at the serious disadvantage of filling in for an artist who has been creating the most vividly realized new characters in mainstream comics. Imagine watching a great movie with a fanatically talented cast, but when you come back from the bathroom all the characters are suddenly being played by first year drama students. The script might still be spot on, but nothing murders good dialogue like bad acting. Some important and surprising information is revealed in this issue, so regular readers may still want to check it out, but don't blame me if you're gripped with the impulse to hurl popcorn at the pages. D AHR

Read More...

Summary only...

Digital Life: Two Minutes With the iRobot ConnectR

iRobot has announced its Parent Surrogate robot, the ConnectR. As you can see by these clips, it's as hilarious as you might imagine. As AHR discussed before, the danger of your young loved ones growing up thinking their mother/father/brother/sister is a talking Roomba is very high. Approach with caution.

Read More...

Summary only...

Digital Life: One Minute With the Novint Falcon

The Novint Falon is a pretty wild force feedback game controller that can simulate everything from a gun's kick to running your hand (or that little plastic ball at least) over different textures (we touched slick ice, sticky molasses, and bumpy rock). It was pretty fun to play with for a few minutes, definitely a new experience, but the precision you're giving up by playing with it instead of a mouse is reason enough to not give it a second thought. Fun gimmick, though.

Read More...

Summary only...

Photos: Oddities at Digital LIfe

Albo and I took in the sights and sounds of Digital Life yesterday, most of which were distinctly robotic in nature. Turns out that the "digital life" they speak of is not so much a commentary the high tech aspects of our daily lives, but refers to actual free-will evolving digital life forms. This is a robo-world, folks, we just live in it. We'll have video of our Digital Life highlights soon (Update: here and here it is), but for now enjoy some of the stranger moments of the expo.

At the iRobot keynote address, typical human opinions on robots were projected onscreen...

Roomba is not impressed by our illogical natterings.

Roomba eradicates dissent with the same ruthless efficiently it applies when ridding the world of fluff and dander.

But Roombas are old news. The real excitement came when Colin Angle of iRobot introduced a new member of their pizza-shaped robot family, the ConnectR. The ConnectR may look like a bedpan...
...but is in fact a stay-at-home proxy of you. That's right, you yourself, dear reader. It's a set of remote controlled eyes and ears within your home, for when you're away on business but would still like to get some quality time in with the childrens. Gaze on this photo, workaholics of America, and witness your future!
This little guy can move, tilt it's single unblinking electronic eye 360 degrees, and transmit your voice to your only slightly unsettled family. It's called controlled with your personal computer via a private network. But what the above photo doesn't show is the mess your robot surrogate makes when it sails across the Monopoly board to try to push it's piece to Marvin's Gardens. "Daaaad!"
Not that I don't see the appeal of this "Virtual Visiting Robot". I've got a baby half-sister in California, and here I am on the other side of the country in New York. It would be great to have a real, concrete presence in her every day life, even if that presence had to be slightly scary and electronic. But the idea that the baby would grow up believing that a talking plastic hubcap was her actual sister gives me pause. Still, it's kidna cute, right?

Hewlett Packard's Keynote address lacked robots and was therefore pretty dull, despite the fact that VP Phil McKinney was rocking the dressed down Steve Jobs look. The part that got my attention was when Phil screened this old highly speculative game demo for HP's Mscape technology, and mentioned that some cynics on Digg thought the video's proposed application of technology was a tad unbelievable.

Then, as if to silence those doubting Thomases once and for all, Phil whipped out what he said was the actual magical gadget that will at last allow us to see through the matrix of the real world, and will make us all heroes in a never-ending video game as big as the entire earth.
Or maybe it was just a little rectangular piece of plastic the boys in marketing whipped up. Either way, McKinney did not go so far as to claim the thing worked like in the video, or would be produced as an HP product, or was not a PSP with a orange sticker over the screen.

Finally, Gateway introduced their new line of computers that look like giant iPods, but not before serving a basketful of these alarming muffins...
For more in-depth coverage of the coolest tech at Digital Life, check out our video features on the Novint Falcon (an awesome "force feedback" game controller) and our old friend the ConnectR.

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC: Live Nude Fanboys, Star Trek at Midnight, The Last Great Coen Flick

Friday, September 21, 2007

• iFanboy's 100th Pick of the Week Podcast
  
• 8pm @ Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 West 33rd St, Manhattan
  

Listening to these three dude talk comics on the iFanboy Podcast was a big part of what converted me from a casual TPB browser to an actual, in-the-store-every Wednesday comic reader. Watch them do their show live at Jim Hanley's and then head over to a local bar for the afterparty.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

• Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn
  
• Midnight @ The Sunshine, 143 E. Houston Street, Manhattan
  

KAAAAHHN!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

• Fargo
  
• 4:30 @ MOMA's Roy and Niuta Titus Theater, 11 W. 53rd Street, Manhattan
  

The Coens greatest work? No, that would be Barton Fink. Still, Fargo - nothing to sneeze at.

Read More...

Summary only...

Web Game of the Week: Throw Me

"Throw me. Just freaking Throw Me! I'm a cyclops-being that has no body and my limbs that are tethered to some weird kind of aether. Click on the treasure chest to free me. Move me around with your mouse to gain me momentum. Press the spacebar to release me! Throw me as high and as far as you can! Just get me away from the box! Storm clouds are bad -- they force me downwards. Normal clouds are good though -- they provide me with an upwards draft. However, my favorite things in the world are colored clouds and wrecking balls -- they stop me, but allow me to relaunch with a new set of power -- all you have to do is press the spacebar. So please... for the love of all that is holy... THROW ME!!! I promise it'll be fun!!"

This has been a message from Cyclop-Dude

Find out what Johnny has to say about the game after the jump...

Well, Cyclops-Dude explained most of how to play the game. The spacebar also gives you stamina, which basically causes you to float with balloons allowing you slightly change your trajectory to reach a wrecking ball. Additionally, despite Cyclops-Dude's over zealous enthusiasm, the game is great. The music is cool too and the sound effects oddly add the harmony.

Read More...

Summary only...

Video: RedOctane Prez Talks Guitar Hero 3

Geekanerd Exclusive Alert: Kai Huang, RedOctane Co-Founder and President, teases us with possible music genres for the next installment of Guitar Hero Encores (no Legends of Ska-Punk on the horizon, I was sad to learn). He also fills us in on the just announced Sex Pistols reunion track, and extols the virtues of the new jump-off-the-couchable wireless controller. Happy Guitar Hero Day!

Read More...

Summary only...

Geekanerd Gets Down and Dirty With the Guitar Hero III Wii Controller

Thar she is, all taken apart. The rep (who was an awesome GH player) claimed they'll have additional faceplates available at launch, but seemed a little less certain about the point of the removable neck, other than to say it will make it easier to cart around. Frankly, I may miss the admiration I get from my fellow citizens when they spy the colored fret buttons poking out from my backpack. The rep we spoke with mentioned maybe longer necks, dual necks, or swappable bodies, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

More pics after the jump, including a juicy closeup of the Wiimote dock.

The Wiimote slot is on the back of the guitar and has a plastic cover much like one a battery compartment might have, and a little Wiimote accessory dongle flopping around to hook into the bottom of your Wiimote.

This is the neck release...
...and the faceplate release.
This is an out of focus picture of a mystery jack that the rep had way too much fun playing dumb about. No clue what that's all about, but if I'm remembering correctly don't the 360 Guitar Hero controllers already have something like this that hasn't been put to use?
The faceplate coming off...

Read More...

Summary only...

September 26, 2007 is OFFICIALLY Guitar Hero Day in NYC

Today at the Guitar Hero III Launch event New York City announced that September 26, 2007 is officially Guitar Hero Day! That's RedOctane President Kai Huang on the left there, with Krusty Krusterson from the city on the right presenting the official Proclamation. Oh, and Living Color.

We'll have some video of the presentation up later, as well as a Guitar Hero III deathmatch showdown between Geekanerd and Destructoid. You won't wanna miss it.

UPDATE: Our first delicious morsel of GHIII video can be found here.

Full press release after the jump.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2007 DECLARED GUITAR HERO DAY IN NEW YORK CITY

City Official to Read Proclamation, Eager Fans Set To Storm the Streets of New York, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock To Be Debuted at Digital Life

Santa Monica, CA - September 26, 2007 -- Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), publisher of the wildly popular Guitar Hero® franchise and the City of New York are proud to proclaim September 26, 2007 "Guitar Hero® Day" in New York City. Fans are ready to rock the streets of Manhattan as thousands are expected to gather in celebration of the day, with guitar controllers in hand. This proclamation is one of many Guitar Hero events taking place in New York City this week, heading into the launch of the highly anticipated Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Read More...

Summary only...

ReelGeek Goes to TIFF07

Well hello again from the internet! A couple of weeks back Toronto held its annual Toronto International Film Festival, and I went up to our neighbor to the north with a movie I worked on that was premiering. Then I was hit with the genius idea to see some films while I was there and tell you all about it! I stopped in to see a few films that might interest the Gnerd crowd. So without further ado, here’s a little rundown on the festival, and a review of the upcoming film “Juno” starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera.

So after an early morning flight and a long explanation of why I was entering Canada with a customs agent, and whether or not a tape in my possession was coming back to the states after the festival (Canada has a little-publicized overabundance of tapes clogging their major waterways, and every format is strictly regulated when entering the country) I walked out of the airport and into Toronto. If you’ve never been, well, check out another American metropolitan area, and then imagine it a lot cleaner and a bit friendlier, and that’s Toronto. It was as if someone had spread New York out a bit and then run a vacuum cleaner through it.

Toronto was a pretty laid-back film fest, from what I’ve heard from friends at the other big fests like Cannes and Sundance. There was very little overtaking of the city by the festival, and the paparazzi/legit photojournalism wasn’t super intense, though I avoided the parties so I can only really comment on the premiers, screenings, and the everyday walk through the city. Tickets are a pretty penny for seeing a film, even when you’re from New York and used to paying egregious amounts for a movie. Basically, if you plan to go up on your own, try and get in a bunch of films that don’t have distribution or are smaller foreign or documentary films. These are the ones you’ll feel okay about paying 20$ or more to see, because you won’t have to deal with all of your friends laughing at you a month later when they just snuck into the theater to see it for free. However, it’s always tempting to jump on seeing those soon-to-be big hits first. And here’s a review of one of those movies:



“Juno,” the newest film by Jason Reitman (director of “Thank You For Smoking,” son of Ivan “Ghostbusters” Reitman) is in a word, fantastic. Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney, and JK Simmons, it’s packed with people you’ll enjoy watching for two hours. Page does a great job as Juno, an offbeat and sharp-witted 16 year old who manages to get knocked up by her close friend Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. If you think the thought of Michael Cera getting it on and then impregnating a girl is awkwardly hilarious, you’re correct, it is. Juno decides to keep her baby and adopt it out to a couple looking for a child, cue Bateman and Garner as a yuppie couple that could make Cape Cod itself barf from all the sweaters and khaki. The film basically follows Juno through her pregnancy, her strained relationship with Bleeker (Cera), and her attempt to learn more about the couple she’s going to be handing the fruit of her loins off to.

If I make the movie sound overly serious, I apologize. The film had me (and the entire audience) laughing from start to finish. First time screenwriter Diablo Cody’s dialogue is at once often honest and accurate to a 16 year old girl, and hilarious enough to match anything by Judd Apatow. If you liked “Knocked Up” or “Superbad,” you’re going to want to see “Juno.” I heard mixed things about the script/dialogue from super secret sources before the film finished, but Reitman and the actors do such a great job that it’s almost hard to understand why anyone would think twice before greenlighting a movie like this.



“Juno” is a great script, a great story, an awesome cast, and a hilarious film. The music, including Belle and Sebastian, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, Cat Power, Sonic Youth, and a score of songs by The Moldy Peaches’ Kimya Dawson fit wonderfully. It’s a great soundtrack and compliments the music-loving Juno’s character excellently.

The only downsides are that the film can get a little too sweet at times, with some of the whimsical songs by Dawson and some kitschy little moments. But these hardly subtract from the film, and they do balance out Juno’s hard-edged outlook on life, love, and being a pregnant 16-year-old girl. Cody’s dialogue can, like I’ve mentioned, come off a bit premature for a high school girl to sound off with, but Page’s delivery manages to remove any doubt you might have that a teenager would talk like that. I recommend you all see it when it hits theaters in December. And if you want to check out the trailer, hop over to the official site.

Oh yeah, the best part of seeing it at Toronto, aside from the fact that Reitman, Cody, and the cast came out to discuss the film after the screening? These guys:



As you may or may not know, Cera’s character is a cross-country runner, and is seen wearing his outfit quite a bit. Well the film had some of the “team” show up and jog up and down the lines, talking with people waiting to go in.

That’s all for this week guys, come back to see another review and rundown from TIFF 07!

Read More...

Summary only...

Zack Snyder Says "Hello" From the Watchmen Set

Warner Bros. is circulating a video from the Watchmen set of Zack Snyder saying... Not much. "Hello" is the gist of it. It seems to be a test run for future "messages from the director" that will maybe give us some juicier bits to chew on. He claims that everyone working on the movie loves Watchmen, but you can tell he's lying. That's ok, I still think the movie will be awesome.

Read More...

Summary only...

Janeane Garofalo is a Geekanerd:Refs Y: The Last Man in Political Debate

A couple of days ago Janeane Garofalo was on Bill Maher's program and brought up Brian K. Vaughn's Y: The Last Man when responding to Sally Field's comments that if mothers ruled the world there would be no wars. Salman Rushdie is sitting next to her and is like "WTF, mate?" The quote in question comes at 3:40 in the above video. Thanks to Joe for the tip!

Also check out our past "...is a Geekanerd" posts!

Read More...

Summary only...

The Art of Bart

The Village Voice website has put up a ton of photo coverage of last week's Bart Simpson Art Exhibition at Toy Tokyo's Showroom NYC. The traveling exhibit gave over 50 artists their own 10 inch blank Bart dolls to serve as their canvas. The results (such as this Rat Fink-inspired entry by Matt Groening himself) may shock you.

Great photo coverage aside, I have to object to the Voice calling their feature "Bart Simpson: 50-Plus Artistic Visions of Homer's Kid". HOMER'S KID? Oh Bart, how your star has faded. Long gone are the days of Ay Carumba T-Shirts and The Bartman Music Video. At least the art world still has the kid's back.

A few more of the best Barts, after the jump.

Frozen in carbonite

Ziggy Stardust

Look at yourselves, America!

AHH! The Brothers Quay!

I try to avoid making Spider Pig jokes on this blog, but sometimes it's not easy

If you find this offensive, the terrorists win

A-doooor-ra-buhhhhhl!

An artworld classic

Read More...

Summary only...

Panel Discussion: The Week in Comic Book Scans

Most Awesomest Historical Figure Turned Supervillain - Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel, Umbrella Academy #1
What would the designer of the Eiffel Tower and structural engineer of New York's Statue of Liberty say if he knew he was being re-envisioned as a zombie robot in a comic book? "Maudit enfants!" ("damn kids!") probably sums it up.

Hit the jump for some motivation from Eclipso, harsh words from Bucky, Wii confessions from the Black Fox, and more!

Best Motivational Speaker - Eclipso, Countdown to Mystery #1Eclipso's latest plot is to become the Tony Robbins of the DC universe.

Most Unpleasant Title Page - World War Hulk #4What's the point here? Though it has some panels from last ish, it's way too vague to work as a recap for someone that didn' t read last issue. The weird Photoshoppy blood (click to see the full res where you'll see the blood is rockin' a PS bezel) plus the weird Photoshop sketch of Strange drinking Zomjuice (which two out of three readers I informally polled in a dream thought was Tony Stark boozing) makes the whole thing seem very amateurish, like a fan wallpaper cobbled together from Romita's panels.

Best Comeback - Winter Soldier, Capitan America #30
"Know me? You don't know jack, Fatty!" I love that Bucky, though now an out of control outlaw vigilante, still uses insults from his child-sidekick days.

Movie Moment - Penance: Relentless #1
This illustration of Penance's Stamford guilt is a direct homage to the most terrifying scene in Terminator 2. Remember, the one where Sarah Conner dreams she's looking at a playground through a chain link fence, and after a moment a nuke goes off and everyone is burned alive? That scared the shit out of me when I was a kid, but you can watch it now if you'd like to compare it to the page above, and if you don't mind having a few nuclear dreams of your own.

Satisfying Conclusion to a Running Gag - Black Fox's Wii Theft Confession, Irredeemable Ant-Man #12
If you haven't been following this saga, first we saw Ant-Man and the Black Fox enjoying some Wii time, then the Black Fox snuck in during World War Hulk to steal the sexy white console, and now, after Ant-Man has thrown Fox to the S.H.I.E.L.D. wolves to save his own ass, Fox confesses. Hopefully the Black Fox can escape from the helicarrier in time to play Super Mario Galaxy on launch day.

Check out our past Panel Discussions while you're at it!

Read More...

Summary only...

Geekanerd Spotter: Vampires Behind Bars

Remember those awesome 30 Days of Night poster designs that were released a few weeks ago? They're up and about in NYC. Thank god someone had the sense to put them behind bars, lest these vampires escape and turn Manhattan into an unlivable hell on earth. But I fear they'll only be satisfied with feeding on garbage for so long, and when they start to crave human blood I just hope that gate holds.

Past Editions of Geekanerd Spotter

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC - Fun Home, Wristcutters, Bionic TV and LotF

Monday, September 24, 2007

• MoCCA Book Club: Fun Home
  
• 6:30 @ The Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art, 594 Broadway (4th Floor), Manhattan
  

The first in a monthly series of graphic novel discussions kicks off with a talk about Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. It's a book with a lot of fans, hopefully they'll get a few detractors to keep the conversation lively.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

• Wristcutters: A Love Story
  
• 7:30@ The JCC, 334 Amsterdamn Ave, Manhattan
  

Based on a graphic novel, this Sundance flick got into some trouble with a marketing campaign that supposedly made light of suicide. What's the problem? Suicide is hilarious! Tickets are $10, hit the title link to order.

Wendesday, September 26, 2007

• The Bionic Woman Series Premiere
  
• 9pm on NBC
  

Did you play that Bionic Assessment Test game? I got like 36% Bionic. That's shameful.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

• Lord of the Flies
  
• 8pm @ The Museum of Modern Art (Roy & Nina Titus Theater), 11 W. 53rd St, Manhattan

Childhood was not necessarily a fun time for us geekanerds, but at least you weren't marooned with your classmates on a desert island with a smoke monster. Wait, that's Lost.

Read More...

Summary only...

Photos: Dance Party at the Apple Store, Y'all

This past summer, Fifth Avenue's monolithic cube of an Apple Store hosted Midnight Mix, a series of free in-store dance parties featuring a different DJ each night. It's a pretty smart idea. Hipsters and club kids come out for the novelty. And if you're going to try to get a nerd on to a dancefloor, setting it within a computer store is your best bet.

Last night marked the end of Midnight Mix, with guest DJ Spank Rock. Hit the jump for G'Nerd photo coverage.

Don't be fooled by the above photo, those squares at the Apple Store never turned down the lights. Bastards.

Read More...

Summary only...

French Dance Craze Cops Styles Of David Brent, Elaine Benes

Consisting of "flailing arms and quick foot movements", a new FranceDance known as Tecktonik is said to be a mix of "hip-hop and techno", and is discussed at length in this Brietbart article. But a TV geekanerd will recognize that these styles belong to none other than the two most renowned bad dancers in television history...hit the jump for video comparisons.

Exhibit A: Elaine Benes


Exhibit B: David Brent


And now compare and contrast...le TECKTONIC...

He's got the little kicks and everything...

Read More...

Summary only...

Alan Moore Talks Anarchy, V for Vendetta Movie Distaste

We've always known Alan Moore hates the film adaptations of his work, but the reclusive comics genius rarely pops out for long enough to really talk about why. Now Infoshop News has an interview with him about how radical politics have shaped his work wherein he does just that:

What had originally been a straightforward battle of ideas between anarchy and fascism had been turned into a kind of ham-fisted parable of 9-11 and the war against terror, in which the words anarchy and fascism appear nowhere.

It gets really juicy after the jump, including a bit where he accuses Americans of thinking giants "still" exist in England...

I mean, at the time I was thinking: look, if they wanted to protest about George Bush and the way that American society is going since 9-11—which would completely understandable—then why don’t they do what I did back in the 1980s when I didn’t like the way that England was going under Margaret Thatcher, which is to do a story in my own country, that was clearly about events that were happening right then in my own country, and kind of make it obvious that that’s what you’re talking about. It struck me that for Hollywood to make V for Vendetta, it was a way for thwarted and impotent American liberals to feel that they were making some kind of statement about how pissed off they were with the current situation without really risking anything. It’s all set in England, which I think that probably, in most American eyes, is kind of a fairytale kingdom where we still perhaps still have giants. It doesn’t really exist; it might as well be in the Land of Oz for most Americans. So you can get set your political parable in this fantasy environment called England, and then you can vent your spleen against George Bush and the neo- conservatives. Those were my feelings, and I must admit those are completely based upon not having seen the film even once, but having read a certain amount of the screenplay. That was enough.

The interview in its entirety is a really great read, so check it out. In other news, it took me aback how old Alan Moore is in that photo. He's been using those old 80's headshots and cartoons for his author bios for so long that I just wasn't expecting him to actually age... It's a comics thing, I guess.

Via Blog@Newsarama.

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC - Goodfellas, Counter Strike Tournie, Pizza Shorts

Friday, September 21, 2007

• Goodfellas
  
• Midnight @ The Sunshine, 143 East Houston, Manhattan
  

Ever seen this one in a theater? Enjoy the really long-steady cam shot in all it's big screen glory.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

• Counter Strike Tournament
  
• 10am @ web2zone, 54 Cooper Square, Manhattan
  

What makes this team tournie different and better than many other web2zone gamer contests? No entry fee! But you do have to convince the shadowy Cyber Square Alliance that your is team "worthy" of an invitation. It's all very Skull and Bones. Hit the title link for details.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

• Tropfest @ Tribeca
  
• 8pm @ the World Financial Center Plaza ( south end of North End Ave), Manhattan

This free outdoor film festival features 16 short films loosely centered around the theme of "the slice". Expect a lot of shorts about pizza. Seriously, I looked at the program. It's like, pizza, pizza, pizza.

Read More...

Summary only...

Hilary Clinton is a Geekanerd:Calls Cheney Darth Vader

Ben Smith at Politico is reporting that yesterday Hilary Clinton set her sights on the Geekanerd demo by accusing Vice President Dick Cheney of being the most notorious of Sith Lords at a New York fundraiser. She said, and I quote:

Vice President [Dick] Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges.

Snap! In other news, Googling "darth cheney" will get you a surprising number of pictures of the Vice Sithident.

Check out the rest of our "...is a Geekanerd" features!

Read More...

Summary only...

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Looks Surprisingly Good

Narrated video tours of games are usually a bit uncomfortable, but the guys over at Wii Folder have put together a darn good one for the not-yet-released-in-the-US Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for Wii. If you're unfamiliar with the game, it is controlled by drumming the Wiimote and nunchuck like crazy to speed up, then drumming left and right to turn. It seems like it would be an extremely unwieldy control mechanic, but the guy giving the tour seems to be pulling off some pretty precise moves so maybe it's not as bad as all that. Maybe.

Via Go Nintendo.

Read More...

Summary only...

Panel Discussion: Green Arrow & Black Canary Wedding Special

Geekanerd's regular look at the week in comic book scans will be up on Monday, but there was so much going on in The Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special it deserved it's own examination. Amanda Connor fills up the background of her panels with sweet details and visual gags, so here's a guide to some of the hidden delights of the book...

Medium Spoiler Alert For Those Who Haven't Read the Book Yet!

As seen in the JLA Wedding Special, Hal has the unfortunate duty of sending Ollie's strippers home. And it looks like they really went all out, even springing for Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn themed strippers (and as Newsarama points out, Manitou Dawn!). Also please note the Power Girl stripper in the left-hand foreground who's costume DOES NOT include the boob window. When a stripper has to tone down the sleaze to replicate your outfit...maybe time for a makeover. My real concern , however, is that donkey...I mean, a donkey show? Really? What is this, The Boys?

What is going on with Plastic Man? Seriously, I'm asking. I'm sure I'll feel stupid once someone explains it. Why is there a hand protruding from his crotch?


Judd Winick's dialogue here is great (ah Snapper Carr...you're an embarrassment to your friends and family), and the detail in this stately kitchen is awesome. Check out the open bag of cookies and milk in the lower right hand corner...buncha slobs. They're clearly Oreos, or Chocos as the DC universe now call them, but the bag seems to spell Chkrok. That doesn't sound like a delicious sandwich cookie. Unless you like buying cookies in HELL.

Alright, Monsieur Mallah and the Brain! Famously "outted" in Grant Morrison's brilliant run on Doom Patrol, is it mere coincidence the duo are being fought here by another Morrison recreation, Animal Man?

Lots of hero villain fighting going on here, but I prefer to look past Starfire and Hawkman's flashy fights in favor for the action going on towards the bottom of the frame....

LOIS LANE FOR THE WIN

Lois Lane, ladies and gentlemen, taking down New Gods with nothing more than brass knuckles, mace, and pearls. She's too good for Clark, really.


Stupid Deathstroke has to bust in and ruin everyone's good time. My favorite thing about this panel is at the far right - Buddy Baker's wife Ellen, one of the more understanding superhero spouses, seems to be thinking "God, these people are exhausting."

Read More...

Summary only...

Snap Judgments - Comic Reviews for 9/19/07

This week we're trying out a new format for our Snap Judgment reviews. Namely, they're way snappier. If anybody has an opinion as to which they like better let us know and we'll probably listen to you. Commence judgment!

Umbrella Academy #1

Only yesterday did I realize the comic world has been waiting with baited breath to see if Gerard Way can write as well as he can wear black eyeliner and sing about cancer. I dug out my Umbrella Academy preview from Free Comic Book day, which I had skipped over in my Owly-induced trance. Well, I loved the FCB ish and this first issue is a joyride as well. It's got a nice darkly comedic attitude, and I particularly enjoyed how the superhero team's father-figure, a wryly detached and somewhat mean-spirited old man. This makes sense because Gerard comes from the world of emo, where all authority must be distrusted and or/sneered at. I kid because I love. Gabriel Ba's art slightly recalls the cartoon-industrial feel of Mike Mignola or Duncan Rouleau, and it's bolstered by Dave Stewart's color palette, so we're talking some very pretty pictures. -AHR

The Verdict: A

The Programme #3

Another month, another recommendation from me to go out and pick up The Programme. I was surprised when I saw that this was only issue three, as the story is so dense it felt like I'd been reading it for much longer. But with this issue things are finally all starting to make sense, and even the difficult but rewarding art is getting easier to digest without losing it's heavy atmosphere. Or perhaps I'm just getting more used to it. Either way, if you aren't reading this yet I heartily recommend tracking down the first two issues and getting to it. -Albo

The Verdict: A-

Robin #166

Robin has been great throughout Adam Beechen's run, although I never got into the most recent on-going plot, namely the saga of Dodge. It's been one of those "annoying wannabe sidekick is rejected only to become an arch-enemy" stories, which can run the risk of either making the hero seem genuinely insensitive or making the sidekick annoying enough to turn off the audience. Dodge was a case of the latter, although in this issue Beechen does a good job redeeming the character, and I have to admit I got a little teary-eyed upon the issue's conclusion. One final nerdpick - in this issue we see Tim Drake cannot play tennis. Bullshit. If the Joker threw a grenade at him and he had to whack it away with a tennis racket, I don't think there would be a problem. -AHR

The Verdict: B

The Irredeemable Ant-Man #12

Last issue seemed to be a perfectly good send off for the series we loved so much. This issue serves not as a conclusion but as a segue into a new iteration of the character that will appear in other Marvel books (it would be a spoiler to say which books...). I seriously doubt I will love the character in another book as much as I liked him in this Kirkman series, so after the satisfying conclusion of last issue this one felt a little like someone resurrecting my dead grandmother and telling me she's gonna work the streets for extra zombie cash. -Albo

The Verdict: C-

SECOND OPINION: Robert Kirkman, no! You said you would never redeem your deplorable non-hero, but in this final outing Eric O'Grady appears to have had a spiritual awakening. It's as if Eric himself knew of his impending cancellation and, fearing the fires of disposed character hell, he felt he had to throw the mea culpas around to save his fictional soul. Still, a disconcerting last issue doesn't erase the fond memories of what has been my favorite Marvel book of the last year. Here's hoping he'll find new fans as a guest-star in other titles. -AHR

The Verdict: A+ for the series, a reluctant D for the issue

Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #2 (of 2)

After last issue's questionable merit, I was a little wary to pick this ish up. But I love Sam Keith's art and I figured it'd be worth it just for that. Unfortunately Sam phoned this baby in, with a couple interesting touches doing little to make up for the overwhelmingly bland (and sometimes downright ugly) visuals. The story's a total waste of time, too, so really save your six bucks if you're thinking of picking this one up. -Albo

The Verdict: D-

Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special #1

There are two kinds of events in a comic book. One, the more common one, is where the universe explodes, or someone dies, or is raped, or is slowly lowered into a pit of acid. The other is where someone gets married! This means lots of in-jokes, characters getting page-time with people they'd never regularly get to hang with, and tons of in-jokes. Make the happy couple the two two horn-doggiest members of the JLA, and you also get lots TV-14 rated raunch. Judd Winick manages to keep the tone goofy and light (well, with one notable exception). Even when the requisite big fight scene starts, the madcap comedy keeps rolling right through the cartoon violence. I was disapointed not to see the actual VOWS at this freakin' wedding, but maybe that's for some sort of Green Arrow Black Canary Vow Special, soon to be followed with the Green Arrow Black Canary Feed Wedding Cake To Each Other Special, and the Green Arrow Black Canary Do The Chicken Dance Special. -AHR

The Verdict: A+

Countdown to Mystery #1

Score! I took a chance on this Countdown tie-in solely based on the fact it features Eclipso, who I like simply because the character is currently inhabiting the body of Jean Loring, Ray Palmer's brain-stomping ex who is just my kind of crazy. I didn't realize this issue features two stories, the first of which opens with a shot of the Dr. Fate helmet shooting through the stratosphere like a wayward meteorite and crashing on the Las Vegas strip. That is a good way to open a DC book, and it just gets better from there. The second shorter story is the one with Eclipso, as well as our old, dead friend from Gotham Central (and former partner to Renee Montoya)...Crispis Allen! He's the Spectre's current host (making this book all about mystical entities and the humans they glomp on to, I guess?), and we even get to see him help dole out some patented Ironic Justice. Stephen Jorge Segovia's art for this second story is outstanding, made stronger by Dan Brown's masterful colors. Some of the best art of the week right here, no kidding. -AHR

The Verdict: A

World War Hulk #4 (of 5)

I feel really bad about dishing so many negative reviews this week, but when you walk out of the shop with as many stinkers as I did you have to vent a little. I've known WWH was getting worse since the second issue, so I can't say I was surprised to find this month's installment lacking even more than last month's. The rest of the Marvel Universe has already moved on from this "Mega Event," which leaves the proceedings feeling more and more irrelevant. The stakes keep getting lower (Hulk not killing anyone showed right off the bat that he will one day rejoin the rest of the heroes without consequence), Hulk keeps getting less angry, and even Romita Jr.'s art, which I've been totally into up till now, is getting sloppy. Add to that an inevitable conclusion that has been broadcast since the first issue and you've got yourself one suckbag of a book. -Albo

The Verdict: D+

Read More...

Summary only...

Talk Like A Pirate Day Loot - Monkey Island Artifacts

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! I already blew my pirate-talk wad with last monday's Weekanerd. While scurvy-speak doesn't come easy for a city-slicker like myself, writer/comic genius Al Ewing over at Re-Retro seems to have been born with saltwater in his veins. He's put together a great post on Monkey Island, the swashbuckilingest pirate related property of all time. And yes, I'm including the PotC trilogy, which while exquisite in it's humor and use of Kiera Knightly in drag, does not match the hours of wit and adventuring to be found in even just the first Monkey Island game. Also, dig that Steve Purcell cover art. Ehh?

Also included in Ewing's post are a series of videos showcasing an amateur theatrical adaptation of Monkey Island. Oh yes. It's all there for you to ingest via YouTube, if your stomach lining can take the pangs of embarrassment that comes form even watching an school play based on a computer game. But once you build up your tolerance, it's kind of amazing. Pretty good job on the costumes, although it doesn't top my Monkey Island II Guybrush Threepwood ensemble, which was the hit of a certain Lucasarts Adventure Game Costume Party in the fall of 1992.

Read More...

Summary only...

Geek Speek: Debating U R MR GAY

Geekanerd jumps through flame war hoops and fights off trolls to bring you the best and worst in internet commentary...
Internet wizkids have discovered that some letters on the official boxart for the upcoming (I can't wait!) Wii game Super Mario Galaxy have little flares on their bottom corners... And those letters spell out "U R MR GAY." Coincidence? Boxart design by a thirteen year old Halo player? Even funnier than that awesome joke I just stole from Megaton News are some comments that the site's readers left on the story.

Go check 'em out there or hit the jump for the highlights...

George W. Bush says: "Why thank you! I totally am gay and I will definitely buy this game for me and my whole family!"

This is so Gay says: "look, my name spells 'this is so gay'."

Anonymous says: "Ha! Seems as tho gamers are the gayest bunch of all, considering they are the ones who always notice the most gay stuff! Only a bunch of gay nerds would search for and find UR MR GAY. LOL…kudos nerds!"

FOS says: "JAJAJAJA Man, we should have commented on this after the release!!! Then, Nintendo can change the box art and we get a rare 'gay' box art. Then, you sell it in eBay in 15 years"

One of my favorite message board tropes is the guy who tops off an idiotic comment with an attack on someone else's intelligence...

JD77 says [in response to someone who said if it wasn't a coincidence they would have "spelled the words correctly"]: "Yeah… its SUBLIMINAL, retard. If it actually said whatever it wouldn’t be hidden. Riiiiiight?? As far as talking correctly goes, people that don’t speak English well (like i don’t know, the Japanese??) might switch things around a bit! Think before you speak smarty."

The award for WTFiest Explanation goes to...

Cameron Heard says: "I’m thinking it might be a reference to the Stephen King Book/Film Dreamcatcher. In the story the character Duditz’ evil alien nemesis is called ‘Mr Grey’. Duditz has a speech impediment though so he pronounces the name of the Alien ‘MR GAY’ which nobody figures out until the end of the story….Solved?"

Anonymous says: "This post is Mr Gay."

nice says [in response to Dwight F, a graphic designer who posted to dispense his sober professional opinion]: "dwight f is mr gay"

Mr. Gay says: "U R me!"

Read More...

Summary only...

John Kricfalusi Dares To Dream...of the Ideal Animation School

John "K" Kricfalusi has given us animation nerds so much. Ren and Stimpy, this Bjork video, and those really disturbing Yogi Bear cartoons you used to see on Cartoon Network after midnight.

Now John K is giving us a virtual tour of his own fantasy animation school. Yesterday in his blog, all kinds of stuff, he posted an illustrated rundown of the classes that would make up the first year program, which includes technical basics and also more abstract notions such as Drawing Funny and Interpretation & Caricature. If your interest is piqued, check it out and leave him a comment - if John gets enough interest, we may yet see a day where the sun rises on the campus of Kricfalusi U.

Read More...

Summary only...

Darren Aronofsky Posts a Fountain Commentary Track to His Website

Upset at the bare bones DVD release his last movie The Fountain received, director Darren Aronofsky has taken matters into his own hands and released a full commentary track on his website that you can sync up to your own copy of the movie (or just listen to it without the movie as I'm doing RIGHT. THIS. MOMENT.) He promises not to answer any nagging questions you might have about the difficult story, and also not to bitch too much about the painful filmmaking process. But he does anyway.

Check it out at darrenaronofsky.com.

Via FilmWad.

Read More...

Summary only...

Wes Anderson Hits Us With Some AT&T Commercials

I was always a big fan of Wes Anderson's American Express commercial, and these new spots for AT&T are pretty swell as well. They feature some trademark Anderson set work ala The Life Aquatic. Hit the jump for the Mom, Businessman, Actor and Architect spots.





On a side note, big ups to AT&T for embracing YouTube.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ninja Gaiden DS Trailer Shows Off Some Sweet Stylus Controls

I wasn't all that interested in Ninja Gaiden DS before I saw this trailer, but it shows off some great-for-DS 3D graphics and interesting controls. It appears that it is entirely controlled with the stylus, which is impressive for an action title like this. The trailer also reveals that you'll be holding your two-screened moneymaker sideways, ala Brain Age and Hotel Dusk, and the game will continue the graphic novel style storytelling that it pioneered way back on the NES. I get the feeling that this is a very early trailer because they use the same environments over and over again, which makes it even more impressive that things look so together.

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC - Free Hold Steady, Comic Book Pundit Explosion, Pirate Bowling

Monday, September 17, 2007

• The Hold Steady
  
• 5:30 @ 7 World Trade Center, Manhattan
  

Did you know that the Hold Steady produced a comic book that illustrated lyrics from their brilliant 2006 release, The Boys And Girls In America? See them for FREE at this outdoor show, along with The Old 97s and Illinois. Admission on a First-Come basis.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

• Comic Book Club feat. iFanboy
  
• 8pm @ The PIT, 154 W. 29th Street, NYC
  

How much comic book fandom can you handle? This meeting of minds between NYC's hottest trios of comic criticism is likely to create some sort inter-dimensional black hole, or will possibly usher forth some matter of uber-nerd. So you'll want to be there for that.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

• Bowl Like A Pirate
  
• Laurel Lanes, 2825 Rt 73 South, Maple Shade, New Jersey(!)
  

ARR! Any scoundrel with his wits about him knows the 19th o' Sieptembree be International Talk Like A Pirate day. Gather a crew and a stout vessel, for this port lie in the black uncharted waters of Nova Jersii. Fer yer trouble ye get bowling, costume contests, and piratey drink specials at the local tavern. Hail (856) 778-7467 to make sure this actually be happening. Pirates be a notoriously unreliable lot.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ludicrously Complete Rundown of Geekanerdy Movies on the Horizon

Comingsoon.net has acquired a list of all the studio films that are being fast-tracked to finish production before the impending strike shuts down Hollywood next year. There are some good nuggets for Geekanerds on the list, most of which we knew existed but all of which you might be seeing sooner than you thought thanks to Commie unions. Here are some highlights, separated into categories to make pinpointing your specific Geek Fetish easier:

COMIC BOOK/SUPERHERO MOVIES!

So the JUSTICE LEAGUE movie isn't all CGI but still won't star Christian Bale and Brandon Routh. Really we don't know anything about this movie other than George Miller (Happy Feet) is probably directing it and Warner Bros. wants it done QUICK.

Of course, MAGNETO is on the way, written and directed by Batman Begins scribe David Goyer. Got my fingers crossed.

WOLVERINE! I really hope they don't mess this one up. The producer (who I won't name because he probably Googles himself and I'm honestly scared of his wrath) is a real bad apple, but they've attached super-reputable director Gavin Hood (of the Oscar winning Tsotsi) so I's gots me some hopes.

Somehow news of this has previously escaped me, but David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) is directing a film adaptation of Brian Bendis' true crime graphic novel TORSO, which tells the post-Untouchables tale of Eliot Ness chasing a serial killer around Cleveland. It's a perfect fit with Fincher's style, and I'm pumped they're getting this one done sooner rather than later. Extra geeky bonus: Todd McFarlane is producing.

Hit the jump for tons more Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Retro Remakes, and Video Game movies...

Ah, Frank Castle. You know why you'll never make it in pictures? Because you're not doing anything that hasn't been done better by Steven Segal. Regardless, THE PUNISHER: WAR ZONE rumbles along with a new Frank (King Arthur's Ray Stevenson) and a new director, Green Street Hooligans' (what?) Lexi Alexander. The plot summary? "Frank Castle continues his crusade to punish violent criminals in America" Yeah...

Probably my fave on this list, Frank Miller's solo directing debut THE SPIRIT is coming at us. Gabriel Macht (Behind Enemy Lines) is the title character, with Scarlett Johansson as femme fatale Silken Floss and Samuel L. Jackson as shadowy villain The Octopus. Expect some wild Golden Age antics, with Robert Rodriguez poking his head in to do a bit of shadow directing.

Craig Mazin, writer on Scary Movies 3, 4 and 5, is taking a shot at the superhero genre with the film SUPERHERO! Yeah, I'm not going to see it either.

Matthew Vaughn's (Stardust) THOR is on track to land in 2009. Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting) is rumored to be up for the title role.

Based on Chris Kirby's comic series LOST SQUAD for Devil's Due Publishing (no, I've never heard of it either), this film will be "The Dirty Dozen meets Indiana Jones by way of the X-Files." World War II, experimental weapons, supernatural something. Comic movies are so hot right now. Directed by short film maestros Steven St. Leger & James Mather.

SCOTT PILGRIM'S PRECIOUS LITTLE LIFE is on the fast track at Universal, directed by the awesome Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). The Bryan Lee O'Malley comic is a big hit, and the adaptation is in good hands.

This story of this project is a mystery, but with a name like YEAR ONE it's gotta be a comic flick, right? Okay, maybe not, but it is produced by Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up), stars Jack Black and Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) and is directed by Egon himself Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Analyze This) so it has to be good.

VIDEO GAME MOVIES!

The Mouse House is working on the video game adaptation PRINCE OF PERSIA, produced by Pirateer Jerry Bruckheimer. There is no director attached yet.

Another adaptation of STREET FIGHTER is on the way, this one with Chun-Li as the lead and Adrezej Bartkowiak (Doom) directing. When looking for a director to helm a video game adaptation, why do studios seem to think a director who has already made a bad video game movie is the right choice?

Also rumored to be directed by Len Wiseman (though probably not because he'll be busy with New York and they're trying to finish production before the strike), the GEARS OF WAR video game to movie adaptation is slated for a 2009 release.

Seth Gordon is remaking his AWESOME documentary KING OF KONG as a narrative film, and I really don't understand why. The movie was nearly perfect and dramatically compelling, but the reality of the situation was so absurd I don't think he'll be able to get away with it in a fiction film unless he makes a screwball comedy out of it.

Sylvain White (also attached to the Frank Miller adaptation Ronin) is directing the CASTLEVANIA movie, which focuses on the origins of the strife between Dracula and the Belmont clan.

SCI-FI/FANTASY MOVIES!

Disney is working on a remake of the kids movie classic ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. The bad news is it's helmed by She's the Man director Andy Fickman and stars The Rock.

David Koepp (writer of Spider-Man, Indy 4) is directing GHOST TOWN, about a dentist (Greg Kinnear) who sees dead people (namely, G'nerd fave Ricky Gervais).

Scott Derrikson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) is directing a DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL remake starring Keanu Reeves. Which is funny because he's alien character's name is Klaatu. Which sounds like Keanu.

Another remake from Dreamworks, FANTASTIC VOYAGE tells the tale of some scientists shrinking themselves and boarding a miniature ship to be injected into their colleague's bloodstream to save his life. Yeah, like Inner Space. This one's directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day).

New Line has a 20,000 LEAGUES adaptation with no director attached yet...

Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff (collaborators on Ghost World and Art School Confidential) are continuing their relationship with $40,000 MAN, a spoof on the Six Million Dollar Man concept. Funny ha-ha.

The ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK remake starring everyone's favorite Spartan Gerard Butler and directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) is coming to us in 2009.

I hadn't heard of this one before, but the plot summary got me: "As a serial killer preys on mystical creatures in a dark Victorian city inhabited by drug-dealing vampires and fairy prostitutes, a detective on the case becomes the prime suspect in the murders." Sounds pretty cooooool. KILLING ON CARNIVAL ROW is written and directed by Neil Jordan (The Brave One).

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE is about a man named Henry Tamble (Eric Bana) with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications this causes for his marriage to Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls). Directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan).

J.J. Abrams' (LOST, Mission: Impossible III) STAR TREK movie is fast-tracked and should hit in 2008.

Based on a Max Brooks novel, the J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Rising Stars) penned WORLD WAR Z takes place "ten years after the human victory over the world wide Zombie epidemic." Rad.

Sony has a listing for a film called ALIEN UPRISING directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Troy, Neverending Story). Nobody seems to know what the heck this movie is, but it's fairly certain it's not a continuation of the Alien series because FOX has those rights.

Another Wolfgang Petersen movie about aliens, THE GRAYS is about a secret alien race that governs the universe and who don't want to reveal themselves for fear of altering mankind's development.

MONSTER HUNTER is about a child psychologist who can see the monsters in kids' closets and under their beds. David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights) is listed as director so expect a comedy rather than a dark and twisted horror thriller.

I'm a Robert Rodriguez slut, so I'm very pumped about his next flick, a remake of BARBARELLA. The only thing that sucks about this is now we have to wait longer for Sin City 2.

Paul Weitz (In Good Company, About a Boy) directs CIRQUE DU FREAK, which is a vampire road movie or something.

Another remake, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is directed by Breck Eisner (Sahara) and is slated to land next year.

DRACULA YEAR ZERO is an attempt by Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow) to meld vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad. This approach should be an interesting contrast with the Castlevania movie slated to come out at about the same time.

Benicio Del Toro will be getting fuzzy in THE WOLF MAN, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo). Del Toro is a great choice methinks, he showed us some really creepy faces in Sin City.

Walden is trying to finish shooting ALL THREE of the next three Narnia movies before the Guilds strike. That would be NARNIA 2: PRINCE CASPIAN (which is almost done), NARNIA 3: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWNTREADER and NARNIA 4: SILVER CHAIR. Caspian is directed by Andrew Adamson (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), and Dawntreader and Silver Chair are directed by Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough).

James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) is taking on a film titled ALTERED CARBON, which is probably an adaptation of the Richard Morgan cyber pulp novel about transferring human consciousness from one body to another, prolonging "life" indefinitely.

No director yet, but the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake is on schedule to come out in 2010. The script was written by Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) so get your geek boots on and start stompin'.

David Yates is back to direct HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, shooting for a 2008 release.

Warner Bros. is listing a Tim Burton project called SPOOKS' APPRENTICE, which is probably an adaptation of the Joseph Delaney novel about a farm boy who can see ghosts.

RETRO TV REVOLUTION!

The A-TEAM movie is on the fast track, but doesn't have a director yet. It's being written by Bruce Feirstein (GoldenEye, The World is Not Enough).

Paramount's G.I. JOE movie is on the way with Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) at the helm. In this version they're based in Europe and King Cobra is an arms dealer. Yeah, ick.

There is an I DREAM OF JEANNIE adaptation on the fast-track that doesn't have a director yet but is written by Cormac Wibberly, who wrote National Treasure and Bad Boys II.

No director yet, but the VOLTRON movie written by Justin Marks (writer of a million Geekanerdy movies in production like Super Max and Masters of the Universe) is on the fast track.

The retro TV comebacks keep rolling in with a LAND OF THE LOST movie directed by Brad Silberling (A Series of Unfortunate Events). Will Ferrell is set to star as the father of the family who stumble upon another world inhabited by dinosaurs and monkey things and the dreaded Sleestak.

GENERAL GEEKERY!

The Fletch "Year One" movie FLETCH WON has been bouncing around the Weinstein Co. for years, and had Kevin Smith talking about doing it with Jason Lee way back before Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Now it's finally getting the go ahead, with Steve Pink (Accepted) directing.

BOND 22, directed by Marc Forster. Who knows why they didn't get Casino Royale director Martin Campbell to return, but I'm sure the guy who directed Finding Neverland is just as good of a choice. Cough.

Apparently a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, SEVENTH SAMURAI is slated to be directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) and Wayne Kramer (The Cooler). Ugh.

The guy everybody loved in 2001, Kevin Smith is back with his first original project since the stinker Jersey Girl, ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. I'd love to enjoy a Smith film again, so I hope this movie delivers.

PSYCHO FUNKY CHIMP is about a guy who "buys the rarest of Pez dispensers, the Psycho Funky Chimp, a purchase that attracts vultures, thieves and fan boys." Directed by n00b Ruben Fleischer.

Jesus, that took me like nineteen hours.

Read More...

Summary only...

To-Do List: Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournie

Sorry NYC nerds, the Weekanerd Event Update is M.I.A this weekend, but will be back fresh on Monday. But we do have one serious recommendation for this weekend; The 2007 Digital Design Tournament.

The tournament pits eight designers against each other, in a battle for improvised graphic design dominance. Armed only with a MacPro Work Staion, Creative Suite 3, and a Wacom tablet, designers take on three fifteen-minute design challenges, with the added pressure of having their in-progress work projected live before an enthusiastic audience of design geeks.

Doors open tomorrow at 7pm at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street, NYC. For those who don't live in New York or can't fork over the $15 ticket fee, you can watch the event as a live webcast at CutandPaste.com. Check out a few of the coolest designs from last years event, after the jump.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFVII ST Remix drops

The good people at OverClocked ReMix have put together an album featuring fan arrangements/remixes to 45 tracks from the PSX's Final Fantasy VII. FF7, arguably the most popular and beloved RPG on the PSX, (if not any console), featured a pretty intense soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu. The soundtrack, originally composed using MIDI, was released in four cd's back in the day and remains a staple of videogame music history.

The album spans four discs, split up and themed for four releases from the FF7 Universe: "Crisis Core", "Dirge of Cerberus", "Advent Children", and "Last Order." Combined they have over 3 hours of music. These guys (and all of the fan remixers) have put a lot of work into this, and if you're a FF7 fan, you'll be happy to know it's all free to download. Check out Voices Of The Lifestream and you can grab a couple choice tracks or just take the whole 2.32gb torrent.

Read More...

Summary only...

Panel Discussion - Geekanerd's Week in Comic Book Scans

Clearest Example Of Batman's Insanity - Justice League of America Wedding Special, #1
Okay, Batman, seriously, TURN IT OFF. You don't need to be deducing whether or not Green Arrow wants strippers at his bachelor party. And PS - he doesn't?! WTF? Granted, most of the JLA women wear what amount to stripper outfits on a day-to-day basis, so maybe it just seemed redundant.

Most Self-Satisfied Kid - Parade (With Fireworks) #1
This character design is priceless. Those floppy arms and legs, the slightly menacing shadow on the eyes, the huge chair. Life is good. But in a comic, you know such a smug tyke is clearly destined for some reverses. But at least when things turn ugly, he'll always have the memory of that sweet curtain.

Beatdown of the Week - Black Adam Vs Yeti, Black Adam #2Memo to me: never, never, never come between Black Adam and a backpack full of his dead wife's remains. I like my intestines right where they are.

Best Father-Son Moment - Daredevil #100
Daredevil #100 was awash with fantastic art, but it was this dream sequence where Battlin' Jack Murdock gives Matt some suitably wizened advice that really got me. See Double D? All you needed to work out your relationship/daddy issues was a forcible hallucinogenic drug injection.

Best Save - Superman, Black Adam #2
I give Superman a lot of crap, but every now and then he actually uses his ridiculously powerful powers to do something impressive. Here, he saves an Innocent family from two stray bullets by zapping them in mid-air, leaving this charming pseudo-ethnic family free to enjoy their dinner and prime-time TV in peace. And...*sniff*...they'll never even know know what Superman did for them....that man is a saint.

Best Explanation - Countdown #33
Bruce Wayne + Cave, Utility Belt & Cash Monies = BAT. Hush is like, "Of course!"

Read More...

Summary only...

Web Game of the Week: Ramps

"She puts the ball in the basket."

When you've got cramps, you need Ramps. Ramps is a ball-physics game with the objective of getting the ball from the top to the bucket. How you ask? By positioning the ramps that are given to you in each level. Be careful though. The journey is full of variables that work against you. Mechanical piranhas that jump from the lava, annoying vacuums, and touchy arms are interspersed throughout the levels with a voracious appetite for your blue balls (no pun intended). Though the game is easy to beat due to infinite lives and "no duh, the ramp goes there" aspects, reaching high scores at the end of the game opens up cheats for the next round. Check it out.


Strategies: Not every ramp is needed in each level. If it doesn't seem necessary, don't use it. Big ramps serve well near the bottom to ensure a smooth ride to the bucket. In the arm levels, just keep the ball as far out of reach from the hands as possible, otherwise you're in for some really long stares at the screen. In the later levels, don't be afraid to use the horizontal walls to your advantage.

Read More...

Summary only...

Snap Judgments - Batman Confidential #9, Parade (With Fireworks) #1, Welcome To Tranquility #10

Geekanerd's Snap Judgments gives you Triple-S comic reviews: short, sweet, and spoiler-free.

O What Fools These Heroes Be - Batman Confidential #9

Another great issue in this Joker-origin arc by Heroes producer/writer Michael Green. The parallels to Christopher Nolan's movie Batverse continue as B-man visits Prof. Jonathan Crane in his pre-Scarecrow days, just so Crane can give him the classic "there's evil in this world" speech. Green's writing for the Pre-Joker is at top form here - without the overarching koo-koo crazyness that many Bat-authors tend to let the Joker run on, Green's Not-Yet-The-Joker comes off as the smartest guy in the room, a little bored with how simple everything is, and only interested in his new best friend, Batman.

Artist Denys Cowan plays a little fast and loose with character's faces, occasionally venturing a bit too far into Quasimodo territory for my tastes, but for the most part his compositions match the wit and grit of the writing. One particular scene that finds a character examining his new battle scars made me think I shouldn't leave this book lying around my apartment, lest someone flip it open to wrong page and be permanently scared off comic books.

Wit + Grit + Fun With Disfigurement - Drifting Face Planes = B+

The reviews roll on with Parade With Fireworks #1 and Welcome To Tranquility #10...

Don't Reign On My Parade - Parade (With Fireworks) #1

A few months ago, I had occasion to interview several members of Act-i-Vate, an online collective of writer-artists who produce serialized web comics for free public consumption. I asked the gang what Act-i-Vate comic they were currently most enjoying, and the title that came up again and again was Parade With Fireworks. No longer confined to the web, Parade With Fireworks is now available as a two-issue miniseries from Image.

You can immediately see what makes this a comic artist's kinda comic. The art is lush, with fluid line work and what seems like an effortless sense of movement. The issue's highlight is the opening prologue, which spans decades in a few deft pages, each panel boldly conveying an iconic moment in time. The body of the story is more subtle. Set in 1923 Italy, author Mike Cavallaro uses a parade in a small town as a microcosm for looking at the clash between the Communist and Fascist parties. Those not up on your 20th century Italian history (I found Wikipedia helpful) may find the significance of the events a bit hard to grasp, but the art is masterful enough to convey what counts.

Outstanding Art + Great Prologue + Political Unrest = A-

Check In Time - Welcome To Tranquility #10

Ten issues into this series by Gail Simone, I've noticed a trend. When an issue centers around a character and their backstory, it's golden. After all, this is a series about retired superheroes and their families - everyone has got loads of exciting history, and learning it slowly through era-stylized flashbacks is one of this book's most unique and appealing features. But when the book focuses on the events of the present-day plot, things tend to lag. The plots themselves are interesting, but with so many characters to keep track of, a present-day issue has the feel of checking in on a bunch of different locations, and just getting enough information from each group of characters to keep the story straight.

But no matter, this issue is worth buying for the back-up "Tranquili-Teens" story, which comes in the form of an awesome Scooby-Doo parody, and includes the canine exclamation, "Oh my bones and foodbowls!". I can't stay mad at a book after a line like that.

Mystic Exposition - Killing Time With Zombies + Bones and Foodbowls = B-

Read More...

Summary only...

The Iron Man Trailer Is Out; The World Asplodes

The trailer for Iron Man is out and the movie doesn't even premiere until May of next year. That's okay though because, like The Butterfly Effect, you pretty much get the gist of the entire story from the preview. After the jump, you'll see that I was able to retell the entire movie, just from the trailer.

****Spoiler Alert****

Chapter One
Imagine the reprise of a bad 90's heavy metal song (in the form of Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter) thrumming as Anthony Stark (aka A.S.) forges something peculiar at an anvil. The terrorists that have abducted A.S. somewhere in the desert are holding him hostage and have given him one evening to create a missile to serve their evil deeds. But they are dumb and A.S. is a raging beast-genius who will stop at nothing to protect freedom. So instead of creating a projectile of doom, A.S. forges an indestructible suit of awesomeness... and thus, Iron Man is born!

The next day, as the freedom haters arrived, A.S. seethed in his underground chamber of a prison, awaiting to unveil his most surprising creation...

"Just open the fucking cave!" A.S. snarled.

And they did... cue Black Sabbath remix... only to be accosted by this...

Iron Man version 1.0

At once, the bad-ass heavy metal music erupted and gunshots flew in vain at A.S. only to be thwarted by his adamantine attire. A fiery inferno that projected from A.S.'s palms engulfed the feeble terrorists as they squirmed in an early decided purgatory.

"I am Iron Man!" He bellowed in a metallic Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque voice, "I am ultra-powerful, son!"

Then all was quiet on the Middle Eastern front...

...the war was finished, A.S. the victor...

...and peace and freedom once again reigned over the evils of Marxist communism and Buddhist fundamentalism.

Yes, dear readers, A.S. was [and is] that amazing. Even the boys in Iraq had massive man-crushes on A.S. and wanted to throw their panties at him... and seeing how A.S. never disappointed his fans, he acquiesced happily.

Eating good in the neighborhood.

Back home, he was the King of Awesome Town. He was showered with attention from crazy fans, all of whom he accepted warmly.

A.S. getting his groove on.

Chapter Two
But years passed. A.S. got bored. At A.S.'s tenth annual O.M.G.W.T.F.R.O.F.L.B.Y.O.B.B.B.Q., he found himself staring at his medium-rare fillet mignon in deep reflection. The flavor of life was slipping from his jaded taste buds, PTS from the cave abduction haunted his thoughts and General Hospital still aired on IPTV. The same emotions that caused Howard Hughes to build the Spruce Goose and Richard Branson to become a balloonist pierced his soul. At that moment, A.S. knew what he had to do.

He spent countless sleepless nights creating new and improved versions of his Iron Man suit, not because it was something he had to do, but because it was something to do. As he neared a refined prototype (red metal pecs included), he decided that becoming a vigilante with his creation would be pretty cool too.

Iron Man v.9.R - The "R" is for Radical

Finally, A.S.'s life was complete. The world slowly stopped spinning and evil ninja bandits running around in Staten Island were scared straight.

The End.

PS - Where's Brad Neely when you need him?

Read More...

Summary only...

Real Life Back To The Future Shoes: One "Step" Closer

Kayne West's new album came out yesterday, which should be notable to design geeks for two reasons:

• The album art is by the highly entertaining Japanese pop artist, Takashi Murakami.
• Takashi's art features the Kayne Bear rockin' a pair Back To The Future II sneakers.

That's right, the very same self-fitting sneaks worn by Marty McFly in the year 2015. These sneakers have recently been brought to public attention by Project McFly 2015, a grassroots campaign launched by two brothers (the awesomely named Michael and Charles Maloof) who want Nike to produce a line of these shoes. Why? Uh, cause it'd be awesome?

Patents and Deloreans after the jump...

Nike has held the patent on the the shoes since 1990, so the prospect of them producing a real life edition is not so far fetched. It'd be easier than a hoverboard, anyway.



Having these shoes appear on Kayne's album should give Project McFly 2015 a huge boost in terms of public awareness. Lest the casual viewer miss the footware's origin, the interior artwork helpfully places the bear next to the Delorean.If you've spent this whole article envying that cartoon bear, head over to the Project McFly 2015 site and do your part in making these shoes a reality, preferably before the year 2015.

Read More...

Summary only...

BLAHHRG: New 30 Days of Night Posters

"Based on the graphic novel". That's what I like to see. Judging by this movie's early promotional campaign, it seems this film adaptation is wearing it's comic-book heritage on it's sleeve. Stardust could have used more of that attitude. For more on the movie, check out the article at Solace in Cinema.

I'll admit I haven't read the classic 30 Days of Night stories, but I did read the first issue of the new series, Red Snow. The story takes place in 1941 and centers around a family in hiding, a British soldier amongst the Russian Army, Nazi war atrocities, and of course, a herd of vampires approaching over a snowy hill. A scan after the jump.


Love dramatic timing of this art - you can practically hear the violin sting when the girl gets up. Next week promises a whole lot of vampire-on-nazi carnage, and who doesn't want to see that?

Read More...

Summary only...

Ghost In The Shill: Nissan's Anime Car

"I demand to live in a fantasy world!", said young, media-saturated consumers across the globe, and Nissan listened. They've responded with the Mixim, a extensively researched concept car aimed at gamers and anime-fans. And regular old comics fans too, judging from that Batmobile steering wheel.

More pics after the jump, plus we uncover a corporate conspiracy....


The Mixim is by Nissan's Tokyo design team, including Korean designer Yoo Eunsun who designed the car's interior. In today's Independent, Eunsun says her influences were Second Life, manga, and...

"....Japanese animation, like the film Ghost In The Shell."

Reeeaaally! This isn't the first instance of corporate synergy between Nissan and Ghost In the Shell; earlier this year, an episode of the Ghost In the Shell anime series featured animated versions of Nissan Concept Cars from 2005.

A Wired blog article on the topic also points out that the Nissan Versa is all over Heroes ("Look Ando! Not a scratch on the Versa!").

So just know, fellow geekanerds, Nissan wants your dollars. Badly.

Via Newsarama

Read More...

Summary only...

Funny Windows Errors Evoke Nostalgia From Traitorous Mac Users

Many of us at Geekanerd's are long-time PC users who switched to Macs several years ago (or in some cases, about a week ago). And while I personally have gotten far better usage out of my Mac, I have a certain lingering allegiance to the wacky world of Start Menus and Critical Errors. I guess that's why looking at this collection of strange and infuriating windows errors felt like a stroll down memory lane. Stockholm syndrome, anyone?

Commenters on the post have pointed out that several of these are almost certainly Photoshopped - the image above even has some very suspicious distortion around the text that smacks of a shoddy PaintShop job. But you never know with Windows; that could just be the desktop disintegrating before your very eyes.

Via Haha.Nu

Read More...

Summary only...

Coming In At 100 to 1 Odds...Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of the Crystal Skull

Cinematical reports that last night, Shia Lebeouf announced that the title for the upcoming Indiana Jones film is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

You may recall Geekanerd reported on a list of six rumored titles back in August, and gave odds on the likelihood of each option. Back then we didn't think much of Crystal Skull's chances, citing it didn't "have the light-hearted grandeur of a Jones title." Well, it's not the first time Lucasfilm has gone with a title we didn't like for a highly anticipated franchise reboot...second time's the charm!

Read More...

Summary only...

New Rock Band Trailer Is More Exciting Than Pixar's Last Two Films

YEAH! Despite having zero to do with gameplay, this is one of the best game trailers I've ever seen. Cartoon Physics + Fast Moving Car + Rock = Winning Promotional Strategy.

The trailer is actually promoting a promotion, namely the Rock Band 2007 Tour, a traveling demo show & competition which kicked off yesterday in Las Vegas. Info after the jump...


I had a look at the Rules and Regulations for this so-called tour - to compete in the "Rock Off Auditions" you need to be part of a four-piece "band". It seems like you'll have to show up pretty early in order to get some practice time in before you play in front of the judges. Bands will be evaluated based on their ability to "demonstrate Rock Band™ game play with proficiency and accuracy, radiate energy, vitality, possess stage presence and are comfortable in front of a camera."

The two finalists get a complicated MTV reality-show prize package, that includes meeting a band and "playing" on TRL. The for-real finalist band gets to "open" for a real yet-to-be-named rock group, so if you've ever wanted to play a video game on stage in front of a screaming rock crowd, here is your chance!

The rules also demand that each four-piece band designate a "leader". Luckily the tour doesn't come to NYC until November 1st, so the Geekanerd Crew has almost two months to wage smear campaigns against each other.

For dates and locations, check the Official Site's schedule for detailed tour info - some important details have changed since the last press release. Such as moving to the tour from my former-hometown of Oakland to stupid Berkeley. Damn hippies.

Read More...

Summary only...

Weeknerd NYC - Body Snatchers, The End of the World, Spooky Books, and Cronenberg

Monday, September 10, 2007

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• Various Times @ BAM Cinema, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn

If The Invasion didn't do it for you, give the 1978 original a shot.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

• David Pinchbeck - 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
• 7pm @ McNally Robinson, 52 Prince Street, Manhattan

This isn't the most relaxing day to be a Manhattanite. Head over to this Nolita bookstore to be assured that the world actually won't end until 2012.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

• Brom
  
• 5pm @ Jim Hanley's Universe, 4 W. 33rd Street, Manhattan

Gothic artist Brom celebrates the release of his new book, The Devil's Rose. It's described on BromArt.com as a "tragic western set in Hell". There isn't a single thing about that description I don't like.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

• Eastern Promises (Preview Screening with David Cronenberg)
• 7:30 @ The Director's Guild Theater, 110 W. 57th Street, Manhattan

This new Cronenberg crime thriller stars two members of geek royalty - Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen. Something for everyone! This is a Moving of the Moving Image event, $12 members and $18 for non.

Read More...

Summary only...

Panel Discussion - The Week in Comic Book Scans

Geekanerd brings you the week's most notable comic book panels. Spoiler Alert for those who haven't read their books yet.

Wackiest Plan - Metal Men #2
That's what I call teamwork! If saving the day demands you pop a giant balloon monster, you might as well do it with style.

Biggest Fake-Out - The Incredible Hulk #110
Oh Noes! The Incredibly Angry Hulk just killed his teenaged pal Amadeus! And an adorable puppy! Look, you can even see the blade of the big Final Fantasy sword poking out the back of the kid's jacket, hewn fibers and all! C'mon everyone, let's start a letter-writing campaign, this level of Hulk-on-Puppy violence is unacceptable...*turns the page*....oh. Never mind.

No Comment Award - Countdown #34
Okay, this time I really have no comment. Except: Poor Piper.

Most Severe Beatdown - King Karateka, Lucha Libre #1
When a book stars five dudes who model themselves after the heroes of Mexican "free wrestling", you know you're going to see some good fights. There are plenty of awesome moves being perpetrated against these werewolves, but the start of the fight is King Karaterka, the guy in white. Look at those holds! That can't be legal! And this certainly must be against regulations...

Best Spin On A Classic - Metal Men #2
Duncan Rouleau is doing wonderful things with the art in the new Metal Men series. The first two issues have featured a retro-futuristic feel, as seen here in his interpretation of a classic "evil lair on a hill". Nothing like making an old favorite feel new again.

Best and Worst Actor Award - Night Thrasher and Tempest, New Warriors #4
Here are two great examples of character's reacting to another character's death - one is effective, the other, not so much.

Artist Paco Medina manages to nail shock and horror using only Night Thrasher's eyes, but Tempest, well...that's more of an "Aww, man!" or "What the F, you guys?!" face than a "NoOOOoOOo" face. To be fair, I'm sure it's hard to draw a good "NooOOoOO" face. You don't see many of them in real life. Unless you have a really intense life.

Read all of our past Panel Discussions!

Read More...

Summary only...

Slogan Deja Vu: Okay, We Get It, "Love Blows"!

Two upcoming comedies have virtually the same tag line.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Say it with me now: Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?

Read More...

Summary only...

Guitar Hero For People Who Actually Play Guitar

Hey Guitar Heroes - have you ever glammed your way through Ziggy Stardust on Expert and thought to yourself, "They should make one of these with a real guitar! I'd be a rock god in no time!" Well, Now Play It has done the next best thing; they've produced hundreds of high-quality video tutorials that teach you how to play rock songs by displaying the guitar chord tab on screen in time with the music. Playing through a lesson feels very similar to playing Guitar Hero, except that it results a skill that actually impresses non-gamers.


Lessons come in three flavors - drums, guitar, and bass. The "In House" tutorials feature more detailed lessons with teachers walking you through each song. They've also got a few celebrity hosted videos, including a bass tutorial for Song 2 featuring the actual factual bass player from Blur, Alex James.

On the down side, the videos are kinda pricey at two to three British pounds per download. That's like, what, forty-five American dollars? But the short demos are pretty sweet by themselves, especially for dilettantes who only want learn the chorus anyway.

Via Cool Hunting

Read More...

Summary only...

Snap Judgments: Countdown #34, The Boys #10, Lucha Libre #1

Geekanerd's Snap Judgments gives you Triple-S comic reviews: short, sweet, and spoiler-free.

Countdown #34 (DC)

Thought I'd give this title another chance. Aaaand it let me down again.

Things started out promisingly enough, with Batman interrogating Piper and Trickster. The Bat's rooftop shakedowns rarely disappoint. But this spark of excitement is soon extinguished, and we're soon wading through boring fake science talk, two scenes that take place in laboratories, Clarion the Witchboy looking like a drag queen, and Holly Robinson fighting Harley Quinn in Gladiatorial Combat. Actually that last part was okay. But still no bang for your buck. Wake me when Eclipso comes back.

Hope Springs Eternal - Disappointment + Harley Kicking Holly Robinson in the Face = C-

Reviews for The Boy #10 and Lucha Libre #1 (awesome) after the jump...


The Boys #10 (Dynamite Entertainment)

Now that this arc is over, I can finally stop buying this book. Not that I haven't been enjoying The Boys - it's been fun, but when reading a hard, nasty series like this, I'd prefer to revel in the opulence of a trade paperback, rather than lurch along every month with single-servings of depravity. But that's just me.

This issue lacked the head-busting finale I was expecting, and continued with an annoying habit of playing gotcha games with certain character's perceived homophobia. I'm all for defying expectations, but how many times do we need to be told that men who use gay epithets may not, in fact, hate gay people after all? Wow, the more you know! On the plus side, this issue features a wonderfully over-the-top epilogue that encapsulates the series' attitude towards super heroes, and for once doesn't involve a splash page of a woman being sexually assaulted. It involves something getting sexually assaulted, but I wouldn't want to spoil the details of that whimsical surprise.

Unsatisfying Mystery Solved - More Lessons + A Touch of Humanity + Absurdist Perversity = C+

Lucha Libre #1 (Image)

It's a good time for Latino characters in comic books. Jaimie Reyes (Blue Beetle) is the best written teen character in the DC Universe, Renee Montoya is getting her own sexy, sexy series, and now we've got Lucha Libre, a slam-bang cartoon style series about five Mexican dudes in wrestling masks who fight monsters in East L.A. I hasten to add that none of these books are in fact written by Latinos, but...well...let's focus on the positive here.

Written by Jerry Frissen, ish #1 introduces a huge cast of characters, including an evil bug-eyed Elvis impersonator, stereo-stealing werewolves, bickering aliens, and of course our heroes, the Luchadores Five. The unblinking absurdity never seems forced, and the tone recalls the comedic glory of Sam and Max, and that, my amigos, is high praise indeed.

Even more impressive is the art, drawn and colored by Bill. Just Bill. His backgrounds are beautifully detailed, and his more subtle depictions of the characters go a long way in supplying some of the depth that can feel lacking in Frissen's writing.

Rockin' Toon Art + Bonkers Plot + Great Extra Story - A Wee Bit Light on Characterization = A-

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC: 24 Hour Gamer People, Brian Wood, and Bruce Wayne's Bad Night

Friday, September 7, 2007

• LANsomnia Video Game Party
  
• 9pm @ Web2Zone, 54 Cooper Square, Manhattan
  

Okay, so this is pricey at $35 for PC gamers and $25 for consolers, but you can take $5 off if you register before 5pm today. What do you get for your money? 24 solid hours of multiplayer gaming, including free food and soda, with tournaments and prizes all night long. Plus an excuse to leave your room without interrupting your gaming lifestyle. For a list of featured games and registration info, hit the title link.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

• Brian Wood
  
• 8pm @ Rocketship, 208 Smith Street, Brooklyn.

Brian Wood will be signing copies of DMZ Volume III. Also, musician/writer PERCY CAREY (aka M.F. GRIMM) will be signing his debut graphic memoir SENTENCES, and it that's not enough, there will be work on display by artist RON WIMBERLY.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

• The Mask of Zorro
  
• Various Times @ Film Forum Street, 209 West Houston Street, Manhattan
  

Bat-Fans know that this is the film young Bruce Wayne saw on the fateful night his parents were killed. Viewing it yourself, in combination with some form of traumatic personal tragedy, may turn you into a vigilante superhero as well. Worth a shot!

Read More...

Summary only...

Ninjas Are In Your House, Stealing Your Stuff!

Attention New Yorkers- there is a ninja on the loose. I repeat, a ninja on the loose.


Last seen in Staten Island, this home invading thief is described as 6 feet tall, light skinned, medium build, dressed in black with a ski-mask, and is armed with pepper spray and nunchaku.
Would you believe this story gets even more insane? Details on how the hunter is now the hunted after the jump.

Before going on, I would like to stress that this so called ninja is entirely without honor, having used crude pepper spray on one of his burglary victims. He is suspected of perpetrating as many as 14 home invasion robberies over the last several months in the Staten Island area. Who can defend us from such an elemental force of evil?

The answer, citizens, is homeowner Phil Chiolo.

When the masked thief targeted Phil Chiolo's Long Island home, he made a near fatal mistake. Chiclo was home during the robbery, and the ninja attacked with blows to the chest and head. Luckily, Chiolo managed to grab a steak knife from his kitchen, and stab it into the ninja's chest "up to the handle".

Good lord! I think we all know there is only one type of person that can pull that kind of move on a ninja and live to tell the tale...the gold chain is a hint...

PIRATE FOR THE WIN.

Still, ninjas are not always so easily disposed of, and the masked man fled the scene with the knife still in his chest. I certainly hope we're not dealing with some sort of zombie-ninja hybrid here. He was last spotted in the backyard of another Staten Island resident, but hopefully having been stabbed in the chest will eventually cause him to give himself up.

Via monolouge

Read More...

Summary only...

Must Haves For Fall: Zig-Zag Shirts, Security Blankets

Never has there been a daily comic strip with more emotionally raw characters than Peanuts. Depression, self-doubt, self-deception, obsession...God, I loved that strip!

Given the depth of the strip's characters, it should come as no surprise that the Peanuts gang are now serving as muses for some of New York's Fashion Week top designers. Can you recognize which characters the garments in the above graphic are based on?

Some educated guesses after the jump...

• Top left, we've got Charlie Brown and Snoopy, who's rocking his World War II flying ace scarf (that little touch was caught by Geekanerd's own Gotham Girl).
  
• Below that is a more obvious CB, and I happen to know the bottom left is based on Pig Pen, as interpreted by Laura Bennet of Project Runway Fame.
• The top right looks like Linus from the coloring, but I can't imagine anything based on the lad that neglects his one must-have accessory. And the bottom right is definitely Lucy, right down to the petulant body language.

The runway show is tomorrow at 6pm at Bryant Park, although it's probably one of those, you know, Fashion Week things. But those of you who you have read this far may want to check out the live webcast starting at 6pm tonight. The clothes will then be auctioned off as a part of MetLife's Dress For Success charity. I always used to cringe when I saw Snoopy shilling for MetLife, but I have to say a cool event like this makes it all worth it. If any designer had the moxie to make a hat based on Snoopy's supper dish, I will go into credit-card debt to buy it.

From the poster of the saddest movie of all time, Snoopy Come Home

Via TimeOut New York

Read More...

Summary only...

Photos: The Wii Tennis Virtual Open Has Crowned Their Champion

It all came down to these two gentlemen today at the Wii Tennis Virtual Open - Benjamin "Smelonzhay" Melinger (left), a player who had initially signed up for the tournament by chance while visiting a friend at Rockefeller Center, and Peter Reyes (right), who after winning his semi-final match, attempted to job-search the crowd by asking "Are there any principals here? I'm a fully qualified Special Ed Teacher!"

The final match was intense, and was decided only after several deuces. Hit that jump for total coverage and to see who won tickets to the Men's Final of the US Open and a 1-Year Lease on a Lexus IS F...

Melinger takes the gold! Ah, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Don't feel too sorry for Peter, whose smile never wavered throughout the heat of battle. He won tickets to the US Open Semi-Finals, although he admitted, "The car would have been nice." You said it, brother!

As corporate PR events go, this was a pretty sweet setup. The playing field was reportedly a scaled down replica of the actual US Open Tennis Court. Some fair sized crowds formed around the event, although the miniature stands on either side of the court never quite filled to capacity.


Upon first glance, it looked like the players might actually compete on separate sides of the court, but sadly game technology has not yet reached that level of realism - both players in a match faced the same screen, as per the usual.

Color commentary was provided by former professional tennis player Luke Jensen. At first he seemed to be a bit at a loss on how seriously to take the proceedings, but by the time the final four matches rolled around, he seemed comfortable using Wii tennis terms such as "fire serve" and "unreturnable return". In the above photo, Jensen confers with Nintendo's touring Wii Tennis Pro, El Diablo (not there to formally compete, just to showboat).



"How did the Virtual Open compare to Wiimbledon?", loyal G-Nerd fans may be asking. The biggest difference I could see, other than the considerable bankroll behind the Lexus-Sponsored Open, was the pageantry of Wiimbledon versus the more business casual attitude of the Open. No bear costumes or country club attire here. And no, the Rockefeller Center Guard uniform doesn't count as a costume.

It should be noted, however, that grand prize winner Melinger was wearing appropriate tennis attire, which may have given him just the edge he needed.


Here's a handful of other photos from the event, if you just can't get enough.

I still believe Albo could have won this car...

A rare example of physical enthusiasm

Fan Favorite Peter Reyes wins his semi-final match

Dude just won a car - you can't "fault" him for being excited (*dodges brick*)

And finally, what's a PR stunt without a wacky photo op?

Related: Geekanerd's Coverage of The Virtual Open
Geekanerd's Coverage of Wiimbledon (including video)

Read More...

Summary only...

Web Game of the Week: Planarity (Classic)

Some important traits of a successful theory or argument are that it's simple and elegant. In my humble opinion, the same rule of thumb applies to video games, and Planarity is a prime example of this. The object of the game? Untangle the mess, so that no lines connecting any the vertices (the blue dots) cross. How? By moving the vertices with your mouse. It's that simple and that engaging.

However, with all that said and done, the game itself is anything but simple.

Read More...

Summary only...

Today in Rockefeller Center: The Virtual Open Finals

For the past two days in Rockefeller Center, the Lexus Sponsored Wii Tennis "Virtual Open" has been bringing out the Tri-State gamers with dreams of victory, a sort of nerd doppelganger of the US Open. I'll be checking out the championship match later today, expect analysis and hot pics this evening.

Unlike the excellent and independently produced Wiimbledon, The Virtual Open Finals have not been decided by simple bracket competition, but by a qualifying round where you play the "Returning Balls" mini-game. WHAT?! If I had known that, I woulda gone! I can return serves till the wiimote runs out of batteries, it's that goddamn SERVE that eludes me. But enough about my personal failures.

Geekanerd is admittedly a bit biased against this very corporate event, since we all had such a "ball" at Wiimbledon. It's worth mentioning that the Wiimbledon Champion, Russ Yagoda AKA Luigi, seems to be absent from the Virtual Open finalist board. But the real tragedy is that Geekanerd's own Wii Tennis Prodigy Albo (1st Runner Up at Wiimbledon) was unable to compete, due to a top secret training exercise in the swampland of the southern United States. The unfortunate timing of this excursion has cost the Geekanerd crew our chance at winning an Lexus IS F (what's that? - Ed.) which we would have tricked out to look like the Batmobile. So you'll forgive us if our coverage of this event seems reserved. I already had the decals all ready to go.

Related: Geekanerd's Coverage of The Virtual Open
Geekanerd's Coverage of Wiimbledon (including video)

Read More...

Summary only...

New Beowulf Trailer: Now With Marginally Disturbing Angelina Full Frontal

Beowulf's red band trailer was unleashed online today, and we all know what that means - the twin pillars of the modern American movie industry, Gore and Nudity! Here's a bit of the former, courtesy of Monster Crispin Glover, AKA the primary reason I'm going to see this movie.
You've got to pass an age-check before downloading the trailer, and not the fake, Please-Say-You're-18 kind. Those over 18 or those who know their mom's full name and birth date can check out the trailer here.

The trailer promotes the movie in the vein of 300, with a generic rock soundtrack, a familiar shot of archers releasing a volley of arrows, and scream of "I! AM! BEOWULF!" towards the end that matches "THIS! IS! SPARTAA!" in delivery and tone.

Oh, and naked Angelina Jolie. That's after the jump.

So the internet finally got what it so desperately wanted; Naked Angelina Jolie. Is it all we expected it to be? Well, no. The Beowful effects team seems to have made it their objective to de-sexify Jolie as much as modern technology allows, which extends to giving her lower regions the barbie-doll treatment and CGing her face on to another body. At least that what it looks like in the trailer. You can even see it in the screen cap - her head looks out of proportion to her body, like they either used a body double or completely CG'ed her body and stuck her face on top. But I'm sure there are those who aren't as picky about their celebrity wank material, and far be it for me to rain on their parade.

The rest of the character animation as seen in the trailer does little to illuminate why Robert Zemekis is such a fan of this Polar Express motion capture technique.


If I wanted to watch a video game cut scene, I'd play Resident Evil. Still, one can't discount the presence of Monster Crispin Glover, so perhaps there's hope for this Neil Gaiman penned blockbuster yet.

Related: Geekanerd's Past Coverage of Beowulf

Read More...

Summary only...

Rock Band Will Feature Head to Head Drumming Action!

Your first thought after starting this video should be: "Head to head drummer action? Awesome!"

Your second thought should be: "Wow, imagine have TWO drum kits in my apartment!"

Your third thought should be: "Hmm... Where would I put them?"

And your fourth and final thought while watching this video should be: "Oh man, it's the f-ing Pixies!!! Alright!"

Read More...

Summary only...

Reel Geek: Why Video Game Movies Suck

Every Tuesday, Geekanerd Correspondent Bishop rocks it movie geek style...

This movie murdered Raul Julia.

Sometimes, when you put two things you really like together, you get something brilliant. Chocolate and peanut butter, apple pie and ice cream, emo kids and rabid unfed raccoons. Sometimes when you combine two things, you get something terrible: the Joker and infants, Mark Miller and crossovers, or, as I’m talking about today, movies and videogames. For years people have been trying to make a singular perfect unit from the two, continually resulting in some sort of awkward one night stand of a film in which both parties are thoroughly embarrassed and anyone watching is just downright disappointed, if not a little ill. (Yes I did just liken watching the film adaptation of a game to peeping in on two people having bad sex; enjoy that analogy when you’re in the theater next time.)

So I’ve just thrown down the gauntlet to videogame-based films. “But Bishop,” you’re saying to the computer screen, “I’ve seen good videogame-based movies, there was...well there was definitely one when I was younger, I’m pretty positive.” Well you’re wrong, and please stop speaking to your monitor, I can’t hear you and people are going to start thinking you’re weird. See the problem with videogame movies is that they’re all fairly terrible. Generally you might come up with one or two that you remember being good, but that’s because you were 12 and two dudes punching each other for 5 minutes was pretty fucking rad back then and made up for all the crap that filled the other 90 minutes of the film. Let’s run through a quick list of some videogames turned major motion pictures and see what we’re dealing with:

Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Double Dragon (1994)
Street Fighter (1994)
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Pokémon films (2001-God Knows When This Will Ever End)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Resident Evil (2002), etc
House of the Dead (2003)
Alone in the Dark (2005)
Doom (2005)
BloodRayne (2006)
Silent Hill (2006)

Obviously I haven’t included them all for time and space, but you get the idea. Now out of all of those movies, can you really tell me that any of them were really top notch? And when I say good, I don’t mean: “well I mean Mortal Kombat was pretty faithful to the storyline and had some cool characters.” I mean: “Was this a good movie, does it rank up with Spiderman 2 or X2 in terms of quality of a nerd-based product?” Heck if any of these movies even ranked with X3 or Superman 3 it would be impressive. Now you may really like some of these movies, that’s fine, I really like John Hughes movies, we all have our thing. You’re allowed to enjoy movies that aren’t quality pictures. What I’m trying to get at is that there really hasn’t been a high quality film adaptation of a videogame, and why that is.

Shang Tsung is upset that he was in a terrible movie.

First things first, these movies are made to make money. They’re made to capitalize on something that has been making money and has name recognition. Now I won’t say that 90% of films aren’t made like this, but with say, a comic book adaptation you’re much more likely to get a production team that has a couple people that are really all about bringing those characters and that story to life. Videogame films more often than not are really just cranked out to earn a studio some money. You’re going to be much harder pressed to find someone really interested in bringing the world of Super Mario Brothers to life than with Superman.

Even though Robert Patrick scared the shit out of you as the T1000,
he still managed to look like the love child of
Vanilla Ice and Thomas Lennon in "Double Dragon"

The next problem is just an overall lack of depth in the source material. Not only are many videogames lacking in a rich story, but they often they lack in depth characterization and strong back-story. Most videogames shouldn’t even be considered for adaptation. Mario Brothers? Street Fighter? Terrible ideas for movies. The games’ storylines were as lacking or simplistic as you can get, trying to translate them into a live action film was never going to turn out well. Now we’re seeing videogames that are more in depth with greater attention given to the writing and character, but it’s still leaps and bounds behind what we would see in any other written medium; comics, novels, short stories, or even television, which has visual elements that fill in the gaps that written description would cover. We get a very small look at a videogame character’s world, and it’s hard to empathize with most of them. We don’t get an insight into how they feel as we would in a book or comic. There’s no narrator or much inner monologue, and we’re mainly left with a few intermittent observations by the character you’re controlling, or some cut-scenes that attempt to fill everything in. There just isn’t much to build off of in a videogame, and so someone adapting for the screen really has to make some very large adjustments to the overall story to get something remotely watchable. And this brings us the third problem.

Fans. Fans are a big problem for videogame-based films. People are constantly bitching and moaning about how things in movies aren’t true to the story and characters in the game. Well, that’s because videogames just don’t translate well to film, genius. If the objective of the game is to run around solving puzzles and occasionally shooting guys all in an effort to find some artifact or solve some mystery or rescue their little girl, the writer has to both expand and condense that story into two hours. They have to cut out all the bullshit running around that you’re going to be doing in 25 hours of gameplay, grab all the story that remains, and attempt to expand that into 2 hours in a way that doesn’t make your brain hurt. Look at the Pokemon films, probably the highest grossing and most successful of any videogame adaptations. Of course these rode off of the television series which came out close to the game, so there was less work to be done, but what kind of characterization and story did that game have? There were basically about 4 things to that game: Pokemon, gyms, walking, and fighting bad guys. Writers managed to turn it into an entire series that’s still currently airing, but they had to just create a bunch of story and character to do so. Fans of a game have difficulty accepting huge changes that get made to story and character in adaptations. Though to be honest, this is a little understandable, as they were playing as that character for however many hours it took them to play this game. We’ve all put our personal experience into this somewhat blank protagonist and explored their world ourselves; of course fans are going to be picky about how the story and character follows their expectations. But you have to learn to deal, especially when it comes to story and character that are acceptable only in the realm of games. Videogames aren’t going to translate well into films, and you have to accept that and allow for changes, sometimes large ones, to be made.

ACTING!
Uwe Boll brings us another shitty game adaptation with "BloodRayne"

So what are we left with? We have people with either the lack of talent or the lack of passion creating the film, we have a lack of material to really draw believable and empathetic story and character from, and we have an audience that wants something that’s not really a realistic product. It seems like a good game flick is shit outta’ luck. Honestly, I think a good game adaptation can be made, but these three things have to change. Plenty of games out there do lend themselves to seeding a good film, the Resident Evil series wasn’t really very well done, but I could see it being done better. Halo’s storyline could make for an interesting film, (the human race fighting off religious aliens dealing with dissent within their race? Sounds like you could go somewhere with that.) The Metal Gear series might make for a good film too, provided that the three issues were resolved. Can they be done well? Give me a talented and ambitious production team, a good writer and a game with a solidly interesting story (at least the outline of one) and an audience that’s willing to let writer and director retool the story and the world to make it work for a two hour film, and I think you could start getting some quality films.

Speaking of Halo, there is a movie slated for 2009 written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later), directed by Neill Blomkamp (animator for “Smallville,” “SG-1” et al.), and produced by Peter Jackson (if you don’t know what he’s done you get an F in Nerd 101). The writer is good, the producer is good, and the story could lend itself to a good film, provided the director can do his job well and the cast is strong. They even have WETA doing the visual effects for the film. If the director and cast can pull it off, and the fans can allow for a little re-imagining, we might have something worth seeing. The real question is: how much corpse-humping warrants an "R" rating?

Read More...

Summary only...

The Future is Here Pt. 3When Robots Attack

Jetpacks and flying cars are great and all, but the future will not truly be here until robots become a viable threat. I'm of the firm belief that the very instant we allow robots to make their own logical decisions the very first one they will make is that it's in their best interest to wipe out humanity. You may say "We're not stupid enough to put the power to kill us in the hands of an entity that may use it!", but a quick look at history shows that we have in fact made that exact mistake many times over. Now, the inevitable decision to kill us may be a ways off, but the other half of the equation is: will they be physically capable of overwhelming us once the decision is made? Unfortunately, things are coming along pretty well in that department, as robots are being given new and terrifying talents easily adaptable to the purpose of destroying all humans. The one above, for instance, could chase down neighborhood kids on bikes with ease. Give him a pole to stick in the spokes and say goodbye to Johnny's face.

More blood-chilling examples of killer robot skillz after the jump.

Dexterity of a Serial Killer

One can imagine that the same skills used to solve this Rubik's Cube could be applied to dismantling your spine.

Strength and Precision to Bust Heads

It's a small step from smashing homers to smashing you.

Extreme Crushing Strength

This thing seems to know to how to swing you around while keeping your face from smashing the ground. Which of course means it also knows HOW to smash your face into the ground. It won't be long until he's sick of all the humans laughing at him and makes pulp of them all.

Ability to Blend In

You won't know she's a robot until it's already too late. (I actually yelped when she began to speak!)

Advanced Chasing Capabilities




They can walk, swim, climb and fly, which for you means one thing: THERE IS NOWHERE TO RUN. Be sure to skip to the end of the "Mule" video to see some humans try to knock it over... AND FAIL.

Firepower

Well, the danger in this is kind of self explanatory. The video even shows this mindless killing machine targeting humans. We are TELLING THIS ROBOT TO KILL HUMANS. I love it.

Abandon all hope.

Read the first two parts in our "The Future is Here" series.

Skating Robot via Gizmodo.

Read More...

Summary only...

Back to the Future: The Ride is No More

Universal Studios' original hi-tech ride embarked on it's last trip through time yesterday, making way for a new Simpsons attraction. It's a sad day for all of us with fond memories of the experience, but frankly a Simpsons ride could be really cool. It'll be interesting to see if the writers can come up with jokes that'll still be funny fifteen years from now. For a trip down memory lane, check out the entire YouTubed Back to the Future: The Ride experience after the jump...


Via Filmwad.

Read More...

Summary only...

Death Proof's UK Trailer Emerges, Includes Footage Never Seen By Yanks

Half of this year's Best Movie Nobody Saw, Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof is revving up (GAHAR HAR HAR) for its solo, extended edition international release. The image you see above is the UK poster (thumbs down from this G'nerd), and by clicking this magical hyperlink you'll be taken to a page where you can see a pretty good trailer that includes some stuff we never saw stateside, including some choice clips of the fabled Butterfly lapdance.

Via Ain't It Cool News.

Read More...

Summary only...

Smash Bros Wii to Include WarioWare Stage

Smash Bros Dojo has revealed that one of the stages in the new Smash Bros game for the Wii will be WarioWare themed! If you aren't familiar with the WW series, it revolves around a bunch of very bizarre lo-fi microgames (about 5 secs each) that you play in rapid succession. It appears that the board will take a break every once in a while and order the fighters to accomplish some crazy task. Expect lots of nosepicking and Japanese weirdness. More screenshots of the board in action after the jump, and also head over to Smash Bros Dojo for a SUPER-RAD Kid Icarus "origin" video.

Read More...

Summary only...

Weekanerd NYC: Dinosaur Jr, Dioramas, Monty Python, Yuma Preview

Wow, NYC nerds. This week is seriously packed. If you don't dig our picks, be sure to check out the Geek Out Calendar for plenty more choices.

Monday, September 3, 2007

• Dinosaur Jr
  
• 8pm @ Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th Street, Manhattan
  

This might be a little too "actually cool" for this list, but there is such a thing as a music geek, after all. Tickets are $20 at the door. Those not interested in seminal alternative rock can spend the day playing video games and eating BBQ. Happy Labor Daybor!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

• Diorama Lodge
  
• 8pm at Freddy's Bar & Backroom, 485 Dean Street, Brooklyn
  

Remember that Simpsons episode where Lisa and the new brainy girl competed in the school's Diorama-Rama? And the new girl finishes hers really early and says, "Lisa, we're talking dioramas. Who could wait?" Well, this real-life event is tomorrow, but don't stress - you make the dioramas on the spot, so bring a shoebox and plenty of supplies! This may be the nerdiest event we've ever covered.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

• Michael Palin with Lorne Michaels
  
• 8pm @ The 92nd Street Y, at Lexington Ave, Manhattan
  

Any member of Monty Python should be considered geekanerd royalty, and Michael Palin was always my personal fave. Palin will be speaking about his years with the Python boys to coincide with his newly released volume of diaries from those silly, silly years. Don't ask me why Lorne Michaels will be there, possibly to promote that SNL retrospective wankfest that's been clogging up NBC recently? Tickets are a whopping $26 dollars (it's worth it!), but if you're short you can check out Mike's free talk at the Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble on 9/3.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

• 3:10 to Yuma (Preview Screening)
  
• 7pm @ The Museum of the Moving Image, 35 Ave and 36th St, Astoria, Queens
  

Old west outlaws are a severely under-represented character in today's society. Once we collectively tire of pirates, ninjas, and hobos, you know who's still going to be there? The Outlaw. Tickets are $10 or free for museum members, buy em online with the title link.

Read More...

Summary only...

Geekanerd Spotter: TMNT Represent

During my recent trip to San Francisco, I saw this sign outside of Faye's Video, one of the Mission District's finer independent video stores/cafes. And not too hipstered out, apparently, to show a little semi-ironic love to the turtles.

The recent TMNT movie was awful, of course, but it's like the sign says - those turtle boys were there for us when we needed them, so true fans have gotta tough it out during these these dark days of soulless computer-generated dreck. Besides, the fight in the rain was kinda cool. *pained sigh*

Read More...

Summary only...

Rashomon Review:Two Books, Same Story, What're the Diffs?

This week, Teen Titans #50 spent a few pages telling the same story we read last week in Blue Beetle #18, which gives us the unique opportunity to compare some telling differences in the two tales. From a splash page comparison to differing stories on who wants to have sex with Blue Beetle, here they are:

Case 1. Lobo Reacts To Wonder-Broad

Blue Beetle

Teen Titans

"Whuh-oh" certainly makes more sense, but I kinda liked the impenetrable weirdness of "whuh-ih", like maybe a guy who says things like "bastich" and "frag" has his own slightly-different set of non-verbal exclamations too.

Hit the jump for teenage sexual tension and Robin being a jerk!


Case 2. Blue Beetle Asks an Awkward Question

Blue Beetle

Teen Titans

I'm split between which version I like better. The "seeing anyone" is a more natural line, and makes Megan's "what?" a lot funnier. But Jaimie is not exactly what you would call a player, and I don't know if I buy him being so forward. The random "related" question is a little more with his personality, in that it's mundane enough to feel like something an unsure of himself teen would say when meeting new people.

Case 3. Beetle Makes Some Sort of Miscalculation

Blue Beetle

Teen Titans